December Happenings and Happy 2009

December was a memorable month! Birthdays, the Nativity art and music festival, Elizabethan dinner, a car accident, illness, and of course, Christmas.


Noah and I are one year older and wiser. (I think I'm just older, but Noah's definitely wiser.)

Brooke experienced her 4th and final Elizabethan dinner as part of the Upland High School choir program. Brooke was happy to be a quadrant leader for the servants for the 3rd year. Her friend Gigi was the queen this year--you can see her in the picture below.

The show always ends with the Madrigals dressed in royal garb singing Silent Night with candles they light as they sing, and then blow out all together at the end. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of the Savior.

Then there's the 16th Annual Christmas Art and Music Nativity Festival that is sponsored by our stake--it's a sight to behold. Thousands of nativity scenes, hundreds of performers, and a really fun children's activity room. Another great way to celebrate and remember the real meaning of the Christmas season!




Chris was in a minor car accident, which injured his lip. This was really bad timing, as he was supposed to play his trumpet with a couple of guys the very next day, and also the day before Christmas Eve. He's fine now, but his lip was pretty grusome for awhile. The picture shows his lip before stitches. He got slammed from behind by a drunk driver, which pushed him into the car in front of him and set the air bags off. The bag beat him up! Fortunately, no one else was hurt, even though the guy took off and hit another car going the other direction. (The only other thing that marred our month a little was this awful virus that gave us all searing sore throats, stuffy, then runny noses, a nasty, phlegm-y cough, and NO energy. I wish I could blame that on not sending out Christmas cards, but alas, I can't.)


And last, but certainly not least, we enjoyed Christmas! My camera was set wrong, so none of our pictures of the kids opening anything came out, so all you get is the tree. It was pretty nice having everyone home from school and Chris around a little more than usual. We had a kick-back morning just enjoying our gifts, and then we headed to Chris's parents house in the afternoon for more laid-back fun. The kids always enjoy running around and playing with all of their cousins, and wii, and being outside. Ahh, if only Christmas break could have lasted for one more week! Oh well, on to 2009!

Catch Up

Again, it's been too long since my last post.  Also decided it was time to dress up our site a little--this is a work in progress.  I've managed to leave some things out in between the last two posts, so here's what's been happening.

March 19 was Chris's birthday, and March 23 was Jared's birthday.  We celebrated both at once the week before Easter, which was also Jared's birthday.  Chris turned 41, and Jared is now 9.

We have a tradition of going to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house to celebrate birthdays, and we like Aunt Carin to make the cake because she's the Queen of Cake Baking. Thanks, Carin!!

So, both of them got more like a birthday week, instead of just one day, since we also did celebrate at home on the actual days of their birthdays.  For a "friend party" Jared chose to invite his friend Evan to go to Knott's Berry Farm with our family during the week of spring break. Jared also earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts.

Now that he's 9, he can start working on his Bear badge.

Chris took his band, orchestra, and choir to perform at Knott's Berry Farm.

The week after Easter was spring break for the kids, but Chris had spring break the week before, so we couldn't really go anywhere.  We did go to Knott's together, though, and that was a blast.  Silver Bullet is awesome!! I love a good, smooth, fast roller coaster!!

We also went bowling, which was a lot of fun.  I can still bowl almost as well as I did back in junior high when I was on a youth bowling league.  Some of my kids are impressed by the fact that at one time I could bowl around 135, while others aren't so dazzled by that number.  Anyway, enough about bowling. The rest of the week we just stayed home, played board games, played outside, and relaxed!  The weekend closing spring break was wonderful, too.  We watched Jared and Noah play soccer games (Jared's number 8 in the dark green, Noah's number 3. Spring soccer is coed, so they both have girls on their teams).

We also watched General Conference, which I always enjoy.  It's as if the speakers are directing their remarks just to me.  Before we went to soccer games, a solemn assembly was held in which we had the opportunity to participate in the sustaining of our new prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, as well as his counselors, President Henry B. Eyring, and President Dieter F. Uchdorf,

and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles with its newest member Elder D. Todd Christofferson.

This was a beautiful occasion that I hope all of our family will always remember.  We also sustained a new General Young Women Presidency:  Elaine S. Dalton, Mary N. Cook, and Ann M. Dibb.

Some other things we've been doing . . .

BEFORE

AFTER

A friend of ours offered to do some improvements in our front yard, so we jumped on the opportunity!   I can't wait for the roses to climb up the pillars and bloom gloriously red and yellow!!  Thanks, Mark!!  

Brooke went to what's known as Mormon Prom.  No dates, just fun with friends in fancy clothes. The theme for the evening was "Pure Imagination" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

That about sums up the last three weeks or so.  Except there was one day where I lost my keys, and I was supposed to leave to take Brooke and Dallin and two other kids to early morning seminary at 6:25 am to get them there by 6:40 am.  And so we looked high and low, in my purse, under the couches, behind the hall tree, couldn't find them, called for backup, and kept looking even after the kids were taken care of.  A few hours later, I just decided to look in my purse again, and what do you know, there were my keys!  What lesson was I supposed to learn from this experience?  That my eyesight is going?  That sometimes we don't see what's right in front of us?  Both are true, I think.

Anyway, it's been a good and busy three weeks.  Won't wait so long to post again because this has taken me two days to finish!!!!!