The Guddat Gang

This is Jon. As we do each year, we headed down to Yakima to spend time with Brittany's mom's side of the family at their annual Christmas party. Santa has made a personal visit every year and last year was the first year the girls warmed up to him without our help. This year was pretty much the same for Delaney, but Adelyn was a little skeptical. Santa does a great job. Gifts, stories, songs and a Christmas lesson. The girls with cousin Madison. All the kids at the party. If you notice Delaney is in the middle holding Santa's magic key. Adelyn chatting up Santa. If Dan is reading this, he didn't wear his Santa hat the entire time, but it was very much near him. Adelyn thrilled with her new make up kit. The makers of Oxy Clean carpet cleaner are thrilled that Adelyn has since painted her carpet with the make up. Not sure who made the call to get a three-year old make up, but I'm sure she's a really pretty lady whose name begins with a B and ends in rittany....

This is Jon. Delaney's last day of school until the New Year was yesterday and Thursday acted as a great finale for the kids. Kittitas Elementary put together its Christmas Concert for us to enjoy. Delaney practicing with her friends in class during school earlier that day. Cute class. My little princess before we left for school. New dress courtesy of Blue Grandma. Delaney and friends with full, booming voices! Beautiful Delaney... Proud parents afterwards in Delaney's classroom. Here are some videos to enjoy.............

This is Jon. Like everyone on this side of the mountains, we got dumped on this past weekend. The girls and I spent the afternoon frolicking in the snow. Brittany got things rolling by crossing the line early. I wish I could say that Adelyn took this photo, but she didn't. I had the camera on a timer and while waiting for the camera to click, Adelyn took off and said "peace out." I guess waiting 10 seconds for the camera to get the shot is about 15 seconds too long. Body part 1 of snowman 1. The finished products. Yeah, Delaney isn't looking at the camera, but I couldn't resist Adelyn's pose. Adelyn with her new friend. As much as it snowed on Saturday (the snowmen were made Sunday), it got pretty warm on Sunday, to about 38 degrees or so. Needless to say the snowman got a little bit drippy by the end of the day. Delaney's snowman had a pretty good lean to it and the last thing I did before I went to bed was check on its status. It is lying down for ...

Here are some photos that never seemed to make it on the blog from the last few months. This is my public apology for breaking my favorite mother in law's cake she made for Delaney. It was very tall and I decided to cut it a little aggressively and it took a turn for the worse. Sorry Mrs. Liedtke. Toothless Delaney. The other day DRae lost her sixth tooth. She's lost her two upper front teeth and her four lower front teeth. Right now, she looks like the victim of a fist fight. Against her better judgement Brittany left me and the kids alone about three weeks ago. We decided to attack the craft closet and came out with coloring books, construction paper, sharp things, things that stain clothes, things that stick to chairs. I'm happy to report that nothing bad happened and that not only did the girls make pretty things, but I deep cleaned the kitchen and bedrooms. Adelyn and her apron which really is a decorative winter towel for the kitchen. She's her own style. Fie...

Friday was Brittany's 29th birthday and like the true rodeo fan she is, we went to Rodeo City BBQ to eat some ribs while wearing bibs. Yeah, that says, "I (heart) Rodeo City BBQ." Like usual, Brittany is stunning. I found some old photo albums of Brittany when she was a toddler. The kids and grandparents got a kick out of looking at them. I see striking resemblances between the three girls. This shirt will definitely be worn at the Ellensburg Rodeo. Hot! The gift that seems to define Brittany: the gift card. Nothing going on in this photo except the fact that it clearly was twin tolo and for some reason Delaney was holding Cathy's arm up for a long time. Birthday girl blowing out her singing candle.   Family photo, it only took 10 tries. The best one of all three girls was ruined by me making a funny face, so that wasn't included.

After cutting the tree down last Saturday, we brought it in the house and then decorated it the next day. We have found that every ornament has a story to it as our tree is very "Charlie Brown" -ish - not symetrical, a bit bare in some places and nothing is uniform in the decorations - which is perfect for us. Delaney was in her element. She's a girl that has to have everything planned and the same, so designing the tree was something she was looking forward to. Girls checking out the ornament options. Delaney with an ornament made by Grandma Debbie in 1983. Jerrod and I have split up the ornaments mom stitched over the years and now our kids get to put them on the tree. Adelyn focused on the corner of the tree and didn't really stray from that area. Almost every night since then she has rearranged the ornaments in "Addy's Section." Delaney looks spectacular here, sorry her dork of a Dad got into the frame. Adelyn trying to place the star at the to...