long enough...

for a ponytail. I can't believe it!

Happy Anniversary...

Happy Anniversary to the man I love and who helps me to make my dreams come true!

1. Thank you for working so hard that I can stay home with our babies.
2. Thanks you for always being so willing to try my experimental cooking.
3. Thank you for understanding that there are days when the house is just not going to be clean.
4. Thank you for loving me despite my many imperfections.
5. Thank you for encouraging me to step outside of the box and to try new things.

Thanks for loving and marrying me on that uncharacteristically sunny day in December! I love you!

Knotts Berry Farms

After the ward breakfast we decided to go to Knotts Berry Farms for part of the day. We had looked online and saw that an annual pass was only $10 more than a day pass for adults and so we figured why not. So we surprised Katrena and went to Knotts were we rode a few rides and were only there about 5 hours. The great thing is being so close and having an annual pass we can just go for 5 hours at a time. We had a great time and we are looking forward to many more trips there.

Moments that make my heart melt

I love everyone's face in this one

Ward Breakfast and Santa...

Last Saturday the 19th was our ward breakfast (it started at 8, what were they thinking). We went and had lots of yummy food and were able to meet some more ward members.

The kids made bookmarks and canycane reindeer, they had a many talent show of ward members singing or playing Christmas songs and
then The Night Before Christmas was read by one of the ward members. We all sang Christmas carols and then the Bishop read from Luke chapter 2.




We ended with Santa's arrival (after the closing prayer) and the kids got to visit with Santa (love no mall lines). Ava was not willing to sit on his lap by herself, but didn't cry at all when sitting on her big Sisters lap.

A little ray of Christmas sunshine from Phoenix...

On Friday Katrena received an awesome package in the mail. When we moved her old class in Phoenix was going to be making cookbooks and she was really sad that she was going to miss out on participating in that. I asked her teacher if we could email her our recipe and if they could mail a cookbook to us, sure enough they did. It came on Friday along with a letter from her old teacher and each of the kids in her class. This meant so much to her, she had so much fun reading them and couldn't wait to call her Grandma and tell her all about it and to show her dad when he came home.

Katrena's Gingerbread house...

Katrena and I made a gingerbread house on Friday night, we had a fun time together and had to keep smacking Dad and Ava's hands away from the candy. However we are very thankful to dad for watching Ava so we could do this together.

Deep concentration



Mom and Trena working together


The front of the house

One side

The back of the houe

And the other side



With her finished product



As many of you know we have been experiencing our own version of "no room at the inn" this Christmas season, only its "no room at the school." When we arrived in Apple Valley, I waited a couple of days and then went in to register Trena for school, knowing there last day of school before the break was the 17th, that she would get 6 days of school in. I went to the public school that we are assigned to, and was told that it is the best in the area. When I arrived they informed me they had know room for her. They are only allowed to have 20 students in each of the classes, Kindergarten through 3rd. I obviously thought they were joking, I thought they had to make room for every student living in their boundaries. Nope, if your local school doesn't have room they have to find you another school in the district for you child to attend. and that they will have to provide transportation.

So I leave totally shoked with the secretaries information, and instructions to call them in a WEEK, if I haven't heard anything. Well a week rolls around, it is now the 16th of December. I pick up my phone to call the secretary and my phone actually rings, its the district calling they want to know if we want transportation for "Katarena", I say yes, but we don't even know what school she will be attending. The lady then says oh it looks like..., and I said oh ok, I knew where that was and it was pretty close and a newer school. She then says but if you want transportation she cannot attend that school she will have to attend... And that school would be an hour and fifteen minute bus drive each way!!! What the heck!

So she is registered for the closer school now, with no bus. And school starts about the time Brent is leaving for work and some mornings Ava is just getting up at that time, and her pick up time, you guessed it, right about the time Ava goes down for a nap. They told us that as soon as there is an opening at her correct school they will notify us. But in the meantime, this is going to be a pain. She will go there, just start to make new friends and then wham have to change schools again.

To make a long story short because of the situation she will not return to school until January 11th when Christmas break is over and will have missed FIVE weeks from school! Now like any other 8 year old she has not minded this at all, but she has really missed out on the friends and all the fun Christmas activities. This is the first year that she hasn't made something fun at school for me for Christmas. I didn't realize how much I would miss that. So we are trying to do a few fun activities in the midst of the chaos of unpacking.

Decoraing the Christmas tree, well 2/3rds of it anyways...

Somehow the little monkey could still reach the ornaments so they are slowly making there way higher and higher up on the tree. Our tree is the only decorations we will have up this year, but that's okay, we are definitely enjoying it to the fullest.