November and December in Review

Thanksgiving

We were able to go to California for Thanksgiving.  It is always fun having Mitchell's parents and my parents live so close to each other (about 40 minute drive) so we get to see both of them in the same trip. 

Mitchell worked on the barn apartment at his parents house and the kids and I had fun playing and just hanging out with family. 

 Jared brought this jumping toy for Calvin and he had a ball playing in it.  He loved it when you swung him really high.

 We enjoyed eating Thanksgiving lunch at my parents house along with Mark, Lanie (Marks girlfriend), Jared and Danielle and family.  We then drove to Mitchell's parents to have Thanksgiving dinner.

 As soon as Thanksgiving lunch was over the guys got to work removing my parents hardwood floors in their kitchen.  Jared layed tile and it looked great.

 Whenever we got to California we always have to go to Pismo Beach.  It was a beautiful day.  We were in line for Splash Cafe but the line was too long so we went to the sit down restaurant across the street.  It was really good food and not as crowded as Splash.

For Christmas I decided to take pictures of the kids at the beach and use the pictures for our family card. 

 Lindsay (12 years old)

 Hailey (7 years old)

 Ashley (11 years old)

Calvin (11 months old)

 The kids had so much fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa Couch and Nana's goats. 

Hillsboro Youth Choir

Lindsay tried out for the Hillsboro Youth Choir this year and she made it.  The singing teacher, Cindy Yucker, said that Lindsay has a beautiful voice and has great range.  She was excited to have another choir member.  This consisted of Wednesday night practices and some Saturday practices and a couple of shows.  They were asked to sing at, "The Grotto" in Portland and did a great job.  The acoustics in the room were amazing and they sounded like Angels. 

We took Lindsay out after the Christmas Concert because it was too demanding but she was able to learn a lot and had a lot of fun.

 Christmas Festivities

For Christmas this year we did our annual family traditions of eating finger foods on Christmas Eve and telling the Nativity while acting it out. 

The Three Wise Men brought everyone "Snuggie" blankets this year.

 On Christmas Day the kids were so excited and all lined up to see what Santa brought.

 Uncle Adam was still living with us and Calvin just adores him.  He enjoyed his snuggie also.

 Lindsay received a panda bear pillow pet, purse and a ticket to watch the musical, "Wicked" with me.  She was SOOOO excited to pull out her card that told her she was going.  We had a great time at the show and it was amazing!

Ashley and Hailey both got new comforters for their beds and a couple of Wii games. 

Ashley received new clothes, a new tablet that we ended taking back because it did not work and money.

Hailey received new toys, clothes and books.

Calvin received a couple of new toys. 

 It was a great Christmas full of fun and stories about our Savior.