Christmas Festivities

One of the most enjoyable parts of Christmas for me is all the fun activities that you get to do with your family to get you in the Christmas spirit. I feel like there are just not enough weekends in December to get all the activities in that I would like to do. Here are a few of the fun things that we have done this December.

The kids had a great time decorating this gingerbread house.

This is our third year in a row going up to Bellevue Square and watching the Snowflake parade. We eat dinner at the Cheescake Factory, walk the mall for a little while (can't do it for very long with 4 kids), and then head on outside for the fun.

The street is lined with lights and big drums are set up all along the sidewalks. We are up on a skybridge over the street.

I just love Christmas lights and these snowflakes are so pretty.

Waiting for the show to begin.

A little hot chocolate sounds good about now.

Here come the drummers. They march along the skybridge and then go down to the street where they stand up on the drums and dance and play to the Christmas music. There are also lights that are flashing on the buildings and even fake snow when it is over. The whole show is only about 15 minutes but that is perfect length for the kids.

Time to go!

Another fun thing we did this year was to go eat breakfast with Santa. We had pancakes, sausage, eggs, juice and hot chocolate. There was entertainment and Santa came around to each table to say "hi" to the kids.

We even got to see Rudolph!

Sienna is just like her dad and does not like to wear shoes or socks. Brian would take off his socks and shoes also if it weren't for the wierd looks he would get.

Our "Ironman"

We have been anticipating this for weeks and it is finally over. Austin had surgery up at Children's Hospital a few days ago. He has a little pain but is doing really well-could be all those drugs we are giving him. Austin had a screw put in his ankle and a plate put in his knee. This procedure will help Austin's bones grow more evenly and will get his leg aligned more correctly. Austin had a club foot when he was born and his leg being out of alignement is just one of the effects of the club foot. We joke with Austin that he will set off metal detectors with the metal inside of him. Below are some x-rays the dr. gave us. They are pretty cool, especially in person.

Side knee

Front knee

Side ankle

Front ankle

Here Austin is right after he woke up from the anethesia.

They have his leg bandaged all the way from his thigh to his foot. We haven't seen the incisions yet and he can't take off the bandage until Sunday. This means no shower for 4 days. Austin is not complaining about that!

All the doctors and nurses were great at the hospital. They were so friendly and made Austin, Brian and I feel right at home.

Austin was excited to be able to ride in the wheel chair out of the hospital.

This doesn't look so bad does it?

Austin gets around great on his crutches. He will have to use them until he can bear his weight on his left leg. Hopefully we don't have to take these with us to Utah.