Christmas 'n' Past

Afraid to say, this Christmas we barely took ANY pictures at all. Here are a few fun ones.

I sure treasure every shot of Grandma Flora and my boys. Grandma was Trey's great protector this week from Dad and Brenda's terrifying small dogs (which behave perfectly). She gave him lots of sugar and held him most minutes. They are fast friends. It was a blessing for both!


Brendan and Sarah's gifts to Papa and Nana were clever. In a pretty basket they found a Netflix subscription, snacks they both like, Snuggies and 3-D glasses. Very fun! Toby wanted to take the glasses home.


Someone very dear sent us money to do something fun as a family (thank you). We took the boys to the Discovery Center in Amarillo, along with Papa and Nana Johnson. Toby and Ranne were both giddy about the bed of nails. Trey liked being in a bubble. All boys liked the ball track.


Trey and I ended up in the toddler area. He built this tower. It was such hard work, the result was a complete baby-collapse.


Some of my favorite pictures and exhibits:


On the road again. Going home with very tired boys:


From start to end, we had a wonderful holiday full of blessings. The trip to TX was especially rejuvenating. It's a wonderful thing to be surrounded by people who have true affection and delight in one another, including our crazy little family. The boys soak in their time there every time we go.


Now, working backwards, here are a few of our past months' activity.

A playgroup that meets on the westside of town graciously informed us of their ride on the Railrunner (a commuter train running S-N) that included cookies, hot chocolate and a reading of The Polar Express. Mrs. Schmille, her boys and we caught an early ride downtown and met-up with them a few stops later for a ride as far as Santa Fe and back. All boys enjoyed the trip VERY much.

Waiting.....

There it is!

Scott's uncle generously sold his old trumpet back to him after many years. He has been having a BLAST! So have the boys. We now have a piano, a gift; a trumpet; and a guitar for the boys to choose from in their later years.

Playing so well together before a school day's work building a city in the sill.

Scott and I went once again the the MSU vs. M.U. game. We hadn't brought Ranne back in many years so brought him along for the first half. Last year we won the drawing for a tailgating grill. This year Scott won the drawing for a T-shirt. The hard working couple below are the Jacobsons. He used to play on the MSU team, so watching with them makes it much more interesting and fun. He is an artist here in town as well as a musician (volunteering for the CSC often at special fund-raising events) and she is a very good and tough teacher and blessing to many kids.

The event's organizers:

Victory:

Our bored son.

Venturing in with blue and yellow SuperBoy cape:

Everyday stuff:
Here are our turtles made a couple weeks after they were supposed to be made. I've discovered doing some of the activities and crafts a couple weeks later is actually great, casual review of facts studies previously in science.

Our friends kindly invited us to carol and participate in the "Hanging Of the Greens" at UNM. We walked around the school campus singing carols until the final destination of the President's home where all were invited in for hot chocolate and cookies. The boys melted down at the door, so we made it nearly there before retiring.

Ranne waiting for PE to begin. UNM uses homeschooling families to train their PE teachers. It's free and lasts only one semester. We finished at finals. He did well.

Brushing teeth.

Have a great, great weekend.