Christmas Greetings!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! The snow has been falling here for several weeks now. The kids have already been out sledding once at the boys' school. They have a great hill. The kids are eagerly awaiting getting presents under the tree, which we got the first weekend in December (a record for us). We have been torturing them by delaying getting things wrapped. Ginger is finally done teaching her day classes and is just feeling relief from the busy schedule. Mike was also teaching a class and had to pull an all-nighter (rare these days) to get the grading done. Emily won a blue ribbon with the highest possible score of I for a duet that she played with a friend. They are being asked to play for the eighth grade concert next week. Avritt is on the swim team this year. His first meet is this Saturday. Isaac is having a lot of fun these days with a friend, Spencer. He is doing extremely well with letters and sounds. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Enjoying the Christmas Tree 

All Dressed Up 

All Dressed Up...

We all headed to a wedding of some friends in our house church early in November. The boys had to get all dressed up (something they don't prefer) and I took the opportunity to take some pictures. I put Isaac on the top step to balance out the height difference, but Avritt still wanted to be taller. We all enjoyed the wedding.

Emily and her friend (who had already taken off her costume) dressed up as vistors to the spa, complete with mud face mask, eye masks (hanging from her friend's neck) and matching leopard print slippers. 

Isaac will rescue the galaxy. Isn't he cute! 

Avritt's dark side... 

The boys getting ready to battle the Halloween galaxy. 

Isaac enjoying his first very own holiday party at school. No more going to his sister's/brother's parties! 

Avritt at school with his friends from the dark side. 

turned in to a grassy area. The pile of dirt in the driveway will go away. The darker part in the center is seeded with grass. We returned the two big rocks there. 

The dirt pit in the center of the driveway... 

After! 

Before... 

Isaac playing on the playground. 

After! Notice the van in the garage -- Saturday was the first day we have parked a car in this new garage. It was a day to remember! 

Before... 

Avritt's favorite position: goalie. 

Avritt in his soccer gear. 

It's About Time

I realized that it has been over a month since I posted an update. I guess that says something about life around here. On Saturday we hosted a work day at our house. We belong to a house church and one of the things we do is go to each others' homes regularly and offer up our skills and muscles to get projects completed. We needed to get our yard back in shape, and we got a lot done on Saturday. It was a cool day in the mid-50s, perfect weather for working outside. We rented a walk-behind loader for moving sand and dirt around. We regraded the dirt around the house to deal with drainage, brought in topsoil to cover over all the sand that was left from the remodel, and seeded grass. We finished the area up by our half-circle driveway, and are still working on the area down by the old driveway. The progress has been a much-needed encouragement to Mike and I.

Emily is preparing to play a clarinet-flute duet at a Solo and Ensemble Festival in November. Avritt is done with his soccer season. His favorite position to play was goalie. Isaac is enjoying having some friends over from his class at school. They make much better playmates than his mom. The kids are nearing the end of the term at school, and Halloween will soon be here. Enjoy the fall colors!