Christmas

It was a great Christmas for us. Christmas Eve my parents came over and we had our traditional reading of the nativity and opening of the presents. This year I was hosting Kirk's family here on Christmas Day, so on Christmas Eve we opted for KFC. Yum!

Christmas Day was fun with finding what Santa brought and then Kirk's family joined us in the later part of the day for dinner. It was yummy and a very nice time. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a million words. :-)

Caroling pary

On Monday night our good friends, the Chases, invited us over for their annual Caroling Family Home Evening/White Elephant gift exchange. There was great food, great company and fun singing and some good gifts to be had. Avery ended up with the bogus gift of the night (an incense burning Buddha!), but Jolene was nice enough to trade her flowers with her and said the Buddha will show up again next year. :-) Thanks for a super fun evening, Chases!

2009 Family Get-together

It was that time of the year again for our family to get together and catch up on what has been going on the second half of the year. We missed those that couldn't make it and it wasn't quite the same without Janey and Lou with us, but it was still a nice time to get to be with my wonderful family! Thank you to Mom and Dad for being wonderful hosts. Mom, loved the sandwiches this year! Merry Christmas!

Our cute shepherd and reindeer

Today Devin's preschool put on their Christmas program. What an extravaganza! Devin has been singing his songs all month long and it seemed he was ready to go. Well, today when it was showtime he had some anxiety and I think we were lucky he stayed on stage in costume. When he first came out it was apparent he was holding back tears out of fear, poor guy. And he wasn't the only one. Out of about 24 kids (2 classes combined) 2 left the stage in tears and a 3rd tried to until his mother sent him back. Anyway, Devin was the cutest little shepherd up there, in my opinion and a darned cute little reindeer! Even though he wouldn't do his part or sing (or want anything to do with Santa) I see it as an improvement over last year because at that time I couldn't be anywhere near the performance (or any therapy sessions, for that matter) or he would have had a big tantrum or made a big scene, so my friend took pictures for me. So, this year I enjoyed watching him be so brave and stay on the stage even though I know he would have rather sat on my lap and hide. Good job, Devin!

Ugliest sweaters in town

Last night our friends from our ward had a party called The Ugly Sweater Party. Last year was the debut of this party and we were unavailable. Lucky for us we weren't forgotten this year and were able to make it. My goodness, the sweaters that made an appearance - yikes! We also had a white elephant exchange and we were the big winners and came home with our very own Snuggie! You know you've seen the commercials and want one. It was a really good time and lots of laughs. Thanks to our hosts. It was a super fun evening! Unfortunately I had our camera on the wrong setting so the pictures aren't all that great.

Our beautiful contributions...

The winners...

The women...

The men...

Growing up so fast

Thought it was time to post some pictures of our puppy, Bella. We got her October 11. In two short months she has grown a lot.
This picture with Justin was taken only 4 weeks ago and look how much she's grown by the last picture that was taken today.

One of Devin's favorite thing to do is train Bella to "sip". Translated, that is "sit". :-)

Here is Avery and Bella last night.

Last night...

Yesterday I found her up on the trampoline with Devin, so we've had to scoot the chair away and she's not too happy about that. She wants to get up there so bad.

Awards

On Tuesday both Justin and Avery were awarded during their individual grade's assemblies. Avery's award was for being a "Razzle Dazzle Reader". She sure is that! She's reading at second to third grade levels. We're so proud of her love of reading and dedication to learning! Way to go, Avery! The first picture is of her with the other recipients in her class and the second is her with her teacher, Mrs. Mata.

Justin's award was for "Spectacular Academic Achievement in Social Studies". He's always been such a smart kid and kept his grades high and this year is no exception. He's doing great and working hard at continuing his good grades. Justin we're very proud of your hard work and all that you are accomplishing! The first picture is part of his class and another class that also received awards and the second is with his teacher, Mrs. McGuire.

We love you both so much!

Basketball

Justin started basketball on Saturday. I brought my camera with zoom lense and was all set. Oops! I forgot the memory card. His team won that game and he was pumped. Monday was his next game and this time I was ready. They won that game too. He's really enjoying himself. Here are a few of the best shots that I got. We're looking forward to a fun-filled season.

Team huddle during a time out...