Christmas Dress(es) 2011

If you'll remember from prior years one holiday tradition Yours Truly is taking advantage of while our girl is young involves finding just the right Christmas dress. This adventure is one that we often start early (to be more specific, this year's dress was actually purchased on clearance the day after Christmas 2010).

I love how the forest green color looks against the Little Miss' light complexion and dark hair. She likes the shiny taffeta, sparkle, soft velvet trim and bows. We had an adorable pair of gold ballet slipper style shoes to complement the dress but apparently our girl does not yet know one sometimes has to sacrifice comfort for fashion; she complained that they hurt so we stuck with basic black (can't blame her).

One dress was not enough as the Little Miss also ended up receiving a sweet hand-me-down silk dress from her cousins. The red, black and white was perfect for our Nutcracker outing.

Another tradition my good friend Joani and I both enjoy this time of year is to photograph our girls together in their Christmas dresses. We were able to get a few pictures of them last weekend during our annual Christmas caroling dinner party at the Curtis house.

Love these two girls! They sure had a good time playing. Joani also made our girl's day when she gave her super cute cutouts of all the Nutcracker characters. Pretty much one of the more creative gifts ever (not to mention the patience all that detailed cutting would require). Did I mention that Joani also quilts, sews, scrapbooks, crafts, decorates cakes, enjoys cooking, decorating her home and is a terrific mom and talented chemical engineer?! She seriously amazes me. I may not come close to her in artistic or intellectual talents but I have rubbed off on her with my Christmas and Easter dress hunt addiction. Her daughter Allison is actually wearing one of our girl's former holiday dresses and we will surely be sharing these other dresses in future years!

Nutcracker 2011

Since we enjoyed the Eugene Ballet Company's production of the Nutcracker so much last year, the Little Miss and I decided to take my aunt to the Oregon Ballet Company's production this year. We went to their opening performance last weekend and had a wonderful time. It was a perfect outing for the Little Miss and her great aunt since they share a love for wooden nutcrackers this time of year (my aunt has a three foot nutcracker in her Christmas decoration collection and our girl likes to pretend he is her prince). I just love watching the Little Miss take in the beauty of the ballerinas and their costumes. My favorite comment of the night was, "Mom, I sure like the Sugar Plum Fairy. She makes me smile." We didn't make the men join us (this year) but Mr. Wagner and my uncle met up with us afterwards for a delicious fondue dinner at the Melting Pot (yum!), a great way to kick off our Christmas celebrations.

Midwest Adventures 2011: Part 3

Those that know Mr. Wagner well understand there is one thing he truly needs. Any ideas? Here are a few hints: 1) has four wheels; 2) runs; 3) makes a lot of noise; 3) often green trimmed in yellow; 4) needs a lot of space. Have you guessed yet?

Yes, a John Deere tractor! Not just any JD tractor though. Mr. Wagner can tell you exactly which model of tractor he wants (depending on how much land he were to own. Larger lot = larger tractor needed of course). I would love to give him a tractor though first we would have to move to a different house with plenty of acreage. We can always dream, right?

For now Mr. Wagner has to get his tractor fix when we visit our family in WI. One of Mr. Wagner's favorite activities is to work outside on his parents' property helping his dad with whatever needs there are, especially those that require the use of a tractor. Thankfully between all of the extended family there are plenty of tractors to go around. Mr. Wagner happily fulfilled his tractor fix on our recent trip by helping his dad trim trees and vacuum leaves, driving no less than three different tractors for the activities.

You can literally see my hubby's eyes light up with his passion for heavy equipment and labor when he is back "home" working alongside his dad. It is a blessing to watch him and is even more wonderful to see him sharing his love for tractors with his daughter.

Love, love, love these two tractor fans!

Midwest Adventures 2011: Part 2

The day after Thanksgiving we headed south to Illinois to visit Mr. Wagner's brother and his family. They were moving to MO the following week so weren't able to make it to WI for the holiday. It ended up working out well for us to make the trip down over the weekend. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the Little Miss was coming down with a bad cold and fever until that Saturday so in addition to visiting, we also "shared" a nasty virus but the visit was still worth it!

