Catching Up

Thanksgiving this year was at our house since Clif had to nap and work that night. So there was no time to travel this year. I cooked the turkey and fixings this year and my folks came up to join us. Klara must have had too much turkey, we found her asleep on the arm of the couch. We also took the time to celebrate my mom's b-day.

Snow: This was our first snow...the kids so badly wanted to play in it in their new snow suits. So at 9pm at night, I finally caved in. They didn't about the lack of snow, they still had fun!

Dexter

Sadly, we lost Dexter on Nov 30th. We knew he was sick and we were so happy to have had him this long. He was born July 8, 2001 and since we knew the breeders, they gave us first pick. We brought him home at 6 weeks old to our other dog, Blu. They were the best of pals. As time went on, Dexter moved with Clif and I around to different homes, saw 2 beautiful babies be born and grow up and then introduced to our latest puppy, Daisy. His life was full...he enjoyed many trips to Phx where he loved the warm weather, and he was very good about walking on a leash (no pulling). At the end, it was much harder than expected to say good-bye...but the dr said his tummy had twisted. Surgery might have been possible, but he was pretty bad by then and the cost was too much. Clif stayed home with the kids and they all knew when they said good-bye...that would be it. He is missed and the old habits are hard to break. We still come home and expect him to jump and slobber on us when we enter the door. Or to see him waiting by the window to come in. A great dog and the breed is highly recommended. We know he is in heaven reuniting with Blu and his other dog friends. The kids and I are happy to know that Jesus is throwing the ball for him again. Love ya D!!

Catching Up...still

Eagle watching: We went to town to learn more about eagles. There were a few on site to see up close. Then we went out to the nearby lake where we were Bald Eagle Watching. It was a very cold day and didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but we did get to see several of the eagles flying overhead.

Our community has an annual Thanksgiving dinner for all the local churches. Each church is responsible for bringing a set dish to share and then our church buys all the turkeys. We all gather at a local church camp in their gorgeous dining hall to sing, eat and fellowship together. All the churches sign up also to help with the set up and clean up. This year, our church was selected to lead worship on the stage. Wow! What an honor. We had a blast!

The next week, a family from church had us all out to their ranch in the pines. We had another potluck (always great food!!), tractor/hay rides, bonfire equipped with marshmallows...another great evening.

Spice Rack

Yesterday was Home Depot's Craft Day and the kids made a spice rack. Kaleb wanted a mohawk...or foe-hawk....anyways, he tried really hard to do it himself. Mom ended up cleaning up a few spots, but overall he did a great job.

Beds and Rewards

Kaleb finally got a new bed. He had been sleeping on a hand-me-down bed that felt like a sofa bed....very uncomfortable. He is now in a twin and his room looks so much bigger!! Then we have Klara, she has been coming to my bed at night and when I kick her out, Clif has been finding her curled up in the living room. The last pic is of the kids reward charts. I've been working really hard with Kaleb on his reading. He gets a sticker for every book he reads, as many as he wants per day but no less than one. Today he finished filling his chart and got a pizza hut coupon for his very own pizza. Klara had been working on a chart as well. She is working very hard on NOT sucking her fingers. So without complaining, she wears a sock on her hand when she sleeps and yucky cream during the day as reminders to not suck on those fingers. When she does good, she gets a sticker and if I catch her sucking then she removes a sticker from her chart. Her reward is a Cinderella doll that she proudly earned today as well. I'll keep both reward charts going since I've seen a huge success with their earned rewards. I'm very proud of them both!!

Halloween Fun

We spent most of Halloween night at the area churches this year. The kids did cake walks, crafts, jump houses, fishing. car races and more. We did end up going door to door a bit as well and certainly ended up with plenty of candy and treats.

Sea Monkies

Kaleb got Sea Monkies for a b-day gift (suggested by me) for his science class. Those "specks" floating in the water are the creatures. Not the best of pics, but it has been fun watching them swim around and grow. Just wanted to share them.