Christmas Tradition

There is a little town about an hour from Erie called Franklin, PA...and we LOVE to go there. It is a beautiful little place and holds fantastic little festivals and events. Doug and I both like going there because we get the hour ride in the car to talk and catch up, and the events are "small-town" fun that we both enjoy. The events there are always creative and well-planned enough for my enjoyment, and yet small and un-crowded enough for Doug's enjoyment.

The year I was hugely pregnant with Danika and just WAITING for her to finally show up, we decided to attend the Christmas parade in Franklin for the very first time. We had so much fun that we decided to make it a yearly tradition. So, this year we invited my parents to come out and go with us.

What a FANTASTIC fun event that parade is! The unique thing about this parade is that it starts after dark. That is super fun because every float is decorated in tons of christmas lights and all lit up. The parade is long and well-attended, and all the entries are great. And when the parade ends, the parade route closes in on itself and everyone walks down to the town square next to the courthouse. All the people who were standing on the sidelines are now standing in the middle of the blocked off street in front of the "grand-stand." And then the grand finale for this event begins. They set off fireworks from the town square, and they are all set to Christmas music that is playing over the grand-stand speakers. There are ground fire works, low-level fireworks, and traditional full-blown fireworks way up in the sky...all exploding and sparkling in perfect timing with music. It is SO MUCH FUN!

It always seems like the Christmas season is ready to begin after this wonderful "kick-off."

Here are a few pictures from this year's parade. I can hardly wait until next year!

Family Photos...

We had family pictures taken last month - thought you might like to see them.

First Donut Trip with Papa

Danika had a rare treat today....Doug kept her home from daycare so she could pal around with him and run errands. She was SO excited to be with Daddy. :) And one of the errands today involved helping his Dad (aka: Papa) with something. That led to Danika's first experience with a family tradition:



Papa's trips for donuts. :)



Papa has started a tradition that involves taking grandkids out for donuts. Today, Danika got to go with Papa for a donut for the first time. :) I wasn't there, but from what Doug said, after she refused her own donut and stole Papa's donut, she was very happy. :) Lovely child I have.



Anyway...it was quite exciting and she couldn't wait to tell me about it when she got home. Thank you, Papa! Danika loves you, and we do too!

Christmas Day

Christmas Morning!
We got to celebrate Christmas in Erie this year. It was such a fun year because Danika was finally old enough to really get into the whole thing. It was just a wonderful, wonderful day with family we love and adore. What a great way to celebrate the birth of Christ!

This is Danika first thing in the morning eating her toast before we opened gifts. She was SOUND asleep and we had to drag her little can out of bed so we could make it to Doug's parents on time for Christmas breakfast.

This is Danika with one of her Christmas gifts from us...a new doll....with HAIR! She was less than impressed that all of her baby dolls were bald, so we got her a dolly with hair. She LOVES her.

Danika got a stroller from Aunt Kristen and family for her dolly...she LOVES it and still pushes it all over the place EVERY day. :)

Papa (Doug's dad Dana) made Danika her own toybox for Christmas. It is just BEAUTIFUL and Danika adores it. As a matter of fact, she was immediately so possessive of it, that we couldn't even get a picture of Papa sitting on it with her because it was HERS and when he tried to sit down, she pushed him off. "Mine, Papa." Such a loving, sharing child I have. But she does love the toybox...it was such a gorgeous gift.

Papa made Alayna a baby cradle, and that was a huge hit as well. Here are all three girls with both Mimi and Papa.

After Mimi & Papa's house, we made our way over to the big "Bierer Family Christmas" with all of Doug's extended family. It was a wonderful afternoon...and Danika got a lovely pair of shoes that she immediately wanted to wear. It's quite the fashion statement with the PJ's dont' you think? I could have dressed her up, but she was so happy and cozy in those PJ's, I just couldn't bring myself to make her wear a fancy dress. So...PJ's all day, it was.

It was such a wonderful Christmas...but we all slept well that night! What fun!

