NEW YEAR'S EVE

 Now that the kids are a little older, they always ask to stay up late.  This year, for the older ones, we relented and let them stay up until midnight.  Before Kenzie and Maggie went to bed we had to do the traditional pan banging to ring in the new year.  Mike also pulled out some fireworks and had some pyro fun.

CHRISTMAS

 This year Mimi and Sandi came to visit for Christmas.  It was so fun to have them here to participate in all our Christmas activities.  Mimi taught the kids how to make candy sleighs.  They each made two sleighs.  They could eat one and chose someone to gift the other one.  We also made and decorated cookies, drove to see Christmas lights, acted out the Nativity, went to church, slept by the tree/fireplace, watched movies, and enjoyed spending time together.  Alex and Shane even had a piano recital.  It was so fun having Mimi and Sandi here, and I hope they had an enjoyable and memorable Christmas.

LOVIN' ON MOMMY

 Sometimes, as the mom, I get bombarded by lots of children.

SHANE'S WINTER CONCERT

 This year Shane started learning how to play the bass in his strings class.  He has really enjoyed it and has learned a lot.

MIKE'S 39TH BIRTHDAY

 I can't believe that Mike is in his last year in his 30's.  We had a fun day celebrating him and enjoying time together.

BRANCH CHRISTMAS PARTY

 Our branch had a wonderful Christmas devotional and dinner.  The program was uplifting, the food was good, the games were fun.

CHRISTMAS TRAIN

 Bridget is very fascinated by the Christmas train.  The kids like using blocks or other objects to make bridges over the tracks or other obstacles the train has to go through.

ALEX'S WINTER CONCERT

 For this year's winter concert, Alex had a speaking part.  She didn't tell us because she wanted to surprise us.  She has done well learning the viola, but next semester she wants to switch back to cello.

PAPA'S BIRTHDAY

 We celebrated Papa's birthday by having graham crackers and hot cocoa, one of his favorites.  I wish he were here to enjoy it with us.

MAGGIE LOSES ANOTHER TOOTH

 A couple of months ago I noticed that Maggie had a really loose tooth.  We tried a couple of times last month (October) to pull it out with string, but it wasn't quite ready.  Maggie was very scared and worried that it would hurt.  Finally, after waiting for over a month, we convinced her to try again.  Success!  We were able to use the old string-on-a-doorknob method.  Hopefully, she won't be so scared for future teeth to come out.

LOVIN' ON DADDY

 The three little girls climbed into the hammock with Mike when he tried to relax.  He loved the attention and the girls loved being with their daddy.

THANKSGIVING

 For Thanksgiving we invited some friends from the branch.  They moved here from Bolivia a couple of years ago, and we wanted to show them what a traditional Thanksgiving day meal is.  We also invited the missionaries.  It's always a lot of work, but the food was so delicious and worth it.

MRI

 Shane recently noticed a bump in his cheek below his ear.  He says that if he pushes on it, it will "pop" and then he has a bad taste in his mouth.  It feels better for a while and then fills up again.  I took him to the ENT and the doctor had never seen that before.  He had an ultrasound, but the ENT suggested an MRI to get more detail on what was happening since it was something he had never seen.  The MRI was a big, loud machine.  They had to try to immobilize Shane as much as they could.  For an hour or so they took various images.  Once he wiggled his toes a little, and even though the imaging was of his head, they had to re-do that image because he had moved.  They had a tv and a mirror so Shane could watch a movie which helped him not move.  The results showed that his salivary glands were enlarged but there was no sign of cancer or any other problem.  The ENT said we could try more testing and biopsy or possibly surgery or just leave it alone if it didn't bother Shane.  Shane opted to just let it ride and not do more testing.  If it starts to bother him more, we can look at our options at that time.

GIVING MACHINES

 We finally got some Giving Machines in Columbus!  Alex and Shane were part of a children and youth choir that sang next to the Giving Machines.  Even though it was before Thanksgiving, there was a special Christmas spirit and really got me excited for Christmas.  It was fun to pick out items to donate.  We gave the kids a budget and they could use the money for one item or combine with someone else to buy a more expensive item.  I don't remember what we bought but the kids were excited about their purchases.  I hope the Giving Machines come back next year.

SHANE'S 10TH BIRTHDAY

 Shane has hit the double digits.  He had school, but we woke the kids up early to be able to have breakfast together.  After school, he opened his presents.  We then had his requested dinner of shrimp stirfry and then cake and ice cream.  We are so glad we have Shane in our family.

MEETING AN AUTHOR

 Alex is part of a book club at her school called the Newbery Club.  They had the opportunity to go to a presentation by author Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I've only been on the consumer side of books, and it was interesting to hear about the author side of writing and publishing books.

TOY BOX

 Sometimes the best toys are the simplest toys.  McKenzie and Bridget had fun playing with a large box from Costco.

VOLLEYBALL

 For several months the rec center near our home had free volleyball classes.  Alex wanted to try it out to see if she liked it.  We'll see if it is something she sticks with in the future.

DOUBLE JOINTED FINGERS?

 Alex was sitting in the hammock and at first I thought her fingers were double jointed in a weird way.  Then I realized she had both hands at the same place, it just looked like one hand.

GLOW RUN AT CSIA

 For the second year in a row, CSIA did a glow run.  The kids run around the bus loop at the school and receive a glow bracelet for each lap.  They have snacks, music, and laser lights.  It is so fun and a great way to get the kids to do exercise.

PEEK A BOO BRIDGET

 Bridget LOVES to play with the shoes.  She will put them on (usually McKenzie's) and march around the house.  I managed to get a video of her hiding in the entry closet.

SHANE IS A BUEN GAUCHO

 Shane got the Buen Gaucho award.  We are so proud of him and glad he makes good choices.