Hannah made beautiful cards to send to Sister Barnes.
A few years ago we started hanging blue stars from the ceilings for Christmas time. I love the shadows.
December 10, was Katie's 9th birthday.
Braden was very sneaky while he decorated Katie's chair.
The birthday table!
Katie and Braden waiting to open presents.
Katie had a fabulous My Little Pony birthday.
A few pictures of a typical school day at Franklin Academy.
Emily usually begins with an hour or so on the piano. She likes to play when the house is quiet. We enjoy listening to her music while we study.
Hannah is cruising through her Algebra II book.
Braden can play Legos for hours. He specializes in motorcycles and cars.
Today he tried something different. He built an island.
Katie was writing a mini dictionary of Indian words that have been assimilated into English. She really was enjoying the project but this is what the camera captured.
Spencer and his best friend... his graphing calculator.
Braden enjoyed his island all morning long.
Is this a dad or a jungle gym? Either way he is super fun.
On the weekends, these two meet everyday at 1:00 to "read a book." Even Braden knows that is just code for take a nap.
A few years ago Mom decided to celebrate Christmas without presents. Dad and Mom decided that one gift for each child a few days before Christmas might be fun. (That was before we spent three hours aimlessly walking around the store trying to find just the right present for eight of the most perfect children any parent could ever dream of. I remembered why I gave up presents.)
The surprise and the fun of a few new toys was worth the effort.
Braden has absolutely loved his new Lego set. Spencer spent an hour helping him build the helicopter. Two minutes later he had it completely disassembled. A few siblings rebuilt the helicopter, as soon as it was built he pulled it all apart. Finally, Mom built the helicopter for him. I thought, "I will see that it stays together." No, I turned my back for a minute and it was disassembled. It turns out he doesn't want it together. He wants all the pieces in a box. He sits and looks at them then builds little motorcycles with them. Three weeks later, he is still carrying around hisLego parts everyday.
All the girls received yarn and crochet hooks.
The boys played all morning. The girls went to Jacksonville to renew Jessica's driving permit. And run a few more errands.
Christmas morning came with a great breakfast of Strawberry Waffles. Then we spent some time having a Christmas devotional singing carols and reading scriptures. It was a very nice morning.
Snow flakes have six points just like the Star of David. So snow flakes have become a favorite Christmas decoration. Yes, ours had more than six points, paper was limiting. We love the shadows and designs.
We read about Christ being our shepherd so, we took a few minutes to build sheep out of Legos.
A very happy sheep!
Twice baked potatoes are Hannah's favorite. Minimal mixing created the best potatoes ever.
David was helping with the graham cracker crust for the pie. He was really getting into it.
Sister Fertig gave us a King Arthur Gingerbread Cookie mix. These cookies were amazing. Emily made them, and we all loved them.
Braden wanted to get into the cooking mix also. See those little pots on the ground. He cooked up an amazing soup that all of us tasted, and tasted and tasted, at the urging of our aspiring chef. We found that if we only give him yummy things to put in his pot, then we don't mind tasting his creations.
Sprouts and paprika soup
While we waited for the ham to bake, David and Mom had a fabulous risk match.
Christmas dinner!
Brown Sugar and Pineapple Ham
Twice baked potatoes
Bundt bread with honey butter
Pomegranates
Emerald salad
Christmas Dinner
After New Year's was over, Chad and Jenny decided to let the kids run the house and go off for an extended date to the temple. We drove to Raleigh and checked into a hotel. Then we went to the Natural Science museum and enjoyed walking around for a few hours looking at dinosaurs and whales and trees...and reading every single word on every sign. (We really want to bring the kids to the museum, but we loved going at our own pace instead of the kids' half sprint pace.) Then we went to a science cafe for a Science Thursday Trivia Game. We had fun visiting with other grownups as we competed in a trivia game. When the final scores were tallied we were number 7 out of 24 teams. (7 from the bottom, not the top. We had a score of 13/30. The highest score was 20/30. Jenny loved it. Chad enjoyed being with Jenny and getting a few answers right!!)
Just for fun! The pool wasn't open until later or we would have swam a few laps also.
Chad and his new best friend...the waffle maker.
While the parents were gone the kids made some awesome forts and games.
Monday morning came too quickly. It was time to say good bye to Jessica. And one more try at a family picture. We did try to get pictures at the beach, but they didn't work out. Something about being freezing cold and the sun was setting and then it was just dark.
Braden agreed to help me set up the camera.
David joined us.
The family is growing.
Here we are. This is as good as it gets.
The fake nose was our favorite part.
Well, that was all we could take. We love looking at pictures, just don't ask us to pose for a picture.
Chad and Jenny
The two weeks flew by. We wish she didn't have to go back to school. But school is awesome. So we smiled and hugged her and wiped away the tears and off she went.
When Jessica was 5 she went off to school with a wave and a smile. I am so glad that we choose to homeschool so I can be with the kids for as much time as I can before they grow up and fly away. I have loved every moment of the last 18 years. I wish I could go back in time and relive all of our life all over again. I have had so much joy from my family.
Well, there she goes. All grown up. We love you Jessica.
What happened next. An awesome game of photo tag.
Then Spencer dug a hole and hit the water table.
100th day!
Braden helped me with the baking.
2014 We are ready!
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