Snow Fun!

We spent time today outside in the snow...since it is supposed to melt already tonight! Today I am especially grateful for time to spend with my kids. So often I think it is my right to be alive but truly it isn't a right at all.....it is all God's timing. So for today I just want to appreciate my family and show them how precious they are to me. Thank you God for giving us another day together!

New Scrapbook Pages

Survivor birthday Island

Taylor's 10th birthday with her friends was so much fun! We played several survivor like games...the girls were broken down into tribes, had to make a team flag and buffs, played tug of war, had to eat a plate of vegetables, stood on a brick, played tic-tac-toe, shot rubber bands at pop cans, had to figure out the code on a lock, and so much more....it was great fun and what made it the best was that Taylor leaned over to me at one point during the night and said.... "Mom, this is the best birthday party ever!" The girls spent the night and actually slept about 8 hours. We took them home after breakfast.

The White Cape Program I was supposed to miss!

I shed tears over the thought of missing this program that was scheduled for the day after my surgery, Dec. 19. Funny how God works these things out! The snow caused closure of school and a postponement of this program until Jan. 9 and I was able to go. Praise the Lord! It was an awesome program and I was so glad to be there since it was Taylor's last year and Mrs. Dean had given her 3 special parts. The kids did a great job even after being out of school for nearly 3 weeks. I was impressed and I know many others were too. What a blessing it is to be in a Christian School where the things we teach at home are being built on at school. A day of joy certainly! This is my favorite program of the entire year and I love how the kids look like little angels in their white capes...so full of joy...it is so cool!

Taylor turns 10

Well, it wasn't the 10th birthday I envisioned...I don't think it was what Taylor had hoped for as well.....the stomach flu hit our home and Taylor had to spend her birthday on the couch under a blanket watching movies all day....didn't eat a thing....I was sick too and Jeff got sick shortly after Taylor went to bed...what a day! So the next morning she ate her birthday cinnamon roll before going to school...school got out early because of all the flooding and there was no school on Thursday....so....she is celebrating at school in a couple of weeks. Mom and dad let us have her family party at their house the following Sunday which was great....we just brought over all the food and had it at their house. Taylor wanted hamburgers, curly fries, pear whip, vege tray, applesauce, and sprite for her family celebration....oh....and an ice cream cake with gummy worms on it! We gave her an MP3 player to listen to on the bus...I guess that is what all the kids her age do on the bus???!!! Anyway, she loved it! She also got a ring from Papa and Nana, Go Fish CD's from Uncle Darryl & Auntie Karen, lunch out with Grandma Great, and a Jump 5 CD and darling shirt from Uncle Loren & Auntie Jeannie. Randy and Kristi and Grandpa & Grandma sent money that Tay used to buy the Playmobil Stable....I guess our kids are into that now too....it is so cute to see them set everything up and the way they use their imaginations...I love this creativity more than anything so will be glad to buy the stuff for them :-) I bet it won't be many more years that toys are cool! Taylor is an awesome kid and we are so blessed by her sweet spirit...she never needs to call attention to herself....she is diligent in school....and beginning to really start playing the piano well.

Hailey gets her ears pierced

It's official! All the girls in our household have their ears pierced! We took Hailey the day after Christmas to have part of her birthday date...poor kid was begging knowing that this was coming but it was hard to find a time around her birthday to do the date because Jeff was working 90+ hours a week for a by-pass job at BP. So Hailey decided to split her date up...the activity now and the dinner later. She decided not to get her birthstone earrings but the September birthstones because she liked the color of blue better on those ones....ha! She is actually taking very good care of them which was our biggest concern with her...she cleans them every night faithfully! She just looks so big and it is another sign that she is growing up!

Christmas Day

It truly was a blessed and peaceful day at our home. What a joy to be together as a family to celebrate Jesus' birthday. We started our morning with stockings....I gave Jeff all kinds of coffee stuff including a new coffeemaker because our 13 year old one hasn't been working well...er...at all....and because Macy's had the Cuisinart ones majorly on sale after thankgiving....anyway I thought I was being really generous until I opened my stocking and found a beautiful new wedding band to match the new engagement band he gave me a few years ago when my diamond fell out of the original set. Wow!! I couldn't believe it! We gave the kids the usual...a gift from World Vision for baby Jesus, a book, and a new sweatshirt. Then we ate brunch...cinnamon rolls, latte's, and fresh fruit. Jeff's parents had sent money for us to buy presents for the kids from them (I got them all online this year...that is the way to go...avoid all the crazy and crabby shoppers :-) )... so the kids enjoyed opening all of those. Then we got out the new TV that Jeff's parents gave to he and I (and we kept as a surprise for the kids). Ours hasn't been working real well and with the changes in signal coming in February it wasn't gonna work anymore. So...this thing seems huge...especially since the old one is the same one we had when we got married at a whopping 19 inches! This one is very clear too. We stayed home all day and just relaxed....This was 1 week after my surgery. Taylor loved following the instructions and setting up the new stuff...especially Micah's playmobil! They played so nice together all day....we didn't want to make them go to bed at night!

Christmas Eve

We were able to get out of our drive way in Jeff's big truck...He was excited to see how it would handle the snow....His comment was....I picked the right year to buy a 3/4 ton truck!.....ha! I was just glad we didn't get stuck! Anyway, we had our traditional VC Christmas Eve gathering...our church was cancelled because of all the snow (they never cancel!) so that was a bit of a bummer but gave us more time at Dad & Mom's. Mom always does such a great job of decorating the table and making the evening a treat for each of us. The theme this year was gummy....She bought all this gummy candy and put it on the presents and labeled each of us....ex. Jeannie was a gummy peachy-O, I was a gummy letter S because I had surgery and am a servant, Hailey was a gummy smile because she started ortho this year and lost lots of teeth, there was a gummy worm(as in the early bird gets the worm), gummy mexican hats, gummy frog, a gummy letter M, oh my....it has only been three weeks and my memory is already going...I will have to find the rest out and edit this post. Anyway, Dad & Mom gave Loren & Jeannie and Jeff and I new freezers this summer and that was our gift....ours had gone out and Loren & Jeannie needed more room for their salmon. I was truly excited for this gift :-) The girls got American Girl Doll stuff as usual and the boys Playmobil sets. The dinner was the tradition.....Traditional Christmas Chicken breasts, a jello salad, homemade rolls, a new salad from the Costco cookbook (you need a copy of this cookbook...it is awesome!), and couscous (which we won't be having again next year because the tradition is twice baked potatoes and all of us missed them). She even makes pies....My mother is something else....no wonder she gets up at 4....otherwise it would be impossible to get everything done and she might seem ordinary like the rest of us! Anyway, no one was sick this year which was a first in a very long time!