Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve we did our traditional evening of having the missionaries over. They were all told ahead of time that there were to be no injuries or trips to the emergency room this year, so we made sure there was no crazy horse play! Everyone had a great time and the food was awesome! We had a full turkey dinner with pumpkin cheesecake to finish it off. In addition to the two sets of missionaries we also had Josh, a newly baptized member of our ward come over to join us. He is a really nice kid and told us all about life in Africa before he moved to Cleveland. Definitely an eye opener as to how blessed we are to live where we do and have all that we have. Our kids have no idea how good they have it. We read the Christmas story and watched Joy To The World with him and had a great night. We try really hard to keep our Christmas Eve focused solely on Christ. It is a good time for the kids to really think about it because Christmas morning I think they tend to be a little preoccupied!

So this year our nice neighbors let us borrow their extra fake tree. This is the first year we have ever had a fake tree, and after we put it up we remembered why we get a real tree. They smell so good and look so pretty - fake ones just aren't the same. Either way, the borrowed fake one was in the budget, so that's what we went with! The first picture of the kids is always my favorite from Christmas morning. We always make them wait upstairs while Larry and I come down and get the cameras ready. I always like to see the looks on their faces when they come down and see what Santa brought. They are always so excited, and the look on their face is just that innocent joy that only kids seem to get. Love it!! Of course after that it's just semi-organized chaos as we try to keep everyone take turns opening presents. We all had a fun morning, ate sticky buns and hung out in our pajamas all day relaxing. It was great!! Hopefully next year we'll get to hang with the family at least a little over the Christmas season. We'll have to see how it goes.

Our Goofy Kids

Here's Asher showing off his underwear to the world. He is so cute and thinks he's so big and cool in his undies. We decided while the kids were out of school for Christmas break was a good time to do potty training. We've been wanting to for the past few months but between four trips back and forth to schools everyday, dance, scouts and whatnot we aren't home much. I decided this was the best chance we have to be home to do it. So far he's doing pretty good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get him done. Can I just say no more diapers in my life, yeah!!

This poor kid doesn't stand a chance against his two adoring sisters. It's a good thing he is truly all boy or we might start to worry. When they dress him up now he has to pick out his own dress for them to put on, they don't get to pick anymore. Luckily he more than compensates by his need to jump off of, throw, tackle and fight anything he sees. Like I said, he's all boy!
Here's Mayson showing off yet another lost tooth. She's such a pretty little girl!
Asher being fashionable in his sister's cowgirl hat!
Here is Rhyan and Asher at their dance recital. Asher has started to take movement classes with Miss Lacee, the same teacher Rhyan has for dance. He loves donkey kicks and somersaults. They both have so much fun going and are so cute to watch.
Here the kids are in the cowboy hats mom and dad brought them back from the trip to Texas. They were pretending that the chairs were their horses and were playing like they were riding in a cattle train or something. I don't know, but it was pretty funny to watch!

Rhyan's Holiday Concert

Rhyan's did a holiday concert at preschool the Asher and I got to go watch. She sang songs with the rest of the preschool kids and looked so cute. We also had a little party with her class where they sang some more songs, talked about everyones holiday traditions and we ate sugar cookies that the kids made for us. Rhyan really enjoyed herself - she loves being in preschool. He little brother is forever telling everyone that he'll goto preschool too when he's bigger!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving with just us this year. Larry and Kaleb went and played football in the morning in the rain and mud and had a great time. After they got back, the two girls and I went and saw Tangled while the turkey was cooking. It was really cute and the girls have been talking about it ever since. After that we set the table and then piled tons of yummy food on to make a huge mess to clean up. You can see that Rhyan was impressed with the napkin rings, but thought that they worked better for earrings! We missed being able to see the family but had a nice time here by ourselves. We realize this year we have a lot to be thankful for. We are almost done and ready to move on to the next adventure in our life. We have four great kids, and after a scary summer I can't even tell you how grateful we are to have them here with us and doing well. We're grateful for how spoiled we are to live somewhere where we have such amazing hospitals and doctors right down the street. It's going to be a hard thing to leave behind. We are grateful for our extended family who is there to help when we need it! Urs, we can't tell you how much we appreciate your willingness to come out and spend a week in chaos with our kids so we can go and work on job stuff! I know this has been a really tuff year here for a lot of reasons, and I guess I can't speak for Larry, but I know we are both grateful to have each other to lean on. I for one am grateful for Larry and the great man and father that he is. We works hard to take care of us all, and is there to lean on when I need him! We are all grateful for our savior, and I am reminded of that constantly by my sweet little Rhyan who tells me that Jesus is one of her best friends. Our kids can be such good examples. So, enough of this sappy stuff. I will say, when I walked into my house the other day from our arctic below zero wind chills, I was awfully grateful to have a warm house, and that this would be my last winter I have to spend somewhere cold!! Yeah, here we come warm and sunny!!!

