December Things

December was a fun and festive month.  From all the concerts to the parties to all other activities, we had a really good time.
I absolutely loved Christmas music and for me, attending many performances was especially enjoyable.  Ashton's choir performed at the Children's Hospital in Iowa City, and it was wonderful. Tod, Luke, and I took advantage of this opportunity to get some last minute shopping done in Iowa City and then go and hear the choir.  It was one of my favorite days of the whole holiday season!

All three of the girls performed in my friend's Christmas piano recital.  Even though I am teaching them, I still wanted them to have the opportunity to perform for others, so I was grateful for this chance.  It was a great night.  The girls were very nervous so after they "survived" we celebrated with some Whitey's ice cream!

A
shton had an orchestra concert, and she did a really nice job.  I took Regan along for this concert, and we had a good time on our little date together.

Hard to get good pics of my little violinist.

Her fabulous music teachers performing a piece of their own.  So thankful for these teachers!

Jordan had a choir concert at her school too.  It was very entertaining and fun!

 It was neat to see all these athletic little gals dressed up for something different!

Ashton also had a Christmas Choir concert that I was really looking forward too as well. I was going to take the girls and enjoy the performance without the little boys.  About 30 minutes before her concert, the kitchen bench fell over on Regan's toe, breaking it in two places.  Tod ended up taking Regan to the dr., and I took everyone else to the concert...so needless to say I listened from the lobby.  I was a little disappointed and no pictures...but they sounded great!

Ashton, Jordan, and I also sang in the church Christmas choir performance.  A very musical month!!

Regan and I attended a play together for her girls scouts.

These two acted silly one morning before church.

And this little guy continued to be so difficult to get pictures of!  As soon as I get the camera out, he either wants it or runs away!

Tod and I celebrated 14 years of marriage.  Where has the time gone?  I love this guy more and more every year.  He is perfect for me.  Thanks to our fabulous friends, we got to enjoy dinner out and some shopping.

 (Earlier in the day, I had gotten out our wedding pictures to share with the kids along with my wedding dress.  It was fun to look at the pictures together of that happy day.  When I talked to my dad on the phone, we were reminiscing about that time in our lives.  He described it accurately as "raw"...my mom had passed away just 6 months earlier.  And yet, I think for all of us, it was about feeling joy and happiness again and realizing that was possible...a very special day!)

Ashton and Tod snuck away to a movie together.  They have been trying to go for while and finally had the chance.  These two have quite the interesting relationship right now....

We went to a friends home for our annual pizza dinner and gingerbread making.  It was lots of fun...until Cole got to coughing so hard and got sick all over their beautiful living room.  I have rarely been so embarrassed...

And that lead to these next pictures which kind of summed of the next few days but that is for a different post...

Looking back at this post I realize there were many other things we did during December that I did not take pictures of.  I want to remember these things:
-Regan's fun girl scout party
-Going to the care center as a church youth group and performing for the residents- Ashton and her friend Justus played their violins, Jordan and Regan sang and did a poem
- Gingerbread houses for Activity Days
-Our Ward Christmas party is always memorable and fun..a time to enjoy being together
-Lots of indoor soccer and basketball games
-Most of the Christmas shopping done online!
-I subbed a lot during December doing art as well as kindergarten. It was all very enjoyable, and I really loved it all, especially being able to have my own kids in my classes.
-Our neighborhood held their annual luminary and Santa Visit one Sunday evening.  We had friends over for dinner and then walked around the neighborhood.  It was so pleasant and mild for a December evening.
-Regan made gingerbread houses in her 2nd grade classroom and Tod went and helped with Cole's holiday centers in his classroom

A Birthday, Thanksgiving, and a Few Other Things

The month of November has come and gone...I thought I would have more time since I wasn't teaching as much...it still whizzed by faster than ever. 

One of my favorite parts of the month was celebrating Tod's 38th birthday.  Our life is just so hectic that it took so much planning and coordinating to find a time we could go out for his big day, but we made it work and spent a great day together.  We went to a movie and out to eat at Red Robin (finally!) It was wonderful to be together.  Our time together is so rare...and so treasured.  I am so thankful for Tod and all he does for our family.  He is so hardworking and has such a great perspective on life.  He keeps us all laughing and moving forward.

We had our neighbors over for a birthday dinner and treat.  So glad we can always count on them to join in the fun!

Then it was off for a Thanksgiving adventure in Missouri.  We love Thanksgiving in Missouri and last year Tod's parents were on their mission in Utah, so this year everyone was so excited to be back on the farm.  We had a really good time, and it was great to be together with our family.

(I should say that 6 of the 7 of us had an outstanding time...baby Luke decided to be difficult.  He was one cranky baby for those few days.  Uggg.  Thanks to all for being good sports about his less than pleasant temperament.  As soon as we got back home, he was happy as can be!)

This trip we spent lots of time riding the ranger and exploring in the back fields. The kids loved going to the cave and seeing how far they dared to go. We did a lot of hiking around, and as always, we enjoyed the peace and beauty of the farm.

We LOVE our Missouri cousins.  Kayla and Leah are just the best gals and so much fun to be around!

Cole loved "working" on the farm.  He was busy chopping wood for Grandpa for the winter.

In fact, the whole gang got to working stacking up the wood.

There is always room for one more in the ranger!

And Ashton is getting really good at driving.

All ready for Thanksgiving dinner...and had to take a picture of the bearded Snarrs...never a dull moment with this group.

And proof that yes, I was there, and freezing most of the time!

On our last day there, the weather warmed up quite a bit.  So when I returned from my annual black Friday shopping with Meg, we took one last trip to the back fields. It was beautiful.

It is always so hard to pull the kids away from the farm...they never want to leave.  We were so glad we were able to spend Thanksgiving there this year.

A few other November things:

Ashton and Jordan both played indoor soccer.

Jordan had an orchestra concert and did great on her viola.

Ashton had her first Young Women's in Excellence...the 2 goals she had completed were learning to sew and learning to play volleyball.

Ashton was also busy playing on the school basketball team.  Basketball isn't her favorite sport, but I was proud of her for being so dedicated.  Her 7th grade team enjoyed an undefeated season!

And all the girls were busy practicing piano for their holiday recital.

And a final beautiful Iowa sunset as we said good-bye to November.