Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

Everyone was excited for Christmas. The girls loved having Matthew home and couldn't wait to see the expressions on people's faces when the gifts they bought/made were opened. Katherine put out enough cookies for Santa Claus that it is amazing he was able to fit down anyone else's chimney! lol And of course, there were apples for the reindeer. Christmas was a real joy. Over too fast, it seems, but it gets faster and faster each year. Age perhaps?

A Very Nice Visit From Kyle, Faith, and the Kids

Kyle, Faith, Gena, and Jaxson made a stop by our house for Christmas on Dec 22. It was great to see them and to enjoy watching the children open their gifts. Gena loved her ornament and Junie B Jones books and Jaxson loved his tractor ornament and his dinosaur music tape. Kyle and Faith got an ornament that looked like Kyle's dog as a child - Charlie. Keith was very happy with a framed picture of his children and I was excited to get the right kind of cords to make setting up my village easier! Beyond the gifts, however, was the wonderful time spent together. Isn't that what Christmas is all about?

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!