Merry, Merry, Christmas

Hanging a candy cane

Finished Xmas tree

Did I mention how excited I am about Christmas.  We bought our first fake Christmas tree, since real ones don't last too long here.  The choices at the BX were limited, but I am REALLY really pleased with it.  Per my Mom's recommendation, we got one with lights built in, and it was much easier to put together and it still looks great. Reina really enjoyed putting up the ornaments (and she still does).   And after a talk about not taking the bows off of the presents, Reina has left most of the tree alone.  She loves talking about Christmas trees and santas, and even requested a christmas movie yesterday.  This makes me want all those Christmas movies I grew up with (and by all I mean, Rudolf in cartoon).   It is so fun to share the Christmas spirit with a little one.  I tried to get some cool, creative shots, but I think perhaps they just turned out bad!  Check the slideshow for more.

Creative? Or just a bad picture?

Jeff arrived safely last Sunday evening, and has been able to pick up Reina for half-days of daycare.  This has been great since Reina sleeps so much better at home, and of course she gets to spend some time with Grandpa.  We haven't had too much time to get out and get pictures yet, since we worked all week, but we will. We are planning another trip to Yomitan village today (per uncle Paul's request) and perhaps I'll get some more shots from there with Grandpa.

Since Romeni was here, I finally got started on one of my "life" projects (as in, I will do this once in my lifetime).  I am making a quilt for Reina from her old baby clothes.  Its cool because there is a story about each different fabric, that Chris and I can tell Reina about.  It has gone pretty well, and hopefully it will be done in time for Reina's tenth birthday!   Here is a shot of what I've finished thus far.  Thanks to Romeni for helping me get started.