Eagar 2008 Christmas Card

Merry Christmas Christmas

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Greetings Friends. Yes, I know this card is two years old but I'm simply doing a promotional ad for Shutterfly. I do however make all my scrapbooks on Shutterfly and I really like the quality of the product and the dependability and reliability of the company. For the latest pictures of my kids along with our most recent happenings, be sure to check out the post below.

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Well there's nothing like playing catch-up. Here's a quick run down starting with Halloween. Every year Ellie gets to pick from Emma's old costumes and this year she chose the BYU Cheerleader costume my mom made several years back. We could barely squeeze her in it, but we achieved success. Here she is at the ward carnival/trunk or treat.

In this next picture she is playing the fishing game at her Lutheran preschool Halloween party. I thought that IRONY really was acted out since we sent her in her BYU get up to her Lutheran school. :)

Next we have our little "army guy" with one of his buddies at school getting ready for their Halloween parade. Thankfully our friends had this costume in their dress-ups or it was going to have to be whatever he could come up with...as his and Emma's costumes somehow mysteriously disappeared from the Halloween tub. (Sidenote...they were found yesterday when we were getting out our Christmas decorations). The way I see it, we're already ready for next year.

Emma used her creativity when she found a halo in our dress-ups. She added her baptism dress and borrowed some wings so she could be "angelic." Don't let her costume fool you. J/K!

It seemed like we had Halloween activities the whole month of October. The next couple of pictures show our kids with my friend's daughter Katherine. We like to support our community events so we spent the day freezing at the huge Halloween festival our town sponsors. There was no way Ellie was leaving until she went on a hayride, so with extremities turning blue we waited and waited and then rode.

They all loved the baseball throw.

This is a house in our neighborhood that was extra fun to trick or treat at. I'm sure you can see why. It's quite impressive in person. Ellie hesitantly made her way up to get some candy.

On November 8th, our Brady boy turned 7!!! I still can't believe it! Anyway, what he wanted more than anything was a party not at our house. Soooo he decided to forgo presents from us and his grandparents and use the money for his party instead. We had a huge bash at a mini waterpark at the University of Akron. There was a lazy river, a whirpool, water basketball and other things. When it was all said and done, there were 25 children there from ages 2 - 13. We brought in pizza and cake and lived it up for 2 hours! As the pictures depict, you can see in his facial expressions that he had a great time.

I love mid action shots. He was practicing up for the start of his basketball season. It is his new sports love and he has quite the "game face" when he guards. Matt and I almost fell off the bleachers laughing at his first game. He has no idea that he has a game face and it's absolutely hysterical!

This picture is only two thirds of the big party group.

After the party, he opened his present at home. There was no way I was "paying good money" to let those kids get out of the pool for presents. :)

We celebrated his Birthday all weekend and as tradition, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Our friend's the Davis' joined us and all 6 kids had a lot of fun. They were good sports even though they were starving and we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated.

I love that Red Robin still sings and makes a big production out of Birthdays all at no charge. It's really a highlight for each member of our family. The downside of our kids getting older is that they can now polish off their entire Birthday sundae without needing any parental help. Oh well...I suppose it's a good diet tactic.

As if to prove my point....

You're never too old for a balloon.On Brady's actual Birthday he was VERY surprised to receive a present. It was from some friend's of ours who wish to remain anonymous. They've known that forever Brady has wanted a Nintendo DS lite. Well, Brady knew it was out of our price range and that he gave up his presents for his party so he didn't even bother to ask. They think so highly of him that they purchased him one and the look of shock mixed with surprise and excitement on his face when he opened it were priceless.

Let's just say that this kid had one AWESOME Birthday. It's one none of us will ever forget!He gave me the oligatory picture pose but was dying to play it before the bus came.

You can see his mind thinking...."Hurry up Dad...hurry up...I need to play that thing."

For his school Birthday treat, he wanted Krispy Kreme donuts so I delivered them to his classroom delighted to find out his teacher does her own celebrating. The Birthday child wears a crown while sitting on her lap. The Birthday song is sung and then the Birthday child chooses spankings or kisses...you can see what he chose...but it was still followed up with a Birthday smooch from his teacher. I really like the fact that my children go to a public school where their teachers are still allowed to be appropriately affectionate (and where they talk about God and religion openly).

This is our friend and veteran from the ward Sister Ellebruch (plus the 2 little twins she watches). She came as my kids honored Veteran to the Veteran's Day Assembly at their school The third grade was in charge of the program so it was a very big deal to Emma. Emma also played an original composition on the piano during the introductory part of the assembly. This came as a quite a surprise to Matt and I.

Brady's first grade class sponsors a once a month gathering called a "Poetry Coffeehouse." Both the child and the parent prepare a poem at home and present it in class. I've really enjoyed reliving all my Shel Silverstein poems with him. On this particular day, his class also presented a Reader's Theatre about the history of Thanksgiving. I think he's a pretty handsome Pilgrim.

We had a nice Thanksgiving, but don't have any pictures to document the occasion. Matt and I were both recovering from the 24 hour stomach bug and the camera was the last thing on our minds. At our home we are especially grateful this year for JUNE 25th when we will welcome baby#4 is due to make his/her arrival. Life is sure full of wonderful and good surprises!

With Thanksgiving behind us, my girls sported their new Christmas dresses today. Costco always has the most reasonably priced, prettiest little girl dresses at Christmas and Easter. It's become a tradition of mine to always get them one. I just can't help myself. They decided the best part is that in their words...they are like disco balls when the sun reflects off the sequins on the skirt. They were flashing all around in the car today.

Ellie and I are flying to Savannah, Georgia this Friday to accompany my parents on a business trip so I'll be sure to post some more pictures when we get home. Here's to wishing you a Merry December.