Warm and Cozy...

As Taylor and I were leaving at 5:40 this morning for seminary, the phone rang.  It was our school informing us that school was canceled due to the frigid temperatures outside.  What a pleasant phone call!  So we went to seminary and then came home to share the good news with everyone else!  The girls have bundled up in Nana's blankets on the couches for the majority of the day while our furnace has run  non-stop!

 

I love these days!

 

This one is for mom!  You would be so proud of her!

 

And this is our newest member of the family!  I didn't want a puppy, but trained labs are toooooo expensive!  On the way home his name was Duke, then Carley changed it to Spook because he sneaks up on her and scares her to death.  I just yell "puppy" as he chews or tries to escape to the carpet.  Poor little guy is going to be so confused when it is all said and done.  He may never have a name!  He is inside right now until the temperatures get a little warmer.  He is training nicely and is only allowed on the tile, so far, so good!

 

He is a great help in the kitchen, unless they are clean dishes!

 

And he has grown so much since we brought him home.

 

This little guy has big shoes to fill!  But he is growing on us.

 

Love you Kodi!!!

Freeeezing!!!

 

It is absolutely frigid here!  We wanted to go skiing on Saturday, but 2 degrees is just a little ridiculous!  So we hunkered up indoors and drove each other crazy instead!

Christmas Highlights

 

Since it was exactly one week before Christmas, we decided we better carve out some time to go get a Christmas tree.  We bundled up and headed for StoryLand Christmas Tree Farm.

 

It didn't take long to find the one!

 

What a transformation!  Ready and waiting for Santa!

 

Christmas morning!  They were up at 6:00am, but let us sleep a little longer.

 

She sat on Santa's lap and told him she wanted Kit Kitteridge.  When Santa asked, "Do you want anything else?"  her reply was, "No, just Kit."  Wow!  Easy job for Santa this year!  He made her dreams come true.  Now she wants to travel to one of the American Girl Doll stores.  We will have to see about that!

 

Cousin Time!

The girls spent the week after Christmas with us.  We went roller-skating, sledding in the woods, to the matinee, and had many late-late nights.  But that is what Christmas vacation is all about!

 

This gem is all he wanted for Christmas.  They are out on the driveway target practicing.

 

Pretty good for his first day!  Mine would have ended up in the woods or up in the trees! 

We  hope each of you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year celebration.  Here's to 2011!!!!!  We are headed back to school tomorrow and lesson plans are not even sketched-in!  YIKES!!!  It has been such a relaxing vacation, but the time has come to jump head-first back into the routine...so here we go.

Love you!!!

Let Christmas Break Begin...

                                                     After we clean up this mess!

 

I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to spend each and every school day with these 24 kids.  Our Christmas party was a blast!

 

Santa came to interview each student in my class and Carley's class for his open Elf Position.  Don't worry, this is not my classroom with bare walls.  This is an extra room Santa used for interviewing purposes only.

 

This is Carley right here in the red sweater.  Santa had them sing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in this particular interview.  In other interviews they had to do push-ups.  My little Cody even got to demonstrate some Tae-Kwon-Do moves on Santa's elf.  Cody told Santa he was capable of being his personal body guard.  Santa was impressed!

 

Check this little guy out in the front.  He came to school completely decked out as an elf.  He even had a light up necklace and bells on his shorts.  Very cute!  Needless to say, he was chosen!  Doesn't he look like the perfect elf?

We are all ready for a 2-week break.  I have to admit I am going to miss these little buggers.

A Sad Day...

 

Our sweet dog Kodi passed away yesterday very unexpectedly.  We will truly miss him as part of our family.  We know it was such a blessing to have him.

 

We will miss you buddy!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow...

 

We woke up to a dusting of snow on the first day of December and my first thought was, "Oh, how nice that we get to have snow on the first day of the Christmas season."  That was then.  It has snowed everyday since then!!!  Some days it  has just been light flurries, other days, quite a bit more.

 

We had our first "Snow Day" from school last Monday.  It was beautiful and such a nice gift to be able to stay in our warm home and get things done.  Christmas decorations now adorn our home because of that day.  The kids played outside from dawn to dusk, literally!!!

 

This was dusk!!  They showed up occasionally when they got hungry or needed a "warm-up" break.  Needless to say, the dryer was in full-force this day trying to keep everything dry and warm. 

 

 

My Hero!!!!

Well, we only  have three snow days this school year.  We usually don't start using them until mid-January and we have always had five in the past.  Another storm is headed our way tonight and when my students left on Friday they said, "We will see you Tuesday, maybe Wednesday."  I think we are going to be going to school in June this year to make up for all our bad weather.  Isn't it just beautiful though?  I guess it would be when you are the one taking pictures and not shoveling it!!!!

Here's to a great start to the holiday season!!!

The Master and His Pupil

 This young man has tried for many months to solve his rubics cube.  He has searched online for the solution, he has asked others for help, but there is only one that has been able to break through this barrier and teach like no other!

 I loved watching this process!  The master being so patient during his instruction, the pupil so intent on learning this puzzle.

And he has gotten to the point where he lets us mess it up as good as we can, and he can always fix it.  Thank you Master Mark!  After Mark left, the rubics cube got messed up and we thought we might just have to fly Uncle Mark out here to save the day.  But he got it after much perseverance.  Thanks for the memories Uncle Mark!