TEN

Ave, turned the big one-o this week.
Happy Birthday dude, we love you! You are one amazing girl, you are so much fun, crazy, cute, funny, happy, smart, talented, this list goes on and on.
Some of my favorite things about you are
. Your smile, it makes my heart happy.
. You are always so willing to help out
. You are very creative, always have a few projects going on, if you need something you just whip one on up out of a box, some duct tape, and dental floss.
. You are so easy going
. Very confident
. You are an awesome big sister, and a good example to them
. You are honest
. You are a hard worker
. You have so many big ideas and hate that you cant accomplish them all right now, just today you threw yourself on my bed and said 'mom I just want to change the world'. And I know you will do just that. When I told you that we were trying to get tickets to the white house you were so excited and said ' I could be President someday and to be going when I am ten for the first time will be so cool'.
And of course I love that you are so much like me:) From your slight 'bum' chin, to your love of school, I am constantly thinking "That's my girl".
You are an amazing kid. You have so many goals and dreams and I know you can do any or all of them. We love you so much and have had so much fun watching you grow up into this beautiful girl. Happy tenth Birthday!!

Worst Hide and Seek Ever!!!

So I was going upstairs to give Joss and Aniston a bath this morning and I hear Aniston say "Quick Jossy, let's hide from Dad!" I make my way up the rest of the steps and as I turn the corner into the bathroom this is what I see...




Man this kid could not be any cuter!

Boy TIme

So, the husband went to Buffalo to hang out with one of his friends for some boy time. The highlights of the trip were going to a record store, eating the best wings ever and learning to weld. He has always wanted to learn to weld and loved every minute of it. He is pretty proud of his Volcom Stone that he made, it is being displayed on our fireplace if you want a closer look at his creation. Glad he had fun, but even more glad he is home:)

Smarty Pants

Ave is one cool girl. She is so creative, talented, and yes a smarty pants. So when her teacher called me and told me she had won a writing contest for the newspaper I was not one bit surprised. She had to write a story about a friend and incorporate Toy Story into it. So she of course wrote one about herself and her BFF Emma. She did an awesome job and won, I believe they chose one student per grade in the district. I am so proud of this girl!! SO far the big prizes she has won are Cavalier tickets, Indian tickets, and now Toy Story on Ice tickets. Way to go Ave!




Our itouch camera is not so great , especially in the dark so our friend Rachel let us "steal" her TS3 pics from her blog, they look amazing huh. Thanks Rachel!

Skilz

Ave got a pile of wood for Christmas and I got a drill so....

Jesse and I built her a doll bed. It was fun doing a project like this together and not to brag too much but it did turn out pretty dang cute! The girls and the doll love it.

Creepy Santa

Every year the Kiwanis club put together a little Santa delivery thing. They have about four or five Santa's driving around delivering presents to all the kids in the town the Sunday before Christmas.
We did not tell the girls that Santa was coming so the younger ones were so excited when he pulled up.



And even the creepiest Santa made their day. I did not realize how funny he looked until after he had left and I looked at the pictures. Next year they might want a fatter guy or maybe a smaller beard!





The little girls got Ponies and the older ones drawing books, erasers, and pencils. It was fun, I wish we were going to be able to do this every year. We live in the coolest town!

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas started out at our friends house on Christmas Eve for dinner, Christmas story, bingo and prizes, and a little service project of making blankets to donate to Project Linus. It was an awesome night, the kids had fun, we had delicious food, hung out with friends and the missionaries and once again were reminded of how lucky we are to have great people around us when we are not "home".





And our Christmas was also perfect! We slept until about eight, opened presents, played for awhile, had crepes for breakfast, stayed in our pajamas all day, played Beatles Rockband and Toy Story on the wii, and later had nachos and watched movies. It was relaxing and tons of fun. Although, we did skype our families and got pretty homesick too.

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Jossy was a lot of fun this year. She was very excited about presents and wanted to open them if they were under the tree so we had to wait to put any under. She bought Ani a new shirt and helped wrap it, she was so happy to finally be able to give it to her!
This year she did not really suggest any toys so she was happy with everything. A few of her favorites were a bumblebee pillow pet from Grandma and Grandpa J, and a new baby doll and stroller (she named her baby pinocchio).



Ry only wanted Uggs (boots) this year. But luckily she has other people who love her and saved her from only opening one gift that morning! She also got rain boots, 3 pairs of jeans, and some cash for more clothes! Girls this age are so funny.
Ave was a bit trickier, she also did not have any suggestions. She is a crafty chic and has to always have her hands busy so she really loved her new jewelry kit, designer kit and stencils, and a stack of wood and screws to help build a doll farmhouse bed. She has been busy creating ever since Christmas morning!


And Ani. Well this girl has a huge crush on Alvin so she was pretty happy to open this up. She also decided last minute she wanted a snow globe and a pink skateboard. And since she is one SPOILED girl.... My friend Marla saw a snow globe on Christmas Eve and bought it - she was thrilled! And her dad also being a sucker for that dimple and brown eyes and skateboarding had me run out to find a pink skateboard. Which she also loved.

We had a great Christmas! I realized putting our Holiday decor back into totes that this is our last Christmas here, that next year we will be putting them up in a new house in a new state. That was a little sad, we love it here and have met many great friends who we will miss! But it is also exciting to be one step closer to being done and settled and stable. That is something to be excited about. 2011 is finally here, we have waited for this for so long. GRADUATION. yeah!