Initiation of a Bobcat!

This is Tyler at home as the newest Bobcat! It took a lot to get this smile.

Tyler was finally able to get his Bobcat award on Tuesday, Dec. 16th. He was excited about receiving it after the pack leader forgot to give it to him last month. That is until he found out what the new pack leader wanted the parents to do to him and the other 4 new Bobcats. Initiate them into the pack by painting their faces. Now Tyler has never liked his face painted. He doesn't even like it at fairs or carnivals, let alone in front of an audience.

The face painting wasn't a little. The pack leader wanted full on war paint. If only the camera could have captured the pain Tyler was in with every stroke of paint.

This is the final product. All the other boys were all smiles. I think I did a great job.

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is the excitement level of Tyler upon receiving his Bobcat with a painted face. He told me on the way home he hopes they never do that again or he will not go. He did finally don a smile at home when he was out of the spotlight.

Family Christmas Party!

Nothing says Christmas is close than the annual family bowling and Santa party. Every year more than 30 of us descend on the bowling lanes and then head to a church for food, white elephants, and of course Santa. There is always plenty of gutter balls, tons of food, lots of kids, and most important great laughs.

To Jeff the cookies made the bowling experience complete. I think Megan gave him a run for his money on who could eat the most.

Megan and Cade are getting ready to take their turns. With the bumpers on the lanes, bowling is a whole lot more fun for the kids. They can actually beat the adults. I think I could get over 100 if I used them also.

Wendell, Tyler, and Emily are waiting for their turn to bowl. Tyler actually broke 100 with his score and was happy to give Jeff a little bit of a challenge.

Emily, Mammy, and Grandma Grace watching everyone wrap up bowling. Mammy's picture did look better on our little screen on the camera. She and Emily look like they are having eye problems.

Megan's name was the first called out when Santa came. He always makes his appearance after we sing Christmas songs. Santa is getting smart and comes after only 2 songs. Yes, our singing is really that bad.

Emily waited patiently right in front of Santa for her name to be called. With close to 30 names for Santa to go through, it was quite the wait. Grandma Grace has quite the crew.

Emily finally got to sit on Santa's lap. After all that waiting she told him all she wanted was a surprise.

Emily and Megan showing off their presents. Megan was thrilled to get a football and sitting next to her, Emily is wearing a princess crown and holding princess stickers. Definitely opposite interests at the moment.

Jeff enjoyed his moment on Santa's lap.

Tyler was a helper for Santa and didn't get his present until the end. According to him, "the Star Wars guys and the white elf hat were worth the wait."

Hair Really Does Grow Back!

Emily just got her hair styled and trimmed today for the first time since she and her friend basically chopped themselves almost bald. It really does look cute now and is hard to believe that Uncle Doug thought she was the neighbor boy this summer.

Her hair even thickened up and can be put in pony holders. It seemed like this day would never come.

For comparison here is Emily sporting her "summer-do." This picture was taken a month after the incident occurred. It's hard to tell in the picture that her scalp was showing in spots and some mistakenly thought she was Tyler. Emily now tells everyone that only ladies cut her hair--not friends or herself. I hope she has learned her lesson.

When Can We Eat Them?

For Family Home Evening we decorated Ginger Bread Houses. Megan and Emily were quite precise with their frosting. Tyler pretty much just wanted to get as much candy as he could on the house.

Emily spent a great deal of time sampling the frosting. It couldn't have been that good considering it has probably sat in a store for months on end.

Here are the finished products. Pretty cute and festive if I do say so! Tyler and Emily can't wait until the day after Christmas when I told them they could eat the houses up! I'm thinking one bite will cure them of ever asking again.

Christmas Village!

What says Christmas more than visiting all the lights in the park village? Saturday was unusually warm and so we decided to see the lights while the temperatures were above freezing. I think everyone in the area had the same idea. I have never seen so many people at the park. We actually had to wait in line at some of the houses to peek inside. The kids had a great time with the neighbors we went with. We even got to ride in the train that circles the park. It runs every Friday and Saturday for free. Emily thought she was in a parade and waved to everyone on the street the entire time.

Double-Header Basketball Day!

Saturday afternoon was spent watching Megan play 2 games pretty much back to back. Emily and Tyler spent the day running through the gym and playing hide and seek with the basketball. They aren't quite into the game as much as Megan.

Megan loves the game. She can be very aggressive and stays on her "man" like glue. If points could be given for arms up and chasing, Megan would win every time.

The games tend to turn to jungle ball early on with a lot of fouls called. Megan's team has done very well this season and up until Saturday had won every game. They ended their season 5-1 and will be headed to the play-offs. They lost their 2nd game of the day to the best team in the league. The score was pretty close at 16 to 10.

This is a great action shot of Megan trying to steal the ball. I think it was one of many jump balls in the game.

Breakfast with Santa!

Our ward has their traditional Christmas party in the morning and invites Santa to dine with the kids. Other than the early hour--9:00 am is extremely early for Emily---it really is a fun party. It leaves the rest of the day open and tons of people come.

Tyler really was excited to be at the breakfast. There were over 800 pancakes cooked and ham and eggs and chocolate milk and apple juice. We were all full the rest of the day.

Every kid was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa. He was running a little late from the North Pole and we ended up singing and singing and singing. We could tell he was really late when the chorister suggested "Twelve Days of Christmas" and we actually made it through all 12 days.

Emily is all smiles sitting on Santa's lap. She informed us later that this was not the "real" Santa because his beard was too long. I didn't know length of beard was the determining factor.

Megan told Santa she wanted a "surprise" for Christmas. Does coal count as a surprise?

Tyler smiling to tell Santa he wants Legos for Christmas.