Daddy is the favorite at bedtime...

Here's is a typical pose of daddy on the bed reading a bedtime story to the kids...

A Visit from our friends, the McClures- Missionaries to India!

We were blessed to have Doug and Noelle McClure, who run an orphanage in India, visit us with their 5 children. The 3 youngest are the same ages as our 3 kids.

Megan and Emily

Marisa and Abby

Joey and Ryan

Our Kiddos!

Ryan is the new sheriff in our Town!

Ryan is happy to have such devoted big sisters!

Auntie Lana!!

The kids have loved having their Auntie visit for Christmas and New Year's. They especially love going out on dates for coffee at Peet's. She has made the girls little soldiers and taught them how to march and they have all laughed until they cried being silly! Ryan also has loved meeting his Auntie Lana and has snuggled with her and smiled at her. I know they can't wait for her to come back for another visit. Thanks for coming Auntie Lana!

Back to Real Life

So, Christmas vacation is over. The girls have gone back to school today. On Fridays, they go to a homeschool enrichment program called Rocky Mountain Homeschool Academy. Abby is in kindergarten where she is learing to read and do crafts, play soccer or basketball, learn math and science, and play with her friends. Emily is in second grade and is learing Spanish, computer skills (she's been working on a Powerpoint project), art, writing/ Language Arts, and Science. The girls missed school over the break. Emily was especially looking forward to seeing her friends Trevor and Hannah.
On Monday, we will start official homeschooling work again. We have some catching up to do since we had a late start this fall due to Ryan's birth. But the girls work hard and generally enjoy school. Emily really loves to read.
Please pray that we fall in line again and get scheduled. Ryan has started napping better so it'll be easier to get a chunk of school done while he's asleep. We need to get refocused and prioritized and start this year off with a bang!

A Shout Out to the Relatives who visited Ryan and us!

A great thanks to Greg's parents who drove out from Southern CA right after Ryan was born. Papa and Grandma were a tremendous help painting Ryan's room, taking the girls out on special outings, cooking, and refinishing my grandmother's furniture for us - an all-around great help!

Greg's sister Carrie came out from CA for a weekend in mid-September. She cooked several meals for us for the freezer. It was great to see her and have her meet her new nephew!

My mom flew out on October 1st to stay for 2 weeks and help with Ryan. She didn't know that Ryan would come early and already be a month and a half old! She held and rocked him and showed him love that only Mummu can! She even taught homeschool to the girls one day! My dad surprised me with a weekend visit too! Grandpa was so excited to meet his new grandson. Ever the exotic chef, grandpa introduced the family to Tonkatsu (Japanese breaded pork chops) and beef barbecue ribs (which the girls especially loved!). Thanks Grandpa and Mummu for visiting us!