Texas Trip

So Larry and I went job hunting in Texas. We met with people in San Antonio, Forth Worth and COllege Station. It was like a big road trip driving all over Texas. Wes and Emily brought the boys and came to see us while we were in San Antonio. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them. We went to the River Walk and hung out at McDonald's so the boys could play and we could just hang out & talk. Not sure where we are going yet, but it definitely looks like we have some options. It's good to know that we're employable!! The pictures with the water were taken at the Fort Worth Water Gardens. It was a really cool place. The thing you see me sitting at the top of is an interactive one where you walk down those steps into the bottom of it. It's really a wierd feeling because you have water moving all around and under you so you kind of get off balance. I also spent a day exploring the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was so much fun, I had some great barbecue for lunch, and lusted after some really pretty boots that I couldn't afford! The best part, I had a day all to myself... doesn't happen very often. And of course, while in San Antonio we had to go visit my old stomping grounds. My High School has been rebuilt into this beautiful building that looks more like a small college than a high school. They were in he process of bulldozing the old buildings the day we were there. There wasn't much left. We also drove by my old house. Yep, that beautiful residence you see there is where I spent my high school years. Nice going mom! Just kidding, it didn't have quite so much "trailer class" when we lived there.

Halloween 2010

So this year we had a Ninja, The Wicked Witch of the West, a Butterfly, and a Firefighter.

Mayson knew forever ago she wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West, and we've had the costume since she used it for her birthday party. I think she looked pretty good. She got all ready for school the day they did their character parade and was so excited until we got to school. At that point she was feeling a little self conscious about being green and that people were going to be looking at her. Yeah, I know, Mayson not wanting attention?? After a little coaxing I convinced her that really, that was the point and that everyone would love it, which of course they did. She looked great.



Asher got some galoshes from Grandma Ursi when she was out here the end of June that he wears everywhere. Even showed up to church in them one day because he put them on himself and one of the kids helped him get in the car so I didn't realize it til we got there. He looks really cute in them though and he loves them. So, when I saw the fireman costume at Costco this year I knew he had to have it. I matched his boots perfect and he loved it. I think I found the costume the beginning of September, and as soon as he saw it he told everyone he saw everywhere we went, "I firefighter for how-ween!" he was so dang cute. He still wears it around the house, to preschool, you know... where you would typically wear a firefighter suit.


Rhyan had known the butterfly was in our bin of old costumes and knew for a while that she wanted to wear it, so hers was pretty easy. We thought she was pretty cute too!


Kaleb decided he wanted to be a ninja, again. I think he likes being a ninja because he feels tough and gets fancy swords with his costume to play with! Rhyan had known the butterfly was in our bin of old costumes and knew for a while that she wanted to wear it, so hers was pretty easy.

The Kalke's at Play

Becky came out to visit us for a few days while working on her house, and she brought he little girl Addyson with her. Mayson was in heaven!
As you can see by Asher steri-strips, he had a run of bad luck. The one on his right eye came from dance class. He tripped and fell and hit the radiator. I hauled him down to Larry and one of the plastics guys stuck it back together for us. Later that week, we come home from church and somehow in the process of all the kids going up the stairs from the side door, he fell and hit the other side on on one of the steps. Needless to say, I felt like a real dummy having to haul my kid to he ER and ask them to fix the other side of his face for me this time, so instead Larry ran down and got a kit and came home and stuck it back together himself. I have to say, now that everything is off of them, Larry's is the better looking of the two. Good having a doctor in house!

Here's Rhyan and Asher hanging out... checking things out with the binoculars.

So, we went to Lake Farm Park and this sheep took a liking to Rhyan. If she even moved he would run to follow her in his pen. She thought it was funny so she was running back and forth along his fence, and he was running with her. It got better when she climbed up on the fence to look and him, and he obviously decided it was time to take the relationship to the next level. The first time he jumped up he startled her and she fell off the fence. No, of course I wasn't laughing, why would you even think that. After the initial shock of the sheep getting up close and personal, she thought it was great so she kept climbing up, and he kept jumping up to meet her. It was pretty cute to watch.
Here are the kids in the wagon at Lake Farm Park. We have such a fun time there!

Hanging with Dora and Boots at the Children's Museum.

This is what I found one day as I walked into Mayson's room. Apparently she forgot to get rid of the evidence! Oh... we are so in trouble in a few years.

And here are two of our cute guys showing off their stuff at the bowling alley. Not sure their bowling skills are up to par... nothing but a little eye candy for us ladies!!