Thursday, December 30, 2010

Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Christmas eve we spent the night with the minten side of the family.  before we left the kids sat by the tree for a picture.
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great grandma minten with baby grey.
 

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lilly and max playing with the new train set at grandma and grandpa elricks.

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the family gathering around the food!

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more food.
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lilly's gift from great grandma minten:)

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max reading the card great aunt jenny made for the family:)
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grandma elrick holding baby grey.
 
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max opening his present from great grandma minten.

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a car... he loves it!


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jenny, max, annie, ashley, and baby grey.  this picture was really funny because max would climb down and then back up and wedge himself right between jenny and annie and look back and forth at the two of them! (writing it down doesn't seem to show the true humor...but, it was hilarious!)

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cousin ashley and annie were very smart at the end of the night they sent lilly around with a tip jar while they played the piano... lilly's cut was three dollars! big bucks for a three year old:)

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max on Christmas morning, we got a late start because the kids slept in to 8:30.

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max's big gift from santa.

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lilly got a leapster explorer that she loves.

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baby grey got diapers from santa oh, and a pillow pet.

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lilly and max had such a good time opening their presents, they were so sweet and took turns and shared all of the things they got... it was a great Christmas morning.

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max and the family gift from santa.


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baby grey exploring his newly found fingers!
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for the last few years we have been picking names on the elrick side of the family.   big cousin riley picked greys name and she came up with this gift all on her own.  she made a book off of shutterfly for him!  every page has a different cousin on it and it tells what their favorite color is. i think this might be my favorite gift the kids got.
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max and his great big smile for the camera.
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lilly and her new princes costume.

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aunt dana and uncle adam giving lilly a big kiss.

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max got a tun of animals from aunt jess and uncle ben!

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grandpa elrick and baby grey.
 
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grandpa pingel and max:)

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lilly showing of her gift she got:)

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a few of the pingel cousins.

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max and his new mickey mouse!

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baby grey and his new finger puppets:)
we had a wonderful Christmas with our family:)

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS
from the Pingel family

Thursday, December 23, 2010

streets of Bethlehem.

last friday night nick, lilly, max, baby grey, aunt mel, jacqui, jake, and myself walked the streets of Bethlehem. it was a really neat experience for all of us.
this advertisement explains it perfectly,
As you enter you will travel back in time to 3AD and experience the sights, sounds and smells of a busy street in Bethlehem the night Christ was born. Your family and friends can actually walk though a live drama and interact with people who lived in Bethlehem. Realistic dwellings, a quick taste of village life, live animals, Messianic dancing, Roman guards and a most important, a visit to see the new born Savior, Jesus. Visit the Streets of Bethlehem and create special memories this Christmas for the whole family.

the streets of Bethlehem is put on by a local church, i suggest if you live around here you go next year:)
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max and aunt mel waiting in line:) i know that i mentioned before, but max is the biggest ham around a camera... on a side note he had a dr. appointment today and he was not a happyboy, he wouldn't even look at her until she took out her ear checking thing with the light in it, he then gave her the biggest smile he could make... i think he thought it was a camera:)
Image jake, jacqui, lilly and max.Image before we were able to walk the street(that is all inside.) we all had a short movie to watch about baby Jesus and his birth.Image when you first walk in you are greeted by the three wise men and this sweet baby camel.
Imagepeople asking us where we were traveling from, and how many days it took to get to see the new king... the baby Jesus.
Image at the start when we were waiting in line they passed out coins, we were able to buy things on the streets of Bethlehem. lilly bought a bracelet for three coins... it was a little like the farmers market the things were more expensive at the beginning then at the end:)
Image lilly and max petting a tiny miniature pony:)Imagepeople were dancing to music under a huge tent.Image a girl passed out instruments to play,

Imagethe kids loved it.
Imagepeople were washing clothes and weaving baskets in the river.
Image at the end of the night i went back to look at the pictures i took and this one was in it. i have no clue how or why it was taken like this i didn't do anything different with my camera, i just thought i should share it:)
Image the kids petting rabbits.
Image you were able to buy food with the coins you were given, max really enjoyed the dried cranberries.
Imagenick took a picture of me and baby grey... just so we remember we were there:)
Image max and lilly petting the donkey.
Image jake and jacqui smiling for the nicest picture:)
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max wasn't up for one more picture and lilly didn't care to smile:)

that was our trip down the streets of Bethlehem:)