The Christmas List

This year, when Woody wanted to get everyone's Christmas list going the kids' list for Santa started out as what appeared to be a simple list.  Ethan wanted some crashing cars, socks, maybe a game.  Alys had listed a Barbie and Barbie clothes. Benjamin, well he's content with pretty much anything at this age still.  I thought Santa would probably fair pretty well this year.  Needless to say, it's amazing what a few weeks of school and conversations of wish lists will do.  A week or so before Christmas it was made known that we wanted scooters and motorbikes, cell phones, etc.  Mind you...our kids our 2, 4, & 6 years old.  I'm glad I don't have Santa's job! :)

Church Christmas Party

It was a busy weekend!  The day after Alys' dance recital we had our church Christmas party.  It was a dinner and program.  We had a nice potluck dinner and the primary kids acted out the nativity.  Ethan was an ox and Alys was a sheep.  Benjamin is still in nursery so he joined us in the audience.  After the program, Santa came for a visit and the kids were able to sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted for Christmas.

Dancing with the Reindeer

December came quickly and we hit the ground running!  Alys has been going to a dance class for about 6 months and had her first recital.  She did two cute little dances...one was ballet to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and the other was tap, to the song Gonna' eat for Christmas.  She did a great job after I finally convinced/bribed her to get out there.  Alys tends to get scared when it comes to doing things in front of people.  Once she got her costume on and got on stage though she had fun.  I was so proud of her, because I knew it was hard for her.  It's always great to watch your kids do something that they enjoy.

Thanksgiving

What a great day and so much to be thankful for.  This year we were able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with most of my family.  We went up to Cascade, ID and spent it by the lake. (Not swimming!)  It was an enjoyable time by all.  Plenty of food and lots of good company.  Of course the kids always enjoy spending time with their cousins too.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because my camera battery was dead by the time I remembered to take pictures.  I guess maybe that's a good thing.  Heaven knows after eating turkey and so much pie you can't remember all the different kinds you ate, who would want to see those plump bellies!  I hope everyone else was able to eat, drink (eggnog) and be merry!

Finally, A New Family Picture

Well, in the course of taking family pictures for everyone, we managed a few shots of our family as well.  It was much needed as well...it has been almost 3 years since we've had one.  I'm not sure why, but as a photographer it always seems harder to get your own family together to sit still and smile.  Anyway, here are a few shots.

Curt's Wedding

On November, 14, 2008, my older brother got remarried to Ralynne.  It was a nice little ceremony with family and friends.  I have not known Ralynne long but she seems like a wonderful person.  They appear to be very happy and I wish them all the best.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Well, I know I'm way behind.  I guess I've been too busy or we've been having too much fun for me to keep up with the blog.  Anyway, just before Thanksgiving I was real busy taking family/individual pictures for everyone.  That's always fun, but it also keeps me real busy afterwards.  In addition, my older brother got married around there so that added to the busy time.   So we'll see if we can recap and remember all the festivities.