Another year without any coal

I guess everbody was good this year. Here are some highlights of Christmas. We have Vanessa home now for a few months before she heads back to BYU. It was a wonderful Christmas!

Decorating the tree. I had to twist their arms to hold still for the corny kid picture. They love it when I do that!Becky and Sophia putting the angel on top. The early bird gets the worm. Natty was the first one up! The big hit...Shadow and Patches, Audrey's new bunnies. Even though Santa brought them to Audrey, Becky and Shadow have become good buddies.

High 5!

Sophia turned 5 a couple weeks ago. Mom's a little slow in getting pictures up. She had her annual Chuck e cheese party and a little family brownie and whipped cream dessert at home. We love you, Sophia!

5 candles for 5 years

Sophia, Chuck e, friend Makenna, and cousin Andrea

"B" is for Becky

Last night we celebrated Becky's 15th birthday. Hard to believe the the time has gone by so fast...6 months until she can drive, 1 more year until she can date! The server at the restaurant thought she looked much older than 15. She is a freshman in highschool this year and is our straight A student. We are proud of you, Beck! We took her to a yummy steak dinner. We all enjoyed our steak, and I enjoyed my lobster...so much so I got teased by Tim for not sharing any!

Worth the wait

I don't know how they do it. Sitting in a tree stand for hours at a time, sitting totally still in the freezing cold. Waiting for that moment. It could take an a hour, it could take a week. You may never even see a deer. But, Tim tells me there is nothing like that adrenaline rush when a deer is in site. It was a good year so far of hunting for Tim. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working right to get a picture of Tim's 8 point buck. Here is one picture I did get of Tim and friend, Andy Melton with his buck. Earlier in the week, Tim hunted with brother, Sed, brother-in-law, Jonathan, and sister, Roxanne. Venison in the freezer is a good thing!!!

20 years later?

So here is the scene last night...I walk into the arena, the lights are low, music is playing in the background. And I am about to see my first concert!!! I wait patiently for the opening act to come on. And there they are, warming up the crowd for the big name...John Cougar Mellencamp. But my ticket says, John Mellencamp. Where's the "Cougar". And what happened to my high school girl friends who were with me and their mom? Suddenly I realize I'm not in Corvallis, OR anymore. John Mellencamp comes out on stage. The crowd goes wild...I'm so excited! But, I notice he has more wrinkles than I figured he would. Hmm?, I look down and notice I don't have on my favorite pokodot mini skirt and boots I love so much. I'm wearing a turtle neck sweater, conservative jeans and sensible shoes. What happened?
Then my wonderful husband leans over and reminds me, "Honey, it's 2007, not 1987", and you are in Wilkes Barre, PA, not in Corvallis anymore." Oh that's right, I'm not in high school anymore, and these seats are much better than the nosebleed section I remember in '87. But, nonetheless, there he was, cool as ever. He still had the moves 20 years later. Yes, a few more wrinkles and not as much Elivis hip action as I remember. But, what the heck, we all get a little older. How could I not get up and dance to "R.O.C.K in the USA!" Thank you Tim, for taking me back a few, to remember some great times. The best part was when Tim and I saw ourselves on the big screen in back of the band. They videoed us for a few moments before the show smiling and waving to the camera. They played the clip with others during "Jack and Diane". So cool!

Snowman Worthy!!!

"Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman, Once there was a snowman TALL, TALL, TALL!" (made by Oliver and Audrey. Missionaries pictured with the big guy in our front yard)

"In the sun he melted, melted, melted. In the sun he melted...."

"Small, small, small

A New Tradition

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day 2007. This is how it started...

Dad gets up with a great idea!

Dad: "Let's go to a parade this morning!"

Mom: "Great idea, where?"

Dad: "I think there is one in Scranton, I'll check on the internet...Yep, there it is, The 88th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade"

So we wake up the kids, they get dressed in 15 and off we go. We are excited. We notice there isn't much traffic on the roads near downtown Scranton. Must be that everybody is already there.

We arrive downtown...

kids: "Uh, Dad...Where is the the parade?"

Dad: "Um, it's here somewhere"

There is no one to be found...downtown is empty. Meanwhile Mom and Dad are looking on their blackberries to find out more info.

Mom: "Uh, Honey...here it says, "The 88th annual Thansgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia."

Dad: "Oops...let's go out for breakfast!"

A fun time was had by all. So much so. we decided to make it an annual Thanksgiving morning tradition...get up, go to the parade that is not there, then go for breakfast.

