Merry Christmas

It was a wonderful Christmas season this year. Our highlights included:

Attending a Nativity display with nativities from around the world.

Making gingerbread cookies

 Each of the girls made ornaments for their friends this year. For part of the time while making these ornaments we listened to A Christmas Carol that the Mormon channel had online.

Madelyn made Peppermint ornaments and gave them to her friends in a bag with real peppermint candies.

Ashlie made these bird ornaments and gave them in a bag with a pinecone, a little bag of birdseed and instructions for making a pinecone bird feeder.

Alia crocheted these reindeer ornaments and gave them in a bag with a pouch of hot chocolate and two candy canes.

She got creative with some of these reindeer, especially the super hero one with star eyes and a cape, and the one for her piano teacher that was holding a mini piano book with Christmas songs.

A turkey dinner on our fancy china that I inherited from my Grandma.

Opening thoughtful gifts from each other.

I feel so blessed this Christmas season. We have lots of happy memories to treasure.

Madelyn

Madelyn is our note writer. At least once a week, Aaron and I will find a note to us from her. Lately they are communications about which kind of pet she would like to get. Recently we had to tell her that no matter how much land we own in the future we will not be getting a herd of cattle.  She also likes to write notes on the notepad on the fridge to remind me of various things like setting up playdates with other families and taking her shopping or even reminding me to not forget Thanksgiving (the week before Thanksgiving).

She is really determined to find the right kind of dog for our family. She finishes her jobs quickly each day so that she can spend time on her favorite website Discovery's Dogs 101 videos. She recently got a huge Dog encyclopedia from the library that she has studied over and over again. She can identify the breed of almost any dog we see on our walks or while we're out.

Madelyn loves playing with her hair and trying out different hairstyles. Looking pretty is definitely a priority.

  Madelyn is a very caring person and loves to be with friends and family. She wishes every night she could have a sleepover on Ashlie's bed with her and they could stay up and tell each other stories. Giggling over their silly stories often gets them a reminder from Mom or Dad that it is time to sleep. 

I love you Madelyn! You are such a delightful girl to have in our family. I admire your responsibility and willingness to work hard so you can get to the fun. I love your thoughtful, caring personality and your playful attitude. I'm so glad you are my daughter!

Alia

Alia had some important milestones this year: Girls camp, beginning Young Women's, getting her ears pierced. It's been a very joyful year for her.

Alia's first Sunday in Young Women's

Wearing her bee socks that the YW gave her to welcome her as the newest beehive.

Alia has a love for nature. This summer she collected "amber" (dried sap) from a nearby tree and made quite a collection for herself. She has a way of seeing beauty all around.  She climbs trees, will get soaking wet anytime she has the hose (when it is warm outside of course).

She is also good at getting other people involved with her fun and games (whether they like it or not).

Alia and the other Young Women in our ward performing their skit at girls camp.

Alia and her quirky sense of humor.

Alia loves baking, especially cookies. She almost always includes Matt as her baking assistant and he absolutely loves it.

Alia is a very thoughtful person. One day Matthew was not sleeping well and decided it was time to get out of bed at 6:00am. Alia took him downstairs, got him breakfast. I was awakened at 6:30 by Matthew and Alia bringing me breakfast in bed. It was such a great way to wake up that morning.

I love you Alia! You are a wonderful, beautiful and creative daughter. You set a good example for your sisters and brother on how to live life with determination and joy. As the oldest, you are a great help to me and I really appreciate you being willing to help around the house and especially with Matthew.

You have matured so much this past year. You are really excited about being involved in church and all the activities that are available to your age group (Personal Progress, Indexing and Mutual.) It was such a joy to see you go to the temple for the first time to do proxy baptisms for the dead. You were so excited to go and afterward said what a great experience it was. It is such a joy to see your love of the gospel.

I'm so glad you are my daughter and part of our family.

Love to read.

Is it any wonder this boy loves books so much with so many willing to read to him?

Goodbye Summer

At the first of this month, we said goodbye to Summer with one last camping trip with our friends.

We played in the river (even though it was a little cold)

 The girls went on a trail ride and horse ride.

The trail ride was especially fun because this year Madelyn's friend Sarah met the weight requirement and could go with her.

Ashlie did the led ride with Dad.

 We paddled around.

Alia paddled the canoe while I kept Matthew from running around and tipping it over or falling out. She did an awesome job!

It was nap time for Matt when we went canoeing and he was just a little cranky. He's trying to be happy here.

It was a great time!