Captured Moments

Christmas Eve morning we opened our gifts with just the 3 of us before church. Christmas Eve nite we went to a candle light service at our church. I will post more photos of Christmas day soon, where we spent the morning for breakfast at my sisters house and the kids opened their gifts from the extended family and the afternoon and evening we all went up to my parents house for more gift exchange and dinner. Enjoy these precious moments...I sure did!

This photo was taken just before we opened our gifts...

This was Chloe's reaction as she came out to see her kitchen and shopping cart all set up and tied with red bows...she kept pointing and looking at us and then back at the gifts, her jaw practically dropping to the ground, it was so special to see her reaction.

She cautiously approaches...

And that was that...

And she's off...

Bear is sitting in the cart just like Chloe does when she shops with mommy...

Here Chloe is finding all the fake food, pots, pans, dishes, utencils & various accessories all placed in the different cubbards & comparments of her kitchen...we even put things in the oven, fridge and microwave and she had so much fun discovering all of this.

December 2006

This year we did not have the time to mail out our Christmas Letter...so here it is. Enjoy!!

2006 has been another year of wonderful change in our household. After 4 years of living & owning our home in Sacramento County, we decided to sell that home & move. And what a move it was. We sold our home at the end of April and moved to Amador County. It was certainly a HUGE change for us, going from city to country, but we are so happy with our new home. We live next to a community duck pond and the wildlife around our home is so cool! We wake up to the noises of bullfrogs & quacking ducks instead of road/city noises...it is a refreshing change. The few neighbors we have gotten to know are really wonderful (we all live so far apart that, unfortunately, it is a little harder to get to know them all). Though this was a very significant (and might I add very stressful) event for us, this was not the only change to happen to our little family.

Nate is a wonderful husband and father. We are so blessed by him and the time we get to spend together as a family. Though life can be very busy, Nate and I, through lots of prayer, continue to seek God and put our family over his job and the business of life. Nate continues to work for the Sacramento County Sherriff's Department as a Deputy Sherriff. He has had a lot of neat opportunities through various assignments this year to see a different side to his job; a side that he has been throughly enjoying. These assignments have allowed for him to work during the week which has given him the time to become more invovled in our church and we have been able to attend church together as a family on sunday mornings, a huge answer to prayer. He has many household projects that keep him busy, too, and he also continues to be invovled with his shooting club at our local gun range.

I am still an at home mom, & I love it! Chloe is so fun. In late Septemeber we found out that we will be having another baby in late May. We are so excited!! I am 17 weeks along & everything is going along just fine. I have heard the babies heartbeat a couple of times already & we have the 8 week ultrasound photo of the newest Traxler on our fridge. We hope to learn the gender of the baby on Jan 17th. I am going to have a scheduled c-section for sometime in late May. In early September I joined a women's bible study at our church and we studied the life of Jesus, a Beth Moore study, and it was wonderful. This study has just ended and I can not wait to start the new study after the first of the year. Nate & I have gotten more involved in our church through small group ministries and we continue to stay in touch and get together with our small group from our old church.

Chloe is doing great. We moved in to our new home the weekend before she turned 1. Right away Chloe and I were able to get involved in our new church. She attended a playgroup during the week and has been loving the nursery on sunday mornings. In September, we took Chloe to disneyland for her 1st time and she had a blast (although I am sure it is a toss up as to who had more fun, Chloe, us or Grandpa & Grandma Traxler). Chloe was able to go on a lot of rides and she just soaked it all in. Another change came when we had noticed that Chloe crossed her eyes now and then, too much for any kind of comfort, so, in October, we took her to the pediatic opthomologist. He diagnosed her, for the time being, with Estropia (crossing of the eyes), so she has been in glasses for the past few months. We take her back to see him in feb. For a 20 month old, she is doing very well with glasses and she looks so cute in them, to boot! Other than her eyes and battling a few colds, she is very healthy. She is talking a lot now. She can say just about any word you ask her to, but is still shy with her words around other people. She will mimick what we do and loves to pretend, but, her most favorite continues to be playing outside. Chloe was able to met Santa Claus the other night. He came through our neighborhood on the fire truck to say Merry Christmas and he gave her her very own stuffed Santa. She was in awe of him and that night she slept with her stuffed Santa. She has been enjoying all the Christmas music and decorations (especially the lights) this year. She loves to dance and play. All in all she is a very happy kid and we are so proud of her.

Our cat Jack has been the source of a lot of fun for Chloe. He is so good around her and we enjoy having him around, too. He has been in our family for over 5 years now, boy how time flys!

Amongst many Christmas traditions that our family has, the one that stands out in my mind is the tradition of corresponding with the child we sponsor through World Vision. Her name is Ana, from Nicaragua, and she will be 4 years old on April 28, 2007 (Chloe and Ana share the same birthday, indeed a wonderful surprise). Each year at Christmas we exchange photos and letters telling eachother what the Lord has done in our lives throughout the year. We have been so touched by the warmth of her correspondence with us that it has been a wonderful reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas. We proudly display her pictures & drawings on our fridge. We are so blessed this Christmas season and thank our Lord and Savior for the birth of His son, Jesus, so long ago. What a gift He is to us all. We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

Nate, Kristi, & Chloe

Decorations

Photos of some of our Christmas decorations that I thought I would share with you. There will be more to come, as well, with the family actually in the photos.

The icicle lights around our porch...we did not have the time to do both porch and house so we chose the easiest way to hang the lights and next year we hope to have the lights on both the porch and house. We are happy with the way it turned out.

Here is Chloe's Christmas tree with the beginnings of her ornament collection adorning it. Her tree sits in the hallway in an alcove that faces her bedroom & this spot is a perfect place for her tree. Every morning when she gets up she asks to have her tree turned on and so we have a new tradition, her and I, of turning on the tree & we clap & laugh & her face just lights up...I look forward to this with her every morning. I have told her that next year she will be sharing this space with another tree...a tree for her unborn sibling. But, for now, this space is all her own.

Here is the family tree in the family room. We chose a good one (unfortunately, like the lights on our house, we did not have the time to go up into the wilderness to cut our tree down this year so, instead, we went to Lowe's). Next year we will get back out there, but for now, this tree is great (in fact, we think this is probably the best tree we have ever had).

And the stockings were hung by the...chimney? Nope, we don't have a fireplace or chimney in this house. Sounds weird hun? Especially with how cold it gets out here. Well, that is the way it is. We have a propane gas heater that keeps us & our home nice & warm. We are thinking that we may get a couple of faux fire places and put one in the family room and one in our bedroom (for decorative purposes). That will come eventually. For now, the wall of the entry way to the family room seems to work just fine. The stockings were hung on the wall with care...at least in the Traxler household for this year.

Our nativity scene with lit garland around it & other Christmas trinkets sit on our buffet in the dinning room. Chloe has her own nativity in her room...it is a VeggieTales one (the angle sings & it is so cute to watch Chloe dance to the music). Chloe loves to sit & look at the decorations in the house, especially anything that has lights. Oh, how I love this time of year!

Favorite Places

Some of Chloe's favorite places are hanging out with daddy & sitting in her toy box. She is so funny!! She has us constantly in stitches... :)

Daddy and Chloe relaxing together after a long day of play...watching a Christmas cartoon!

Here she is in her toy box...she gets in & out of it all by herself.

Chloe's silly face...what fun she has!

Time to "get down" as she says with a lot of furver and excitment.