A Very Merry Christmas!

The leftovers have almost all been eaten. The decorations are put away! And the memories have been made! This Christmas brought so many things!
Like...
Really great times with friends and family! :)

Fun decorating, pizzas (the best ever), and a birthday party (Ali is 2!).













[Unfortunately - coughs and colds, strep throat (poor Karlee), a crazy-serious ear infection (poor Jana), and sleepless nights (poor Kirk).]

So much yummy food, scrumptious treats, beautiful music, caroling and even a talent show.















Santa,



anticipation, excitement,



presents,and "Oohs and Aahs" galore.





Lots of hugs and the phrase "OOH, thank you, thank you, thank you!"





Messes,



more presents (Oh my goodness are the pecan turtles yummy! Thanks Dad!),



and lots of time to play!







And I really love that it brought those sweet, tender moments of love



and time spent reflecting on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.













What a wonderful time of year! We truly have been blessed! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! And we hope this New Year will be filled of those special moments spent reflecting on our Savior Jesus Christ. May we remember Him all the year through! Happy 2010!

Distracted!! - And a fun week!

I got distracted (that funny Kavan) posting my blog about last week, so I'm gettin' back on track.

On Thursday, there were 22 fifth grade students at Kyler's school inducted into the Beta club and Kyler was one of them.
We are so proud of him and his accomplishments. We are thankful that he strives to do well in school!





(Kyler and his fifth grade teachers - Ms. Roy, Ms. Peace, Ms. Hughes, Ms. Drake, Ms. Snyder, and Ms. Cypress)

On Saturday morning, Karlee had her 2nd grade Christmas play. She was so excited about it! It was really cute! They had made reindeer shirts to wear, and they sang so good, and it was just really fun to watch!




After Karlee's play, we were off to Athens to see McKenzie perform at The University of Georgia Middle School Band Festival. Kenzie was invited to participate in this UGA Midfest about a month ago and left Thursday to begin her fun weekend. Thursday afternoon, all of the students (one by one) played for judges. They were then placed into one of 8 bands. Those with scores high enough were placed into the Honor Band who was directed by Cheryl Floyd. Kenzie said she was soooo nervous and was disappointed with how she played. We reminded her that it was an honor just to be there - and to be able to have the experience is awesome!
McKenzie's conductor was Mary Land. They met Friday morning, rehearsed for 5 hours. Met again Saturday morning for a 2 hour rehearsal. Then, concerts began at 1:00pm. Kenzie's band performed at 3:00pm. They played four pieces:
...And The Nations Rejoice/Smith
High Water Mark/Sweeney
A Christmas Auld Lang Syne/Swearingen
Zia, Zia!/Smith
and it was wonderful! It was hard to believe that they had only played together for a day!
Although they were there to play music, the kids did have an opportunity to goof off. They ate, hung out at the mall, ate some more, watched the UGA band perform, and even went bowling (bedtime - midnight or beyond, wake-up call - 6:00am). Kenzie also got to meet up with Zachary Koschene (a close family friend) who was there from Harlem Middle School.




On a side note, two of the guest conductors that were there, Steve Tyndall and Russell Bertles, I had remembered from my own band experiences at school and All-State. So for me, watching McKenzie perform brought back many great memories. I am so thankful and excited that McKenzie got to have such a neat experience! She is already hoping for the opportunity again - and that makes me smile!
Thank you so much to those who helped with this endeavor - Mr. Whitaker (Kenzie's band director), of course McKenzie, and especially Mom and Dad and the Koschene family!


(A very cold and tired, but happy, McKenzie!)

A Puff of Wind!

As I was getting ready to post a blog from this past week I came across this picture again. This picture of Kavan just makes me laugh! He's working so hard!



I took the kids for their wellness visits right after Thanksgiving vacation. We found out that Kavan is in the 30th percentile for his height and the 10th percentile for his weight. The doctor said to Kavan, "In other words, if a puff of wind comes it might just blow you away!" - No worries though - he's gained enough weight from last year and his personality more than makes up for it! :)

Christmas is coming!!

Last weekend my mother-in-law had her annual Christmas Open House where she sells her soap, candles, and vinyl. The last few years she has invited the daughter-in-laws to come and sell whatever suits their fancy and join in the fun! This year even McKenzie and Samantha joined in the fun!

So here is what I brought to sell...




I was able to sell a little over half of what I had brought.



I was pretty excited about that!

McKenzie made diaper straps (which you can see in the picture), and even though she wasn't able to be there personally (she had band stuff), she still sold all but one! She was pretty excited!

In fact, we all ended up doing pretty well. (And next year I'll take pictures of the whole thing - sorry!)

Jana and Samantha sold yummy homemade treats and cute little hair clips. April sold her gorgeous rice bags and flax seed bags. And Betsy sold homemade salsa and blankets. (Not only did she sell jars of salsa, she sold cases of salsa - it's good stuff!)

As an extra bonus my father-in-law always takes us out for dessert. Super yummy! It's always a good time to be together. And for me it's kind of a weekend off!

Let's check out what the kids were doing while I was away...






When I got home Saturday night the house was lit up so cute and the Christmas tree was put up! And all the Christmas boxes were down! Hooray!

So, for FHE we finished decorating...



and now it looks a lot like Christmas around here!

Thanksgiving X 2!

How blessed are we that we got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice! Coming home from St. Augustine we re-routed to my Mom and Dad's for a "Burgy Thanksgiving" dinner! I really do have a lot to be thankful for (especially those power walks on the beach with Kirk and Jana)!

So, here we go...

I'm thankful for my mom's "stuffing balls!"
For apple cranberry yummy stuff,
and delicious pies (from scratch - apple and pumpkin,yum!)!

I'm so thankful that we got to meet baby Laney and spend time with her, Ellie, Heather and Terry.


Laney is so cute and big, and really so cute!




I'm thankful that My mom's friend, Debbie from Greece, and her husband George joined us for dinner!


I'm so very thankful for the memories made and the happiness we shared!

And I just have to say it - I'm so thankful for whipped cream in a spray can! :)

Thanks Mom and Dad for a yummy dinner and a fantastic two days! We love you - and Kyler - he is really thankful for your sweet potatoes! :)