Christmas, Part 2: Wilmore

 The week before Christmas was such a great week for us. We enjoyed some company from Hungary one afternoon/evening and it was great to have our two little "Amungarian" kiddos meet. Meg and Gabor are missionaries in Hungary and they have a sweet little boy named Peter. He is just about a year younger than Emily, but the two of them had fun playing together and we enjoyed catching up. I'm sad we didn't get any pictures together. Some day we will be "neighbors" (or at least living on the same side of the pond) and will have many opportunities for pics! 

We have also been saving up a little extra money to go on a family date once Viktor was finished with the semester. We wanted to take Emily to her first movie in the theater. We talked about it for several weeks and by the time we actually got to go she was beside herself with excitement! We went to see Arthur Christmas and it was pretty cute. She did great and lasted the entire movie. She sat on our laps for part of the time while eating popcorn, but the rest of the time she just stood, holding on to the seats in front of her, watching the movie. She clapped when it started and giggled several times throughout the show. She is still talking about it over a week later. When we got home she jumped up into her seat at the table and declared, "I need to write a note to Santa!" She obviously learned this from the movie and decided it was her turn. She sat for over 30 minutes writing this cute little note to Santa...I love her imagination at this age!

 On to the rest of our week....here is our cute little tree.

 

On Friday we made cookies together as a family. Emily and Viktor totally got into it, while I sat close by with my feet propped up (thank you, pregnancy). 

They were quite a team!

We also Skyped with Viktor's parents so they could watch Emily open her gifts from them. I think we've got enough Kinder chocolate to last until next Christmas!

On Christmas Eve my dad came down to stay. I had prepared a whole chicken in the crock-pot and some other goodies for dinner then we were out the door for church. Here is Em ready to go. She was so excited about Jesus' birthday. It was a beautiful service.

After church we drove around to see some Christmas lights and then came home to open one present before bed. A friend had given Emily one book in a four book series for her birthday, so we got her another one to go with it. This one happened to have the story of Jesus' birth in it, so we all read it before bed.

Christmas morning--Pop and Emily playing on his iPhone while I made some coffee and got breakfast in the oven. She is so addicted to this phone!

Time for presents! 

Our main gift to her was a baby doll cradle. 

Uncle Eggie sent down this cute frog hat.

More legos from Uncle BB!

 Pop has recently become addicted to the Angry Birds game and so when we found this mug we had to get it so he had something to open on Christmas morning, too!

Viktor has a love/hate relationship with amazon! He has to load Amazon boxes into semi-trucks every night, but he does love when one has his name on it! He got a new wii game for Christmas.

The Ban Family sent Em this cute little doll house, which she loves.

Daddy got beef jerky in his stocking (gross!) and Emily thought he should share. Turns out she loves it, too (gross!).  haha

Pop brought the Moo Who book so they could read it together.

We had a quiet, restful day playing with new toys and spending time together. We went for a nice walk and then Pop made a delicious steak dinner (thanks to a friend who gave us a gift certificate to Fitch's!). We ended the day by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out candles on His birthday cake!

Christmas, Part 1: Bloomington

 This year we decided we would stay home in KY for Christmas and welcome anyone who wanted to join us. Emily is getting older and so we wanted to start a few traditions and have a go at celebrating in our own home. Besides that, we have no idea where we will be living in the next 1-2 years so we decided to be "home" for now. My mom ended up taking a vacation to Cabo for two weeks over Christmas, so we went to Bloomington to celebrate the week before since she wouldn't be coming down to our house. We also wanted an opportunity to celebrate with my grandma. Here are some pics of our time in Bloomington. We had a great weekend (though we were only there for about 24 hours!). 

We had a nice lunch with Grandma and Uncle Dave and then played up in her apartment for a little while. She gave Emily a couple books that they read together.

 Poor Viktor had just finished a week of finals the day before our trip to IN. He managed to write a total of 57 pages in research papers during that week while working at UPS. Needless to say, he went on very little sleep all week long and was ready to crash by Saturday. This is how he fell asleep at Grandma's house...

After we visited with Grandma we went to my dad's studio. I didn't have any plans to stay and paint, but little miss Em wouldn't have it any other way (and neither would Pop!). So, we had some family fun painting another hand print mug to add to Pop and Mimi's collection and Emily got to paint her first ornament. 

Later that night we got out to my parent's house and opened presents. Emily was TOTALLY in to opening presents this year. It was so much fun! 

Holding her new "chicka chicka boom boom" tree. I love her face here...it is a little heavy, but she was so proud of it. We have had fun practicing her ABC's with this great toy.

