Olivia +piano = Christmas cheer

Olivia's piano teacher, Ms. Lora recently hosted a piano Christmas party for all of her students. Olivia played for the crownd, "What Child is This? and Jingle Bells".

Olivia's Christmas concert

Although a poor image, if you could have seen how many people there were at this concert and how far away I was from the risers, you would be impressed I was able to get a photo at all. Olivia is in the middle row, two over to the right from the boy in the striped shirt.

Everyone loves Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

Naomi's Christmas concert

From left: Campbell, Lars, Naomi, Archer, Audra sing at the MTU Preschool Holiday Concert on Wednesday. What cuties!

What is sweeter than a passel of 4 year olds singing " Jingle Bells"?

It's difficult to hear, but this song is all about Christmas trees waiting for a family to come along and violently CHOP them down and carry them home. It was hilarious to watch the kids pantomiming wielding an ax. Obviously, Michigan is an forestry/agriculture friendly state!

The sun came out today!

After a week of thick snow and bitter cold, God sent us a wee bit of sunshine. Hello, blue sky!

I could feel the Vitamin D synthesizing as I took this picture of our back porch. Thanks for the beautiful Christmas wreath, Adrienne.

I'm thinking of grilling some snow....

Our back yard, a winter wonderland. Every snowflake was sparkling with life and zest. I felt so energized just breathing in the stinging cold air and tracing squirrel tracks with my eyes. What a lovely gift, this day. I was so glad for the tea in the thermos waiting for me inside.

Church Christmas program

This weekend was the annual Children's program at church. While Chris was in Pennsylvania at Mom-Mom's memorial service, we made memories for him via this website. I'm glad all of you can benefit as well.
Olivia and Chloe sing for the Lord!

Naomi did not care for the idea of photography at this particular moment, but I wanted to show off the beautiful dresses Nanna sent.

With Olivia and Naomi up front singing, Chloe could not resist the urge to leave the pew to join her sisters. She bravely walked up there and her big sisters welcomed her with hugs and smiles.

Naomi came back to me during a break in the singing. What a joy-filled face compared to the previous grumpy Christmas tree photo!

Here is a clip of the girls singing, my batteries kept dying and I kept pulling them out, rubbing them and warming them so that I could squeeze a few more shots out of them. It worked long enough to get this video. The zooming did them in, however!

Grammy and Gramps in Hawaii

Grammy and Gramps are off in Hawaii for a visit with Erik, Lisa, Evan, Owen and Ericka. I feel envious!

Erik and Gramps ran a race yesterday. Gramps came in second in his age bracket and Erik came in 78th overall! Wow, those Hauptmann men are athletic!!

It's going to be a long winter....

This is the photo we chose for our Christmas card, enjoy your preview!

With 48 inches so far and 18 on the ground already, we predict the groundhog won't see his shadow until May! Good thing we love to ski, sled and play in the snow

Our snow baby, Chloe

Grammy sends Christmas dresses

Grammy made the girls coordinating Christmas dresses this year. They have bells!

Having a jolly time at church. The girls have quite a reputation for beautiful homemade frocks.

Chloe,2, Naomi, 4.5, and Olivia, 7