Merry Christmas

Hope you all had a good Christmas....I had a really hard time focusing on anything Christmas this year. Not sure why. Maybe all of the snow that we have had, which made us miss out on a Christmas Eve service. We have pretty much been sticking close to home for the last week and a half waiting for it to all go away. Praise the Lord we still have B#1's 4wheel drive pick up truck. We really used it! This year for Christmas we really wanted to cut back on the amount of stuff the kids ended up with so after talking to the grandparents and working things out we decided to get them a Wii. Now usually I am absolutely opposed to video games but this year I was intrigued by the Wii and the fact that there are so many active family friendly games to play. I was afraid of what the kids reaction would be when they realized that we didn't get them individual presents this year. I was so impressed by all of them. We drew names amongst the 9 of us so they still had some fun things from each other. B#5&6 didn't even make mention of the fact that they didn't get any toys. They have all been taking turns playing the Wii all day, boy are they gonna sleep good tonight. Lots of action in their and I think they are using muscles they didn't even know they had.

B#7 was so happy with his mop and broom that his sister picked out for him.

Wish we could have been with family this year. We miss you all but hope to see you in the months to come.

The First Snow-Fall

The snow had begun in the gloaming,

And busily all the night

Had been heaping field and highway

With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock

Wore ermine too dear for an earl,

And the poorest twig on the elm-tree

Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

-By James Russell Lowell

I've always loved snow. Its wonderful to wake up and find that the world outside is coated with a crisp, sparkling, pearly white blanket of snow. Not to mention the delight of being the first to step in the snow, or the fun of having a snowball fight with your siblings (if you have siblings, that is). It always takes my breath away seeing the majestic, white-capped hills, or the regal evergreen and pine tree's snowy boughs, which look like frosty fingertips reaching out to the wintry world below them. With the wonderful little gadget, the camera, I was able to photograph these things. Enjoy!

-B #3

This is the life...

Big sister, B#4 is giving B#7 his daily blanket ride. This time ,however, he decided to lay down and really enjoy it. Smart boy!

A friend of mine gave B#7 his first real little boy haircut. Mom tried but only made things worse. He is growing up so fast!