Christmas

We had a very successful Christmas. There were many smiles all around.

Ethan is our Gadget boy. He got a cool little projector to go with his (Jump through hoops thank you Bank of America) Itouch that we had been saving to give him on Christmas.

Spencer and Preston both lucked out.  Santa knew that they are both required to have laptops for school next year.  Santa was kind and brought them early.

Spencer

Preston

Adam and Sydney hit the jackpot on Play-doh and Leapsters

Jordan got a silk screening kit and a whole bunch of things to silk screen.

I had no idea that zhu zhu pets were going to be SO popular.  Adam has delighted in watching, following and playing with his.

Sydney loved helping open everyone's presents including her own.  She was also pretty good at giving the kids each their presents.

Christmas Party

While we were in Singapore our lovely friend/babysitter took the kids to a Christmas party.  Evidently Spencer and Preston were too big for photos with Santa.

Adam telling Santa he wanted a chalk board for Christmas

 Santa telling Ethan he better be good or else...

 Jordan enjoying Santa; Sydney pretending to enjoy Santa and willing herself not to cry.

Quick trip to Singapore to pick a house.

Christopher and I spent a week in Singapore house hunting, furnishings hunting and of course some play thrown in.  We were successful on all accounts.  Our house is right near the school.  Our kids will have a 5 minute (if they walk really slow) commute.

We even got to spend an extra day in Singapore as our flight was canceled. (Again: see the Israel trip) Christopher insists that I am the curse.  Luckily our babysitter was a good sport- Again.  We did have a long flight home.  We had the pleasure of coming home through Beijing and Chicago. Jet lag has not been my friend.  I don't know how Christopher manages so well.

The Patio on the top floor between two bedrooms

 The Living Room/Dining Room

 The Kitchen- Much bigger than some of the other houses we looked at.

 View from the front of our house.

Christmas Decorating

We don't have a tradition of hiking out in the cold to pick our Christmas tree. We have the tradition of getting our tree out of storage and putting it together! We love it! The tree all ready has the lights on it, so we just have to fluff it and plug it in. Our style of tree! The kids are getting really good at making sure it looks authentic. In fact many people come and don't realize it is a fake tree. We have some awesome decorations thanks to some 'Elves' a few years back.

Sydney and Adam were very careful about how they put on decorations. And even better, they didn't mess with them once they were on the tree!

One of our kids favorite decorations is the moving Santa. They raced to turn it on each morning.

Jordan Turns NINE!

Jordan had a great birthday number NINE. She was well taken care of by her brothers, who got her plenty of 'girly' presents.  They even decorated the dining room in her honor.  Jordan we are glad you are in our family!

Before Church

The kids got ready for church a little early and wanted pictures taken.  Adam started it and was followed by Sydney.  

Sydney and Adam got the giggles.

After Adam was done taking pictures, Sydney convinced Jordan to sit down by her.

Fishing Trip

Our family bid on a fishing trip at a scout auction.  We were very happy to be the winners.  Our good friend Scott Baker took the boys fishing.  Adam was worn out after 8 hours of fishing.