Merry Christmas

 Christmas Eve Jammie's

 Karolina choking the stuffing out of the kids! ;)

 Christmas morning.  The kids slept in until around 8:00.  I was really quite shocked because Jake is usually up by 6 everyday.  I was not complaining though.

 

 Ellie and Jake were very pleased with their gifts this year,

and  were very thankful for what they received.

 Jake decorated the tree this year pretty much by himself.  He asked Ellie and Karolina if they

would like to help, and they both told him no.  I offered to help and he told me he was

going to let me take a break from tree decorating this year. 

what a nice boy Jake is!  :)

Another Tooth

See this cute kid?  He lost another tooth. 

 He pulled it out all by himself, and was so proud of himself for being brave/tough enough to pull it out without mom or dad helping him at all. 

Sick Little Grandpa

Grandpa had been at Traceys house visiting when he got really sick and was rushed to the Hospital.

At the Emergency Room they found out that he  had a hole in his small intestine (about 6 inches long) they did an emergency surgery on him last night. We were told after his surgery last night that he would be sedated for 36-48 hours but this morning he came to & was alert most of the day. All he wants is to get that dang tube out of his throat & lungs so he can tell his jokes to the nurse!! ...ha He will be up here in ICU for at least 2 weeks then he'll be in a rehab for 2-4 weeks following his hospital stay. Please include him in your prayers, he has a long, very painful road to recovery!!
(his thumbs up are because he had Whitney and I constantly putting rags in ice water then onto his head & legs so he wouldn't die of heat!!)



Ellie's World Fair

 In sixth grade you get to be apart of the World Fair. 

Ellie chose to do hers on Norway since Karolina was here and could be her helper,

and answer any questions people may have about Norway, or in case somebody

wanted to hear what the Norwegian language sounds like.

Karolina was nice enough to share some of her Norwegian treats with the people

who were there to hear about each country.  Ellie thought it was really funny when

Mr. Klien (the principal) grabbed a piece of the pepper turkey licorice that Ellie had samples

of and he about died.  He grabbed several pieces of the Norwegian cookie just to get the yucky

taste out of his mouth.  He then told Ellie he would be back with some of the teachers so

that he could se if they would like or dislike the licorice.  Karolina says that everyone in

 Norway loves this kind of licorice, and she was a tad offended that everyone was

 gagging  over the taste of what she thought was a yummy treat.

The Stable and Santa Claus

Last night I took the kids to the Stable to see Santa Claus, and to see the donkey, camel,

and two of Santas reindeer.  The kids were super excited to sit on Santas lap,

 and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Mom was relieved to hear that

 the things they asked for were the things already wrapped under the tree. 

 

 The camel was puckering up for a kiss. 

Santa was pleased with how well behaved the kids were, and told them they should be proud of

themselves for being willing to open their home and invite a stranger in for a year. 

 He told them that he admired their kindness, and big hearts.

  (mom wondered who Santa really was and how he knew?)

Fall Leaves in Idaho

I sent the kids outside to rake the leaves here at the Old Place, and this is what I found them doing 

 They would rake the leaves in a pile, and then run like crazy people to pile.

 I am absolutely in love with so many of the faces they were making, and was so glad that I had my camera handy to capture this fun activity. 

 Love the tongue hanging out of the mouth while he is flying through the air!

 It's raining leaves, hallelujah!!!

 I have such a beautiful daughter, and I hope she never lets any convince her otherwise.

 

 Love the face Jake is making.  This kid cracks me up.

 Leaf angel

 Geronimo

Love Ellie's Hair.  It reminds me of a Farrah Fawcett hairstyle

Red Ribbon Week

We celebrated Red Ribbon Week at our schools.   Both Ellie and Jake had a day where they were supposed to say PEACE OUT TO DRUGS.  Since niether kid had hippie kind of clothing I decided to take an old sheet and make a peace outfit.  I made the pants, headband, vest, and the peace shirt.

Jake looked cute in the shirt and headband, although I think he would have been much cuter in the whole entire outfit.

 Ellie was in love with this outfit and asked if she could use it for jammies after both peace out days were done.

Jake was mad when he found out Ellie was going to be wearing the same outfit to school so he refused to where the pants.  He wound up just wearing the shirt and headband. 

The kids got to dress up a whole week for Red Ribbon Week, but after Jakes little fit about sharing an outfit with Ellie, he refuesed to let me take any pictures of him all decked each day.  I did manage to grab a picture with Ellie in her jammies and crazy hair day get up.

Happy Birthday Karolina

 Happy 17th Birthday Karolina!

 We love you, and are glad you get to be apart of our family for the year.

  We hope you have enjoyed your American Birthday.  xo-xo-xo

 

Halloween

Can you say CUTE?  Ellie was a cute little Pirate girl this year, Karolina was a Disco girl, and Jake was Spider Man.  I am not, nor have I ever been a fan of Halloween, so having young kids who love going out is hard for me.  Usually Ray and I take the kids in costume out to dinner, but this year Ray convinced me to let Karolina take the kids trick-or-treating.  They had a blast, and I didn't have to worry about seeing the scary costumes that freak me out so bad.

Jake was beyond thrilled to show off the amount of candy he got.  All mom could think about was a trip to the dentist. 

 Karolina could not make up her mind what she wanted to be for Halloween so she tried on Ellie's costumes.  First it was the cute little Jail Bird costume, next came the happy Little Lady Bug costume, but finally she settled on the Disco Diva which I think she pulled off rather well.

Ellie was feeling a bit too "old" to go trick-or-treating, until she came home with a bag full of candy, then she decided maybe next year she will be too old.  

Alpacas on the way to Idaho

 There is this gas station in Idaho on the way to Kimberly that has two Alpacas that you can pet.

The white one is younger than the brown one.  They are very nosy creatures, and could not get over how "wierd" my kids were.  lol

 I told Jake I would give him a dollar if he kissed this cute little Alpaca.  ;)

 I think Maddi was about the Alpaca as it was about her.

She was pretty excited to have made a new friend.

 I told Ellie I found her a boy friend, but she did not think I was funny.

 Ellie fell in love with how soft and "adorable" this thing was and asked if she coudl have one.

 Ellie and her boyfriend Al.  :)

Clearly they were sad to see us go.