Combined Age? Any guesses?...

I'll give you a dollar if you can. We can't do the addition any more.



Reed's birthday is Jan. 14 and Marion, our favorite neighbor ever, celebrates hers on the 15th. So we usually have cake and ice cream together. It was a little delayed this Jan. due to illness but finally we got Marion up here and had a delicious butter pecan cake with loads of butter frosting. The kids declared it the best cake ever and they all want it for their next birthdays.


Just like the rest of the kids, Fienna loves Marion. When Marion came up Fienna stood in front of her just waiting to be picked up! Marion just laughed but was very happy to dance with Fienna and keep her in the lap of luxury, eating pistachios. I think Marion was actually the first name Fienna learned, other than Mom and Dad.

Temple Lights

We took a Sunday evening trip down to the visitor's center to see the lights and displays. It was an amazingly warm night. Perfect since we have 2 little guys. Fienna thought the lights were great and we had to keep an eye on her so she couldn't wander away. Instead of nativities from around the world, this year's display was photos of the life of Christ. (actors, obviously not the real thing). I really liked it but Reed missed the nativities. I think they should have done both. The live nativity nearly made me laugh out loud. Irreverent, I know. But Joseph was the largest I'd seen. Big burly guy with a ruddy complexion and reddish hair. That's fine. But his fake moustache looked like hard black plastic and it stuck out 2 inches on each side of his face! But these are all volunteers and I'm glad Reed and I were never asked to do it. Long, long ago of course...back in our first days in MD.

8 is Great!

Alaina and Brenna celebrated their 8th birthday on 13 Dec. They waited to get baptized until the 27th. That way they could share the day with their friend Stephen. His birthday was on Christmas Eve. The three kids were so cute together. Especially Stephen in the middle. For some reason we forgot to get a picture of me with the girls. But we did get Marion and that makes up for it. She and Mary were able to attend the baptism and come back to our house for pizza and a visit. It was an all around good day.

Christmas Concert

Ms. Dixon does a great job with the middle school band. They really sound pretty good. Connor played a solo on his trumpet that night, "The First Noel." And if I can brag for just a minute...he was excellent. Before he stood up we could hear some moans and groans in the audience. They had just listened to a couple of violin trios. Violins in the hands of beginners aren't necessarily very soothing. When Connor started to play it was silent. And when he was done I couldn't help being proud as I listened to the buzz in the audience. Words like Wow! Man! Whoa! Needless to say he got a lot of hand shakes following the concert. He's standing here at the end of the concert with his friend Logan, a fellow trumpet player, and they share the same birthday.

merry christmas

There was quite a pile of presents under our tree. But there are 8 people in our family after all. We managed to keep the unwrapping going all morning. Our kids have never been early risers on Christmas morning. We let them check their stockings once everyone is all up and then we have to eat breakfast before any gifts are opened. At first we were doing one gift at a time and making the next kid wait until the previous present was removed from all packaging! That can take hours with all the twist ties and plastic bars, rubber bands etc. Fortunately only a very few toys were in horrible packages. It was a pretty good morning. Happy sounds and voices.





































































































































The happy sounds didn't last all day. At one point Alaina even declared it the worst Christmas ever! But we're never surprised to hear Alaina make that kind of declaration. Connor and Caitlin got pogo sticks and Brenna and Alaina got Zoingo Boingo pogo balls. Alaina couldn't just hop on and make hers work. She decided that a pogo stick would have been better and sobbed into her bedroom. There was also some bickering over the Wii and who was going to play what, first. But they quickly settled down and we listened to the thump of pogo sticks and the engines revving on Mario Kart.

frosting with a cookie

Fienna couldn't wait to get her hands on a sugar cookie. After a bite or two she decided that she was only interested in the frosting.

birthday girls

The girls celebrated their 8th birthday on Dec. 13. Amazing how time flies.