Christmas

We were very blessed to have my mom, Sara and her children visit us for Christmas. Since Mr P and Ms E were visiting their dad Christmas Day, we had two Christmases. :) The children loved opening their gifts from each other. It was hard to tell who was more excited to see what Mr P and Ms E gave Ms A - A Stuffed PINKIE PIE! We had a wonderful time with one another.

Christmas Day started with Ms A discovering her present - a DOLL HOUSE! We had delicious cinnamon rolls (thanks SARA), then we returned to opening gifts. We loved watching Ms A's excitement. Each gift was followed by "It's JUST what I WANTED!!!" After the gifts, we played, visited, read books, ate and watched movies!! :)

It was a wonderful day!

Ms A loves her tent so much, it's been her bedroom, play area (when she's not playing with her dollhouse) and changing room! HUGE HIT!

Here's a video of Ms A and her doll house

Preschool Program

Ms A and her classmates had a Christmas Program their last day before their break. She was so excited to sing the songs for mom, dad and her surprise visitor: Grandma Valerie!

Ms A and her friends did a wonderful job! Here are a few pictures:

Miss JoAnn

Santa Craft

Singing and Dancing Reindeer, Reindeer

Class Picture

And video. It's a bit long and not the best quality, but the children are adorable, especially during Reindeer, Reindeer.

Car Accident

Reed, Ms A and I were on they way to our Ward Christmas Party when we were hit head on by a pickup truck. The other driver was coming around a curve and hit us. Reed's car is totaled. Reed and Ms A have a couple of scrapes, but I have a spiral break on my left hand and six possibly seven fractures on my right foot. I have a wheel chair, boot on my foot and a splint on my hand.

My mom is here until the 26th and Sara will be here for Christmas. We feel so blessed that there wasn't more injuries. Heavenly Father had His protective hand over us.

Here's a picture of Reed's car.

Annual Gingerbread House Night

Ms A has been waiting, somewhat patiently, to make our annual Gingerbread House. She picked out what she wanted on Thursday, then because of schedules, we put it together last night. Her and Reed's eyes lit up when I laid out the *CANDY*. They willingly went right to work. We had one small problem. Reed and Ms A enjoy putting on EVERY piece of candy available while I like to have it look pretty. We were doing fine, Reed and Ms A had one side of the roof and I had the other, but when they ran out of space, they covered my side. There was so much candy on that side that when we woke up the next morning it had slid down about a half of an inch! It was fun, so I won't complain too much! I loved watching them decorate!

After the pictures were taken, Ms A and Reed started to eat the candy. It looks a bit more bare this evening: more to my liking (but not very pretty).

Thanksgiving in Spokane

We were very fortunate to be able to visit Reed's entire family for Thanksgiving. Reed's dad came home for a couple of weeks from Afghanistan. Cindy and her family were able to come from New York. We enjoyed visiting and playing with everyone. We also enjoyed crafting, ie: making clippies (Cindy makes them for her small personal business), stamping Christmas cards and making various crafts (Thanks Aunt Suzanne!). The most popular activity was Grandma and Grandpa's ATVs. Ms A LOVED them. Every morning she would ask if she could go for a ride. She was all smiles when she was done, except for her cold fingers.

We had a wonderful time! It was hard to leave, but we missed our beds! ;)

Thanks for the WONDERFUL time and
THANKS Suzanne for the use of your room!!