Temple Christmas Lights

A trip into DC with the family to see the Christmas Lights at the temple.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

This year we had our whole family together for the first time in two years. Levi flew in from Idaho and stayed from Dec. 19-29. Last year Clancy was in Paraguay and didn't get the package we sent him in Nov. until April, so this year I hope he had a much better Christmas.

They are such morning people.Kirk got a new tool / toy.
Everybody chillin'
Even the furry kids got a present.

Rock Band game (driving Mom insane!)

Nelladee's new sparkle.

I lost the diamond out of my wedding ring in November when I flew to Idaho. If that wasn't bad enough, after I got home I lost the whole ring. I didn't dare tell Kirk about that last one. On Christmas morning my ring showed up with a new, much bigger diamond on it. Good ol' Santa.

Levi and Diego just trying to get a moment of peace.

Clancy giving Diego one last warning to stay out of the tree.

Idaho Visit

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Welcome Home Elder

Our Elder Clancy arrived home from his 2 year mission in Paraguay on Dec.5.

He looked about the same. He said that he has gained weight, but I couldn't tell.

Our Stake President in Maryland released him that same day.

One of the first things that Clancy said when he walked in our new home was "Wow, you guys are rich! You have carpet." Later that day, we were looking through the cupboards to see what we needed from the store. Clancy was looking and said "you have enough food here to last a year!" (and I thought we needed more ... hmmm..) You should have seen him when I took him to the commissary. Nellysa and I just tried to keep an eye on him as he wandered each isle like a kid in a candy store. The items he bought were marshmallows, rootbeer, crackers, spray cheese, and V-8 juice. Interesting combination.

Our first family outing was on Dec. 6 to the DC Temple to see the lights. It was really impressive.

Nellysa helped put up these lights around the reflecting pool.

It was our first snow of the year that evening.
"Say Cheese"

This picture is a little blurry, but it was so pretty.

Kelby went to his first church dance last night.

The grin on Nellysa's face is because she is thinking of how she can embarrass him and torture him at the dance.

The grin on Nellysa's face soon turned sour as she realized that her little brother is now passing her in height. It's ok Nellysa, you will always be older.

You're just petite!

Update

For those of you who follow Clancy's mission, I finally updated his blog at www.elderspud.blogspot.com

He will be home in less than 4 weeks. Yea!!

Dreaded Fall?

Anybody that knows our family also knows how much my family dreads fall. Okay, they don't dread fall, just the fall pictures in which they have to show me their pearly whites (usually accompanied with a growl). We usually have to trek to Yorktown to get where there is some color, but this year it is right in our backyard. Here are a few of the many pictures taken.

It's in the Air!

It is the time of the year when we start looking for signs of fall.

So far, this is what we've seen.

We drove over to the Chesapeake bay to see if the leaves had turned, but they hadn't yet, so we sat on a rock and took pictures anyway.
Kelby found a deer trail and was brave enough to check it out.
Callie feels the cold in the air and decided to curl up with a blanket by the fire. (spoiled cat)
The house gets decorated with fall decor.

You see cats in the windows enjoying the warmth of the sun.
The leaves out back finally start to turn.

Pumpkins get carved. Left is Nellysa's Headless Horseman. Right is Kelby's Skull. Pretty skilled if you ask me.

Faces get painted. (so much for the a family theme)

More painted faces.

There was even a full moon (in the sky) the other night.

Fall is in the air!

Amish Country

Last weekend we went on a road trip to try out the new SUV. We ended up in Pennsylvania. We drove on the back roads and saw some beautiful Amish farms. Here are a few of the sights that we saw.