Surprise!

Scott surprised me with a night away for my birthday last weekend. We were able to stay at a nice place by the beach. (My favorite!) We ate great food and were refreshed by the cool ocean breezes. The weather was beautiful. We also enjoyed a lights tour in Newport. After a busy few weeks, it was great just to have time to spend together!

RCS Softball

Kamryn is so enjoying her season of middle school softball. She is one of the youngest players on the team, but is holding her own. She plays shortstop and has been getting some good hits. She has great coaches and is learning a lot, too. We're so thankful for our kids' Christian school education which carries over onto the sports fields too!

Pre-game prayer.

Mighty number 11!

They have a fabulous pitcher this year, which makes all the difference!

I like how they are all looking up!

Ready to go.

ACA Choir Concert

We'll we're officially into the Christmas concert season. We began with Katie's high school choir concert the other evening. They have a new director who is doing a great job. It's fun to see the connection she and Katie have. Katie really enjoys singing and using her gifts at school and church. They are a small group with a wonderful sound!

Softball in December!

It's so fun to say we're playing softball in December! Kam got asked to play on the 7th and 8th grade softball team at school. (She's a 6th grader.) They played their first game this afternoon and won! Kam tried her first slide of the season into third and wasn't so successful. She's got a pretty good scrape on her forearm. Anyway, the only bandages they could find were unicorn and hello kitty. (She still looked pretty tough out there, though!) The Cougars are off to a great start!

Gingerbread Creations

I don't know what it is this year, but it's taking awhile to get into the "Christmas Spirit." There's just been A LOT going on and not a lot of extra time or energy to spend on focusing on the season. In an attempt to spend some meaningful family time together, we put together some "gingerbread"houses the other afternoon. The kids hung in there and made some neat creations. Here's hoping for a less busy week and more chance to focus on the REASON for the season! (Not sure why I'm underlining, don't feel like figuring out how to fix it right now!)

The Curious Savage

Katie just finished another play at her high school. It was called "The Curious Savage." I'm not quite sure how to describe this play which took place in an insane asylum. Katie played the snotty daughter who was trying to find out where the crazy mother hid their inheritance. Her character was quite dramatic, to say the least. The cast did a great job again this time. Katie loves being involved in these productions. It's been a busy time of late night practices and hard work. Great job!

The cast in character.

All smiles!

Katie greeting friends on the last night.

Breakfast of Champions

On Thanksgiving evening we were blessed with a visit from our good friends, The Elsenbroeks. They were able to stay a couple days with us. We share much history with these friends from our time in Visalia and thankfully, our friendship has continued even after our moves to Michigan and Redlands. During this visit we spent time catching up, watching football, and just hanging out. According to Scott a new tradition was born: The Day After Thanksgiving Breakfast Hash. (Let's just say, "Yikes!") Jim and Scott threw as many leftovers that they could find into a fry pan, whipped up some gravy and fried an egg to put on top. They claim it was delicious, but no one else tried it, and they had so much fun cooking it up, it had to taste good! We are thankful for our friendships that continue over miles and years!

"The Elgerbroeks"

We continued the Grimmius bowling tradition on Friday with Visalia and Redlands friends.

Now it's hard to believe we are in the Christmas season already! Can you really decorate for Christmas when it's 80 degrees outside?!