Cha Cha Cha...

I'm glad to see the kids enjoyed some of their stocking stuffers...

...they are just now starting to sprout.

All snug in their 'greenhouses'.

Merry Christmas

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to the New Year ahead! This past week has been so great. Having Denham and Brenin here with us has created such fun times and memories together. On Christmas Eve we got together opened new PJ's and did a special Nativity program that I use to do growing up. The kids loved dressing up and reenacting the special event of our Saviors birth.

daddy got new pj's too...silly man

Trent was the narrator

The whole cast...even the blur of Ammon


CHRISTMAS MORNING

A big THANK YOU to both grandparents for all the wonderful gifts. The kids have loved every ounce of your kindness.
It was a fun morning that we were able to stretch out for a few hours. All (but Ammon) slept in Rian's room. We made a rule to stay in the room until 7am. Rian was up at 3:30am, but crawled into bed with us...so we were able to maintain the 7am time. Whew! We had a simpler Christmas this year, but still felt the warmth and smiles from our kids.

Raegan loves her dolly house

Rian trying out all of her crafty things...with Ammon's help of course.

Wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Next Round

This round it is Jarom doing basketball and Tarin doing cheerleading. Jarom had his first basketball game of the season on Saturday. He was able to make a basket and help his team. His team is called the Cowboys and wore blue this game...he's the one standing next to the kid in orange.
Tarin had the chance to cheer for Jarom's team. She loves it.

Last Day Of School In 2009

With 4 kiddos in one school, you can imagine the celebrations that went on for the holidays. One good thing about it being a rainy day (no surprises there) was Trent was able to accompany me in the pandemonium. (Using his phone for pictures) Between gift/book exchanges, food and crafts, this was a full afternoon. Wasn't able to catch a picture of Rian...Tarin and her teacher Mrs. Key, PJ day.

Jarom in the midst of a book exchange (he always seems so...happy)

Raegan 'eating' up the social attention with her friends. Natalie (blue) and Mia (red) are also sisters to Rian's friends, convenient for me.

Cavalia

We saw the "big top" was up (big tent) and thought of the last Cirque Du Soleil show we saw many years ago. So we decided to go to this show. It was kind of like Cirque Du Soleil , but with horses. It was interesting, and we felt cultured by it, but I don't think it was worth the price we payed. But it was nice to get out together and be entertained.

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a little boy who loved everything about life...Jello being one of those. He would walk around his kingdom wondering what next to conquer. "Humm," he thought, "tackled the stairs, beautified the walls, filled up all those dangerous holes in the floors (air vents), taught the locals to swim in those swirly ponds, pranced around with all kinds of apparel including the birthday suit, jumped around on all the fluffy platforms, saved the chariot from those shiny discs (CDs) and hydrated the kingdom with my talented spitting abilities...what to do next?"Well, as he was going through a long lost closet, he stumbled upon something new. He had found a new hobby that was once taken up by his oldest brother. TRAINS! "Something to do, that I haven't conquered yet!," he thought with eyebrows high and interest sparked. He began to build and play, build and play. Each new day he finds his creation destroyed from older siblings and builds and plays again. "Finally," thought his mother, "something to keep him at bay while the kingdom rebuilds and prepares for the upcoming yet fast approaching 'terrible two's'."

Ruler over all!

He decides who comes and goes...

Need more cargo!

Of course mom is a big helper...what fun to watch this little guy!

This Winter...

this is where you will find me!Here, get close and you can enjoy too!
AHHHHH!

Holy Carrots!

So over 6 mo ago, I planted these carrots. Summertime came and went, and they just didn't seem to do very well. This is December and remembered they were the only thing left in the garden...so I went to check on them...WOW! I wasn't expecting this! So many and big too! The kids absolutely loved pulling them out.
These are just a few of the larger ones!

These were voted 'craziest'.

INSPIRED

Trent and I absolutely love this show. Reality shows have become pathetic, except this one!

This show really shows how taking care of yourself is so important. No, we don't have 100's of lbs. to loose, but we love watching the transformations and millions of advertisement plugs...just kidding.

The inspiring part that has put change in our lives would be the achieving a goal physically. Last year we were inspired but didn't do anything. This year we finally decided to make it a reality. So...drum roll please...I will be running a 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) in March and Trent will be running a full Marathon (26.2 miles) in April! Wow, we are finally going to do it. I am signed up for the race in Albany, GA for March 6th and Trent will run the race in Nashville, TN April 24th! Wish us luck in our training!

For the record:
Rhonda's goal is to do this race in 2 hours and 45 mins!
Trent's goal is under 5 hours

Turkey Weekend

What a great Thanksgiving weekend. Thursday morning Trent played in the Ward Turkey Bowl then we took off to north GA in Dawsonville to be with some of his cousins, The Mulberrys, and their families. They are such good company and fun, that it's hard to leave...food, fun, kids, games and conversation. Thanks to them for letting us come up every year!

Turkey dinner
Katie and Raegan inseparable

Traditional game of Rook

Saturday we got up early and drove down to Pine Mountain, GA. There are some great hiking trails we wanted to try. Driving down, we realized it was 35 degrees! But with a few layers we were fine. Despite a few tired legs...everyone wants to come back again. We loved the beautiful 2 mile hike!

View at the information center

Gosh I was very much missing my camera!!! But between Tarin's little point and shoot camera and Trent's phone, I was able to capture enough of the day.

Jarom looks like he has a bazooka

Trail Head

Bundled up

Many bridges along the way

Counting tree rings...about 20 years old!

Ammon holds Trent's ears for grip what cuties!

Trail blazers!

Water/snack break

Crossing a fallen tree over the creek