Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve with the cousins. Shaun's brothers Chad, Mike and their family's joined us for Christmas. We all had a great time together. Christmas Eve we went to the church and played kickball & volleyball, afterwards we had a nice dinner.  After that we allowed the kids to open one present, (which you would think would ease the excitement and they would go right to sleep. We can dream big, right?) Later we read the Christmas story and sang songs together with Chad playing the piano. Then we sent the kiddos to bed (several times.)  

Christmas morning we let the children get up at 4:30am because Shaun was flying to Idaho to help his dad move out here.  The kids were happy about that.  After a few naps we went to a matinee and saw  "Bedtime Stories"   We had a good Christmas, we loved being with family.

Our family drew names and were given the assignment to hand-make  a gift. It was fun to see what they came up with.  

Dad made Shem P.J. pants

Mom made Isabelle a princess crown

Shem made Hannah P.J. pants

Dan drew Sarah a picture of a girl holding a dog.

Sarah made Aleena a scarf

Hannah made Dan a reading pillow

Aleena made Dad chocolate peanut butter balls

Isabelle drew Mom a picture with a note for her, Mom, & Dad to go to lunch.

Frosting cookies for Santa

We had a big to do around here for the past month or so, Daniel was given the lead roll in his Drama class.  He played Ebenezer Scrooge.  He worked hard and did a wonderful job.  Needless to say we were very proud parents.   On the same night Shem had a debate and his team won that so we were doubly proud.

A busy fun filled week.

I am going to work my way backwards this week.  Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City with Jerry & JoAnn.  The weather would have been nice had it not been for the wind and the clouds, it was a tad chilly. But we kept warm walking around and drinking hot cocoa. The highlight for Mom & Dad was the tour of Marvel Cave. (Partly I think because it was warmer than outside.)  We had a fun time and the lights were real purdy.   

We have had a good time with them here. They have been over almost every night for dinner. They had the Girls spend the night at their house on Friday. We will miss them when they leave next week, and be ready & waiting for them to come back.  It is hard to share sometimes.

The first part of the week we spent getting ready for 28 people to come have dinner at our house. So we moved furniture, set up extra tables & chairs, and decorated.  Since decorating is not one of my strong points I asked (begged) my deco guru friend to help me. This is the end result, I think it looked pretty darn good!      

Well the next day our house became a demolition zone. (I will have to take a picture of that.)  We took out a big cabinet & desk  then tore open the wall to find out what the running water sound and moldy smell was.  We found very wet insulation, wood & sheet rock. We had a plumber out but he couldn't figure out where the water was leaking from. So tomorrow someone who is an expert at finding leaks will come find ours. Which we are dreading will be in the cement slab under the flooring.   

So how many days till Christmas?  ( I haven't even started!)
Hannah & Aleena are 2 yrs apart but they are the same height. So we thought it would be fun to dress them alike so they would look like twins. They have had so much fun with this.  I don't know why but I keep buying Hannah clothes that are too big, I can't get over the fact that they are the same size.   

Hooray! they are here!

This picture of the kids outside of their Grandparents new house shouting Hooray they are here.  They got here Thursday night, we are excited to have them here with us. (Now if we could just get a few more of you out here!!!)  We went to their house and took pictures of the kids doing a countdown, then sent them one a day.  This was the last one we took.  

This is the newest addition to our family.  His name is Sammy he is a beagle/terrier mix. so far he is a pretty good puppy, he is sleeping better at night. (he has been inside because it has been very cold)  He loves sitting in front of the fire.  Sarah has been doing a very good job of caring for him. She has worked hard at saving her money for him, and just loves him to death. Sarah says"  I love him!!! He is starting to learn fetch and sit. He has been in our house for about 1 week. We adopted him on November 28, 2008(Friday). He was born on September 15, 2008. We love having him in the family!!!!!!!!"