The Tree

The kids are old enough now that putting up the tree is a little more enjoyable.  Every one helped and it was done in no time.

And yes, I know it's March and I'm just now getting to Dec posts.  What can I say?

Blizzard Christmas Party

Byron enjoyed the room full of old school arcade games.

Waiting for the "World of Color" to start.

Blizzard had arranged for their own part in the show.

This years party was different then normal.  It was not a formal affair.  We had an okay dinner (kind of a bummer) at the Disney Hotel.  Most people go for the boos; we go for the great food.  Then we were ushered over to California Adventure.  Blizzard had rented out part of the park, just for us.  The  music was great and the desserts were great.  Other then that, it was also kind of a bummer.  At midnight, we were once again ushered back to Disneyland, where we got to see the light show, "World of Color."  Now that....was awesome.  It was so beautiful to see the lights on the water and the movement of the water.  There were even bubbles.  Yes,  I was giddy like a little child while watching it.  At the end, Blizzard had put together their own light show, way cool.

Gymnastics

Jenna started taking gymnastics a few months ago.  A friend of mine saw her doing cartwheels and asked if we'd ever thought about a class for her.  We found a place called Wildfire and enrolled Jenna in a once a week class.  Jenna has thrived.  She passed the first two levels in just a couple months and she has now been moved to a prep class, twice a week, just a step below team.  After her first class with her new coach, the coach asked me if this was a sport that we wanted to do.  I was a little confused.  She looked straight at me and said, "because she's really good."   It has really helped Jenna to harness a lot of her anxiety.

Jenna's B-day

Jenna chose to go to Dave & Buster's for her b-day present. 

You can spin this wheel and earn a lot of tickets.  (Can you see how many tickets Byron has in his hands?)

We won the jackpot on this game.

I can't believe how old they look here.  What happened to my babies?

Jenna and all her loot.

The cake of choice...Angel food with choc frosting.  Thanks Gma Black!

Kallie's surgery

On Veterans Day, Kallie had surgery on her left ear to remove the tube and patch the hole.  She has had problems with her ears since she was little.  This was the last tube left from the second set of tubes.  She has had sinus infections and infection in her ears for about 6 months now.  The ENT Dr. wanted to remove the tube months ago, but felt we needed to wait until the infection was cleared up.  Well, the infection just wouldn't go away.  The decision was made to do the surgery and hope that the infection would clear after.  Kallie was given hearing tests prior to the surgery and we will go back in a few months to test again.  She has already had a few surgeries in her life, but having surgery with an older child is much different.  She was very brave and asleep from the first meds before they even wheeled her back to surgery.  It has always been hard for her to come out of anesthesia.  The hardest part now is that she can't go swimming because she has to keep her ears dry.  She is finally infection free, but the hole has not healed.  We will go back to the ENT in a few weeks to see how to proceed.

My Birthday

I have decided we need to be better at taking pictures.  This is the only one from my birthday.  The week before Gretchen and family came for Sunday dinner to celebrate.  They made an awesome dinner for us.  The next Friday night Byron took me to Chick-fil-a for yummy chicken and peppermint chocolate chips shakes.  My actual b-day was a busy day but we ended with a yummy family dinner at Mimi's. (Thanks Moms and Dads)

Halloween

It was brithday friday at work so there were cakes on every floor.

We started our Halloween on Fri.  After school we got dressed up and headed to Blizzard to trick or treat.  We had my little guy Rhett, that I tend for, join us because his mom was having her baby.  We also got to have our friends Jared & Rachel & Ambrey join us. It was interesting to trick or treat with a little ones again.

 After getting lots of loot at Blizzard, we headed straight to our ward Trunk or Treat.  It was crowded and crazy but the kids had fun.  I was not feeling well by this time so we didn't get any pictures, but Byron was sure to get pics of the candy sorting process.

Sorting, separating, and trading.