New pictures of Jake--8 year old/baptism pictures, and Estee 2 and 1/2 year old/stinker pictures.

It's much, much, much easier to get a picture of an 8 year old, than a two year old.

Thanks to Jess for taking the pictures, she did a great job. I love them!

Abby's facial, Estee body paint

Abby is going to kill me for posting this, but I just want to anyway. Dan (with my assistance) gave Abby a facial. We had the whole spa treatment going with candles, music--we even banished Estee, Jake, and Andy so she could really relax. She was very resistant to this at first, but I think she secretly really liked it. She will never admit this, however. You should ask her about it next time you see her.

I love this one of Dan massaging her temples. He regularly threatens her to quit scowling or he will botox her scowl away! Ha! I hope he does it one day!!

Estee has become fascinated with painting herself. I think she must have been a warrior in her previous life because she seems to know just what to do and wants to do it all the time. She is ready for battle whenever she has ice cream, or pudding. This time in particular I was having a conversation with the rest of the family and ignored her for a few minutes--big mistake. Silly me for thinking I could have a conversation! I love the detail on the arms. I think someday she might be a painter--I am so glad I am not squashing that dream by keeping her clean.
If no body paint (ice cream) is available she finds other sources, she can be creative, pretty much anything on Abby's desk she can make good use of, she used stickers this time. Jake was her partner in crime here.

Andy scored 12 points at a basketball game yesterday and Jake did some great rock climbing! Someday when I actually attend one of Andy's games and Jake's rock climbing (besides drop off/pick up) I will take pictures and post about them! But for now, way to go boys!!

Dan seems to think my post about Abby's cello performance is inaccurate. He doesn't think I was "literally" bursting with pride. I guess I am still in one piece and haven't burst open yet so maybe he is right. I stand corrected. I am just figuratively bursting with pride.

Estee's hat

Estee loves her fur hat. She especially loves her "earrings" which are the fur balls on the side of the hat. We get lots of laughs and comments everywhere we go, someone asked if she was an animal. No, she's human, with a fur hat. A friend came to my house yesterday and the hat was sitting on the ground, she asked if we had a cat. No, just Estee's fur hat.

I really wish they had one in my size--that I could afford. Wouldn't that be cute matching fur hats! For you animals lovers, it's not real, no worries.

Orchestra Concert--Abby on Cello

I am literally bursting with pride for my little cellist. Abby is a girl with many, many talents and I am so proud of her. Last week she had a orchestra/choir concert. She played the cello and even had a solo part. She is in the middle on the right, I try to zoom in on her at one point.

Then she sang in the choir concert.

It was especially nice to have Dan join me at the concert. I am really pretty use to going to these wonderful events alone. However, it is always really fun to have Dan join me and know he is enjoying our kids as much as I do. Another added bonus--Andy volunteered to stay home and watch Estee so we could listen to the concert with out any outburst or interruptions. Dreamy.

Abby is playing basketball right now as well, and I took a bunch of pictures at her first game last week and I don't know what happened to them. Estee was nearby so I think she may have had something to do with it. Hmmmm. All I have left is a video of Estee cheering Abby on before the game started. It was really cute, Estee LOVED cheering for Abby. She kept saying "go Abby" in this really angry voice. They won the game by one point!! Pretty exciting stuff. It's getting a tiny, tiny bit easier to take Estee to sporting events for the bigger kids (knock on wood, knock hard on wood).

Jake was also very fun take to the game, he is so nice to Estee and is always willing to help her (or help me with her).

Andy in Montreal, Quebec

Andy had a great time in Quebec. I just have to say the teachers who took this big crew of 8th graders are awesome! I really think teaching in general is way undervalued in our society. Shouldn't the people who are teaching the future leaders, workers and parents of America be paid very well for this valuable, important task?? I also think that teaching should be a really hard job to get (not just because of hard economic times) but similar to getting into medical, dental, business, or law school. Only the top, most well rounded person gets to teach our kids. Not to say that the teachers we have now, aren't really good, but I just think they should be more respected by society--and the bad ones should be weeded out :)

Back to Quebec. Here is the whole crew that went with on the trip.




Andy is getting off the bus that took him all over town and kept him out the the frigid -40 weather! BRRRRR!





Aren't they cute? Their eyes, I mean. This is how they looked outside most of the time. Where's Andy?








Um, this was Andy's favorite part. Yes, they slid down that thing. In the summer it's a water park, in the winter it's a sled ride! I think it looks kind of scary and steep! On the right is the tube pull thing that pulls you back up the hill. Well, Andy was sitting on his sled riding up and his friend came and sat on him. Andy's arm started rubbing against the frozen ground and rubbed off a pretty good amount of skin before his friend realized he was hurting him and got off. He came home with a big old wound. He said it didn't really hurt. It looked like it hurt. A lot.



