Christmas Letter 2009

Decorating Zach's Tree

 

We cut this tree down in the South Hill's for Zach's grave. Mom had to get all new ornaments this year because the Saxon threw everything away before we could take it down last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas Zach! We miss you!

Christmas Piano Recitals

Abigail, Rachel and Hannah are taking lessons from Linda Clark again this year. They had their first piano recital at Creekside last week. For Abigail's first recital she did awesome and didn't miss a note. I don't think that she was nervous at all. She announced her pieces and then plopped down at the piano and played them - nothing to it. Rachel and Hannah were next and also did a great job. Hannah is starting to enjoy playing the piano after two years of hating it. I told her if she would stick to it she would reach that point where playing the piano became fun. Melissa is not taking lessons this year but practices every day. She is always printing off music from the internet and trying new songs.

 

 

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We had a surprise birthday party for grandma Leavitt last night with Glen and Laura's family. We all hid in the dark as she entered the house to retrieve their Christmas letters and jumped out and wished her Happy Birthday. We gave her some gifts, the kids had a mini talent show on the piano, the guitar and some beautiful drawings were shared. We had cake and ice cream and played a present game. It was a lot of fun. Alan got some great photos expect all the pictures of grandma were blurry,  but she is in the background of one picture! There are some great photos of Uncle Glen! 

Using two dice if you rolled doubles you had to put on a hat, oven mitts and a scarf and unwrap as many layers of a duct taped present that you could to get to the prize. You would no sooner get the hat and mittens on when someone else would roll doubles. Rachel ended up the winner and shared her treat with everybody.

 

 

 

The little ones were not quite sure about giving up their turn so quickly.

 

 

Glen pulled the hat down over Cannon's eyes while he tried to unwrap. He didn't think that was very fair so Glen did the same when he rolled doubles.

 

  Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!

Santa Claus pays us a visit

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus paid us a visit at our house this year. It was a special treat and they even knew it was Grandma Leavitt's birthday! Allison still doesn't want to sit on Santa's lap - maybe next year.

Zach had just gotten back from Scuba Diving and was sleeping in our room during their visit.

Palmer Christmas Party 09

The Christmas party was a smashing success at Amber and Jeremy's this year. The turkey was to die for and all the side dishes and appetizers were so yummy. It was so fun to have EVERYONE together!

Emmy & Rachel

Lucas wanted to help everyone unwrap their presents.

 

 

 

 

 

Dad was excited to open up his present!

Mom got some much needed silverware.

 

 

Abigail - Princess Doll

Abigail was a princess doll with four other girls in the 2nd grade Christmas play. My friend Dawn Higley saved me a place on the front row and Abigail smiled at us the whole time. Isn't she a cutie?

 

 

Allison's Thanksgiving Play

Allie was in a Thanksgiving play recently at her preschool. She practiced her lines all morning but when it came time for the actually performance she clammed up. Baby steps......

Allison was a pilgrim here but wouldn't wear her bonnet.

Allison & Brytnee Cooley

 

What is it with the hands in the mouth that makes kids feel more secure?

 

 

Here is Allie and her best buddy McKenna Burk

Bad Mom

Today I totally feel like such a bad mom. The other day I got some cute little flossers for Abby and Allie to floss their teeth. After Abby's 4 cavities this fall, I have been quite diligent about making sure that I brush both Abby and Allie's teeth every night. They just don't get to the back teeth very well. I normally don't take my kids into the dentist until they are around 4-5 and I have never had any problems with all 5 of my older children until sweet, little Allie. So imagine my surprise when I was flossing Allie's teeth and I got on my knees to look up into her mouth and I discovered a very black molar in the back and 1/2 of it is missing. I just felt sick to my stomach when I saw it. I had her first visit scheduled in Jan. so I immediately called the dentist and got her in this week.
Well if you know anything about Allie - she is DEATHLY afraid of any kind of doctor, including the eye doctor. She gets weak in the knees, her face goes pale and she feels clamy. Well she was crying and I had to put her on my lap in the dentist chair. I had to hold the x-ray in her mouth only to be told after he looked at it that I should take her to a kid's dentist over in Twin Falls. The black molar will have to be removed and an appliance will have to be put into it's place so that all of her other teeth coming in the back do not crowd and she also has some other cavity issues that he saw. She will probably have to be sedated because she won't cooperate and will probably be tramatized for life. Yeah and then the dental hygenist says - "you know you should bring her in for regular cleanings and check-up's so that she gets used to the dentist." Really? Wow - that is a novel idea. I already feel pretty crappy, but thanks for that.
So learn from my mistake and take your children into the dentist office well before they turn 5. And - if your children complain about their teeth hurting - check it out. (She had complained about her teeth hurting but then it just went away). I am just sick about it and it brings me to tears just thinking about it. Dang.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We decorated the Christmas tree Monday night for FHE. The kids love to help with this and can't wait to see their new ornament for the year. This is Zach's last ornament - he has 18 now and they all have a little history behind them. Allison picked out all of the ornaments this year for the girls and I know that you will find this hard to believe but - they were all princesses! Go figure! Great memories.
(BTW the tree fell over the first night we had it in the house. Luckily there wasn't anything on it but the 7-Up water mixture was all over the floor. We have since then shampooed the carpet and secured the tree. Hopefully won't have any more mishaps!)

 

Hannah got Tink this year. I don't know if it is her favorite princess but it is very cute complete with Pixie dust and all.

Rachel's favorite princess is Belle.

Allison's favorite princess is Sleeping Beauty but we had to settle for Cinderella since a Sleeping Beauty could not be found . She must have been sleeping somewhere! She has already broke off a wheel and the door. I don't think that she understands that it is a look but do not touch thing.

Melissa got her beloved Ariel.

Abigail got a mixture of Tink's fairy friends as her ornament this year. Her favorite princess is Jasmine but she must have been hanging out with Sleeping Beauty because she too couldn't be found.

Zach's favorite T.V. sitcom is "The Office" so he got an ornament around that. Isn't he so happy?!

Here they are - all six of them. Zach was getting mad at me for taking multiple pictures. Go figure. My little camera is fast and compact but you have to have a steady hand when shooting a picture.