December 2012

December is always a wonderful time of year, filled with wonder and magic and traditions.

This year we had our traditional Polar Express movie watching pajama party, with the Barrotts and the Wrights as our guests. 

We met Santa at the historic Bennett Place farm.

We ooohed and ahhhed over the lights at the American Tobacco District.

We hosted a lovely piano recital for my students--just two this year, but Anwyn and Lila both did a great job! Here is a little video of a duet that Anwyn played with Jared, with some sneaky appearances by Zach.

I don't have pictures to show for it, but this month we also read many Christmas stories, did a few Christmas crafts, watched a few holiday movies, helped with a party for Anwyn's class, made cinnamon ornaments with friends, and read stories about the life of Jesus Christ.

It was a lovely month!

Blogging catch-up

I am doing a little blog catch-up, and finally got around to a November and Thanksgiving post. If you want to catch that post you'll need to scroll back in time, or click here.

Christmas Greetings 2012

Merry Christmas!

Our biggest news this year was our change in scenery. In June we said farewell to dear friends and loaded up a truck and drove 560 miles to our new home in Durham, NC.  We have loved exploring our new neighborhood and are grateful for the new friendships that we have made.

Jared is currently completing a neuropsychology internship at Duke. He is happy to finally to have the end of school in sight after 25+ years of school.

After a hiatus, Kristi has again discovered how much fun it is to read books (and not just blogs). She squeezes in reading time while the kids play at the fun playgrounds around town.

Anwyn (almost 8 yrs) is a grown-up 2nd grader. She loves to read (Boxcar Children and Beverly Cleary are some of her current favorites), play the piano, and she lost 5 teeth this year.

Lily (5yrs) loves to laugh and play and dance. She enjoys her once-a-week preschool class with her best friend, as well as dance class and crafty story time at the library.

Zach (2.5 yrs) is a delightful little boy. He talks a lot (some of which we can understand). One of his common phrases is “That’s hunny (funny)”.

This year marked ten years of marriage for Jared and Kristi. As a family we spent three days at Disneyworld to celebrate! We had a magical time (made extra special because we were there with the Nelsons - Kristi’s sister's family).

We wish you all the best and send you our love.

Love,

Jared, Kristi, Anwyn, Lily, and Zach

Thanksgiving and Fall activities

Fall in North Carolina was lovely. The kids had lots of leaves to play in. We raked up over 30 bags (large trash can size) from our yard alone! I loved driving around town and seeing all the bring, vibrant colors. 

The view down our street in late November.

We enjoyed a lovely visit from Jared's parents. We checked out a few local sites including Duke Gardens and a mill on the Eno River. We discovered a new playground, and I think Jared and Ryan had as much fun climbing as the kids did.  View those pictures here.

One of the highlights of their visit was a trip to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. Lots of fun!

We were thrilled to have family to spend Thanksgiving with this year. Ryan and Marcelaine and Kevin and Heidi joined us to celebrate this special day and give thanks.

We are so very grateful for our family and all of many blessings!

Exploring Durham

Click the following link to see the rest of the photos: Exploring Durham, a set on Flickr.

Photos around Durham with grandparents visiting (Jared's parents). Most of these were taken at Duke Gardens with others taken at a grist mill and the Old Chapel Hill Road Park.

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween we had two cute witches and a spiderman (or "piderman" as Zach would say it).

We enjoyed the lead up to Halloween with a few events, including our ward Trunk or Treat, and a Boo Bash party at the library. I am the room parent for Anwyn's second grade class, so I got to plan a party for her class (and Lily and Zach got to come along).

Our friends the Wrights hosted a fun dinner party on Halloween eve. 

The main course was "Ghosts in the graveyard" (RIP toasted bread, mashed potato ghosts over a meatloaf grave).

I brought a plate of "skeleton fingers" (string cheese with slivered almonds attached to the end, secured by a dab of cream cheese).

 And a tray of deviled eggs with a few olive spiders on top. 

Our annual pumpkin carving tradition took place during Family Home Evening on Monday night.

 The finished product...a monster!