Carianne's Only Christmas in El Paso

This is our tree in El Paso the year that Carianne was born.  In truth we ended up selling the house right after this picture was taken and didn't even spend Christmas there.  We were out of the house by the 20th and in our new house by the New Year in San Antonio, Texas. But this does show the type of stocking I chose for our family.  The girls loved putting them on their own feet and walking around on Christmas eve.  Since I made them out of double knit fabric, they were washable and they could play with them.  We had that tree until we moved back to San Antonio the second time.

I am going to add a recipe for Homemade Christmas Simmering Potpourri.  This makes your house smell wonderful with things you have in your house!

Peels of 2 oranges or other citrus fruit
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
5 whole allspice
1 1/2 cups water
Simmer on the stove or in a potpourri pot.  Beware that if this boils down it will ruin your pan.  A fun variation is to  use evergreen sprigs instead of the citrus peels or even added to the citrus peels.

A Bahlmann Christmas

I love this picture of our Bahlmann grandchildren.  This is the year that Luke was born and they were living in Colorado, so it is 3 years old.  I am sure we will have an updated version this year.  

Happy Saint Nicholas Eve!

This is a picture of my brother Bob, my sister Marianne and me opening the Advent Calendar in our attic apartment in Germany.  This would be the first Christmas we spent in Germany.  Most of our family traditions are from that year and that experience in Germany.  Tonight is the night to put your shoes out if you believe in St. Nicholas.  Then tomorrow morning you will find goodies in them!  All of our children and grandchildren know that he is coming tonight!  This is also the second Sunday of Advent.

Heather and Bella

Heather and Bella at Christmas.  It looks like Bella was about 3 in this picture but I am not sure.  Heather will have to help me out on this one.

Carianne's Visit With Santa

This is a picture of Carianne as a baby.  This is her first visit with Santa.  The girl standing to the left of Santa is LeeAnn Olsen and she wanted Carianne to 'visit' Santa Claus.  As you can tell, Carianne was the darling of the ward.  Those kids are not waiting to visit Santa but to hold Carianne.  I would walk into to Church and never see her again.  She was everyones' baby in the ward.  Not too long ago our daughter, Heidi, posted a picture of her newest daughter, Mallory wearing the same dress Sunshine is wearing in this picture.

A Month of Christmas Pictures

I am going to try and post a month of Christmas pictures.  This may not look like a Christmas picture but it will always be to those of us who are fans of the movie "A Christmas Story".  Whenever I see this picture, though it is my brother, I still hear, "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Happy Birthday Heidi!

Happy Birthday Heidi!  I love this picture because  it shows the personalities of the girls at the time.  Carianne clearly did not want to do this.  Heather is being very angelic (she always loved having her picture taken and getting dressed up) and Heidi hated being around strangers plus her sisters had just done something mean to her just before this picture was shot.  In other words it was a typical day!

I love this picture because of how angelic Heather looks, once again. This picture was taken when Heidi was 3.  The girls were part of a last minute Christmas pageant  we did in North Carolina.  The girls were part of the "Heavenly Hosts".

This picture was taken last summer in Texas.  We were there with them as they visited the Pfiesters and had a wonderful time.  Heidi is a very special daughter, wife and mother.  We are so proud of her accomplishments.  We are even more proud that she is ours.  (Heidi, did you know you shared a birthday with Bette Midler?)