Nate gets punked - or should we say "Pinked"!

Nate is so popular and has so many friends that love him that he was left with a wonderful gift this morning. During the night, someone was able to get the key to Nate's car and spent some time decorating it. To top it off, it rained early this morning, just a light drizzle. Nate's car was filled with pink balloons (one of them had his key inside), covered with oreos, had a Princess decoration hanging from the rear view mirror and also had some lovely sentiments written in pink on the windows: I love Jacob Black and I Heart Boys Who Sparkle! The others had washed off, but the point was taken. The best part is that Nate went to the drive through and it did nothing. So, now he's driving around in a polka dot car - it's so cute!

Although Nate was annoyed by the whole incident - he couldn't help but grin about it, b/c he knew it was funny. He'll laugh about it in the future.

Christmas - Part 3

Rachel got home from Florida around noon on the 26th. We first went to a double feature at the movies - Alvin and the Chipmunks and then Avatar. When we got home, Rachel got to open her presents. Her most favorite present was the Pittsburgh Steelers Roethlisberger jersey. She was so excited. She was glad to be home and spend time with the family.

Christmas - Part 2

Marshel and Kellee put out Santa's treats - Trash and Sugar Cookies with Eggnog! Nate, Marshel and Kellee opened up their Christmas Eve gift - Christmas PJs. The next morning, everyone slept in until around 8am and then we opened gifts. Later that day,

we had friends over for Christmas dinner and games. It was a lot of fun.

Christmas - Part 1

Brittan and Lindsay chose to go home before Christmas Day, so we had their Christmas on December 23rd before they went home. Marshel and Kellee got to open a couple of things from Grandma Jackson and Grandma and Grandpa Welch.

Mom's December Friends Cruise

Marty couldn't get work off so his cousin, Cheryl Rupp, joined Michelle as she escorted a group of friends as they sailed to the Western Caribbean. There were 5 first time cruisers so we enjoyed watching them experience it. We had a great time getting to know one another. In Montego Bay, Jamaica, we all did a River Rafting adventure. In Grand Cayman, we met at the Cracked Conch for lunch. In Jamaica, some of us went on an all-day party boat adventure, complete with snorkeling and beach time. We had a lot of fun and now are all looking forward to 2011 Panama Canal. Good Times!

Our group was made up of: Michelle, Cheryl, Brian and Barb Scherff, Pat and Mike Roberts, Bill and Linda Lynch, Shelley and John Moseley.

Rachel's Dance Performance

Enjoy Rachel's Christmas dance with her Pep Squad. She lives for performing and it's obvious by the grin on her face that she loves what she's doing. Enjoy!

Getting Ready for Christmas

We invited some friends over to decorate Christmas cookies. We had a fun time with them making tons of cookies. Brittan and Lindsay had come for a few days to visit, so we enjoyed spending time with them as well.

Rachel performed a cute dance number with her Pep Squad team at both the Mr. Taft Pageant and the Christmas Pep Rally.

Decorating the Christmas tree was fun - once Nate figured out which part of the tree was the top and which was the bottom - good thing Marshel knew how to help him.

Kellee was a big help getting all the stockings hung with care.

Heading Home from Oklahoma

We had a great time in Oklahoma - what fun memories we have of Black Friday with Paula, Chad and Kordale, while we left all the kids home sleeping and filled our carts with terrific Christmas gifts. Driving around looking for the rock quarry was a definite adventure as well. We were sad to say goodbye, but ready to get home.

We stopped in Oklahoma City for an hour to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial, where the Federal Building was bombed in 1995. It was a solemn, sad, but sacred site with rows of chairs to memorialize those killed in the bombing and the Memorial Wall. The kids enjoyed writing their names on the chalk displays saying that they had been here. It was good to teach the kids a little about the history of this city and the realities of life.