Christmas Eve 2014

On Christmas Eve we invited Tony's cousin Ben and his family to come spend the evening with us.  His brother-in-law was in town and so he joined the fun.  We had soup and breadsticks and acted out the nativity.  We included scriptures from the Book of Mormon as well as the New Testament thanks to this book that Stacey got me last year.  

Then we had a white elephant gift exchange.  The older boys joined in. :)

Snowflake Lane 2014

We had several family members come down with a stomach bug which cut down on what activities we did but we went to Snowflake Lane.  It was the first time I've been there when it was rainy and umbrellas cut down on the view but it was still fun.  We love seeing the drummer boys and princesses and people on stilts.  And Ryan was oh so curious about whether or not the soap snow would still work if it was raining.  It did!  We still got snow!  

Christmas Sunday

It was so nice to have help with the kids at church, especially since I sang in the choir.  Christmas Sundays are always so nice, singing about and reflecting on the Savior's birth.  We even tried to take pictures before church for our Christmas card.

Evelyn scooting around at church.

Christmas Visitors

We had most of Tony's family come visit for Christmas.  Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying family.

Tiffany Park Christmas Concert 2014

Max and Ryan were both in the same school Christmas program this year.  The babies and I noisily attended.  

Max sang, "Winter Snow" and Ryan sang, "Up on the Housetop".  They both did a wonderful job!

2014 Christmas/New Year Letter--It's a Wonderful Life

Happy Holidays to all of our family and friends.  We love you and wish we could see you more often!  We are looking forward to celebrating the New Year together as a family.  Christmas was a busy and fun.  We weren't able to sit down and watch a holiday favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life" until December 29th but better late than never.  We do feel like life is wonderful because even with the ups and downs, we know that our Savior has a plan for us.  

The kids have had a fun year.  Max loves Tae Kwon Do, he played soccer and took swimming lessons, is a self-proclaimed book worm and loves school.  He is an exceptional helper around the house.

Ryan started kindergarten and loves it.  He played soccer and took swimming lessons as well.  He is my artist.  He loves to create.  He is a really caring person.  Both boys are lovers of Lego, Star Wars, Ninjago and bike riding.

Jason is talking up a storm lately, saying his abcs and counting.  He loves to tell you his colors and even test you on them. ; )  He loves jumping, airplanes, cars, trucks, playing catch, Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse.  He loves his friends and siblings.  He's a very social little guy.

Evelyn walks and runs.  She and Jason have the cutest relationship and can make each other laugh.  She also likes to take his cars and run away giggling.  She is a really snuggly little girl which we LOVE.  She is also really social.  She loves puzzles and books and pushing the doll stroller around whether or not there's a baby in it.    

Tony was finally able to move to the day shift which makes us do the happy dance every time we think about it.  He now leads a crew working in the Boeing P8-A program.  He also substitute teaches at South Seattle Community College in the Aviation Maintenance program.  Debbie volunteers at the elementary school and works from home and is a happy, busy mom.      

We are looking forward to more fun in 2015.  Most exciting of all, Max's baptism will be on July 11th and you are welcome to come.

Much love,

Tony, Debbie, Max, Ryan, Jase and Evelyn

Ward Christmas Party

We had a fun Christmas party last night.  It was really relaxed.  The primary had the assignment to help kids paint salt dough ornaments.  It was actually really fun.  I didn't even think about getting pictures until I saw how adorable the missionaries looked with their tags on the outside of their garbage bag smocks, haha.  This was at the end of the night so I missed the boat  on taking pictures of all the cute kids, but there were kids with paint and glitter.  They had my full attention. :)  There was even a Karaoke corner which was a real treat because people were able to shine in a different way then we're used to seeing at church.  People got up there that I wouldn't have even expected to.  So fun!  The girls are singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the 2nd picture.