A First

We got to attend our first school program last Friday!!! Asher's preschool Christmas program had to be rescheduled until after Christmas break because of the snow and it was worth the wait! What an honor to be able to watch my son get up on stage and be in a program! I can't believe we have reached that milestone...he's getting so big.

I also signed him up for T-ball today.....oh my.

Merry Christmas!

We pray that you will feel the love of Christ in a real way on this Christmas Day as we celebrate the best gift of all!

Keven, Alicia, Asher (4 1/2) & Tatum (3)

Fun in the snow!

Snow has come to Puyallup, WA...and lots of it! As you know, this is a big deal around here as we hardly ever have this much snow on the ground for this long. It's been snowing off and on for a week now and we probably accumulated 6-8 inches. Enough for some snowmen and sledding!

These pics are from our first round of snow...not tons on the ground yet

Then the real snow came!

There is a big hill next to my parent's house that Lindsey and I grew up sledding down. It was a blast reliving our memories with the kids!

We even got mom to go down the hill!

Some of the neighbor kids had constructed a little jump and this was Papa and Asher after going over it! My dad's "ugh" could be heard from far away!

Getting ready for Christmas!

We have been busy getting ready for our favorite time of the year! I love coming home to a house decorated with the signs of Christmas, having a Christmas tree shining in the background, and hearing old and new favorite Christmas CD's played!

Here we are at our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm. Asher was VERY happy to have a chance to hold the saw and help cut down the tree!

Tatum had fun playing in the dirt.

Papa had lots of helping cutting down his tree!

Keven and Asher cutting down our tree!

Tatum would NOT get off of Papa after cutting down his tree...it was really funny.

We had a great time decorating our first ever gingerbread creation.... a train!

This is Asher's special tree...his own creation. Our neighbors were decorating outside and as branches were falling off of their tree, Asher would grab them. Sabina eventually bundled a bunch together for him and we did this with it. It's my favorite decoration of the year.

Our "Bug" is 3!

Tatum (or Bug as we like to call her) is three today!

Here is a look at what she has looked like on this day for the past three years.


11/25/05



11/25/06


11/25/07


11/25/08


Happy Birthday sweet girl! You are an amazing spirit...God has blessed us greatly.

A reward

Asher's transition to preschool this year has been tough. He is a thinker (an understatement) and separation has never been easy for him, which is exactly why he is in preschool this year! So, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since the first of September, I have left my sobbing son exactly where he needed to be.

Sticker/reward charts have always worked really well for him so we decided to try it in this situation as well. Anytime we left him at preschool with no tears, he earned a sticker. He had to earn 12 stickers before he got a reward which took about 5 weeks. I knew exactly what he would love for his reward so on Monday after he put his last, well earned, sticker on the chart, we got to have this moment!

I am so proud of his accomplishment. He is now excited to go to preschool and we all got to memorize and embrace some wonderful scripture about fear!




"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9

Halloween

Although we are not big fans of Halloween, the kids enjoyed dressing up and going to the big event at Calvary Community Church.

Asher put on the armor of God for the occasion! He does not really like to dress up and so the "costume" only lasted a few minutes!

Our Princess Kitty

They got to sit in a firetruck at the church.

Defending the flamingo....(his cousin Reagan)