Snow Tubing in Tahoe!

Christmas Eve & Morning!

Winter Piano Recital

This morning was our Winter Piano Recital. Jake played the Can-Can and Carol of the Bells. The bell carol was a pretty difficult piece for him, but he played it the best he has ever played it! Grace performed The Riddle and Joy to the World, and did a fantastic job. She also received a trophy for completing her first level lesson books. I played It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and The Spirit of God(Hymns Made Easy, of course), and was really happy I didn't completely mess up like my last recital performance! I am really impressed with all that Jake and Grace have learned in just a year and a half!

Change in our Plans!

Okay, today Andy spoke with the lady at the state department and she informed him that he is actually number 6 on the hiring list for foreign service officers. So, he will probably be offered a job in January and begin training in Washington, DC in March! Woohoo! She spoke about when he's hired, not if he would be hired, so everything looks pretty promising. Hopefully things will be official in a couple of weeks. We'll be staying here in our house on base, and will now keep the kids in school through the end of January (tomorrow was going to be their last day of school here). Anyways, we are totally excited and relieved, and I can't believe things are working out so smoothly!

Diaper Free!

Rachel has been potty trained for a few weeks now(she's doing great), so we haven't bought diapers in a month! We are officially a diaper free family. Yesterday, I finally got rid of the stragglers...I gave them to my friend Carrie. Free at last! It's crazy to think that we've been buying diapers every week for 10 1/2 years. That's a lot of diapers, and a lot of money...maybe I can start a Disneyland fund with the money we're saving now!

Rachel's New Hairdo

Before...

After!

Ever since Sarah had her haircut a few weeks ago, Rachel has been talking about getting her hair "cut off to my shoders". I've held off because her hair was really pretty, not straggly, and hasn't been hard to keep up. Anyways, last night she managed to get a huge piece of gum (yes, I let her have it) stuck into her hair. After I cut the gum out, the chunk of missing hair was very noticable, so we cut it all off. She was pretty excited about it, and couldn't wait to show Sarah. Then she said, "now put me on the blog!" I guess that's what she thought she had to do to get her picture posted. It's funny that she wouldn't smile for me before the haircut, but was very obliging afterwards!

Thanksgiving Turkeys

On Thanksgiving, my mom worked with the kids on making these cute turkeys. Each feather listed something they said they were thankful for. They surprised us with these just after dinner. Number 1 on everyone's turkey was Jesus, which I thought was really sweet. Here's a picture of my little turkeys holding their "I'm thankful for..." turkeys...

We're moving soon!

Andy's last day with the Air Force is Jan. 6th, so we will soon be moving from our home here on base. We will be living with my parents for a little while, but we aren't sure for how long. Andy is on the State Department's hiring list for Foreign Service Officers. They hire in January, again in March, and every few months after that. We were really hoping he'd be hired in January, but we aren't too sure that will happen. Anyways, this is why we don't know how long we will be at the Patrick's home. They are awesome to let us stay with them. It will be humbling to be unemployed and living with parents again. Hopefully, it won't last long and we can move on to a new adventure!

Our Roadshow, "Zion or Bust!"

Jake, Grace and Sarah all participated in our ward roadshow last week. It really was a roadshow, as they performed in 2 buildings on the same night. Grace was one of the main characters and did a wonderful job on her lines and facial expressions! Sarah sat at the edge of the stage and sang every song with lots of enthusiasm! And, the roadshow would have been nothing if it weren't for the very capable and efficient backstage crew member, Jake! We, of course, think our roadshow was the best!

My Kids are Great!

Today was the last day of the school trimester, and the school held award assemblies. Jake, Grace and Sarah all received awards! Jake received an award for passing his Math Facts in a Flash in under 1 minute and also under 45 seconds, a good citizenship award, and an award for achieving the Principal's Honor Roll(that means all 'A's on his report card). Grace received an award for her achievements in an Accelerated Math program, and for demonstrating the life skill of "Effort...I always try to do my best". Sarah received her first school award presented for demonstrating great "Initiative...I can get started," and was chosen to eat lunch with the vice-principal as a reward for good behavior. I'm so happy they are doing well at school. I am a lucky mom to have such awesome kids! (A mom's allowed to brag on her own blog, right?)

