Christmas with Family

Here is my newest nephew, Michael. He is 9 months old now and really enjoyed his first Christmas! And he still has a head full of hair!
We wanted to get the boys together and get a picture to give to Grandma and Grandpa. There is Hayden, Michael and Daniel.

Daniel is trying hard to be a "big brother" to Michael.

Here is my sister (Rosie), brother-in-law (Mikey) and of course Michael.

Here is my other sister (April), her boyfriend (Dave) and Hayden.

We had fun visiting with everyone and having dinner. And we had fun opening gifts and letting the kids get together and play! I hope we can do this more often instead of waiting for another year to pass.

Christmas 2008

I know I should have done this earlier, but I have been a little busy. Here is Daniel Christmas morning waiting to open gifts.

He got: Guitar Hero for his DS, Planet Earth DVD set, a new DVD player, clothes, games and a couple of DVD's.

He says his favorite gift was the Planet Earth DVD, but I think it was the Guitar Hero because he played it ALL day!!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

This went better than the gingerbread house! :) Daniel helped decorate these. We sent some with Dan to his home teaching tonight and will give some to the neighbor next door. And of course we will eat some for ourselves!

Gingerbread House Disaster

I have never made a gingerbread house, so I thought it would be fun to do one. But the roof pieces were broken in half when we pulled the kit out. I didn't worry because I figured the frosting would hold it together. Well...it didn't work. So Dan decided that we should just say that a tornado came through!
As you can see, one gingerbread man is upside down in the front of the house and one tried to be rescued from the roof (but he didn't make it either)! Poor gingerbread men!

This is the devastation on the inside! Maybe next years gingerbread house adventure will go better!

White Winter

We got more winter weather here in olathe again. It has been snowing all day. Most of it didn't stick until noon or so.

And it doesn't matter how old you are, you want to go out and play in it!

Red First Belt

Daniel has earned his red first belt in Tae Kwon Do. The picture above is him taking off his old belt.
He is letting the Master put his new belt on.

In this one he is bowing to his Master as he receives his award for moving up.

Then he is just waiting to be dismissed to start class. We are so proud of him. The next time he has a belt test it will be for his Recommendation Black Belt. He is so close! We will keep everyone updated on the progress.

First snow of the season

I took these this morning. I figured I better take a picture before the weather warms up and melts it all. I kind of was excited to see the snow on the ground. Because then you really know that Christmas is on it's way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Temple Trip

I snapped this picture as we were heading to Council Bluffs to get lunch after being in the temple. The house is built on a cliff. It almost looks like you could walk right out the back door and fall off. It was just crazy.Winter Quarters is were our ward youth temple trip was at. This was Daniel's first time doing baptism and conformations. I was glad that we could be there with him. As we were getting in the car to leave, he said that it felt good to be there and do the work that he did. That made us proud.

This picture is for my sister Rosie. When I told her that we were going to Winter Quarters and were it was located she remembered the cemetery that is there. I don't remember it because I was to little when we left Omaha. Apparently we lived not to far from here at one time.

Friday Morning Sunrise

Daniel's Choir Concert

Daniel had his first choir concert for Jr. High on November 6th. They did a wonderful job and all sounded great.

Thanksgiving Decorations

As I was putting away the Halloween things I brought out some fall decorations.

Halloween

I know Halloween is over, but with Daniel and I being sick I didn't get a chance to put these pictures up. My mom sent these to me after Halloween last year. I've been waiting all year to put them out!

Trunk Or Treat 2008

We had a Trunk or Treat at church on Saturday. This is the first year that all 3 of us dressed up and it was fun! I dressed up as Audury Hepburn.
Dan was the Sercurity for Audury.

Dan doing his job as sercurity!

Daniel was Napoleon Dynamite!

Halloween cards

I wanted to make Halloween cards to send out to family and friends this year. So I bought some scrapbooking things for Halloween and got busy. It turned out to be a family affair. Some were made by Daniel and Dan as well! It was a fun evening to be sitting around together and make cards! Now I need to get busy with the Thanksgiving ones.

Placemat Purse

For the enrichment craft night we did place mat purses. We had a lady who makes these come in and tell us step by step how to make these. All we had to do was buy the things to make it. The purse is made from a place mat. I had some struggle with it because the material being kind if thick, but I finished it! I had some much fun that I think I'll make one for my sisters.

Learning From Crayons

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box." -Unknown

I like this quote because I think people need to learn to live together no matter what. It shouldn't matter what religion, color, culture or gender you are. Everyone should learn to respect each other and treat them with kindness and give service. If we all did that, the world just may be a better place. And our children will have a better place to live and raise their children. Wouldn't that be a wonderful gift to give them- a world where there is respect, caring for others and service.

Daniel's First Priesthood Meeting

Daniel gets to attend his first priesthood meeting tonight. I'm not for sure how he feels about it. He didn't seem overly excited but he wasn't fighting to not go. So Dan and him have left for the evening. I hope they enjoy the talks and feel the Holy Spirit.

Daniel's red belt

Daniel had a belt test for Tae Kwon Do on the 26th of September. And today he received his new belt. He is now a red belt. He has to get his red 1st and his recommendation black belt before he can test for his black belt. I know that Dan and I are very proud of him for getting this far and encourage him to continue.

Caramel Apple Pie

Because the holidays are on the way, I get in the mood to bake. My Visit Teaching companion gave me some of their apples from their tree, so I made apple pie. I only hope that it tastes as good as it looks. We will let you know what the reviews are on the pie when everyone has had a piece.

BE craft!

This is a tile with a vinyl sticker on it. We did these for an enrichment activity. It was awhile go, but I finally got this one done. It took some time and patience to do it.

Court Of Honor

Here is Daniel receiving his badges. They were his Tenderfoot, Second Class, and his current one: First Class. He also got voted to be an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for his troop.
This was funny because him and another boy were the Master of Ceremony and they forgot what they were suppose to do. So Dan just happen to zoom in on Daniel and catch this face.
This was taken during a skit the boys put on for the families. It was funny. Each boy came in to tell the one boy that the dishes and silverware were very clean and shiny and wanted to know how they got that way. The boy said it was Lakewater. So Daniel comes in and ask where this Lakewater is. So the boy said that Lakewater was his dog. One of the boys came in the room on his hands and knees pretending to be a dog. The boys thought it was funny and they had fun!

It's really great to see him in scouts. He will prepare to go on an overnight camping trip this coming Friday (9/12 to the 9/13.) They do these every month throughout the year to earn their merit badges.

Daniel's Tae Kwon Do awards

These awards were given on Saturday the 16th at the open house at his academy. This metal here is for a program that they had a choice to participate in during the summer. It was a report card that the parents kept at home. It had things like doing your chores, coming to class, and going outside to exercise. He did that and received this medal which he so proudly wears.

This one is an Award Of Honor. Six of them were handed out during the award ceremony. Four of them were given to the Instructors and two were given to students. We had no clue that he was receiving this. Daniel was in total shock. He actually had tears in his eyes. It was awarded for having physical and mental performance and acting with honor, respect, self-confidence and discipline. We are very proud of him and his recent accomplishments.