Early Christmas

We had an early Christmas with the Dacars since they are headed back to North Carolina for Christmas. They come to our house for a yummy dinner and then some presents. The kids were really excited for a little Christmas early. We let them open one of our presents early also. Ellie got a penguin pillow pet, Wii just dance game, and DS club penguin game. Jack got a lego board game, Wii Lego Harry Potter, and DS Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

December swim meet

Ellie has been continually improving in swimming. She swims twice a week for an hour and a half each day. She had her second swim meet with the Courthouse and she had her first, first place finish in a heat. It was really close (ok maybe it was a tie) but she did great. I love watching her improve. This is definitely her best sport and she sure loves it. She swam backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle.

Ellie's first violin concert

Ellie got a chance to have her first violin concert along with the 4th grade program. She was really excited. They are still plucking and not using bows yet. Might be nice to keep the bows away forever, but you have to learn eventually. She has loved orchestra and learned alot. Our school district has a fabulous music program so she is really lucky to get this opportunity. I didn't get very good pictures. The lighting in their school gym is awful and we were racing from swimming to the concert. But we were very proud of her!

Time to find the Christmas tree!

December 4th was a beautiful Sunday and the perfect day to get a Christmas tree. All of the trees have been cut down at my mom's place so this was the first year we couldn't go out there. We weren't sure what we were going to do until a former co-worker of Doug's offered her place. They live on 80 some acres in South Salem. We went for a little exploration walk on their property and the kids had a blast. They especially loved playing with their two country dogs. We found a beautiful tree and made a great memory.

Civil War visit to Santa

The day before the Civil war game was dress up day at all of our schools. Jack is the lone Beaver in the house. Which always gets a lot of attention when we go anywhere. We went out to dinner that night and decided to stop by for a visit to Santa on the way home. The kids were REALLY EXCITED to see Santa, which is really really cute. I love the picture in their opposing Oregon gear. The next the kids got set up for the big game. And we will all know who ended up happy after that game. We did have a lot of fun watching together though!

Professional Pictures

I've been wanting to get family pictures done forever! Our last picture was done when Jack was 18 months old. This took a little coordinating, but it was well worth it. I am very happy with the results.

I think this will be the Christmas card!

I love the way Ellie is looking at Jack.

I included this because the resemblance between Ellie and Doug just cracks me up.

Sam's Party

Sam turned 10. Sam is my godson and my kids' best friend. He is such a character! He had a slumber party with 2 other friends. The kids had a nerf gun fight, played Zhu Zhu pets, and had a blast. We adults watched the Oregon Duck game. Then we stayed the night.

Ellie and Sam love the video game, while Jack, Colin, and

Lucas put together Legos and his other toys.

The crazy assortment of kids