Merry Christmas!

The week proceeding Christmas was a busy one here at the Nigbur home. After school parties/programs Aunt Keri came for a quick visit over the weekend of the 19th. We exchanged gifts, made cookies, and went to the lights at the Springs Preserve.

Monday we drove up to Utah for my Oma's funeral. She was very old and miserable so we think it was a blessing. She was a wonderful Grandma and I have fond memories of her growing up. We are grateful she is with Opa and her parents now in heaven and free of pain. It was a quick trip because we drove home very late Tuesday night.

Wednesday we did a quick repack and jumped back into the car and headed to Williams AZ for the Polar Express. It was a surprise for our kids and they loved it. We rode the train all the way to the North Pole and saw Santa in our jammies. We also swam at the hotel (which always seems to be their favorite part!)

We got back late Christmas Eve and celebrated with just our little family. (The first time ever!) Christmas morning was awesome. Santa was very generous this year and our kids got many loud, extremely annoying toys. Thanks Santa! Jack loved his first Christmas too! His biggest gift was a helmet to help shape out the flat spot on his head. Even though it was a bit busy we had a fabulous time. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hannah's Big Weekend!!!

Hannah had two big things happen to her this weekend. She lost her first tooth, and was really excited to stay up and see the tooth fairy.

She put her tooth in the special "tooth fairy pillow"...

...and awoke the next morning to her reward. She was a little disappointed that she didn't catch the tooth fairy, and thinks that perhaps the tooth fairy is "invisible".

Next, Hannah had testing at her Tae Kwan Do class to earn her purple belt, and passed with flying colors. She broke a board on her very first try!

They gave an award to the individual who did the best in each belt color...

... and to our surprise Hannah was presented with the trophy for the yellow belt class. She was really excited, and is looking for a repeat performance on her next test!

Congatulations Hannah! It was a great weekend and we are so proud of you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our little family headed to Utah to spend the holiday with family. Thanksgiving day was really busy and a little crazy. We started out having family pics taken at 8:30 am. 2 grandparents, 14 aunts and uncles, and 17 cousins! I'll let you know how they turned out! Since we had such a crowd my parents "rented" the church for the day. We spent it playing basketball, watching movies, coloring, painting fingernails, catching up, cooking and running around! It took 4 long tables to seat everyone and it was super fun! A few of our many cousins. Some were napping or eating!

My best friends in the world. My mom and sisters!

We also celebrated Christmas with Keith's mom since we won't be heading back up in Decemeber. She was very generous with gifts and made us a yummy German dinner. Thanks Grandma!
My mom turned 65 Sunday and we threw her a surprise party too! We watched the Utes lose (sniff sniff), played in the snow, ate lots of yummy takeout and got to little sleep. We are still recovering. (I did 7 loads of laundry yesterday!) But we wouldn't trade all the craziness for a minute! Family, friends, food and fun! Our favorite things.