More Christmas Fun!

We've been having some fun family time the past few weeks. We are enjoying the little holiday traditions we've started- looking at Christmas lights in our jammies, building gingerbread houses, and of course our "advent time" which is sitting on the couch as a family each night in December to read and discuss a different book about the real meaning of Christmas- celebrating the gift and birth of Jesus!!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. . .

Not quite like the snow days I used to know, but fun for the kids nonetheless! So, it snowed a light dusting in the wee hours here, but it rained before we got out there just before 7. Suprisingly, there was still enough snow on top of the cars to make some snowballs! Now they really can't wait to go to the mountains and play in the snow some more!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff enjoyed steak burritos and chocolate caramel cake for his birthday. Since his birthday was on a Thursday, he got to golf and play poker on Saturday.

Last week the kids and I made a road trip to visit some family and friends down south. We had a great time - we got to see Great Grandpa and Grandma Parkinson, Uncle Roger, Aunt Janet, Cousin Olivia, Cousin Haley, their cute puppies, The Backlund Family, and my momma (Tutu to the kids)! The kids had a blast at Lego Land and the beach, but most of all they just had fun with their friends and family. We love all of you and miss you lots!

Lil' Princesses!

There are some things that we buy for our kids that are a huge waste, but this one was really priceless! I took Keilani to Disney's Princesses on Ice a couple of weeks ago with 2 of her best buddies. She didn't take her eyes of the stage the entire time! She was totally enthralled. I'm sure it's something she wont forget! Before the show, we went to Applebees (Kids eat free!) to make it a complete "girls night out!"

Trophy #2

Jacob finished year 2 of soccer. He had a great time this year and he really performed well. Next year he moves up to the big leagues- Under 8s with real game rules on Saturdays. It will be crazy next year- Keilani will start playing on Friday nights too. 2 different practice days and 2 different game days!

Fall Fun!

We've been busy celebrating fall the last few weeks! We went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland with some friends- it was incredible!! That will definitely be our new tradition. It had so much fun stuff for the kids - and the pumpkins were only a few dollars a piece ($2-$4).
We also helped out and played at the Greenhouse's annual Harvest Carnival. Jeff donated the hot dogs and our life group manned the craft table.
Unfortunately my camera battery died after 1 picture on Halloween night. So, I have one picture of Meigan trick or treating- it is a cute one- but I'm a little sad that I didn't get pics of the other 2. Oh well, next year!






:)

Happy Halloween!!

Here are the kids' costume picks this year: Strawberry Shortcake, Apple Dumpling, and Lego Wii Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Exploratorium

Last week we ventured to San Francisco for a free day at the Exploratorium. The drive was fine and the kids behaved really well. They had a lot of fun with all the hands-on experimenting. One of their favorites was the room that "took a picture" of your shadow. They also liked the Alice in Wonderland room and the earthquake table. We didn't make it upstairs, so I guess we'll have to go again sometime!

Recent pics:
They're so cute. For real.

Lil' Gymnast and a Soccer Star!

This summer I asked Keilani if she wanted to do ballet or gymnastics. She did "fairytale ballet" about 3 times and loved it. But, one week the ballet room was closed and they let Keilani's class do gymnastics, and she was hooked! So, we switched over. I was really looking forward to the Nutcracker recital, but she's so full of energy that gymnastics suits her perfectly!

Homeschooling Adventures!

Jacob is officially a school-boy now! Kindergarten started 3 weeks ago. He's been doing a great job on all his schoolwork- lots of perfect papers! He got 100% on his first spelling and math tests! We are so glad we are home schooling. Everywhere we go we are "doing school"! At the zoo we were talking about whether the animals were mammals, birds, or reptiles. We are in the back yard planting seeds and watching them grow. And we can work with the kids right where they are at. Keilani is learning a new letter every 3 days and working on writing. Jacob is doing a 2nd grade reading program and first grade math. And of course we can talk about God's work as much as we want- the patterns on a snake in math, grace in the characters of a book, and the complexity of everything in science!