The Rest of December

I feared I would never get the rest of the blogs written for the holidays so I decided to combine them into one semi-long post . . . mostly pictures.


These first three pictures are of the Christmas Choir Concert at the high school.  In this first one, Thomas is standing up on the far right.  He is leading the men's choir with Mr. VP, our choir director.

A close up of Thomas singing with Acapella . . . 

and singing with Premier Jazz.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to make gingerbread (graham cracker) houses.  We buy tons of candy and usually eat more than we put on the houses.  Most of the kids eat theirs within two days of making them.

Marie has kind of adopted a widow in our ward, Jan.  We invited her over to join in this year.

The Tuesday before Christmas, Santa made a surprise visit to our home and brought each of the kids a nice, warm pair of slippers.

Allie arrived for Christmas Eve.  Oh, my!  I just want to kiss those cheeks right now!

Christmas Eve Dinner is almost ready.

Grandma setting out the appetizers. 

We ate too much . . . again.

Dinner is always followed by the nativity . . . 

a visit from Santa . . .

and singing Christmas carols around the piano while grandpa plays.

Here is my favorite Christmas gift . . . 

Thomas is learning to walk on his hands.

I got to take some fun pictures of the beautiful Mrs. Twin Falls (aka my daughter, Kimberly) for the upcoming Mrs. Idaho pageant.

And that raps up the year 2010!  Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Band Concert

We have this little joke . . . Whenever Todd and I sit down at one of Thomas' Band concerts, we say, "I wonder what instrument Thomas will be playing today."  He started out playing the trumpet at the beginning of high school, then percussion, then the tuba, and now the oboe.

Christmas Picture 2010

It was kind of a last minute thing . . . And it was a little strange not having Kim in the picture this year.

Camera Speed

Todd was helping me check out how fast the camera can take continuous shots.

Sorry Todd.  I just couldn't resist posting these pictures.  Love you!

Playing with the Camera

I was trying to focus on a close up object so the lights would look all twinkly and out of focus in the background.  I think it is called Bokeh.

This is the same Christmas tree as the picture above but I stamped out a snowflake on black paper and placed it over my camera lens.  Cool, huh?  I don't quite know how it works, but all the Christmas tree lights are now shaped like snowflakes.

Ready for Church

We let Niko take a little initiative in getting ready for church.  He gets an "A" for effort.  And a giggle from mom.

School Project

Justin had a big portfolio project to do on Egypt.  Part of the project was to make some food eaten there.  He chose hummus and pita bread.  I love hummus!  Even our kids who don't usually like hummus, really liked the homemade stuff Justin made.   

The pita bread was fun too.  Interesting thing . . . when we baked the pita bread on parchment paper, it puffed right up and we were left with a wonderful pocket inside.  When we baked it straight on the metal cookie sheet, it cooked flat.  No puff and no pocket.

Jazz Band Night

We got to hear Thomas in the High School Jazz band last night.  They always put on a little concert for family and friends in the band room the day before District Band Festival.  I LOVE to listen to the Jazz band!

Picture of the Day

New Chickens

Thanks to our "Chicken Handler," Amanda, we now have 3 new hens.  Aren't they beautiful?!  Amanda is a friend of our daughter, Kim.  Amanda's generous friend gave us 3 laying hens.  The black one has been named Bella.  Our white chicken is Martha and our original brown chicken is Betty.  We are still looking for names for the new brown hen and the new grey hen.  Any suggestions?

Fixing the Fence

Or maybe I should say rebuilding the fence.  After loosing 6 chickens we decided there needed to be some improvement to the chicken pen.  Todd has put in sturdy corner posts deep into the ground, buried the bottom of the fence 6 inches, and built the fence up to 5 feet.  It is pretty secure now.  He spent many hours in the snow today finishing it.

Thanksgiving 2010

First Fire

It has been so cold outside this week.  We decided to build the first fire of the season last Tuesday evening.  And we have been burning wood every day since.  Oh, my!  I love a toasty fire!

An Eagle Scout

Although Thomas finished his Eagle Scout project and passed his board of review several months ago, we were finally able to have his Eagle Court of Honor.  It was a great day.  As a mother it was so heart warming to hear others talk about my son, his character, and his dedication.  I am so proud of Thomas and I am grateful to be his mother.

 Great Speakers

 Thomas Telling about his Eagle Project

 Scott Smith Conducting

 Presented his Eagle Award by his Dad

 We presented Thomas with a flag that had been flown over

the United States Capital in his honor.

 The Eagle's Nest

Brother and Sister