Christmas Card 2009

I sent out about 125 cards this year. It is so fun to receive them from all our friends and family. Zoie designed the card and Amy took the picture. I am lucky I have such talented family:

Freeze!

Do not grow up anymore! You are so cute right now! Honestly, it is almost more than I can take:

Rub a Dub Dub...

...3 boys in a tub, and who do you think they be? I don't think they will all fit much longer!

Cowboy Poetry with Grandad

We had another great night in Midway at the Cowboy Poetry Festival with Grandad! It was the horse show which was a lot of fun. Grandad always plans such fun activities. The kids love him!

Kylie and Halie are wonderful girls. Anna is lucky to have such wonderful cousins to look up to:

My cowboys (and cowgirl) watching the action from above:

We were so excited to meet Dave Stamey after the show. We listen to his music all the time. The kids were singing loudly along with him during his songs. It was pretty fun to get an autographed CD from him:

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a bit crazy this year. William's diagnosis left us all upside down. Then Rod came down with strep throat the night before Halloween. I continued on and somehow the kids had a great time.Our "Anna Rose Princess" was really beautiful. She fell in love with this costume and I was very grateful (everything else she had liked looked too old/teenage). We braided rosebuds into a crown on her head. Quite lovely!Tanielu was a ninja. I tried to dye his karate uniform but it came out gray. He liked it though. Pretty stealth!
Owen wanted to wear "something cool". None of our costumes on hand would do. I wasn't in the mind frame to make something so I took him to the costume store and this is what he picked: Optimus Prime Transformer. Very cool!William was dressed as an "el-fun". I thought he was adorable! He really got the hang of trick-or-treating quickly and wanted to pick his candy at every door. Love him!

William update

Just an update for our friends who live far away. My cutest, joy of my life, William was diagnosed with diabetes on October 23, 2009. He is doing really well. Rod and I are trying to adjust. We are so very sad that his future will include that awful disease. It is overwhelming to care for a two-year-old with diabetes. Anna has been a big help. When she was diagnosed three years ago she could understand. Now, she tries to help with all the pokes. William can't really tell us how he is feeling. It is a challenge to say the least. We caught it really early though. He never got sick. Those first few days were pretty emotional. William kept asking to have a party. He wouldn't let it go. So, despite feeling nothing like a party, we had one. We made a "lellow" cake, bought "lellow balloons" and Rod brought all the kids presents. Yellow is William's favorite color. We even sang "yellow submarine"! I think somehow in his two-year-old mind a party would bring happiness to our emotional home. Sweet boy.

The best part of Halloween!

I make sugar cookies twice a year: for Halloween and Valentine's Day. I love sugar cookies. Love, love, love them. I think I eat most of them...but the kids like them too: