Christmas Morning

 We're at a really nice stage in our lives.  The kids waited until 7am to wake us up this year.  Everyone  entertained themselves letting us watch and relax.  Scott and I even got to exercise  and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Nemo!

                                     

Our friend Vicki spent Christmas with us.

Ryan's Birthday

 Ryan turned 15 on Christmas Eve.  We celebrated his birthday on the 21st with his friends Emmy and Ben.  We went to see "Frozen" and then had birthday cake and treats.  Ryan was a great sport as his cake was somewhat less than satisfactory.  I asked him if we could have cookies as a backup treat and he just smiled and said "sure!"  I love this boy!

Zeus found a new napping spot.  We all love having a pet, even Scott!

Christmas Celebrations

Bethany, Carter and Ryan all performed in Christmas concerts this year.  It was hard to get around to all of them because December is so busy, but we loved watching them display their talents.

My camera ran out of power during Ryan's performance but I'm hoping to get a recording from someone else.

I like our Christmas tree this year.  It's a very prickly blue spruce but I like the blue-gray color and the way the ornaments hand on the widely spaced branches.  Carter wasn't a fan at first, he prefers full trees, but he admitted after we got it decorated that our tree was"alright".

This picture is for Camille.  That's one frustrated kitty!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent Thanksgiving day with the Butlers at Wayne and Deena's house.  I'm so grateful that they hosted because as everyone knows (I hope), putting on Thanksgiving is a huge job!  The food was great.  Everyone from our family was there except Laura, Ed, David and Thomas.  We missed them!  In addition Aaron's mother, Marilyn came with a friend.  It made for a lively group. Thank goodness all the kids wanted to play with the toys in the basement.

This next set of pictures were taken by my sister-in-law, Deena. The funny captions are also hers.

"What do you do when you reach a kink in your Science Fair project? You pray you have an Uncle Scott! ( A man who doubles not only as an uncle, but also as high school Chemistry teacher.) Fortunately, this kid does! Nothing like having a helpful Dad and a willing Uncle to help you out when it's crunch time. Thanks Scott! You're the best!"

"Makes me smile."

"Learning the hard way that science is the art of patience. Poor Scott, hanging out at work on his day off. That's love!"

"Role play at its best."

"Cute little lab rats on the loose."

"Cousins taking advantage of the opportunity to leave a message for the teens who will sit in the classroom come Monday."

"Cracks me up! This is how two young girls view high school life. A lot of smooching and ~brace yourself for my favorite part~ "WAILING UNCONTROLLABLY"! "

We loved having Wayne and Deena's family visit for the day!