We're still blogging, just haven't for a while. The weeks surrounding Christmas were filled with preparation (fun!) and sickness (boring!). I was the one who got sick first, so I've been playing catch up ever since - and no, I'm still not caught up.
Fortunately, we were blessed to be healthy for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Hooray! We had a really lovely time. I'm sure it's the best Christmas we've had in a long time. I didn't feel rushed or stressed about presents, and we had a beautiful live tree (which I loved!). Everyone was healthy for about a week - and they are mostly healthy now. We have the lingering, seemingly never-ending cough, but we're alright. On Christmas Eve we made cinnamon rolls, and baked them up the next morning for breakfast (YUM!) The kids played with toys and we adults played with the kids. Suzanne spent the night as has been our tradition for the last 10 years or so. The kids love it when Auntie Suzanne spends the night, and she loves seeing them open their gifts in the morning.
The other things that have kept me away from the blog are Primary & Facebook. Primary is like Sunday School in our church. I have been working really hard (along with the other ladies in the presidency) to organize the 2009 primary classes, time schedule & budget, and getting set to take on Primary by myself for 3 weeks in Dec/Jan. With children starting in new classes and with new teachers, I wanted it to be as smooth a transition as possible, especially since the other 2 ladies in charge are gone for vacation. Also, in Novemeber we had a training meeting that we put together for the teachers. So I've spent a lot of time on Primary, and so to relax I've been playing word games on Facebook instead of doing anything else.
(Hmmmm... maybe that is why I'm still trying to catch up on things.)
Leah is out of a cast and on crutches. She has been in Physical Therapy for only a week and is trying to walk with one crutch. They are hoping to get her on her feet unassisted in 3 weeks, but it may take a little longer.
Eve started violin lessons yesterday. She has been wanting to play for years, but we kept trying to put it off. We have heard that the formative years of violin are painful to the ears. After taking piano and doing other things she still wanted to play the violin. Anyway, she will probably enjoy it very much.
Malinda has informed me that she wants to quit gymnastics and try Irish dancing or Fencing. So I'm looking into those things. We're going to try the Irish dancing first, because the fencing costs are extremely high.
Nathan continues to take guitar lessons - it's been about 2 months. And he was a little disappointed on Christmas that he had already gotten his present a month before, but he got over it pretty quickly. Matthew had bought the family a video game, that really leaned toward the his and Nathan's interests. He was also going to get a family present that leaned toward the girls' interests, but the stores were all sold out of it ( I can't tell you what it is until he gets it.)
Nathan got a Calvin & Hobbes book and a few other little things from his sisters and Joshua, as well as Suzanne and his grandparents. It's just that in that moment when all the kids were opening gifts they had been wanting for so long, it was a bit of a disappointment. A few minutes of guitar playing & video games cured that right up.
Joshua got some fire trucks and Bob the Builder cars, and his Fireman Sam toys came 2 days after Xmas, so he is in 7th heaven right now.
My camera was out of power on Christmas morning, so this picture was taken later that day. Suzanne's camera has all our Xmas pictures on it, so as soon as I can get those off of her camera I'll post some more.
Bye for now!
