Josh the Arab

I got to go out with Air Force Special Forces and pretend to be a terrorist to help give our guys the most realistic training possible. It was a really neat experience and not one that I’m sure I’ll ever have again. Being able to help out our guys was a privilege and honor for me, and it greatly increased my already sky high respect level for them.

The kids thought that my costume was great, so I decided to take a picture.

Packer Game

Rachel and I both got new computers with our tax return, so we have been a bit remiss posting pictures...sorry about that. I realized that I hadn't ever posted any pictures from our awesome Packer game that went to in Phoenix. It was awesome.

The University of Phoenix stadium is definitely worth going to. The Packers won the game as well, which made it that much sweeter.

The kids stayed back at the hotel with Grandma, but they had a great time also. Especially Grandma :)

Visit with Grampy and GranJan

We had the opportunity to take the kids to see Grampy and GranJan on their way in to Mexico. It was a great day. We went to the El Paso zoo, ate at Texas Roadhouse and got to play outside a lot. There were some invigorating games of soccer, Red Light/Green Light, and of course the standard "throw rocks at things" for CJ. We will definitely miss them, but hopefully we will get to see each other again here pretty soon.

Christmas!

We started the day by opening stockings...each kid got their own mug, a coloring book and some other odds and ends. Rachel then made a great crepe breakfast (with sausage links...real sausage, not turkey. Sorry Alyssa!). After breakfast, we read through the Luke 2 account of Christmas. We felt it was impotant to make the kids wait for presents and not go rushing through them right away. They really got into the Biblical account of Jesus' birth, and though I'm sure they didn't completely understand everything, they were able to give a pretty accurate retelling of the story. After our time in the Bible we opened presents. There were a LOT of gifts and we thank everyone that sent something this year. We hope that each and every one of you had a great day with your families and that you were able to relax and enjoy your day! Merry Christmas!

Christmas cookies!

The kids had a great time with Mom making Christmas cookies. There were stars, stockings, Christmas trees and bells. It took a while to get the hang of NOT putting 3 lbs of frosting per cookie, but they did finally get it...and yes, they WERE delicious!

A little Christmas...

One of the grandmas said that she wanted to see a picture of the tree, so here you go Granny Grace! This is our tree...we think it's our best so far. It's hard to capture how nice it looks on camera, but here's a try. Also, we put up som lights outside this year...the kids think it's just the greatest thing ever.

A snow day???

Will wonders never cease? We awoke this morning to the sight of snow covered trees and about 5 inches of snow...and it's still coming down! Of course, this means that we all had to go outside and play. We built snowmen, snowforts and snowballs. The kids, especially Ethan and Kaylee, loved it. Snowangels were of course part of the fun. Even Momma went out and tried to paste Dad with a snowball or two. The trees in this area are NOT equipped to handle the added weight of snow, so it will be interesting to see the aftermath of the "snowstorm", but we are enjoying it for the moment at least.