Merry Christmas

I love Christmas time. There always seems to be so much excitement in the air. There are decorations adorning almost every building. All of the stores are playing Christmas Carols It is hard to escape the enthusiam. Last year I taught the kids in our church a song called Picture a Christmas. They are practicing it again this year to sing in our sacrament meeting. I love hearing their sweet little voices and I love this song. In the midst of all the excitement and enthusiasm it reminds me of what Christmas is all about.

Picture a stable in Judea.

Picture a sacred silent night.

And can you hear the angles near and see the star so bright?

Picture the little baby Jesus.

Think of his life and words so dear.

Sing praise to Him; remember Him,

As you picture Christmas this year.

Picture the kind and gentle Joseph.

Picture the mother Mary dear.

And can you see so reverently the shepherds kneeling there?

Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing praise to Him; remember Him,
As you picture Christmas this year.

Here is a link if you would like to hear it.http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=50&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=50&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

Viva Mexico!

Jim and I had a wonderful time in Mexico (Thanks to my wonderful mother who watched our 3 kids for us) at our friend Mitch's wedding. We welcomed a new friend into our little westpoint family...the lovely bride that you see pictured is Heather. She is a sweetheart! The wedding was in Mexico just south of Cancun. We had a great time catching up with our friends and celebrating Mitch and Heather's wedding. One of the highlights of the trip for me was beating Sparky at a game of Texas Hold'em. It was pure luck but it was still fun! Jim and I got to go snorkeling together and for runs on the beach in the morning. It was pure bliss! We can't wait for our next vacation together!

Halloween Treat!

It's that time of year again. Here in Pennsylvania we do not trick or treat on Fri. night. Evidently, it interferes with High School football games. So, we had our trick-or-treat last night. Katie wanted to be something scary this year so she went as a mummy.

Ryan did not want anything on his head (hard to find a toddler costume without a hood) so as Nicole says "Ryan's a super hero"

Of course our little Nicole was a princess (not really a change from every other day of the week.) Trick-or-treating is always more fun when you get to do it with friends. Katie went trick-or-treating with her friends and as you can see they had a great time.

See Ryan Groove

Ryan was so cute the other day. I had to share. He doesn't really know that he's white and can't dance. He trys... maybe one day he'll find some rythmn.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Nicole was being cute yesterday and I thought I would share. You'll have to lean your head a little. I made the mistake of moving my camera half-way through. Of course, I could not get her to do the dance again and re-film. You only get one chance with kids.

Pumpkin Picking

On our way home from camping we stopped at a little farm in PA for lunch and pumpkin picking. Katie was such a good big sister. She helped Ryan and Nicole through the kiddie maze and then she helped Ryan climb to the top of the hay bale pyramid. Nicole, being her independent little self, needed no assistance. The kids rode the cow train and then we got on the tractor wagon which took us out to the pumpkin patch. While we were on the tractor wagon I asked Nicole excitedly "Are you ready to go pick a pumpkin?" I recieved the sharp reply "No! I don't like pumpkins. I want to pick apples!" She did eventually pick a pumpkin but it took much coaxing. We compromised by picking an apple from the farm store. Kids!!

Katie decided to try and find the largest pumpkin she could carry. She didn't even complain too much when I made her carry it all the way to the wagon.

Camping

We went camping this past weekend with some friends from New Jersey. As you can see from the picture Katie had a fabulous time reconnecting with her friend Mirriam. It was fun to see our friends from NJ and the setting was picturesqe! My only regret is not having enough time to visit with everyone.