We enjoyed a relaxing day at home afterwards and had a great dinner that afternoon.

Move over Beethoven

It was a week of music...Audrey and Celeste had their piano recital on Sunday, Celeste's first one. She started taking lessons in September and gave a rousing performance of "Old MacDonald Had a farm". Audrey played a fun Egyptian Tune. On Monday the 5th grade did a concert of patriotic songs in honor of Veteran's Day. Audrey is in the front row, second from the left.

Audrey made a poster for the program in honor of her Grandpa Rodriguez who served in the Army.

Snowman Worthy?

" It's snowing!!!!!...Mom, can we go out and build a snowman today?" Alas, we say goodbye to Fall in the Poconos, as Jack frost has come to visit already. This was the scene outside our front door last week.
Time to cut and stack the firewood for a long winter's nap. Oliver and Dad's favorite Fall/Winter job.

"J" is for Josh

We are so happy for Josh, he seems to have found his niche. Josh is 22 now and living in Orlando, FL. He started a new job as a Tactical Response Specialist for the Nova Agency http://www.nova-agency.org/index.html. He does prisoner transports, Tactical Room Clearing/Property Clearing for construction sites w/squatters and bad neighborhoods. He just sent us these new pictures.
Just a few weeks after starting his job, Josh received an award for finding a missing child and aprehending his abductor.

Trick or Treat 2007

Happy Halloween!

"A" is for Audrey = "S" is for Soccer

Audrey loved soccer this year. She went from playing more because mom and dad wanted her to, to loving it for herself. She just finished her season last Saturday. It's hard to believe that little girl getting baptized on our front blog picture, is now 10, in 5th grade and is such a joy to our lives. She has her 2nd piano recital next week.

The Contender

Have you ever seen the TV show "The Contender" on ESPN? Well, this is our version...Natty got into the ring with a kitchen chair. I think the chair won this round, it came down right on top of her. Lesson: Never climb up on your opponent, especially is he/she is bigger than you!

Day 1 Day 2 (Looks worse, but feels better)
Day 3 (Is there something wrong with my eye? I feel fine!)

"S" is for Sophia

Sophia is 4, almost 5. She is still a petite little thing, but works hard at keeping up with her sisters. She is a big helper at home and sets the pace for her little sister, Natty. Today at the doctor's she even had her flu shot first to show Natty that is wasn't too bad. She wanted to call Daddy right away to tell him how brave she was and that she didn't even cry. She is in preschool and just went to the pumpkin farm last week on a field trip. Right now her biggest decision is whether to be a unicorn, witch, or princess for Halloween. Ahh, to be 4 again! Here are some of her latest pics...

So many choices!My friend Billy

My first time pickin' apples

Fishin', Family, and Fun

Last Saturday we went to Halifax, PA where Tim's sister Jasmine and brother Sergio live with their families. Tim ordained Sed as an Elder and we also celebrated Sed's son, Nathaniel's birthday. They live on a beautiful piece of land right outside of Harrisburg with a pond and lots of room to play. It was a great day.

Get any good bites?

"Get off my dock!" Say the grumpy uncle to all the cousinsSed and baby SyriannahNatty with cousinsBig kisses from Zeus (aka Marmaduke) Believe it or not, he's just a puppy! (Chris and Roxanne, I hope he drank some water after his other beverage of choice before he decided to give Natty a kiss! Yuck!)

Boy Scout Camp Out

Last Friday we had the scouts from our ward over to our home for a campout. I should say Tim had them over. They slept in the fields below our home and I hardly saw any of them. But I knew they were there because I heard them early Sat. morning shooting clays. I think they had a lot of fun despite the cold weather and the Bishop snoring. They used a bow and arrow, rifle and handgun. You'll see Tim and Oliver in the pictures below along with the rest of the guys. Honesdale Ward Scouts and Bishopric

Ryan Peach having a rifle lesson

What is a Buckhorn, anyway?

I've asked this question many times to many people. The best answer I get is, "hmmm, I really don't know. It's just the Wallenpaupack School District Mascot." And that's it. My question will still go unanswered. But, for now I'll share some pictures of what I think a buckhorn is...Today is Homecoming at the High School and all week Celeste and Audrey have dressed up for spirit week. Oliver and Becky are Buckhorns too, but they are "too cool" to dress up.

Western Day (Sophia - a future buckhorn)
Decade Day (nobody knew Celeste was an 80's girl. But I promised her I looked just like that when I went to school. She said, "Mom you dressed crazy in the olden days!")Beach Day
Purple and White Day (School Colors)