December

 

We had more snow added to the Sunday snow mid-December and John was so excited!

 

Finally they could sled and play outside!

 

Fudge was on its way again this year. I've figured out a more efficient process for making fudge and we gave out a ton!

 

Selfie of my sweet Katy.

 

Katy's preschool teacher told the class mom to email me so I'd send in sugar cookies for a class party. They loved them and it's fun to have a hobby that brings others joy!

 

We teamed up with Marian's family to visit two nursing homes and put on a musical program for them. Although these were small places, it felt so good that our families could get together and do something. These times were some of the most important of the season.

 

More stacks of fudge boxes....

 

Jake decided he wanted to make his own planet cake for a science presentation on Venus. I made him do it all.

 

Katy was nervous again for the preschool program, but this time she sang and did hand motions- SUCH a difference from last year when she burst into tears and could barely move when it was done. It was so sweet to see her!

 

Jacob's planet taking shape.

 

His planet was a total hit with all the kids and it was fun to visit him in class to see his presentation.

 

John can unbuckle himself completely. Let's hope his desire to obey Mom overrides the joy of freedom!

 

Christmas break finally arrived and we had so much fun playing as a family and relaxing after so much hard work and so many early mornings!

 

We got rid of leaves for 3 character-building hours one Saturday. And when I say character-building, I sometimes wonder if it's just Jim and I developing longsuffering patience.

 

Nicole got a hair cut! That's a lot of length gone! She has shoulder length hair now and I love how cute it is, especially how much better her signature ponytail looks.

 

Christmas Eve nativity was full of the usual energy and sweet testimonies.

 

Christmas morning with hopeful Christmas baskets.

 

Enjoying the treasures

 

Getting ready to build Jake's big present...

 

We love hot wheels! Those boys were playing the entire day with this set!

 

The girls got room decorations and went right to work getting them ready for daddy to put up.

 

Jim made a speaker for my bass guitar and it's pretty awesome. While playing Eye of the Tiger one of my other guitars started playing. Pretty impressive!

 

All decorated!

 

The day after Christmas, Nicole flew to Arizona to spend time with family there.

 

Joe's family was also visiting and they made slime!

 

We randomly decided to redo our family room and it was a fun time with Jim taking things down, patching walls, moving furniture and making our home more of a peaceful place.

 

Nicole was a big fan of juicing oranges!

 

She went hiking!

 

We sure missed her while she was gone, it was a great growing experience for her.

 

At home, we went with Jake's rec league team to see NC State play. We got awesome seats behind the band and saw NC State do really well, this is their best team in a long while!

 

Jake loved sitting with his buddies!

 

Katy was a huge fan of the popcorn.

 

 

Mike brought his journal and for the first quarter wrote every single play down as fast as he could because he wanted to remember it all. It was SO cute!

 

After the game he took off his shoes. I could not believe he was comfortable like this! It would drive me nuts! No matter how many times I tell them, he wears his socks waaaay past the point of no return.

 

Caught a lizard

 

Nicole flew back to NC and brought my parents with her for their visit here!

 

Guesstures with the family.

 

New Years Day 2.8 mile hike

 

There had been a lot of rain and there was definitely plenty of mud! We also saw damage from the hurricane that came though and other heavy rains.

 

Overall it was a beautiful day in the 60s and fun to be together. John loved running wild!

 

We visited a Chinese lantern festival that night

 

Jim with the fish

 

Michael spinning the lucky turntable. Nicole got something about a happy couple and she is at just the right age to be totally embarrassed by it. :)

 

Diana was born in the year of the dragon. Enough said.

 

Some interesting cultural performances- this was a hat tossing/juggling/balancing act

 

This guy had insane balance.

 

We went to Nicole's basketball game!

 

She made a field goal! Her team scored a total of 12 points so her basket was a big deal for coming off the bench.

 

I played around with some ideas I had with magnets and cake.

 

And got a very humble, yet floating, cake topper!

 

On Saturday, we gave each pair of cousins an hour crafting and building with Grandma and Grandpa. It was SO fun to see them each connect and create with their grandparents!

 

On Sunday, I loved hearing my Dad tell stories to my kids about interesting and spiritual experiences from his life.

 

Both Diana and Katy LOVE using these looms to make scarves! Mom taught them and even little Katy can do it! Such a blessing to have them visit.