The Waller family is happy to report that we've had a wonderful Christmas thus far. Elliott and Olivia were treated quite well by Santa Claus. Elliott received the Sponge Bob and Spiderman underpants that she asked for. Olivia received a Fisher Price digital camera. She's been having a great time snapping her very own photos.

Papa Roger is officially on vacation - a vacation that will last until his official retirement date in April. You can tell from the picture that he's enjoying himself.

Olivia got her hair cut for Locks of Love on the day after Christmas. She looks absolutely gorgeous with her short hair.

We have all (with the exception of me - knock on wood) been sick with cold stuff. Poor Elliott has had the worst of it. I took her to Urgent Care on Wednesday where they diagnosed her with a sinus infection.

We are now about to pack the car and head to Dubuque to celebrate Christmas with the Pothoff family. We are all very anxious to see the Texas Pothoff's. I'm sure that the kids have all changed since we saw them at the end of May.

Happy New Year!!!

We had a very nice weekend. It included a visit from my friends Karen and Carol on Friday night. Such a treat, we rarely have visitors. Saturday we baked cookies and watched a family movie that Olivia picked out at the library. On Sunday we cleaned and wrapped and made snowflakes. Of course, we also watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Oh - and I almost forgot - I got groceries on Saturday. The task that I put off too long and dread too much. It's a little embarrassing when they have to use two carts to load your stuff into when they're checking you out. But it's so good to have done.

Jackie and I were inspired by Karin's (a friend of Chris) Christmas letter. She wrote that in the past year she had made it a goal to read more. She reported that she had read 41 books over the course of the year. We thought that reading more would be a resolution that we could keep, so we've decided to make that our resolution and keep track of how many books we read in 2007. I wonder if Jackie will let me count kids books.... Olivia and I did just finish reading Little Women. I don't remember reading that when I was younger. I don't know who enjoyed it more. She's started Charlotte's Web now, and will be going with her class to see the new movie today. Very exciting stuff :)

It is a picture that I hope to keep in my head for many years. Olivia wanted to have her hair braided after her shower last night, so of course, Elliott wanted to have hers braided too. I gave them each two braids while they sat in front of me on my bed. After we were done with the braiding, they both laid down on their tummies on my bed to watch tv, their heads resting in their hands. The sight from behind of my two girls with their braids, the big sister and the little sister in their jammies just really made me smile. It could have been the fact that no one was screaming that "she started it" or "it's mine", or that they looked like twins separated by a few years - but whatever it was, it touched a place in my heart. If I would have had the camera I would have tried to capture it, but I knew that by the time I got the camera, the moment would be gone. So this will be one of many snapshots that I keep in my mind :)

We had a great Waller family Christmas in Bloomington, MN over the weekend. The girls really enjoyed the visiting and the swimming in the hotel pool. I was able to visit the Swedish Institute with the adult girls. They had it all decorated for the holidays - it was truly beautiful. The wood carvings - both in the furniture and the moldings were just unbelievable. I think a person could stay there all day and continue to find new amazing details the longer that they looked.

We tried to go to Macy's for the Mary Poppins display. Apparently everyone else in the cities had that same idea. When we got there, they were estimating an hour and forty-five minutes of wait time. I think we made it through about 45 minutes before Elliott started to melt. We had woken her up from her nap to join us on this venture and she was not at all pleased about it. She only wanted me to hold her, and let me tell you - she is not light - I think she's about 33 pounds, and it was quite warm. Come to think of it - maybe I was the one who was melting...

Well - after that we went down to the food court and got the kids a little something something, and then headed out to get our spots for the Holidazzle parade. It was the most perfect night for it ever, and the parade was really neat. Mary knew the perfect spot for us to be so we didn't have to wait in between floats as they got stopped by traffic lights further down the route.

The girls got the best gifts from Papa Perry and Grandma Deb. Olivia got a portable cd player with a radio - she thought she was so cool when she got to listen to it in the car on the way home. She also got nail polish and a twister game. Elliott received a miniature bobby (Barbie) and castle and soft snuggly Dora pajamas. Olivia was very anxious to help Elliott play with her bobby!!

Overall, a very nice weekend. The girls and I baked cookies on Sunday night, and last night was Olivia's Christmas program at school. Roger remembered that last year we were trudging through snow as we walked to school. This year I was comfortable for the misty walk in a light spring jacket, and the only snowmen we passed were the chalk drawings in our driveway! I love it!!!

Happy Thursday!! We have great things to report from the Waller household!! We have the oven fixed : ) :) :)
$106 later - Chris tells me that we better be doing a lot of baking!!!
AND - they are going to come on Friday morning to replace my cracked windshield.
Whatever will we have to procrastinate about now???
Oh - I'm sure we'll find something!!!

We had sad news just a little bit ago - Great Grandma Leota (Roger's mother) passed away today. She had congestive heart failure and had been getting progressively weaker. She was a wonderful woman - warm, soft spoken with a great sense of humor. She loved to listen and share stories about her family - Roger and Laverne growing up, and her grandkids that were involved in wrestling and football. We will miss her.

I picked up matching Christmas shirts for the girls while I was out shopping yesterday. What an experience - to say that it was VERY crowded is an understatement. The matching shirts were for this morning's project - Christmas card photos. What a project!! I don't know what it is about breaking out the camera that immediately makes all of us sprout horns - but it works! After about 25 snapshots we gave up. Approximately 20 of them did not have both girls looking in the same direction or had blinky eyes for one or both of them, about three of them had really ridiculous or cheesy looks, one of them looked like Olivia was about to choke Elliott (really she was just trying to get her to look at the camera) - and one was okay. So - when you get your Christmas cards this year, appreciate the photo :)