Christmas Concert #1

We had our church Christmas program last Sunday evening.  It was, as usual, full of cute kids and beautiful music. Troy and Kam played in the handbell choir and Troy was the letter X in the alphabet line up.  (He said, "My word doesn't even start with X."  It was something about I will exalt Him.)  It was a wonderful evening celebrating Jesus' birth. (Apparently to play handbells you need to look VERY serious!)

  

  

Katie Comes Home!

This Christmas, besides the birth of our Savior, we celebrate having Katie home from college! :)  We were anxiously awaiting her arrive the other night at Ontario Airport.  Kamryn got a sign ready and we watched Katie's plane approach on Scott's i-phone.  It was fun to hear Troy's "take" on the situation.  "I bet she's off the plane now and running to see us!" ..."Is Katie riding in first class so she can get off first?"  The horrified look on the escalator is when Katie realized she was being videoed by her loving father and that he was going to put it on facebook.  It's been fun having Katie home and having our family all together again!

  

Kristin's Birthday

I kicked off the family December birthdays earlier this month.  I had a good day celebrating being another year older.  Scott and the kids had gifts.  There were phone calls and a couple of dinners out.  Fun times!  Kamryn made me a banner.  Unfortunately she was confused by my youthfulness and judged me a year younger.  So, to correct her mistake, she crossed it out and added a year. Thanks, Kam!  

End of Another Soccer Season

This montage of pictures is from today.  Today was a full day of AYSO soccer-two games this morning and two in the afternoon. Troy and Kamryn's teams both made it to the championship games of the play-offs. Troy's team ended up taking first and Kam's took second.  All of the games were pretty intense and competitive.  Troy and Kamryn are both excellent soccer players.  They got their dad's drive to compete and win.  I do not only love watching them play because of their athleticism on the field, though.  I love hearing the compliments of other parents and coaches that our kids are great people.  Kamryn, after their last game today, had 13 year old girls come up and hug her and tell her they are going to miss her.  Troy has a love for helping the other boys score who haven't been as successful at it.  The kids have also learned a lot about dealing with others. In Kamryn's two games today there was a lot of tripping and some dirty play.  One time another girl who did it to Kam got caught and received a yellow card, but many times it was ignored.  After the tough loss, Kamryn through her tears asked us, "Why do cheaters always win?"  Bummer.  I loved how her coach turned it around, though, and brought smiles to their faces and complimented his players on still being winners.  Life lessons for sure. And now we get our Saturdays back...until softball and baseball season! .  

  

It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas!

 December is here and our weather has changed.  The leaves are turning colors and dropping and a bit of rain has come.  I just couldn't get into the Christmas spirit in our 80 degree weather a week ago!  (But I did love it.)  In the spirit of the season, we attended the Redlands' Christmas parade for the first time this year.  There were the typical bands, home-made floats and dogs wearing Christmas sweaters. :)  It was fun to watch with friends and enjoy some time outside.  The rain held off til the very end, but we had to stick it out and get a view of Santa.  We also were able to get our tree this weekend.  We made our usual run to Home Depot and found a lovely pine.  Kamryn and Troy were excited to help decorate and it all came together fairly smoothly.  We skyped with Katie so she wouldn't miss out on the festivities.  We're looking forward to having her home soon!  Happy December!

Little girls with suckers=happiness!

Skyping...