Happy New Year!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
12th Anniversary in St. Louis
On Sunday, December 27th (the 12th anniversary of the day I married the love of my life...), we drove to a nearby town to board the Amtrak... This is the kind of weather we faced - not good! The snow was really coming down and only one lane of the interstate was open for most of the trip. We made it to the train on time, but I was exhausted from tension!
This pic symbolizes a lot of our trip - we rode the Amtrak to St. Louis, then the Metro train all around town while we were there...
A view of the arch from the train station...
We went shopping at Union Station - a fav. place of mine...
Right outside of our hotel was a view of the arch and Busch stadium...
Happy Anniversary, honey! I love you and I can't wait to spend the next 12 years with you... plus some!
This pic symbolizes a lot of our trip - we rode the Amtrak to St. Louis, then the Metro train all around town while we were there...
A view of the arch from the train station...
We went shopping at Union Station - a fav. place of mine...Right outside of our hotel was a view of the arch and Busch stadium...Happy Anniversary, honey! I love you and I can't wait to spend the next 12 years with you... plus some!I'll Be Home for Christmas...
Fun at the Majeres family Christmas...
Fun at the Payne/Barker family Christmas...
(click any collage to enlarge)
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Gracie's Visit!
My niece, Gracie, came to visit us for a few days before Christmas. She is the youngest of my brother's three daughters. It was nice to get some one-on-one time with Gracie. She is a sweet girl and really enjoyed spending time with the boys. She sure played a lot of LEGOS! She attended OneLight with us, went ice skating, bowling, to the Festival of Lights and made the trip back to Illinois for Christmas with us. We can't wait until she visits again!!
Hopefully, Gracie enjoyed the boys as much as they enjoyed her!
We explored the insides of pomegranets and coconuts - just for fun!
Artist at work... the boys, Gracie & myself all enjoyed a painting project - little statues. It kept us busy for hours!
Hopefully, Gracie enjoyed the boys as much as they enjoyed her!
We explored the insides of pomegranets and coconuts - just for fun!Artist at work... the boys, Gracie & myself all enjoyed a painting project - little statues. It kept us busy for hours!Tuesday, December 22, 2009
OneLight
All three of the boys participated in our church's Christmas services - a production called OneLight.
Truman had the very important role of starting the entire program as an acolyte. He wore a white robe and walked with the candle lighter down two flights of stairs, across the room, upstairs onto the platform and lit a single red candle. The effect was very dramatic. The room was pitch black, other than a spotlight on Truman and the flame. The very instant his flame hit the candle, a bell rang and the entire stage lit up!
Franklin & Harrison participated with the kids' worship team during the service. They wore winter clothing (so cute!) an sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with choreography. The boys had so much fun attending rehearsals, learning the music and motions and performing at three services. (Harrison is in the back wearing a red vest and blue hat.)
All three services complete!! Yippee!
All three boys did a wonderful job and did not mind being in front of a crowd of over a thousand people. We were so proud of them for wanting to be such a part of a big deal at church and not complaining about the time commitment. They also invited several unchurched friends (including our Japanese friends) who attended the program.
Truman had the very important role of starting the entire program as an acolyte. He wore a white robe and walked with the candle lighter down two flights of stairs, across the room, upstairs onto the platform and lit a single red candle. The effect was very dramatic. The room was pitch black, other than a spotlight on Truman and the flame. The very instant his flame hit the candle, a bell rang and the entire stage lit up!
Franklin & Harrison participated with the kids' worship team during the service. They wore winter clothing (so cute!) an sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with choreography. The boys had so much fun attending rehearsals, learning the music and motions and performing at three services. (Harrison is in the back wearing a red vest and blue hat.)
All three services complete!! Yippee!All three boys did a wonderful job and did not mind being in front of a crowd of over a thousand people. We were so proud of them for wanting to be such a part of a big deal at church and not complaining about the time commitment. They also invited several unchurched friends (including our Japanese friends) who attended the program.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Our visit to Japanese school...
Our Japanese friends invited us to attend their Christmas program at Japanese School. We didn't really know what to expect, since we are still experiencing extreme communication difficulties. We decided to attend, because it would be a gesture of goodwill and a good cultural experience for the kids.
Japanese school is held on Saturdays during the school year and Friday/Saturday during the summer. We weren't sure whether the school teaches the kids English or whether it teaches them regular grade-level material in Japanese. The latter was true. The program was a combination of plays put on by each grade level and project reports. We were the only non-Japanese people in attendance (out of about 100 people), except one white dad! :)
The entire program was conducted in Japanese and we did not understand a word! It was entertaining at first, because the 1st and 2nd graders performed plays that were folklore tales that the boys recognized. Once they got to 3rd grade, we understood less and less. The whole experience was very entertaining, even though we did not get much out of it! The most important thing is that we showed support for our friends. We are so glad that we took the time for this once in a lifetime experience!
Ruyki's class - 1st grade: (He is the 5th from the left - a cat!)
A rabbit had a hard time pulling the carrot out of the ground & kept going back to find more friends to help!
2nd grade performed a story about 10 red fish and 1 black one...
Taiki (far right) & 2 other 3rd graders presented a project about recycling:
We did not understand a thing about this 4th grade skit, which included some sort of origami store, a ninja and an origami swan getting into a boat and a bulldog. lol
Fuma (far right) and the 5th graders performed a skit that we didn't understand either, but he had a weapon of sorts and defeated all of the enemies.
Truman and Ruyki were thrilled to be together - as always!!
Japanese school is held on Saturdays during the school year and Friday/Saturday during the summer. We weren't sure whether the school teaches the kids English or whether it teaches them regular grade-level material in Japanese. The latter was true. The program was a combination of plays put on by each grade level and project reports. We were the only non-Japanese people in attendance (out of about 100 people), except one white dad! :)
The entire program was conducted in Japanese and we did not understand a word! It was entertaining at first, because the 1st and 2nd graders performed plays that were folklore tales that the boys recognized. Once they got to 3rd grade, we understood less and less. The whole experience was very entertaining, even though we did not get much out of it! The most important thing is that we showed support for our friends. We are so glad that we took the time for this once in a lifetime experience!
Ruyki's class - 1st grade: (He is the 5th from the left - a cat!)
A rabbit had a hard time pulling the carrot out of the ground & kept going back to find more friends to help!
2nd grade performed a story about 10 red fish and 1 black one...
Taiki (far right) & 2 other 3rd graders presented a project about recycling:We did not understand a thing about this 4th grade skit, which included some sort of origami store, a ninja and an origami swan getting into a boat and a bulldog. lolFuma (far right) and the 5th graders performed a skit that we didn't understand either, but he had a weapon of sorts and defeated all of the enemies.Truman and Ruyki were thrilled to be together - as always!!
Monday, December 14, 2009
December Fun
In no particular order, this is what we've been up to so far in December...
Truman's den visited the fire station:
Tommie & I painted the rest of the front living room, entry, dining room and hallway. Goodbye icky yellow color! I'll try to post a picture when we get the trim up and it's all decorated and finished.
Franklin was home sick one day, so he & Max spent the day cuddled under blankets.
I baked and baked and baked. We ended up with enough cookies to have our fill and give out 8 dozen to the neighbors. I copied my friend Randi's recipe and made doggie treats this year. Max is giving a goodie bag of doggie treats to all of his friends in the neighborhood too. They turned out really well!
Franklin has been spending a lot of time with his LEGOs lately... Tommie helped him build a tower up to the ceiling yesterday. Should we be concerned?!? *smile*
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