New Years

Good Friends, Good Food, and Good Fun!

That pretty much sums up our New Years Eve. Even the kids stayed up till after midnight this year with the exception of Ella who managed to fall asleep, with the help of her thumb and her bubby, amid kids yelling all around her and grown ups yelling even louder.

New Years day did not quite go so well. Everyone did manage to sleep in which was wonderful, but a few of us woke up pretty sore from too much Wii. (Are we the only family on the planet that did not get a Wii for Christmas?)

Next I noticed that I missed the Rose parade on TV. How can you celebrate New Year's without watching the Rose parade? I should have taken that as a bad omen.

Next, while playing with Monte, I noticed he was getting a little too close to the upstairs banister. The same banister that Ben has had dreams about Ella falling over. The next few seconds all happened in slow motion. I wanted to go to Monte to move him away, but at the same time not scare him into jumping. The next thing I knew Monte disappeared and I heard a rather large THUD. Monte had fallen 10 feet onto the hard tile down below. He started meowing so sadly and we noticed he had a bloody upper lip. Next the "Kitty Mom" in me kicked in and I decided to take Monte to, where else... the Animal ER.

While in the waiting room of the Animal ER, an older man walked in with his white poodle type dog. The dog was bleeding from his bum, yes his bum. And the man kept petting it and saying, "It's gonna be OK, son." I don't know if I have ever witnessed anything sadder.

Anyway, after being there well over two hours and forking out $150, the Vet told us Monte would be just fine. Not even a broken paw. Why, do you ask, would I ever go through that on New Years day and for a cat who would have eight lives left anyway? Because that is just the kind of "Kitty Mom" I am.

I can just feel it...2008 is going to be quite the year, especially after a start like that.

The Nutcracker

As a Christmas present I got Emma and Eva tickets to see The Nutcracker performed by Ballet West. I also got a ticket for Grammie but due to the weather she wasn't able to make it down. We missed you, Grammie. But Hannah, the girls good friend, got to come along in her place. We had a great time. They all thought the best part was when the "large lady" appeared on stage and all eight of her children came out from under her skirt and danced. I loved all the costumes and the music was fantastic too. I explained to the girls that if they practiced really hard they too could be up on that stage one day. Thanks for a fun afternoon, girls!

Christmas 2007

Christmas came and went too fast this year, but it sure was nice while it lasted. Grammie and Papa Rex had us over again which was so much fun and we ate up all their yummy food. What would we do without them? One thing we wish could have happened was to be together with our whole family. We really missed our family in Cali. Maybe we will need to make Cali our destination for Christmas 2008.

There were some memorable comments this year. One was when Ella opened one of her presents to find a cardboard box. She was so excited too. She said "Yes, a box!" And then moved on to the next gift. She had no idea that there was something in that box.

Another comment that really tugged on my heart strings was said when I was trying to feel out the kids regarding an idea I had. I was talking about instead of getting gifts next year, giving lots of gifts to a family in need and making a great Christmas for someone else, which would inturn make our Christmas great. I asked the kids what they thought about that idea and there was complete silence, until Eva spoke up. She said "I don't care about presents. I just care about poor people." That made my whole Christmas because, coming from her I knew it was sincere.

We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. We wish nothing but the best for everyone in the new year too.

Meet Monte

So, we finally caved in and got a kitten. Lee and I decided on getting the kids a kitty for Christmas. We saw this little guy and just knew he had to be part of our family. He is a two month old ball of fluff and very cuddly and playful. We love him already!...wait...actually the kids are kind of scared of him. Whenever I get him out of his little room the kids make a mad dash for the couches. We're hoping that will change soon.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

My friend Marissa put one of these on her blog and we just had to do one too. Thanks for the great laugh Marissa!

7 and 70

Saturday we went to Grammie and Papa Rex's for a little get together celebrating Eva and Papa Rex's birthdays. Grammie made salmon for dinner and testimony cake for dessert which are both Eva's favorites. Thanks Grammie for the yummy food. They also got to decorate sugar cookies which was a big hit with the kids. Except Ella didn't quite understand the less is more concept. She dumped sprinkles on the cookies bottles at a time. While decorating cookies, we were serenaded by Papa Rex on his new harmonica.

How fun for Eva to have her birthday so close to Papa's. She loves it. It makes her birthday that much more special. Happy 70th Birthday Papa!

Brave Emma

Our little Emma had her Piano Recital last night. She got a little case of stage fright but overcame it. We are so proud of her. She played a mean "Jingle Bells" and also "I Saw Three Ships". She played them perfectly and did a fantastic job. Congratulations Emma!

Happy Birthday Eva!!

On December 11, 2000 Eva Belle was born into our family. We were all so happy of course! And she was so tiny and precious. Now, Eva is 7 and it doesn't seem possible. She has grown into such an amazing girl. She is beyond her years in so many ways. Her thoughtfulness and caring nature amaze us all. To think that she was chosen to come to our family makes us feel like the luckiest family in the world. We love you Eva and hope you have a wonderful day!!

My Baby Bumblebee

For whatever reason my "add video" decided to work today so I took advantage of it. This was on Halloween. I thought it was definately blog-worthy. Ella says she wants to be a bumblebee again for Christmas. I know it is annoying to hear parents always say how cute their kids are, but sorry. Ella really is cute!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

The kids enjoying our first snow of the season! It takes an hour to put all the snow gear on them...they play for 1 min (or maybe a little more)....

...and then their done...and then it takes another hour to take the snow gear off! Is it worth it?

It is to them!
We dared Eva to go sit at our back table. What a good sport!