Andy had his first school play during the month of December. Jody put together a great little elf costume for him. Here he is proudly showing it off....
We decided that we would stay home this Christmas. It was great to have Rod, Mary, and their three children over on Christmas Eve to re-enact the Christmas story from Luke 2 and sing Christmas carols. We loved being able to visit family and hang out while the kids put together their Legos (actually, I put together the Lego castle which only took me 5 hours - literally!). Here are some pictures from the Christmas program, Christmas day, etc....
Jody hanging the Christmas star a few days before Christmas
Riley is our resident wreath
An angel and a wise-guy (Jody should be nominated for an Oscar for her spectacular costuming of the children during the program Christmas Eve!)
Jody with her three boys on Christmas Eve after they opened their pajamas
We didn't manage to send out a Christmas letter reviewing the year.... maybe next year! Andy turned 9 years-old on January 15th and we had a four-day birthday celebration for him due to scheduling issues. He didn't mind getting two birthday parties and four days worth of visits. Here are a couple of pictures from his birthday weekend.....
Andy has really developed a lot of skill in building and re-building Legos. The re-building is a product of having a three year-old brother who is determined to destroy everything Andy creates. Andy is a pretty patient older brother and will usually try and just re-build what gets hammered. This is the first birthday that Andy asked for clothing, which I guess is proof that he's not such a little boy anymore. We're grateful to have him in our family and think he's a pretty great guy.
Jody was just called to be the Relief Society president of our ward. We are so thrilled to support her and know that she'll be a great blessing to the women in our ward. I'm serving as the ward choir director and I teach one lesson per month in the high priest's group. We love our ward and neighborhood. Jody said that she was just getting settled into the house and into a routine when the call came last Saturday afternoon to serve as the Relief Society president. She's not been the same since....
My practice is going well and we feel so blessed to be able to have steady work. I was invited to return to Auburn as a panelist at a conference of marriage and family therapy students to speak on how I built my private practice. They are flying me out there, so we bought a ticket for Jody to make it a "get away." We're excited to return to our former stomping grounds and reacquaint ourselves with old friends.
Until later!
