Captured on Christmas Day

Ana with her Santa gift: a Wowee Alive! Tiger Cub, Meili with a great stocking stuffer, and Eliah showing off his favorite gift from Santa with the Family Game Night Gang. It was a very Merry Christmas after a challenging year.

A Break in the Concert

Meili at her holiday orchestra concert. I so much love watching her play. My camera doesn't take good pictures in the auditorium, but when I fiddled with the effects on this one, I liked how it turned out.

Good Little Boy & Girls

Powers of Persuasion

Eliah, again, trying to convince me to let him sleep in. I found this sign in the hallway near his bedroom.

An Early Christmas Gift

Daryl and I went to an office Christmas party and challenged the kids to decorate the house while we were gone. Oh boy! They all got into the spirit of it, but no one more than Eliah, who even cleaned the house afterward. Best kids ever!

David Archuleta Christmas Concert

No, this picture is NOT of David Archuleta but of Benton Paul, who again opened for D.A. I took Meili to this holiday concert at Abravanel Hall last week, just before Thanksgiving. These boys (David & Benton) are soooo adorable, and they put on a great show to kick off the Christmas season. David's too big a sensation around here to be allowed out into the lobby afterward. But Benton braved the fans, and the girls got another picture with him.

Tooth Fairy's Back in Business

Ana lost her first tooth last week. She was terrified that her mouth would bleed when it came out, so she managed to hang on to it until it just fell out in her hand while she was untwisting it--not one drop of blood. She was soooo happy and proud of herself!

A Bribe

Flu Fighters

The kids at the health department after their h1n1 vaccines. In this picture, Meili is doing her best swine flu impersonation.

Hula Girl

Ana fit perfectly into this sweet dress from Granny. We added long sleeves and tights for warmth cause Halloween in Utah is COLD. She must have charmed all the neighbors because her bag is bursting with candy.

Porch Pumpkins

Jack-o-Lanterns on display. (Meili's is the swine flu pumpkin with the pig nose.)

Belle of the Ball

Meili is attending her high school's masquerade ball tonight. We spent the last week pulling this costume together after she found this gorgeous dress of my mom's while rummaging through my closet. I figure mom must have worn it in the early 60s. Anyone know for sure? If you haven't guessed, Meili is dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. We even found the perfect earrings in my mom's jewelry box. Thank you, Grandma!

Carving Pumpkins

Fall Band Concert

Eliah showing off his great drumming skills.

Ana at the Pumpkin Patch

The Kindergartners had a fun field trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and I went along. Ana had a wonderful time with her classmates. They tried to get lost in the cornmaze. Then they played for an hour on the cute playground. You can see it was a beautiful day.

Birthday Cards

Can you believe we were in Disneyland on Daryl's birthday?! Cruel family. The girls tried to make it up to him the day we got back with these cute posters. Ana's says: "Love dad. . . hot pop. . . bump (don't get that!) . . . Go Dad. . . you're the best." Cute, huh?!

Destination: Disneyland

We had an opportunity to take a trip with Stephen & Debbie and Katie & Dave. Natalie & Abbie met up with us too! There's nothing like being at Disneyland with your family. And I mean that in a good way!