Merry Christmas!

Her cute new teddy!

Max that's not a bone!

Max the Christmas dog

Her pirate ship, this occupied her the entire day. She was even doing pirate voices:)

Opening gifts!

Ash with a Tickle me Cookie Monster

(sister recieved an Elmo I had to keep it somewhat fair...)

Bri with her Elmo

Stocking fun

Some Polly Pets from Grammy

Opening their stockings

Merry Christmas to everyone!

This year was WAY more fun than previous years as Santa came to our house. We put out milk, cookies and a carrot for Rudolph. Then she squealed as she came downstairs to see that her stocking was full and the food was gone. After that we opened presents while watching the Walt Disney World Christmas parade (go AFN!). It was a blast. They were yelling about their presents and the Disney characters in the parade....they enjoyed the parade so much we even had to prompt them to keep going on the gifts! Ash got the Little People Pirate Ship she's been asking for for two years and Brielle got a Elmo Live that she carries around everywhere. This thing is crazy...everytime it tips over it says "uh, oh Elmo fell down. Will you help Elmo up please." Then she picks it up and it says "Thank you you're Elmo's best friend." So she walks around telling us "Elmo's best friend, me! " It's just too cute! Then they got an adorable stuffed bear from mom that they've been taking turns with and gobs of lipsmackers and nail polish that they've been enjoying. Oh and they blew through the Pez in their stioockings as fast as we could fill it. And lots of other fun stuff thanks to Grammy! (Were working on the thank you cards today, but when they'll get sent nobody knows:)) The rest of the day was spent relaxing until dinner (which we spent with his coworkers.). Anyhow, Merry Christmas, I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year.

A funny little Ashlynn story...

Ok...so the girls are kinda funny here. Everyone wants to kiss them and touch them all the time when I bring them into town and they are both pretty grumpy about it. Sometimes Ash will be in a good mood and smile and ham it up, but Bri never is. Anyhow, we were at the grocery store last night and the young guy helping me bag the groceries was really pestering them and getting in their faces. Well, neither girl would even look at him and he thought it was a fun game to see if he could get them to respond. So he kept talking in Arabic to them and asking for kisses and their name and then he switched to French and then finally he said (in English)..."Do you speak English?" Ashlynn finally looked straight at him and said "NO!" and turn back toward her sister. It was hilarious! The guy thought it was the greatest thing. I couldn't stop laughing and she had no idea what was so funny. Oh well, maybe next time she'll keep the poker face.

Setting Up the Christmas Tree!

Hello!

Here is the Christmas tree we set up tonight. We had some friends over to help and it was just fun to watch the girls enjoy it so much. Now, Ash is even more eager to get her presents from Santa. Christams is going to be awesome this year! Hope all is well!

Hello! Here's some pictures from the kid's Christmas Party that Hoss's work hosted.

They had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day spent in a gorgeous setting at his boss's, boss's house (yes, there is easier ways to put this, but once again that whole opsec thing;)) It was nice to finally see the sun as lately there's been a lot of rain and it's been cold for us (46....no not the -20 that Calgary is having but still cold for us!). Anyhow, we are doing well and looking forward to the holidays.

Making Christmas Cookies!

We had a lot of fun making sugar cookies. Then we invited the guys over to help us decorate them. It was great, I took pics of that too...but they didn't turn out because of the light and our crappy camera. Too bad!

Max @ 2 1/2 months, Max now @ 5 1/2 months

We love this guy!

Yes that's the same couch and same spot:)

Oh yeah...and we found out he's the same breed as Fang on the Harry Potter movies!

Hey guys, sorry I've been so bad at keeping in touch! Ash broke her arm on the playground. My mom came for a couple of weeks (yeah!). I spent the last two months choreographing a musical at the American High School (A High School Musical (the first one)) and then I'm busy with a Forensic Psychology class and trying to get motivated on my Thesis...which is not really progressing past the point of the research phase. Then we had Thanksgiving with Hoss's coworkers (yes, you all know who I am talking about even if I can't say:)) and I've been trying to get ready for Christmas. The cards are going to be late this year...and I still need every one's address please! (Sorry Annie, I lost it again...yes, I know you should seriously hold it ransom until I call:)) Hoss is still trying to catch up at work and we are both slowly learning the language. Life is crazy and still at the same time I sometimes feel as though it lacks true substance; but that is neither here nor there. I have some more pictures to post. Some cute ones of the girls making cookies and what not, but for now I'm just going to put this stuff up and hope I will get back to the rest tomorrow after I'm done with the homework I'm avoiding and need to get back to. Love you all! Kasey...Oh yeah and the pics are taken for Christmas along with the new one up top!

My Two Fairies

Today was a good day, a little on the long and boring side but definately good. Our highlight is as shown above. Max destroyed a small palm tree in the front yard and I braided the leaves together to make a "fairy crown" then it was just so darn cute I had to take a couple pictures. Hope everyone is well.

Today's pictures of the kids.

The city at night...

Here are some pictures of the city at night. I was driving by some of the ruins last night and noticed how they had lit them up and thought it was pretty cool; so I went with Hoss to get some pictures tonight. Now I just need to get the same photographs in the daytime. Sometimes it just blows my mind that we live in such a historic place.

Funny stories...

Ok...so here's a rather funny story. I was visiting a lady at her house and she was showing myself and another local women around her house. When we walked into the bathroom I noticed she had two toilets and I commented on it. She responded that she didn't know what the second one was for but she had been letting her small daughter use it as it was about the right size. The local Muslim women quickly stepped into the conversation and told her it was not toilet, but a basin for washing feet before their prayers! Lets just say that was a awkward and funny moment to witness.



So...recently we went to Germany and I was SO excited to be able to purchase a cuckoo clock as a memento of the occasion. Well, we put it up in the house and everything has to be just right for it to operate. It has to be level, the leaf behind the weights has to be in just the right spot and it has to be wound everyday; but the children's squeals when it goes off and the little people who dance to the cute tune is definitely worth it. Anyhow, one crazy day during the dreaded dinner hour when both children were crying at the same time (over different things) and the supper was burning on the stove; I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. Wouldn't you know it, that's when the darn thing started to go off (cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo)...Yes, it was mocking me! So, lets just say that the clock's cuckoo only gets turned on on really good days and if I know that Hoss is going to be going to be late for dinner and the girls are crabby then I make sure it's not on to remind me of the chaos that sometimes reigns in the Paquette house! This picture, by the way, is just one I pulled off the Internet for effect...ours is a bit different.

I took this picture in the subway of Frankfurt so it would always remind me of the "Ashlynn moment" we had. We were riding the train on our way to the Frankfurt zoo and Ash was super excited. She was having an awesome trip, was happy about going to the zoo, and this train ride there was the topping on the cake. Well, she turns to her dad and says, "Daddy, this is a dream come true". Sweet little princess!

One more story....One night Ash was getting ready to accompany her dad on a short trip to work, where he had to finish up some last minute stuff. And as they went to go outside Hoss noticed that the dog had, had an accident on the floor of the solid type. Well, it didn't seem to phase her a bit; as she walked out she just turned and looked at me and said "mmmmm mom smells like muffins"...yeah, I guess I need to work on my muffin recipe!