What's New...

Wow, life got busy in October and has stayed busy ever since. It is now December and we are all ready for Christmas. The tree is up, the Christmas lights are lit, and the joy of the holiday season is in the air. The difficult part now is making sure I can frantically write down the long loooonnnnnnng list of toys that the kids are constantly throwing at me. I have decided that they want one of everything that they see on any commercial from November 1st to December 25th. Luckily Santa only brings one present each. {wink}

Well I guess a little review is in order since I missed a few months. Let's see, Halloween was a good time this year. We held our annual block party in our cul-de-sac again and it went off without a hitch. Everyone brought their favorite side dish and we provided the hot dogs, the hot chocolate, and the chili. We had a great turn out and I think since Halloween was on a Sunday this year, more people stayed local and popped in for a nice visit. The kids looked super cute this year. Ethan was a vampire, Kaiya was Alice in Wonderland, and Porter was an adorable cowboy with real cowboy boots and everything.

We had a sad event happen in November when we had to put Moses, our dog for over 14 years, to sleep. He had cancer and his hips got so bad that he hardly ever got up or moved around. The pain medication that we put him on didn't help so we had no other choice. He was such a great dog and we miss him dearly. We have so many wonderful memories of him and are glad that he is now pain free and in a better place.

On a happier note, we quickly filled the hole that Moses left in our family with another dog from the Mesa Humane Society. We found the sweetest American Staffordshire Terrier /Pit mix and after a few visits to the humane society and lots of thought, we brought him home. We named him Harley and the kids enjoy playing with him and taking him to the dog park. They really wish that he would play catch, but maybe that is a learned trait. We will keep working on that. He is 10 months old and already house trained and loves the kids as much as they already love him. 

This month we got to go to Ethan's first piano recital. He started taking piano lessons a few months ago and is such a quick learner that he was able to memorize and play "Up on the Housetop" with both hands. He was so proud of himself and we were equally impressed at how quickly he learned to play and how confident he was at the recital. I am so glad that he loves to play the piano. I think I am blessed with very talented children. Ethan is also taking Hip Hop classes and his teacher told me the other day that he is very talented and has a natural born ability to dance.

Kaiya is doing really well in school. She is only in kindergarten, but is reading at a second grade level, so she has been going into the first grade classroom for part of her school day so she can continue to progress. She loves to read Junie B. Jones books and although I love that she enjoys reading, I don't enjoy how tired she is during the day because she secretly stays up reading most of the night. I guess that is a battle that I am not willing to fight though because I want her to keep that passion for reading even if it means I have to deal with cranky Kaiya in the afternoons. She is also taking dance class and a music class and is such a natural at everything she tries. I don't know why I am so blessed with such happy, smart, adorable children, but I will take it and enjoy the journey with a smile.

Porter is at such a sweet age. I get to spend the mornings with him one-on-one while Ethan and Kaiya are at school and I enjoy this time more than anything. He does go to preschool three days a week at my sister-in-laws house and he loves that too. I look forward to hearing him talk about his little friends and sing me the songs he is learning. He has a great voice for a three year old. He has also learned to love books and enjoys having Ethan read him stories at night before bed.

EK and I have been busy with work, but are so very blessed to both be able to work from home and get to see the kids during the day and experience life with them. I truly have to pinch myself some days just to make sure I am not dreaming. I never imagined that life could be this wonderful. We are so blessed to live within miles of our extended families and spend time with them as well. It is a great experience for our kids to be able to have the love and encouragement of all the cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandma's, and Grandpa's as they experience and try new things.

Our wish this Christmas season is that everyone can find joy in life and be grateful for what they have. Life is so precious and we are so glad to have such great friends and family to share it with.

Merry Christmas!!