The Little Miss sure enjoyed playing with her cousins. Elli and Jess will always have a special place in my heart since I got to live with their family for about two months after our girl was born (while she was still in the hospital) and they were 3 and 2 years-old...how time flies! This was the first time I've really noticed how much the Little Miss looks like her cousins, not a big surprise considering their daddies are identical twins. Speaking of the twins, they made sure to fit a visit to the John Deere Headquarters, which happened to be just a few miles away. Notice Mr. Wagner came prepared wearing his favorite JD sweatshirt.

Gr'ma joined us on the trip down and it was wonderful to get to spend the extra time with her. Here she is with the kiddos (Owen, the only boy cousin is such a little character and so much fun! He is exactly how I'd picture the twins when they were little, super loving but also mischievous at the same time!).
The whole crew...of course the kiddos were not cooperating with picture taking at this point so this was the best we could do.

The trip reminded me just how much I miss living near this family. I so wish we all lived closer but am excited for them as they start their new adventure in Missouri.

Midwest Adventures 2011: Part 1

We had a fun trip involving four states as we visited Mr. Wagner's side of our family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Within the span of one week we flew into Minnesota then headed to Wisconsin where we celebrated Thanksgiving with family. The next day we drove through part of Iowa on our way to Illinois where we spent a couple of days visiting Mr. Wagner's twin bro and his family. Then it was back through Iowa to return to Wisconsin to stay with Gr'pa and Gr'ma for the remainder of the week. Lots of travel but the family time was well worth it!

We first arrived at Gr'pa and Gr'ma's house the night before Thanksgiving and got to enjoy a short visit with Mr. Wagner's sister and her daughter before they returned to CO the day after Thanksgiving. It has been awhile since we had gotten to see them so the Little Miss had a great time getting reacquainted with her seven year-old cousin Savannah.
For the Thanksgiving feast we were also joined by Mr. Wagner's Aunt Donna and her son Ken's family as well as Great Gr'ma Wagner and Great Gr'pa Maves (the Little Miss insists he is just "Gr'pa Maves"). Mr. Wagner's family has a tradition of gathering to share what each person is thankful for and I will never forget what our girl said; she announced to everyone that she was thankful for (Great) "Gr'pa Maves". It was wonderful to see his glowing smile in response. You see, our girl still remembers visiting Gr'pa Maves over a year ago and has talked of him regularly since, having always held a special place in her heart for him.

So Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families from the West Coast Wagners! We sure are thankful for our wonderful family, friends and for all that God has given us.

We are having fun with Mr. Wagner's side of our family. We missed getting a family picture today but did get a lot of pictures of the Little Miss playing outside at Grandpa and Grandma's after our yummy meal. Great food, and most of all, great company.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

'Tis (Almost) The Season

Yes, this year I turned into one of THEM. You know, one of THOSE people who starts listening to Christmas music even before Thanksgiving. Not to mention {gasp!} putting up Christmas decorations early, oh my! There you have it folks, the first step in my recovery. I admitted it.

In my defense it was Mr. Wagner who came up with the idea. For the first time EVER he was actually looking forward to setting up our (fake) Christmas tree (side note: Yours Truly much prefers a real tree but my allergies don't agree). Out of the blue, he suggested we get out our decorations this weekend. Really?! Where did that come from?

I was certain that an alien had taken over my dear hubby's body but later learned that he had been in a store where there were decorations and Christmas music playing so it put him in the mood. I was certainly not going to let the opportunity slip by so quickly took him up on the offer (plus, I knew it would be a very fleeting thought and soon he would remember how much he dislikes setting up our tree). Up came the Christmas decorations, tree and interior lights on Saturday (even the West Coast Wagners are not silly enough to put outside lights up early lest our neighbors know that we are one of THEM). Please don't unfriend me, it (most likely) won't happen again.

We then continued with the winter welcoming festivities today joining good friends on an outing to a local "mountain" (not exactly a mountain but the highest peak around here) where we played in the snow. The Little Miss had a blast sledding with her daddy and playing with her good friends Allison and Logan. I'll let Joani write more about the day; we both agreed that we need to make these snow outings more regularly. Such fun!

'Tis (almost) the season!