Sarah's New Hairstyle

We have been talking about cutting Sarah's hair for awhile now. She has been begging me the last couple of days, and I had to talk her into waiting until after Halloween. So today I finally cut it all off! I was a bit nervous at first...it ended up being a bit shorter than I thought it would. We had to cut at least 10 inches off so we could donate it to Locks of Love. Sarah loves her new hairdo and has been running up to everyone asking "what do you think of my hair?" She's also been posing a lot in front of the mirror. I think its way cute...she just looks much older to me now!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year, the whole family dressed as characters from Mystery, Inc. Andy was the handsome Fred, Jake was Shaggy, Grace was Velma, and Sarah and Rachel were both Daphne. Our hope was that Rachel would be Scooby Doo, but she would not wear the costume! She insisted on being Daphne also. I was the villain. I made a t-shirt that said "Villain" on the front and "I would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for these meddling kids and their dog!" on the back. Grace wished we could've painted our van like the Mystery Machine...maybe next time. Of course the kids came home with tons of candy and had a great time sorting it and watching the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin cartoon.

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

Last week we visited the pumpkin farm with all of our Patrick cousins. We had a great time on the slide, panning for marbles, the train ride, the hay ride and the petting zoo. Hope the cousins like the pictures, we tried to include everyone in the slide show. Get comfortable...there's like 45 pictures in this one!

Calaveras Big Trees

On Saturday, Jake and Andy and the Webelos went on a hike through the Big Trees. Jake says, "The trees were huge...the biggest and sometimes tallest things on earth." They had a good time. We hope to be able to take the whole family soon.

Family Fair at Beale AFB

This afternoon the girls and I went to a fair on base. We had a good time, and everything was free! Rachel didn't want to go on any of the bounce houses or obstacle courses, but she did love her snow cone and hamburger. Sarah was the obstacle course champion of the group...when she finished each one, she'd run around to the front with her pointer finger in the air, yelling "just one more time mom!" She ran the courses at least 10 times. The toilet races were bittersweet for Grace. She was probably one of the younger riders today, and those toilets can move pretty quickly. She had a few collisions. The first two were against the cushioned wall, but unfortunately the last one was with another rider. She has a good bruise and bump on her lower leg where it was pinched between the potties, but she'll recover soon. I'm so proud of her for trying it by herself! I love my girls...we have fun together!

Our New Pet!

Our friends, the Blacks, are moving to Italy and can't bring their guinea pig with them, so we welcomed Pepper into our home and family. Everyone loves her! Pepper sleeps in Grace's room and Grace has the main responsibility for feeding and cleaning. She is happy to do it. Thanks Courtney...we'll take good care of Pepper!

Labor Day Weekend Pics

First Day of School, August 22nd

This is Sarah's first day of kindergarten! Her teacher is Mrs.Garcia. When I took her to the classroom, she just sat down at her table and started coloring and talking to her friend. She was so happy to be in school! Sarah is growing up to be such a beautiful girl!

Grace is in 2nd grade and her teacher is Mr.Garren, her first boy teacher. Poor Grace had the remains of pinkeye the first day of school, so she's not as bright-eyed as she normally would have been...She's still darling though!

Jake started 5th grade with Mrs.Lura this year. His day begins sooner than the girls', so he rides his bike to and from school. Jake, you are getting too old and tall and handsome!

Pioneer Children

"Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked" around the mall. The primary kids in our ward sang songs at the Yuba County Historical Fair held at our mall. They all looked great and the kids liked dressing up!

Drama Queen Grace

I was in a Snow White play on base. I was a dwarf named Tambourine. The names were different but I was closest to Dopey. My only line was "Oh yeah!" and I shook my tambourine. Everyone was laughing at me...it was great. I can't wait to be in another play. "Oh yeah!" (from Grace)

Family Fun

4th of July Fireworks, 2007

Okay, it's dark...let's start the fireworks!

Here we are at McBean Park in Lincoln waiting for the fireworks to begin! Good thing we packed lots of drinks and snacks (and bug spray)! We had a good time, but Rachel hid under a blanket on Andy's lap for the whole fireworks show. Hopefully she enjoys it more next year!

Spring Piano Recital, June 2007

Here's mom playing the piano. My piece was called "Stars and Butterflies" from the Pride and Prejudice movie soundtrack. It was awful. I completely messed it up, had to stop in the middle and start over again. I've never been so nervous...my hands shook like crazy. Grace helped me to partially redeem myself when we played our duet together. Thanks Grace!

Grace is playing her solo piece, "Millie and Tillie". She did a great job. She always wants to play perfectly. She also performed a piece, "Ballad", a duet with her mother.

Jake is performing his solo piece, "Hiawatha". He always does such a nice job, and learns very quickly. He later performed a duet with our teacher, Anikai Medlar, called "Big Chief Strong Fingers." It had a really good beat!

Jake's Cub Scout Day Camp

Chef Jake cooking up grilled cheese sandwiches on tin can stoves. It was greasy and delicious!

BB gun shooting was a highlight for all of the boys at camp. Jake is a pretty good shot...takes after his dad!

Our New Page!

Hi kids! I just set up our new family page, so we can put all of our own family stuff and our relatives and friends can look at it. This will be especiallly cool when we move, don't you think?