Christmas!!

Here are a few pics of our Christmas overload:

Opening stockings and presents from G&G Christensen

Thanks for stopping here before your trip out west!

Jessica at her Young 5's Christmas prayer service.  She had the role of Mary in the Nativity reenactment, but it was just putting the Mary figurine in the stable.

I got to be a helper in Jessi's class Christmas party.  They did a craft, ate a snack, played a game, and...

...got a visit from Santa!

The all-school Christmas prayer service.  All 120 2nd graders take part in the Nativity story.  Megan was a shepherd, and you can see her under the Advent wreath, wearing a light blue dress and a white headwrap.

The whole 2nd grade!

Visiting Grandma Postorino before Christmas!  She was in a great mood, and quite talkative!

Christmas morning...playing a favorite game.  The girls had to use brain power to move the ball and the holder back and forth across the board.  So funny to watch!

Opening presents

Goodbye hug from Bram

The only shot with all four cousins!  hahaha

Opening stockings at home

Look at all the presents at home!

Time to tear into them, one by one.

YAY for a Keurig!!

Jessi and her very own American Girl doll!  She named her Lily.

Playing pool in our basement!  Did you know we had a pool table down there??

They've been playing for two days straight, interrupted only by trips to play outside in the snow!

Early December

It's still 2012 (barely), so I thought I'd catch up the blog with December pictures! 

Downtown Rochester lights

Main Street lights

Megan outside the Kris Kringle Market in downtown Rochester (open air German market)

Huge gingerbread house in the Royal Park Hotel

Katie's basketball team

See the two cute little elves in the Rochester Christmas Parade??!!

Chris is walking behind the school float.  He and the Dads Club built the float, including the 8' tall Nutcracker!  Jessi is sitting on the float, wearing a purple coat.

Better closeup of the school float.

Katie as Juan Ponce de Leon!!  Her grade has a Wax Museum, where each kid is assigned to become an explorer!  Katie prepared a 1-min speech, dressed as Juan, and made the posterboard and props.  Thanks to Mom & Dad C. for helping her prepare for this big event!  She got a 95!!

It's called a Wax Museum b/c the kids have to stand perfectly still until somone steps on their button on the floor.  Then they "come to life" and give their speech to the person.  Here's Katie talking to a crowd.  The whole school files through, some just for fun, and some have assignments.

(some of the gold beads and coins were from Bourbon St!!) 

Here's a view of the gym from Katie's display.  Lots of explorers!

This is the cowl I knitted for Mary.  The color is much prettier in person, shades of purple and some hot pink.  Hope you like it, Mary!

I took the girls to the Nutcracker Ballet at a local high school.  The performance was amazing!  Almost entirely en pointe, and just perfect.  The music is my favorite part, and although it wasn't live at this show, I still loved every minute of it.

Last day :(

Today was our last day in New Orleans :(. We enjoyed a quick breakfast of beighnets before heading to mass at St Louis Cathedral.



Then we walked all around Jackson Square, admiring the dozens of artists and their works. After that, we walked up to Louis Armstrong Park and meandered through it, before walking to another cemetery that was creepier than the first!

After a late lunch, we went to the airport, where we're waiting now. It's been an amazing trip, but we're ready to go home!

Saturday in New Orleans

We started the day with breakfast at Cafe Beighnet. Then we went to our long-awaited cooking class! We had such fun all morning long at the class, learning about gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding, and pralines. Our chef was hilarious and shared lots of great stories along with her delicious recipes.






After gorging ourselves at the cooking class, we walked all around the French Market district and huge flea market. Then we walked a bit down Royal St, with its dozens of antiques stores. Then we took a streetcar ride up St. Charles St to see the Garden District. Oh, the mansions!

We had dinner at the Bourbon Orleans, and then watched the Bourbon St street performers for a bit. There are some pretty good magicians, dancers, and musicians out there!



Then we went to the famous Pat O'Brian's piano bar for a few hours to enjoy some hurricanes, good music, and drunk-people-watching.



After walking up and down Bourbon St til nearly midnight, we were ready for bed!


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NO day 3

Yesterday, we slept in ( again), had a quick breakfast, and then trekked to the aquarium at the riverfront park. Chris was in heaven!







Afterwards, we walked along the riverfront to the other end of the French Quarter for lunch and shopping. Then we walked to the closest cemetery for a DIY tour. Very cool and spooky!








Then we got hungry for beighnets (again) so we trekked back to Cafe du Monde. Yummo!


Then we met up with my friend Leslie and her husband. They took us to a great little hole-in-the wall with amazing food! Then they gave us a driving tour of NO before settling in at the carousel bar at the Hotel Montleone. No pics, but the bar was really a carousel, always slowly spinning!









They went home to spell their babysitter, but we stayed out longer, walking up and down Bourbon St. I really didn't think it was possible to have more people, drunkenness, beads, or nakedness, but it was! We got quite the eyefuls!

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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

NO day 2

Yesterday was our 15th anniversary, and we had a very fun day. We started with a breakfast of beighnets and hot cocoa from an open air market.

Then we took a swamp airboat tour!! Nothing says happy anniversary like buzzing around a swamp to see alligators!









We had delish shrimp poboys for lunch back in the French Quarter, and we walked up and down most streets, visiting lots of cute shops. We took a ferry across the Mississippi River and got a great view of the city skyline from the water.



We visited Harrahs casino but just people-watched. We had very late dinner reservations, so we killed time on Bourbon St collecting beads and sipping Boones wine from plastic cups! HaHaHa!



Lots of street "performers!"


We picked a fancy restaurant for our anniversary dinner, and it didn't disappoint!



The BEST "vegetable soirée"


Pecan-roasted puppy drum, also amazing!


We walked off our dinner on Bourbon St again, where the people-watching was better than ever!


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