I'm a lousy blogger...but I have an excuse!

Well....I'm a terrible blogger. I know it's been a month since I last updated. But I have a really good excuse.....

I'm pregnant right now and due with the second little Bierer Baby on Aug 5th.

We are REALLY excited! But since Thanksgiving I've been miserable. I keep hoping it is going to get better, but I feel lousy. Why is this baby being so mean to me?????

Anyway...if I can get my act together I'll post Christmas pictures and pics from Danika's birthday very soon. :)

love,
andrea

Home in Erie

Well....we have returned from our adventures last week. Danika and I are exhausted from so much time in the car and visiting...Doug is exhausted from a very difficult roofing job...but we are all happy that we got to spend time with friends and family and that we made it home safely.

Last night as we were driving home, Danika sat in her car seat just looking around and occasionally singing to herself. It was so cute. I have NEVER seen her stay awake that long for a car ride without crying, but she was just content, calm, and very AWAKE. It was so cute. However, this morning when I tried to put her in her seat for the short drive to daycare she went ballistic. I think she has been trapped in a car seat too long for the last week. It took both Doug and I to calm her down and assure her she was only going to be in the seat for the 1 mile drive to daycare. :)

I will update with new pictures soon!

Hunting Camp Vacation

Last week we went on a mini-vacation down to the hunting camp with Doug's family.

Can I just say that I LOVE my in-laws? And I am NOT just saying that because they all read this blog. :) I truly am blessed beyond anything I can even describe to have the incredible mother-, father-, and sister -in-law that I have. They treat me like I was born into this family instead of married into it, and they never cease to make me laugh and smile the entire time I am with them. It was awesome to be together as a family...I love spending time with all of them. Dana & Susan (Doug's parents), Kristen & Dave (Doug's sister and her husband), Julie, Alayna & Joel (Kristen's kids, ages 5, almost 2, and 9 weeks) were all there and Doug, Danika and myself all joined them on Wednesday. We stayed until Saturday night and we laughed a lot.

The trip was entertaining. :) Just to give you a mental image...we were at the hunting camp. Just for the record, I don't hunt. I don't fish. I don't really like trees...well let's be honest, I don't really like the outdoors all that much. Oh....and I do like civilization...of which it seems like there is none for miles and miles. :) We were in a 3 bedroom hunting camp wwaaaayyy back in the trees with 4 children, 1 cat, no sunshine, and rain for 4 days. :) It was an adventure. Did I mention we had 4 kids, a small space, no real "yard" to play in and bad weather????....it made for a challenge finding things to do and keep the kids busy. :) I stopped crying on Friday and I had to start wearing Susan's wig because I pulled all my hair out....but really it was great fun! :)

All joking aside, we really did have lots of fun eating, telling stories, and hanging out. Wednesday night we went to the Warren County Fair. I grew up in rural Ohio...I actually LOVE fairs, so I thought it was a blast. We ate dinner there and took the kids through the animal barns. Danika was hilarious...she LOVED it! She pointed at all the animals and made "moo" and "oink" and "nay" sounds...it was so stinking cute. Julie got to go on a "ride" & eat ice-cream, so she had fun, too. :) And all the kids got to sit on various farm equipment and see some horse riding...it was quite the entertaining trip. And of course...Dana knew almost everyone he saw. :)

Thursday the boys went fishing and the girls kind of just hung out at the cabin. Some friends of the family came over for dinner Thursday night and the kids all played together. Friday was "girls" day. Susan, Kristen and I all went into "town" and had lunch and visited with people in Tidioute while the boys kept the kids. It was a big day in the "big city". :) Saturday, the boys went fishing in the morning and Doug caught this big fish. It was still alive when they brought it home and Danika got to pet it...she was scared at first but then got all excited and thought it was pretty cool.

So that was our week....and other than Danika taking a nose-dive into a pile of firewood and scraping her head all up, nobody really came home any worse for wear. Good times had by all! :)