Christmas is the Time for Baking

We did a lot of baking this year making chocolate chip, mint chip, butterscotch chip, white chocolate chip, peanut butter, gingerbread, and sugar cookies. We love making cookies and sharing them with friends and neighbors!

Katherine Still Loves Scouting

Katherine has moved to a different troop this year that is closer to home and does more things that she finds enjoyable. She has made some friends and really likes it. She has already earned 4 badges, some patches, and an award for learning the promise and law. And it's only December!

We Took the Grandkids to the Parade

We had Gena and Jaxson for the first week of December while their parents were in Boston. It was such a joy to have them with us and to get to know them better! We had a wonderful time getting started on Christmas. We made snowflakes, went to a parade, baked cookies, put up the Christmas village, looked at lights, and so many other things! Jaxson loved Rebekah and Kimberly and his new friend Dino. Gena and Katherine got along super well and enjoyed playing for hours on end.

Christmas Tree Hunt

We go to Doby's Christmas Tree Farm every year to cut down our perfect tree. This is our family on the "hunt."

We Had Fun Window Shopping

I took Rebekah and Katherine window shopping in downtown Sanford. We had so much fun looking in the windows at the beautiful Christmas displays. I took lots of photos, but these are the two artsy ones I took of the girls. There is a big lit diamond on a jewelry store sign and I had Rebekah stand on the other side of the road with her hand in the air to put the diamond on her finger! For Katherine, I had her sit on the bench outside the jewelry store that had pearls and gems painted on it. All the benches in downtown Sanford have designs that match the stores! So, I have one girl dripping in diamonds and one dripping in pearls!

Beautiful Fall Colors

It is beautiful in NC during the fall. Let's just let these pictures speak for themselves!

Young Women's Personal Progress Night

Kimberly and Rebekah participate in Young Women's at our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Part of the program is called Personal Progress and they have areas such as knowledge, service, faith, etc to work on. Each year, they have a program to show some of their progress. This year, both Kimberly and Rebekah chose to display items based on "Individual Worth."

Annie at Temple Theater

Rebekah and Kimberly both participated in the Temple Theater production of "Annie" this year. Temple Theater is a professional theater here in town. Although they occasionally have some people from the area participate, they mostly hire professionals for their performances. Rebekah was chosen to play an orphan. Kimberly helped build sets and then was given the opportunity to run the main spotlight. Practices/work days went on for 3 weeks and performances ran for 4 weeks with 20 performances in all. They had a great time!

Keith's Birthday

We celebrated Keith's birthday on November 3rd. Rebekah made him a cake in the shape of a pyramid, which is Keith's favorite thing. She iced it with fat free whipped topping and made the cake low fat so that he could have it without going off his heart smart diet. He got 2 sweaters and a shirt from Kimberly and I, and a few treasures and a coupon for breakfast in bed from Katherine.

Halloween 2007

We all had something going on for Halloween this year. Keith and I went to a party at the Brogan's house and had a great time eating good food and playing fun games. Katherine went Trunk or Treating with her dad at the Pinehurst Ward building, and Kimberly and Rebekah had a Halloween party with the Annie cast. Although I have no photos, we hear that Matthew went to numerous parties and dressed up as his roommate, Josh. Josh is quite tall and very broad and makes Matthew look quite tiny. He dressed in Josh's clothes and everyone got a big kick out of it.

Katherine's plants

Katherine started out the summer with a couple of aloe plants, 10 small tangerine trees about 2 inches tall that she grew from her Christmas tangerine, and a very tiny plant that was hardly the size of a fingernail. Her tallest tangerine tree is now nearly 10 inches, she ended up with 47 aloe plants that we had to find homes for, and the tiny plant is now the large one she is sitting behind and had several babies! She says she wants to be a botanist when she grows up! She also says that she wants to be the first North Carolinian to grow a tangerine tree that produces fruit!

If you want to see her tangerine trees at the beginning of the summer, look at the bottom of this page: http://stuffmatters.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html. The really tiny plants in the ice cream bucket are the tangerine trees!!!

One of those Heart Swelling Moments in Time

After Matthew left for State, he had the family up to see his apartment and to see the campus. We also ate lunch and went swimming at his complex's pool. As we were getting ready to leave, the girls swarmed him to give him big hugs goodbye and I was lucky enough to get them to look my way so I could snap a photo. When you see such love between your children, your heart simply has to smile!

Matthew Leaves for College

Matthew left for NC State University to enter as a junior in the microbiology program. The girls baked him a cake and then got to spend some time with him on campus when he gave the whole family a tour. He has an apartment with 3 other LDS young men and either takes his big old van to school or catches a ride on the city bus. He says that taking the bus is FAR easier since there is no hassle with parking. PLUS he has to walk further from the parking lot than the bus stop! We knew he was smart! lol

Rebekah in Guys and Dolls, Jr.

Rebekah participated in Temple Theater's Summer Conservatory which ended in a production of Guys and Dolls, Jr. She was part of the mission band and had a great time! In addition to singing, acting, and dancing, she met up again with some great friends from last summer with plans to keep in touch!

Kimberly Plays First Base

Kimberly was amazing this year. She caught balls and stretched to stay on first base like you would not believe! In the tournament game, she made a double play by catching the fly ball and then getting the girl on first base out because she had left the base! It was fun to watch. Her team won the championship for the season and second place in the tournament. It was a great season.

Katherine at Dance

Katherine took dance this year. It was a combo class of ballet, tap, and tumbling. She had a great time. Her recital was June 11th and she did great.

Swimming at the Hejny's

Nothing like swimming with friends! They got a pool this summer and we had a blast helping to break it in.

Rebekah Turns 12

This is a big year for Rebekah. She is now part of the Young Women's group at church and gets to go to Girl's Camp and participate in youth activities. Plus, she considers herself a teen!

They are Growing Up TOO Fast

I've been wanting to get the kids' photos all together. I had a great one at Christmas, but it seems they continually change! Aren't they a handsome/beautiful group!

Trip to DC

The kids have a great aunt and uncle that live in Arlington VA. We went for a visit and had a wonderful time. They took us to eat at the country club. They condo is lovely and has a beautiful view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building! We hope to see them again really soon.

Katherine - The Budding Horticulturist

Katherine is growing bush beans, peppers, and.....tangerine trees! At Christmas, she planted tangerine seeds in a pot in her room. She was told by everyone that there was NO WAY she would get them to grow. Well, she proved us all wrong.

Saw High School Musical in Raleigh

Rebekah loves the theater, so for an early birthday present, I took her to see High School Musical in Raleigh. She had a great time. There was a question/answer session after the performance and then a meet and greet out back. It was a great day!

Cronin Visit

It was so wonderful to finally meet Valerie and her clan! Megan and Katherine hit it off and became best of buddies. Ryan had a pretty hefty crush on Kimberly and I believe he may want to marry her! Megan asked Matthew if he could be her boyfriend! Seems there was a lot of loving going on around here. Caitlyn and Kimberly, along with Kaity had a great time together. Timmy was a bundle of energy and kept us all hopping - he really loved playing in the backyard with the wagon and teepee! We are so happy to have met them in person!

Katherine's 9th Birthday

For her birthday, Katherine asked that Kimberly curl her hair - it really looked cute. Then she went ice skating with a few friends. They all had a great time!