Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed the giving of the season. Fleece was the "in" thing this year - all the kids got fleece blankets and pillows (made by one another!!). Now, if I can just get them to make Mommy and Keith one! If you'd like to see all the photos leading up to Christmas as well as Christmas morning, click here.

Hejny's Visit

It was so wonderful to be able to spend a day with Elyse, Kaity, and Mike. Poor John had a horrible headache and was dearly missed! However, there is always next year! All the kids exchanged presents, and Elyse gave Keith and I a beautiful wharf addition to our Christmas village!

Are you wondering about the photo of Matthew? We are, too!! LOL He is pretending to be Rebekah. I am looking forward to blackmailing him with this one!

Kyle, Faith, Gena, and Jaxson!!

We were very happy to have Kyle and his family over for a nice visit the Saturday before Christmas. Both Gena and Jaxson are growing up so quickly! We received a great kitchen knife from Kyle and Faith and it has certainly made chopping and slicing a breeze. I don't know how I cooked without it!

Grammy's Visit

The children were excited to see their Grammy and were glad that she was able to stay and watch them open their gifts. Everyone was quite excited with their presents and were especially happy to spend some time with Grammy.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Popcorn stringing, decorating, tree chopping, garland winding, and parties parties parties were all part of the Christmas celebration this year. Teri and the girls went to Doby Christmas tree farm and picked out the most beautiful, perfectly shaped tree EVER!! It was then decorated with about 30 feet of home strung popcorn, as well as lights, candy garland, and ornaments galore. Teri had her village out - pretty much grown into a town this year, needing the original table plus 2 more to hold it all! The newest addition to the decorations was a beautiful tree given to the family by Georgia Cloutier. Her amazing designer trees, those that look like they stepped out of a Macy's catalog, have always been admired. Since she and her husband Dave are downsizing, we "adopted" one of her trees. And we showed off everything we had done during a lovely Christmas open house on December 22nd.

Kyle and Faith's house - Almost done!

They are really looking forward to moving in ASAP! Doesn't it look great?

Rebekah's Final 2006 Performance

Rebekah has been busy since July - either rehearsing or performing for 4 different musicals and plays. The final one ended today - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. As part of the play's PR efforts, the cast sang at the Southern Pines Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and sang for a small spot on the local TV station. Rebekah was thrilled to be on TV!

Although there will be no auditions available to her until May, Rebekah will not stop learning. She plans to start singing lessons as soon as the holidays are over!

Keith Starts New Job

Keith is now the Management Liaison for the Sheriff's Office in Lee County. He has been very very busy and will stay that way for several months until things settle in for the new sheriff, Sheriff Tracy Carter. So far, Keith likes his new job, although he does find it to be hectic!

One of his main jobs is to do the PR needed for the office. Check out the website for the office here.

Our Candidate Won!!!

Tracy Carter is the new sheriff of Lee County! We were very impressed with Tracy from the beginning and Keith is very happy that he was able to be part of the team that got him elected. Tracy will take office on December 4th and we are all looking forward to a safer county!!

If you'd like to see the blog we created for his campaign, just click here. If you look to the right hand side, there are all kinds of links. The positions were part of a Sanford Herald series and Keith helped Tracy write those (based on Tracy's words, of course!). You can also see the different ads in the paper, as well as his endorsements.

Sound of Music is Over

Rebekah did an awesome job as Marta. There is now an entire blog with photos from the performance as well as the cast party. Once there, you can click on the three links to the right to see some short video clips. We are very proud of her!

Halloween Fun

Matthew went to a Halloween party and was a tourist. Rebekah had rehearsals that night, but was able to go to a Sanford Ward Trunk or Treat from 5 to 6:30 as a basket of dirty laundry. Kimberly and Katherine went with their dad to the Trunk or Treat at the Pinehurst Ward. Kimberly passed out candy as a girl from the 80's and Katherine went as someone taking a shower! They all had a great time.

What is Better Than Being in a Musical?

How about being in a musical that you didn't even audition for! That's right...Rebekah was unable to make the audition for the production of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever due to her role as Marta in the Sound of Music. BUT, that didn't stop her from getting a part! The director at the Sandhills Theatre Company told Rebekah that she knew that she was good and what she could do and to consider herself auditioned. But that is not all. She also has to miss the first week and a half of practices and still got a part, albeit a small part. She will play Doris and sing in the Angel's choir. Rebekah says that being an angel is great. Now if anyone says something about being a little angel, she can agree wholeheartedly!

If you want to see some of the professional photos made before the performances of The Sound of Music started, go to http://www.peterpeets.com/proofs/templetheatre/soundofmusic/

Keith Involved in the Lee County Sheriff's Campaign

Keith is currently involved in one of his biggest passions - politics! He is helping Tracy Carter run for Sheriff of Lee County as his media consultant. Keith has been producing ads, written pieces for the paper, and even photos of the candidate and his family. If you happen to live in Lee County, don't forget to vote and be sure to place your vote for Tracy Carter - he is the candidate with leadership and the ability to bring about much needed change!

North Carolina State Fair

Our whole family went to the NC State Fair on Monday October 16th. What a great adventure! We started out by going to see the old timey crafts. There were demonstrations and we saw weaving, glass blowing, braided carpets, carving, etc. As you can see by the photo, they even had "period clothes" to try. Then we saw the old farm equipment, the rabbits, and the hobbies and crafts. Then on to the fair rides! Katherine was tall enough this year to ride the bigger rides and seems to have no fear. Matthew rode the newest ride and had fun, but looked a bit shaken when he got off! Rebekah and Kimberly were partners for most rides, but Kimberly couldn't get Rebekah onto one of them! Then we had a picnic lunch while listening to a folk festival. Then we looked at the art competition and saw the juggling/acrobatic act. That was incredible! (See them at www.gotmills.com). Then on to the bike show where they do jumps and spins, etc. To end the day, we ate supper while watching a horse show. After nearly 10 hours at the fair, we were all tired but very happy!

NC Museum of Art

We had a great time at the NC Museum of Art. Everyone had their favorite part. Since there are no photos allowed, I was only able to take them during the picnic lunch beforehand. As you can see, Kimberly, Rebekah, Katherine, and our friend Kaity were having a great time!

You Can Say You Knew Her When

Rebekah has started rehearsals for the Sound of Music. There will be 23 performances!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even imagine!! There are 2 girls playing her part, so she will only be in 1/2 of them. They did this for all the children's parts due to school, I guess. She has been measured for her costumes - at least 5 of them and possibly 6 (I don't know if they will get clothes for the wedding scene or just use their party clothes). She also had to turn in her bio and her headshot. So, take a look and see what you think! We sent in 2 headshots because we weren't sure which one was more appropriate.
REBEKAH DARE GUIN (Marta von Trapp) was born in Greensboro, NC and moved to the Sanford area when she was quite young. As a homeschool student, she gets many opportunities to express her interest in drama. Her most recent performances include portraying Gracie Shin in The Music Man produced by Sandhills Theatre Company in Southern Pines and Beaky in Honk, Jr. produced by The Temple Theater in Sanford. Additionally, she has taken classes in both voice and acting.