Bah-humbug!

I took this little quiz and posted the results for everybody to see because I have been called a grinch and a scrooge in the past (even by my own husband, what's up with that?). But look, I passed the quiz. I love the Christmas season! The thing is, that I am not into all the gifts and I don't really stress the Santa stuff to my kids (there you go, all of you are calling me a bah-humbug now). But really, my kids love Christmas and are excited about GIVING more than getting. And I think they know that Christmas is really about the Savior, at least that is what I am trying to teach them. So everyone celebrate however you want...just have a merry Christmas!

You Are the Furthest Thing From A Grinch

You love and live for the holidays. You even love the Grinch! You're in the holiday spirit year round... because you're all about celebrating and giving.

Are You a Grinch?

So take the quiz and see how Christmas-y you are or are not!

We're playing basketball

Our basketball stars! Every semester the kids get to sign up for different after-school sports. Emma has done swimming and circus and Dallin has done soccer and tennis. This semester they both decided to do basketball together (which sure helped my schedule). They were the youngest kids in the class with mostly 3rd graders, but I think it pushed them and they learned a lot. I saw their red little faces smiling each week, so they enjoyed it and that's what matters most (not winning, right Jared)!

M*I*C*K*E*Y

Here is our big, scary attack dog, Mickey. The kids think he was named after Mickey Mouse and Jared thinks he was named after Mickey Mantel, whatever, it's all the same to me. We've had our ups and downs, but I think he's here to stay. I have threatened to get rid of him and even hoped he would run away a few times, but besides silly puppy behavior, he is a good dog. He's really sweet to the kids and makes a lot of noise when strangers are around (which I guess is good for security purposes). He's a very BIG dog for only 9 months old, but he still thinks he's a puppy and tries to snuggle in your lap. So that's the story of our perro!

La Mar

It was a great experience to see and be in the ocean (especially for those of us that grew up in land-locked Oklahoma). This was the 1st trip to the ocean for the kids (1st of many, we hope...pleeeease daddy). The weather was quite cool this day, but it didn't stop us from splashing around.

Mundo Marino

We had a long holiday weekend in October and so we drove to Mundo Marino (Argentina's version of Sea World). We had a great time!

Jardin (Pre-school)

Here is Annie in her school uniform. The the clothes just swallow her up and she looks so cute, like a little person. She goes to school 3 mornings for 3 hours. She loves it! Her teachers and friends all speak Spanish and she comes home saying more words everyday.









This was Annie in her end of the year school program. She and all the 2 year old giraffes did a little dance. It was precious! She did great, followed the teacher, looked so comfortable, like she didn't see the 200 people watching her--maybe she'll be a performer!!!

Annie

This is our little Annie at the beginning of 2008.

We'll just call this "the accident" as we still aren't officially sure what happened. The damage was a severed tongue (she bit through it) with stitches on top and bottom, stitches on the chin, a lost tooth, and a fractured jaw. Kids are tough though. The day she left the hospital she got in the car, heard the music, and started to dance!

Sometimes we worry about what the future might hold for them, how they will react to the pressures of the world. Annie has really gotten into the 80s hair-styles. This picture was taken in Oklahoma while back for the 4th of July.

Decemberish 2007

This was last year but we owe some pictures. Some good friends of ours got us this neat little digital camera and it only took 1.5 yrs to figure it out. This was in our backyard in our old house.

The Martinez family and kiddos.

Dallin fishing at some friends of ours.

This was one of the worst rain storms we have ever seen...but the kids loved it!!!

Howdy Officer!

This is Joseph Anderson, Jared's big brother. We are all so proud of him. He's a real, live policeman now! He looks pretty tough, so watch out when your out on the streets of Tulsa!

These pictures were taken at his graduation. His wife, Sandy, and daughter, Savannah, (5 years old) are with him in the picture. Also, they recently had another little girl, Taylor.

Going Batty

So about a week ago I (Jared) was in the computer room. Emma and Ginger had just moved their beds up there that particular night. Emma on a bed and Ginger on a mattress on the floor were fast asleep as Annie and Dallin slept in an adjacent room. Christian was in the tv room (no, we don't live seperate lives, it was supposed to be like this and you'll understand why soon). Annie woke up for some reason and was crying for mommy. This is not unusual so I waited for her to go back to sleep. She didn't and after a few seconds I saw something flying in the hall in the light of the hall light. At first I thought, "my gosh, that is a big moth," and then processed it as a bird. But it was not flying smoothly like a bird would. It kind of hopped around in the air. Well, as it splattered right by the only exit in the computer room I realized what it was - a freaking bat was in the house and I was trapped. It lay on the floor with its wings spread. I called for Christian (who as noted above was out of the computer room) who quickly came. I sat frozen as my wife (who without her glasses was about as blind as the bat) came to the rescue. I yelled, "there's a freaking bat on the floor." Christian: "Where, I can't see it." Jared: "Don't move. Just go get something to cover it. Of my gosh, its ear is moving. His head is lifting up. Get something!" Just then the creature flew over right by Ginger. I put her in Emma's bed and the thing tried to hide by crawling between her two pillows. Then the nasty creature began to hop around the air again (if you have ever seen a bat fly you know what I mean, it almost looked fake) and landed right on Ginger's tummy (on top of the blanket) on Emma's bed! Christian and I ran out scared, shut the door, and yelled for the girls to wake up, yelling "bat! bat," and ordered them to get it out of the house (just kidding). We got the windows open, approached the venemous Chiroptera and it "flew" out. We shut the window and I proceeded to wash and disinfect the entire house. Still not sure how the thing got in the house but suspect that the large amount of rain for several days had him/her looking for shelter.