Family Christmas in Wheaton, part 2

More great family time...

the BROTHERS!!

Avery and Bella (almost 15 months) loved playing with all of the stuffed animals around the house. "Here, Mom." They would take them out of the basket, hand them to Tiffany, repeat, then reverse the process. (A. on left; B. on right)

Bella liked coming over and pointing at Gemma. Here are the cousins checking each other out. Gemma says, "Oh boy, how can I get her hand into my mouth?"

Christmas morning! (on the 22nd) For the 3rd time, J&J made the cinnamon rolls. This year we tried a variation where you roll cream cheese into the dough before adding the filling - nice! It helped keep the dough moist and yummy for several days following.

the General in charge of all Christmas breakfast preparations...

And this year Noah added an egg dish to our breakfast, cheddar-bacon roll-up eggs. Very tasty. Please do again next year, Noah!


While in Wheaton, Gemma discovered stuffed animals too. There was one bear she liked to gnaw on and fling around while in the swing. This little bear kept her company on the couch one morning.

Not sure what was happening here, but that's life with twins - !

Of course it was so special to see baby Brink (due Mar 2) showing more of herself, and celebrate a bit with the soon-to-be parents. They had two baby showers while in Wheaton, and this pink Michigan onesie was one of the gifts.

Family Christmas in Wheaton, part 1

Leading up to the 25th, we spent 8 days up in Wheaton - initially to attend cousin Hailey and Matt's wedding, but then also to spend time together with the Gies sibs & families (with our two beautiful nieces!) since we were all in town. It was a crazy, wonderful full house at 516 E Forest! And most impressive of all is that we were able to get a really nice family photo in only two takes...of course, still working on getting the little ones to smile...

Here are a few shots from the wedding - the College Church sanctuary was beautiful (and so was Hailey!! sorry no close-up)

Gemma sat in my lap for the processional and the charge, and then got squirmy (a lot of people and loud music made her tired) and we had to go out. Oh well. She then fell asleep and we got to see the rest of the ceremony from the balcony.

Cousins Ellen and Olivia hanging out with Gemma (who had just awoken from another nap)


Mom and Auntie Pat looking happy & beautiful

A little over a year ago we were in church to celebrate THIS wedding - look at the gorgeous couple now (and baby on the way!)

Back at the homestead, Gemma got the royal treatment all week, lots of cuddling and kisses from her Nonna and two aunts (she isn't smiling in these photos but I think that's because she was so content and relaxed).

Small Group Christmas Party

We've been away from blogging for a couple of weeks - keeping busy with Christmastime festivities and a week away in Wheaton with family! Now to catch up with some of December's happenings. First, our White Elephant party with the small group from that we have recently joined with couples from church. The nice thing about the group is that all 6 couples have had new babies in the last year or so, including two others less than a month older than Gemma. It is wonderful to be making friends here in B-town!!!

Here's me and Laura, awaiting our gift choosing turns.

Andrew, Leah and Jane, who had fun playing with leftover wrappings.

Kevin and Emma - wow, nice blow-up parrot.

Wes, Lilah, Erin and Elise

And Gemma, who kicked on the floor and drooled happily throughout the festivities

Of course there was food...and here are shots of our contributions: ceasar salad bites and foccaccia with caramelised onion, olive tapenade and goat cheese.

End of the Semester!

What a great feeling it is to complete another semester of doctoral studies!! That makes 1 1/2 years into the program and another semester closer to finishing coursework (hopefully by end of next summer).

I just submitted the final paper for my Literature Review course, the first of a two-course sequence taken during the final year of classes that is meant to help launch students into the dissertation. I'll take the next course in the sequence in the spring semester.

I enjoyed the Lit Review class very much - it pushed me to think carefully about what I want to focus on for the dissertation and to find and read hundreds of pages per week on my topic. We're told that it is important to pick a topic that is interesting to us, since we'll be spending hours and hours (and hours) reading, thinking, and writing about it in the next few years. I am focusing on the internationalization of higher education, specifically on international partnerships between universities in the US and overseas. If all goes as planned, I hope to begin research next fall.

Gemma served as my quality control supervisor, as you can see. The final paper for the course consisted of a review of the key constructs related to my topic: mine concluded at 60 pages, inclusive of references (122 of them). Yikes, I hope my professor doesn't fall asleep reading it.

New Activities for Gemma

She is still working on 100% neck/head control but this week she has been able to sit in the Bumbo!! Of course the location of choice is the kitchen counter where she can watch food preparations. (did you know the Bumbo was invented & made in South Africa?)

And here she is in the jolly jumper - yes, that is in the furnace closet in the kitchen. When you have a small house you do what you can...

Now - 3 months old!

This week Gemma celebrated her 3 month birthday by having 3 "firsts":

1. Bouncing & swaying in the jolly jumper
2. Going to the YMCA swimming pool and learning to splash
   
3. "Playing" in the snow

Unfortunately we don't have photos of the first two but we did capture a few of the first snow of the year - we got 4-6 inches this week. See below. She also did GREAT in the jolly jumper and at the pool. She didn't fuss or cry at all but on both occasions seemed to slowly ease herself into the newness; at first she was quiet and still, but after a few minutes was kicking and cooing and very happy.

Here's the red-cheeked little girl doing one of her favorite things, sitting on the couch (in clothing of multiple patterns).

In honor of the snow - well, not really, more like in honor of the weekend and a chance to have a leisurely breakfast together - Jim made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. YUM. It was a new recipe (using the shortcut of hot roll mix, shhh don't tell) and he baked them in the cast iron pan.

Afterwards we explored a bit outside and ate some snowflakes.