Christmas 2008

Christmas has come and gone and it has left a huge mess at my house to clean up! It's well worth the mess to see the kids' faces when they see the tree with the gifts underneath and while they unwrap their gifts. We had a wonderful Christmas! Jason's parents arrived on Christmas Eve to surprise the kids. Boy were they surprised! It was great to have family with us on Christmas. The kids woke up about 5:30 and went to snuggle with Grandma and Grandpa. They were able to contain themselves until about 6:00. I got up and started the coffee and got the camera ready. Once all the adults had coffee it was go time! It was a mad dash!! We started with stockings and went straight to the gifts. There was wrapping paper flying everywhere! Addi wanted an iPod so we gave her an iPod shuffle. Keelan wanted his own video game so we were able to find a lightly used Nintendo DS (original not DS Lite). Addi also got a digital camera, clothes, Wii and DS games, and the whole Harry Potter series in a boxed set. Keelan got trucks, clothes, Legos, art stuff, and a Wii game. The kids also got an indoor trampoline that they are really enjoying. We love you all and hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

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Talent Show Nov 2008

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did not make dinner at my house this year because we were invited to a wonderful meal that was prepared by our friends the Brodskys. We had a great time and the food was delicious! On Wednesday the kids had a talent show at the school and I was able to get a friend to record parts of it for me so that I could share them with you. I would like to write more, but most of us (including me) are under the weather today and nap time is calling! I have created a slide show for you with a couple of pictures and a few videos of their performances. As always we miss you all and hope you enjoy the slide show.

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Fun times and a parade

Well... it's that time of year again. The temperature has dropped and the sun is still out in full force (as usual..). It's a great time to get out and have fun. For those of you that don't live in Arizona you are probably starting to get a little chilly, but not us!! It is a lovely 85 degrees out today and it's November. This is why we love living here. The summer heat rivals the heat most likely found in hell, but the "fall" and "winter" are wonderful!! The kids have been out having fun and I've taken some pictures to share. We have spent afternoons at the park and a morning at a parade. The parade was Keelan's first and Addi had been to one previously, but it had been a while. We met up with our good friends and had a blast! It's always nice when you can share your fun with others. The fun was short lived because even though it is still warm cold season is upon us and it has hit both kids. They both have bronchitis so they are drugged up most of the day and sleeping hard at night. They each have an antibiotic and cough syrup for nighttime and Addi is back to having breathing treatments with her nebulizer machine every 4 hours. It's all fun and games until someone gets sick, right? ;p Addi has been interested in joining Girl Scouts and we discovered our new found friends from the school are very much into the Girl Scouts. They have offered to pick up Addi with their daughter and take her to the meetings since I have to work. Her first meeting is two weeks from today!! Well... I have to head back to work, but I wanted to get the pictures posted for all to enjoy. We miss you all and hope life is treating you well. Enjoy!!!

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Halloween 2008

Another Halloween has come and gone and we have pictures to share! Keelan was a fire fighter and Addi was a cheerleader. They both looked so cute, although Keelan would say he was handsome, not cute. The kids came home with a ton of candy so there is plenty to share with mom and dad. Keelan has also figured out how to make a sandwich so he likes to make is own "meals" now. It's been a busy week this week. Addi got sick, but is doing better now. The school had its annual fall festival on Friday. The turn out wasn't great, but it was Halloween and if I wasn't required to be there we likely would have done other things too.

We hope everyone is doing well and we miss all of you!! The kids want me to write that they say hello, so, "Hello!!!!" from the kids.

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We went hiking!!

I took the kids hiking today with a wonderful family we met through the kids' school. We had a blast!! We did a short hike. It was a little over 3 miles round trip and it had a cave at the top of the trail which the kids had a blast in! This was the first outing with our new found friends. Everyone hiked and everyone had fun! We saw some beautiful scenery and enjoyed getting to know everyone. We are planning to make hiking a regular activity from now on. We hope everyone is doing well and really miss you all!!

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Addi's Cheer Performance

Addi had her cheer performance today and she was AWESOME!! One of the best in there by far and she started more than half way through. She gave it all she had and she rocked!!! I was trying to upload the video's I took, but for some reason the website is having issues with that. I wish I had more to show, but I took more video than pics because the lighting was poor and most of them didn't turn out. As soon as I can get the videos uploaded I will post them. Hope everyone is doing well and we miss you all!!!

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Picture Day Sept 2008

Ok, ok... so it's been a few weeks since the last post. That is my fault!! Life's been a little crazy 'round here lately. Jason's back to working long hours and I'm still working at the kids' school so by the time the kids go to bed, I'm worn out!! To make life even more interesting our hot water heater sprung a slow leak that we did not notice for almost 2 weeks (until it leaked so much that it had no where else to go but to pool up on the garage floor). The leaked water had been absorbing into the baseboards, walls, and floors of the laundry room and living room which has caused a slight mold problem. We are going to have "mold specialists" coming out soon to repair the damage and remove the mold so no worries there! The kids are doing well and we are all looking forward to having next week off of school. If anyone needs a last minute warm vacation spot.... come on down!!! ;p Keelan is really enjoying school and continues to grow like a weed. Addi has been taking a cheer class at the gym where Jason works and she is going to have a performance next week so stay tuned for an update with pictures!!

Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all very much and hope you enjoy the pictures.

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Summer is officially over....back to the daily grind

Sadly, summer officially ended (for us at least) on August 13th. That meant it was back to work for me and back to school for the kids. The first week was rough (even though it was only 3 days)!! The kids were exhausted and I was completely drained. We made it though! Over the weekend most of us managed to get sick, but not with the same thing.... Slightly odd, but when exposed to the insane amount of germs that Keelan and I are it's pretty understandable. This past week went better, but we were still tired by Friday night. Addi has been learning about the creation of the universe and I have been told she has exceeded a fourth grade math level (you go girl!). Keelan has been working on vocabulary, coffee bean grinding (yes, getting children to do your dirty work and grind your coffee beans by hand is a true Montessori work), graduated triangles, and the trinomial cube. I just have a few pictures to share from our first day of school, but we really hope you enjoy them! Hope everyone is doing well and we miss you all!!

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Oh my how the time rushes by when you are having fun!! Summer is almost over and we've done so many things and gone so many places. We went to Washington and visited our family, Utah to visit more family, and Yellowstone to visit the "wilder" side of the family. ;p Addi has learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels and Keelan has learned how to properly peddle a bike. We have tons of pictures to share and each has a story to match. We are looking forward to the start of school though. It will be nice to see our old friends and our teachers. We are also hoping to make some new friends this year. Here is a slideshow from our summer, but be sure to have some spare time because there are a lot of pictures to see! Keep checking back for more updates and pictures!

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