Spaghetti and Cheeseburgers...

Yes, you heard right, spaghetti and cheeseburgers. This was the answer I got from our oldest boy, Josh, when asked what he wanted for his birthday dinner. Whatever, Josh!

He's 14 now, a freshman is high school and us still as cool as ever (ask anyone at school or church) he has this amazing ability to adapt to his surroundings like a cameleon! Within the first week of school here in Marquette, he already had his "peeps" and was getting invited to parties.

How does he do it?

But I think what amazes me the most is even though his ego is obviously larger than his cranium, he still manages to be a decent kid...actually someone I enjoy hanging out with!

Josh, thanks for being you! Happy Birthday!

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!

This year we did our traditional Mexican dinner on Christmas Eve with enchilladas & Spanish rice. Then we opened one present each. I tried something different this year as I teamed up the kids with "big partners & little partners" taking after the program at Bristol Elementary School. So, on the 24th, the kids got together with their partner and had a list of items that needed to get accomplished before we could enjoy the day together (ie: CHORES). This team approach went over well as nobody felt like like they had to do EVERYTHING by themselves and much to my surprise, the jobs actually got done! Hooray for Mom!

So after the house got straigtened up, Craig came home from work to have dinner with us and witness the present opening. I've been conditioned to begin dreading Christmas, thanks in part to my wonderfully ungrateful children who have become accustomed to getting everything they want in terms of presents. This year, I had them make clear lists of needs and wants, and as far as I can tell, they were richly blessed. Which brings me to my confusion as to why these wonderful spirits can still manage to squeeze out tears when the carnage is over and they are counting in their little head how many presents everyone got, and realizing they somehow got shorted. This even after we had a long discussion about the birth of Christ and read the scriptures and talked about the importance of Christmas and the significance of gifts.

Where did I go wrong then?

New ways to occupy my time

OK, I'm not sure about you, but I have been finding these websites where you can upload a picture and put it on a dancing Santa or other character and make a video. Ya know what I'm talking about? Anyway, I have been having more fun doing this with pictures of the kids and friends! I've come across 2 sites, the first one was JibJab.com (actually I saw that Larissa had done a few videos with the kids and just had to try it out myself. Then I ran across myfacelol.com which is similar but seemed to be a lot faster and just as funny. Check them out...it's a hoot!

Good morning...

This is the view from my front door this morning...SNOW! I personally love the white stuff. It instantly makes everything look so clean and pure. Like a cleansing of the earth. Truly amazing!

Ward Christmas Party!

Yup...this ward LOVES their parties! What a blast we had!

Here's Craig and our two studly missionaries...

Rachel (not our Rachel) and Matt played Mary and Joseph...and they even used a REAL baby Jesus! Yes, Matt is 2 feet taller than Mary and they're the same age!

This is our friend Aaron...yes, he's a snowman!

That's Craig with Lauren's slinky from Santa!

Rachel finally had a seat on Santa's lap after numerous attempts to get out of it!

Aubrey and Santa...

Lauren was VERY intent on letting Santa know just exactly what she wanted this year.

Youth Temple Trip

In November, the youth of the Marquette ward traveled to the Chicago Temple. Here are a few pics from their trip.

The Marquette Ward Halloween Party 2008

Here's a few shots of the party...