This is her saying, "IT'S HELLO KITTY!" We plan to do a bit of traveling in the next year or so and Mimi found her the perfect Hello Kitty sleeping bag. 

Her new baby doll.

Giving a gift to Pop. We gave him a children's book called "Moo Who" about a cow who lost her moo. Emily and Pop have a special bond over mooing like a cow, so we thought it would be perfect.

 Look how excited Em was to give Mimi her hand print bag!

 And look how excited Daddy is about his new Ohio State shirt from Pop and Mimi!

Emily LOVES her new Duplo Legos. She got a set from my parents and another set sent from Viktor's brother. Double the fun!

This is the night we got home from IN. My parents bought her this sweet little nativity set. When we got it home and set it up, Em jumped up on the windowsill and starting rocking Baby Jesus. It was adorable.

Another Christmas post coming soon!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Mikulas!

 One of the great perks of being a cross-cultural family is that we get to incorporate various traditions from both American and Hungarian cultures. We desire to raise our children with a deep appreciation for their Christian heritage, but also for both their American and Hungarian heritage. It has also been fun for Viktor and I to learn each others family traditions through incorporating them into our lives as a family. I don't think Emily will mind the extra celebrating that goes on...especially today! Dec. 6 is Mikulas (St. Nicholas) day in Hungary. Children put boots in the windowsill (Dec. 5) and Mikulas comes in the night to fill them with goodies. Emily really got into it this year!

 Here she is taking off her boots to put them in the window...

Setting them up, ready to go...when she had set both boots in the window she stepped back and said, "There you go, Santa!" She was SO excited.

 

I had a meeting last night and when I came home daddy had already put Em to bed, but this is what I found...obviously she REALLY got into it. She must've thought she had been an extra good girl this year and that Mikulas was going to be extra generous. LOL!

Mikulas fills the boots....our sweet friends had sent a Mikulas package from Hungary last week with some Hungarian chocolate (the gift on the left). She also got a little Dora doll and toothbrushes!

Coming downstairs this morning...ready to see what Mikulas had left behind.

WOAH!

"It's Mikulas!"

"And Dora!"

Thanksgiving 2011

 Viktor, Emily, and I enjoyed hosting my parents this year for Thanksgiving. We've been trying to really embrace our days of rest since they don't tend to come very often at this time of the year as the semester comes to an end. It was nice to relax in our own home, but still enjoy the company of our dear family and friends. I love that my parents sacrifice cozy beds and the comfort of their own home to come spend time with us. My mom crashed on the couch and my dad slept on an air mattress for 4 nights...I guess that doesn't matter when they can spend precious time with their granddaughter. And, hey, I can't complain that I have someone to get up with Em and keep her entertained in the mornings so I don't have to jump out of bed right away.  Here are some pictures and "happenings" from our time together as we celebrated all we are thankful for this year!

 We let Em stay up pretty late to wait on Pop and Mimi to arrive Tuesday night so she could share the news of her new baby SISTER. See below a few posts if you missed it.

Wednesday morning all cuddled up with Pop. She was still exhausted from being up so late the night before. 

A visit with Pop and Mimi wouldn't be complete without crafts. Mimi always brings a bag full of new books and a bag full of crafts to keep little Em entertained.

Checking out her new creation! Looking good!

Pop and Em took a walk to see the trains. They made it just in time for the next passing train. 

Emily takes over Pop's hats and his iPhone when he comes to town. 

On Friday we made our way to Shaker Village to enjoy a wonderful lunch and tour. It was such a beautiful day and the place was all decorated for Christmas.

Waiting on the horse and wagon...so excited to ride!

Here it comes!

Ready to go!

Viktor taking it all in. hehe

After spending the day at Shaker Village we dropped Emily and Mimi at home for a nap and then the rest of us ran off to get our Christmas tree. 

Daddy and Em putting up the star.

Missy, Bevil, and Sophie came over Friday night to help us decorate for Christmas.

We bought Emily and Sophie matching PJ's to wear...soooo cute!

Sharing a snack.

Mimi managed to sneak in one more craft before leaving on Saturday. They made some cute Christmas ornaments out of pine cones.

Here is our thankful tree. I got started on this project a little late this year, but Viktor and I agreed that we will make it a new tradition every November. Every night after dinner we would trace one of our hands, cut it out, and write something we are thankful for on it. We called it our "thankful hands" and Emily really got into it. Almost every time we asked Emily what she was thankful for, she replied, "to God." So, most of her thankful hands said "God." I think "Pop & Mimi" made it up there, along with "Grandma" and her friends, "Maggie and Maia."  I'm saving all of our lists so we can look back on them from year to year.