EXCITED KIDS FROM CHRISTMAS GIFTS COMING IN THE MAIL

Getting presents from Grandma in the mail shot the excitement off the charts.  The kids had a blast unpacking them and Nate loved big boxes he got to explore :)   UPDATE: Sarah just reminded me that the pic w/ Nate and the box actually has Sammy hiding under the box and Nate beating on it trying to get to his brother ... Peek A Boo went to a whole new level :)

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

 

If Daddy's going to do it ... so will I

PLAYING IN OUR WINTER WONDERLAND

The girls had a blast sledding with friends in our cul-de-sac.  We would have loved to make it out to a good hill but the roads were solid sheets of ice and we weren't that brave ... er ... dumb :)

Here's a video of them with a friend.

And here is our poor Brittany.  She busted up her left upper lip sledding on the ice and then went back out to play.  Fast forward lunch and a little inside play time and they were back at it on the ice.  Would you believe that she came back in and did NOT want to go back out again to play for the next 2 days?  It's because after lunch she went out and slipped again and tore up the right upper lip.  She looked like a comedy movie where they have too much botox but only on the upper lip in Brittany's case.

YOU SERVED WHAT AT THANKSGIVING???

Besides our wonderful Turkey this year we decided to let Scottie go wild.  He decided to make sushi.  He didn't know it would take 7hrs straight of working working working even with two helpers (ie: cutting vegetables while waiting on the shrimp to fry while waiting on the rice and mushrooms to cook).  He LOVED the results though!!!  We had tempura shrimp, crab rolls, shrimp rolls, eel rolls, octopus, 3 kinds of sashimi and another half dozen or so types of sushi rolls.  FUN FUN FUN.

CAITLIN'S JUNIOR CONVENTION

In early November Caitlin went for several days to her Regional Junior Convention.  She entered many categories of competition.  One of them was for sewing and below you can see the skirt she made from scratch.  This was her first one she's made in which the back is designed to hang lower than the front and Caitlin and mommy had quite a time of getting it just right.  Another was the science project she had from the science fair held the week prior at school. 

Rankings were by #'s for elimination events and levels for all others.  Superior is for the highest ranking and then Outstanding and then Exceptional.  Basically a 1st through 3rd place.

Here are her results / placement:

Computer altered photo     - N/A (we couldn't get this finished due to the Flu and Pneumonia)
Piano Solo                       - Superior & COMMAND PERFORMANCE
Chimette Choir                 - Outstanding
Chess                              - 5th
Checkers                         - 4th
Soccer Kick                     - 1st (Girls) - she always brings up that only one boy kicked at
                                                           a farther distance into the goal / target
Sewing (Dresses / Outfits) - Superior
Science Project                 - Superior
Volleyball (co-ed)               - 1st
Choir (Large Ensemble)      - Superior
Painting (Watercolor)         - Superior


Caitlin won a COMMAND PERFORMANCE for her piano solo.  This is a step above the top ranking in that it brought special attention to her efforts.  This is given for the performance that if all the hundreds of competitors could be there for just one performance event ... this is the one the judges say you should make it to.  This selected her to perform at an evening rally in front of the entire convention.

SUPER PROUD OF HER!!! GO GO GO!!!

CAITLIN'S SCIENCE FAIR

This was the first school wide science fair and was held on Nov. 1st.   All the students from 3rd to 12th grade participated.  Caitlin's project was on Popcorn as you can see.  She amazed us with coming in 2nd place for the entire elementary grouping (3rd - 7th).  Way to GO!

BRITTANY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY (while we were all sick and Caitlin was at Jr. Convention)

She's still got a sleep-over party coming up from her belated B-day.  These pics are from her actual birthday on Nov 6 when she turned a whopping 7 years old.

THE FLU AND PNEUMONIA

Brittany caught the flu from one of her classmates.  That then started the sharing experience at our house.  Everyone ended up with it except for Caitlin.  Sarah got it so bad she passed out and got a concussion from hitting her head.  Scott got it so bad it turned into pneumonia.

This was taken after a day.  It got much worse before it got better.
 
Funny Story: Sarah was taken to the ER by her dad Jim.  Then he did the ER trip with Scott.  The next morning we called him and he knowing Sammy had a HIGH fever (104.7 at the highest point) he answered the phone like this "I'm grabbing my keys and on the way over ... who needs to go to the ER now?" 

Special Memories of Mom

Dear Friends and Family,

Mom went home to be with the Lord on November 12, 2013. Here are a few special memories from her Memorial Service that we would like to share with you and pray that it will be a blessing to your family.

The links include:

1. The Memorial Service program.
2. Mom’s testimony that she wrote when she was 17, shortly after receiving Christ as her Savior.
3. Mom’s testimony that she wrote recently with a “continuing story” added by Dad.
4. Stories and thoughts from several family members. 
5. The slide-show of photo memories with Sandy.

To view these documents, simply click on the link below. Memorial Documents 

To watch the picture slide-show of special memories, simply click on the link below.

Slideshow 

Thank you for all of your prayers, love, and support,

Sarah