This is Old Quebec. It's a 400 year old city and from the pictures and the teachers description of it I can't wait to take my family there this summer! She said it's the closest thing to Europe without being in Europe. Including the chocolate pastries!
They got to see some really cool stuff including this cathedral with stained glass windows, very beautiful.
This was some sort of maple party (sorry Andy's description). The maple is hot and they pour it into the snow and wrap it around the stick, it cools a little and makes a delicious chewy maple treat. Sounds fun, and good.
I think this one is at Hard Rock Cafe. They reserved the whole place for the kids and had breakfast there.
This sounds really fun, they went dog sledding! Here they are getting their instruction--can you imagine trying to get a large group of 8th graders to do this!! Wow!

Go Andy, go! He said it was so cold that day they only sledded for about 20 minutes. Still it looks like a blast! Go Balto, mush.
This one makes me cold! They walked across the suspended bridge spanning the Montmorency Falls. Montmorency falls are the highest in Quebec, higher than Niagara Falls. I want to take the family here this summer too.

Here is Andy with one of his friends from the trip. Staying warm inside.
The kids also went curling, snowshoeing, visited Ste-Anne shrine, went to a play, a 17th century meal with dancing and taffy pull, went to the top of Mont-Royal to view the city from above, ate at many delicious, french restaurants, and hopefully improved their french a little!
I am so glad Andy got to go on this fun, learning trip. That his teachers were good enough and nice enough to do this with the kids. Taking time out of there life to take the kids on a trip. Thank you for helping Andy buy new boots when he lost one, and easing his mom's mind. For being a good enough teacher to know how important things like this are in an education. I am in awe of good teachers everywhere!

Baby, it's cold outside.

Temperatures in the Ann Arbor area were at minus 10 degrees at 4:30 a.m. today, with a wind chill factor of minus 25 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. So, you know what that means? Besides the obvious question of why would anyone choose to live here? It means that school was canceled for my kiddos. I wasn't aware of this policy, and actually, am a little bit shocked that this is an actual policy where I am living, but if the wind chill is minus 20 or below then school is canceled. Yes, I live here on purpose. Wasn't it just my last post, only a few short days ago that I said I was happy I was staying an extra year here? I take it back. If I could move today I would. OK, maybe I am being a little dramatic. But, come on, this is nasty.

I should stop complaining, it could be a lot worse. The sun is shinning in Ann Arbor today.

We heard from Andy yesterday. He is having a great time. I asked him if he had spoken any French. He said, no not really, when I pressed him on the subject, then he said "I did say bonjour to a couple people". Well, at least the trip wasn't a waste!
Here is a story problem for you. If a 13 year old named Andy, rides a train from Ann Arbor to Montreal and makes no stops. How does that 13 year old lose one boot? I can't seem to figure it out.

Thoughts

Andy is on a trip to Montreal, Canada with his french class. When we dropped him off at 4:00 am to ride into Canada and catch the train, I was kind of sad. Dan called me crazy, but it made me fast forward in my mind to when he has to leave for a mission or college. It is going to be here so soon! It's a hard thing to let kids go. I also had a meeting at the high school last night for Andy to start there next year! How in the heck did that happen! He was really JUST a two-year old that loved playing with little cars on the ground for hours. He sure is a great kid and will make a great missionary/dad/man someday.

Jake, Estee, and Dan have been sick, really yucky flu sick. It looks like we are finally on the tail end of it. It's hard to see the people you love in pain and not be able to do much, except to give hugs and tell them it won't last forever. It makes me think about how hard it must be for our Heavenly Father to watch his children suffering all over the world. It makes me stronger and better to think I can do it on a much smaller scale, in my little family. It also makes me grateful that my trials are so small compared with some of the huge trials that others have to deal with.

Abby is our virus resistant child, she never gets what the rest of us pass around. She is positive it is from the years of thumb sucking and already being exposed to all the viruses out there. Maybe she is right? Abby got her cast off last week and after a couple days of being obsessively careful with her arm, she is using it like old times. Hopefully a little more carefully. She is swimming at school for gym class (fun, huh? my middle school did not have pool!) and she said it feels so good to be in the pool and using her arm. She cannot wait to go skiing.

I can't believe we are in our last months of residency. It really has gone so fast and we have had so much fun, so many great experiences, and friendships here in Michigan. I am glad that we are staying for an extra year so I can put off saying goodbye to friends, and so I can check some more of the things off my list that I want to do while we live here. I am ready, however, to get back closer to my family, in particular my mom. She has Alzheimer's disease, and every time I talk to her she asks me how much longer and that she hopes she still has her brain when I get back. She called last night to tell me it was her and my dad's anniversary of when they met--January 13, 1953! I suppose I should have sent a card! That is quite an accomplishment, and I should be especially grateful for what happened that day or I could have ended up with some other parents, in Gaza, or worse Democrats from New York! (Just kidding that was for the benefit of my Democratic friends--who I love).

Christmas 2008

We had a very fun and relaxing Christmas. Everyone here got very spoiled and we all feel lucky to have had Dan home for a whole week of vacation. After I got my very fun new car, I got another early Christmas present from Jake which was a hand made coupon which said he would help me make dinner. So sweet. I got very spoiled this year.

