All tuckered out...

This afternoon has been busy getting ready for Christmas. Abigayl was very quiet, this can be a bad sign sometimes! Look at this sweet girl I found sound asleep on the basement stairs!

An afternoon trip...

School is out for Christmas, so we went to visit the little museum that tells about our county's history. We had a fun afternoon:)Behind the kids as an aerobatics plane that was flown by a guy who was quite famous from our area.
This is the jawbone and tusk of a mastodon! A complete mastodon has been found in our county along with many teeth, tusks, jaw bones and other bones. The kids think this is pretty cool!

Asem took this picture of Eli & I in the museum!

While Asem and I were on our trip to CO a few weeks ago- she started this silly thing of "jumping" in front of special places we visit:) This was in front of the antique tractor in front of the museum Crazy but fun!!! Below are a few other "jump shots we have taken!!!

This was a quick stop in front of the giant Van Gough painting! Look back to the "great adventure post" to experience some more "jump photography!"

The Church Christmas Program

Our little church had it's Christmas program last week-end. Asem's puppet group preformed and she did a great job! Lenna and Abigayl were also in the Christmas Pageant as angels!

What to do when the weather outside is frightful...

Here are a few of the projects we have been working on this week since we've spent a lot of time inside with school cancelled, etc.

Ginger Bread House building!
We were bad architects though and it later collapsed!

Have "hop ball races" in the basement hallway!

Try Oragami with the $1.99 Clearnace kit you bought 10 years ago and never opened! Asem is actually getting really good at it!

Bundle up tight and enjoy it!

The Ice Storm...
this was followed a few days later with 6+ inches of snow. The kids are loving it!

The Great Adventure...

After volunteering in Denver for the afternoon, we headed up into the mountains for the night to stay at the cabin of some friends (they have blessed us by letting us borrow it from time to time!) We checked the weather when we left and things looked ok... but weather can change quickly in the mountains and it did! What is usually about an 1 1/2 hour trip turned into several hours, a visit to the ditch, getting pulled up the hill and a late night. Needless to say, the warm cabin was a welcome sight at midnight!

We made the best of it! We stayed an extra day, the kids went sledding, played in the snow, spent evening laughing, playing the piano and card games. We had great meals, including an international dinner that we invited the couple to that helped us out and much more! Great memories for the kids, several of whom are from countries where it doesn't snow!

"The Power of a Simple Gift"

This past Friday, I volunteered at the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center in Denver checking shoebox gifts to be sent around the world. We took 7 exchange students from 7 countries and an exchange teacher. The really fun part was that several of the students countries will be getting shoebox gifts! Asem's country, Kyrgyzstan will get 90,000 shoebox gifts this year! The kids did a great job helping out and we were there for the last box to be packed for shipment! The Denver Center processed +530,000 boxes this year!

Another Birthday Girl!

Yesterday was Asem's Birthday. She had a great day at school and then we had a little party here at home when she got home in the evening. One of her packages was from one of the grandma's- she makes homeade PJ's for the kids for Christmas and their birthdays each year. This year she made PJ's for Asem and matching ones for the kids! They all love them (they also got matching pillow cases!)

Singing & Santa

Monday night was our town's Christmas celebration. Asem's choir sang and Santa appeared:) Some of our children were happier than others about this.....

Eli was not so fond of Santa, but wanted a candy bag, he got close enough to grab the candy and run! I missed getting a picture of Lenna on Santa's lap!

A Sunday afternoon hike

Sunday afternoon, Asem and I went for a walk on some friends' ranch. She collected rocks for her 4-H project and also practiced taking pictures for her photography project. Just thought we'd share a few pictures. We did some work with color and black and white. It was windy and a little chilly but once down in the canyons, not bad!