We decided to make a Christmas goose this year. We had never had goose so we thought it would be fun to try it. I put a lot of my Christmas morning into making a wonderful dinner including goose.

It turns out goose isn't that great tasting and definitely not worth the price. Turkey is much better. Good thing we had so many good sides! We had delicious orange rolls, blueberry/blue cheese salad, sausage apple stuffing, Parmesan carrots, diet pomegranate sprite, bacon cabbage, twice baked blue cheese potatoes.
Wonder why we look so calm? Estee is taking her nap. Love that little girl, but fancy dinner is so much easier with her napping.

This next picture is of Jake (and possibly Estee's) favorite Christmas present. The white tiger which has since been named Black Thunder (or BT). Jake was so excited to get this present it was really fun to see him so excited about it. Estee thought it was hers, of course, she's two, she would not get off it. Jake was a good sport about sharing his brand new toy.
Andy loved this box of $ he got from his Grandparents. Pretty fun to open up a box of $1. Jake was really jealous of this present.

This is a puzzle represents the present we got for the kids. The present is a trip to Utah to ski and see our family and friends. Each of the kids got a few puzzles pieces and they had to put it together and figure out what is was suppose to be. It didn't take them long! So, yes, we are coming to Utah in February!!

For some reason I can't move my pictures around right now, so this is a little out of order, but this picture is the kids putting the puzzle together and trying to figure out what it means?
Dad is home and didn't even have to go in and round! This is a in many years and it was very nice! Estee got this cute headband for Christmas and it's already lost. I am glad I spent $11 on it :)

Abby building a wall of protection (from Estee) for her to keep her presents in.
Abby with her old and new cast. A couple days before Christmas she got her big long past the elbow cast off and it was replaced by a new shorter candy cane sparkly cast. Pretty cute and much easier to move around with.

Oh my gosh!

Dan surprised me last night with an early Christmas present!

It is the nicest car! It's a Nissan Armada with everything you could think of. I am not quite sure what to think of it, I am still in shock! What a great surprise, I had no idea! Thanks Dan!!

Thanksgiving, Grandparents visit, Jake's Baptism/Birthday, Abby's broken arm

First things first. Jake's 8th birthday, he had a wonderful day that he graciously shared with two football games--Michigan and Utah games. We did, however, manage to be opening presents and eating cake and ice cream right as the first game started. So, he had lots of fun things to entertain him!

The next day Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. It was very fun, we had a great time with them and love all the help they give us when they come. We had a great Thanksgiving Day with them, although we didn't get any pictures of G-ma and G-pa (sorry), or the main course of our Thanksgiving dinner. We did manage to get some pictures of the pies :).
We had six different pies. Pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, apple, double-chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, and chocolate mousse. I was trying to please everyone. Chocolate mousse for Jake (and me), pecan for Dan, apple for Grandpa, pumpkin for grandma, lemon meringue for me, cheesecake for Andy, Abby, me and Dan. Wait that's way too many for me!

This was my favorite. Wait, maybe just one of my favorites.

Fast forward a week or so and Abby was playing at the ward Christmas party behind a door. The door got pushed on repeatedly by older children and Abby's arm got smooshed and broken.
She tried telling Andy that it looked funny and he said "It looks fine to me, Abby". She then came and showed it to me. I could see a wave in her arm, that did not look right. Dan was working so I found a friend/doctor in our ward. He agreed it didn't look right and we should go the ER.

My wonderful friend Michelle, took the other three kids home and Abby and I were off to the ER. I called Dan and he met us there. The ER was packed so I was so happy to have Dan with us to move us right along :).

Abby broke both bones in her right arm just above her wrist. This picture was taken right after they set it and she was still a little loopy from the anesthesia. She looks pretty happy about the whole thing. She was saying things like she was so happy she did this because her life was exciting now, and next would be her leg.

Now that she has had some time to think about it, she doesn't think it is that great. She is bummed she can't play piano (although we are trying with the left hand to keep up her lessons), can't swim, can't play basketball, can't ski. It's also kind of a pain to write, open a locker, get dressed, zip up a zipper, unscrew a lid etc, etc.

After all the excitement of the broken arm, we had Jake's baptism the very next day! It was a very nice baptism. The ward missionaries were there and both talked, Dan talked and I gave a spotlight of Jake. Jake's toe came out the first try, but the second try was successful! Abby was planning on playing a piano piece and still wanted to try. It was a little shaky, but she did fine. Dan gave Jake some nice blessing when he was confirmed and I was glad I got to hear it all, as I was chasing Estee around and trying to shush her. I am so proud of Jake, and his decision to be baptized. He is such a good person and I hope he continues to make good choices and be the great person he is. We had some friends over to the house after the baptism for some food and celebration. We had no family here for the Baptism, so we really felt blessed to have so many friends come and share Jake's special day with us. Thanks everyone!