advent week 1

Decorating the Advent wreath




Riverglo

Sorry all without a tripod I can't get a photo that really does it justice to how beautiful the luminarias are down by the river for that mater at the college. Ahonora just pointed and cheered at them. We laughed so hard we forgot to take pictures.

Watching for Nick and Dreigan in the Farmington Christmas Parade




Signing Christmas Cards



Wish Lists
Ahonora:
PJ
dress coat
hair ribbons and small very small rubber bands
baby doll, bottles clothes, ect.
balls
Crayola's toddler art supplies
Naya:
Coat both an everyday one and a dress coat
PJ's
pillow pet
hair ribbons
room decorations (hello kitty)
dress-up clothes
Fionna:
winter coat both an everyday and a dress coat
PJ's
Bedding (purple and pink with flower and butterflies)
electric blanket
Dreigan:
dress coat
room decorations (space)
legos
Wii or DS games
PJ's
Nick and Christi :
gift cards to restaurant or the movies they have to go out
see new house registry at target

1. go to gift registry+list
2. fill in blanks on the list section use Christi's name
3. if it wants more info for the list it's under new house
   

November and bit more

Naya's Birthday

Veteran's Day

Thanksgiving

What Wonderful Life

I sure many of you think I am being completely sarcastic here but I'm not, it is wonderful, even though the white van is out of commission again. Thanks to Steve for loaning us his truck and Ben Marshall for trying to fix it. Yes, Ahonora fell off the top of the ramp on the back porch and broke her left collar bone, but it is healing well. Over all things are well.

Things we have done this month:


had a Hollywood birthday party for Fionna at Mann dance


backyard BBQ at Grandmother and Granddad's

went to the pumpkin patch


learned about leave no trace and met big foot


went to a pampered chef party
put together Fionna's costume of Renessme
bought Naya's fairy costume
built Dreigan's Gargoyle costume
broke Christi's sewing machine making Ahonora's ginger bread costume
had dinner with Grandmother and Granddad
had our annual scout Halloween party


Plans for Halloween
Mann Dance Halloween costume parties during kid's classes
Masquerade Carnival Fri
San Juan College Carnival Sat
Down town Farmington trick-or-treat Sat
Boogie Man Ball Sat
Bloomfield trick-or-treat Sun
Emanuel Baptist trunk-n-treat Sun
maybe depend on energy and the kids



Ahonora has a new word "Baff"=Bath she uses when she wants a bath and when she needs the potty. Yes that's right she is potty training she does not make it very often, in fact there have been many puddles on the bathroom floor but she is trying.


Naya grows very excited for Halloween and is learning her letters and their sounds in leaps and bounds. She recognizes about 20 and knows the sounds to 15.


Also if you read her book she now memorizes it and then"reads" it to herself.



Fionna had a fantastic birthday party with 8 little girls. She also is the star of the week in her class and just finished her very first presentation poster on bats.



Dreigan is doing great he has made two week straight in school which is a record for this school year. It seems the root of much of what was going on was anxiety over unfinished school work. What concept if he does it the he doesn't have to worry about it.


Christi has found part of what is wrong with all her headaches it seem that it was the anti-depressants making her migraines worse which seem to severe enough to cause micro-lesions on her white matter. That being said the change in meds has made a huge difference and now she is feeling more like herself.



Nick continues to work alone in the warehouse but was told there should be someone else soon. He is once again singing in the Christmas Cantata at Bloomfield United Methodist Church and has join the regular choir as well.



The kittens continue to grow at a rapid pace. The adult cats have decided to spend more time inside with the cooling weather.



Heske just hangs out a lot. He did get to go visit Gracie (Steve and Cathy's dogs) the other day which he thought was so much fun he could barely move the n

Life as we know it

Life as we know it is an ever changing thing. Sometimes I wish my life would just settle down into the mundane and boring, but then again when it does that I just create it.

Ahonora amazes us everyday with new words and skills. She has learned the word pretty in regards to herself, down,kitty,wait, won't and a ton more words. She can now dress and undress herself we just wish she didn't feel the need to put every item of clothing on three times.

Naya continues to say some of the most amazing things and showing off her wonderful vocabulary. She has taken on a new chore setting the table she does a wonderful job. She still waits for a slot to go back to school and asks more days than not.

Fionna turned 8 this week. We were going to have a family BBQ with Cathy, Steve, and Dick but she got up Saturday morning running a fever and a sore throat, by Sunday evening her throat swelled to as large as her jaw so Nick and Christi took her to the doctor to have them declare she she had tonsillitis (duh) brought on by strep. So Fi spent her actual birthday (Monday) home sick and resulting in a referral to the ENT.

Dreigan is doing better and worse. He made school all five days last week but missed Monday and Tuesday this week. He has panic attacks so severe that he physically get sick. He cannot name any one thing or person that is the cause, he just can't do school some days. We've adjusted his meds (probably needs more), are working on some medical leads, and are working with the school to get work done at home. In good news he was cast as Fritz in the Nutcracker in the December 10th show. He is also the bear in the gingerbread mother dance. He is so excited.

Christi continues to have headaches and vertigo. She has seen the ENT, an MRI, and tons of lab test. The good news is no arthritis or cancer. There were lesions on the white matter in her brain and she has been referred to the neurologist. There are a wide variety of reasons and there will have to be a ton more tests before we know for sure. Just keep praying. In the mean time she continues to work full time, running the two scout groups, and enjoying time with her family

Nick continues to work and fill in any gaps needed. He has started as the WEBELOS den leader. If you speak to him this week be fore warned he is fighting off strep.

Heske is doing well. He still wants to be friends with the cats, but alas the adult cats don't like him and the kittens are just to little to really play. He has become Ahonora's official taste tester and apparently he must try all of her food first to check if it OK to eat.

Cats Moochie is recovering from neutering. We hope it will help him settle down, he has been bulling the girl cats around. The kittens continue to grow. Pink and Brownie seem to lie low a lot but have been out more since Moochie's surgery. The adult cats still are not sure of Heske.

Sorry no pictures the desk top is getting an upgrade and the laptop refuses to talk to the camera.

change change change

The only constant in life is change and for us there has been much.


1st change New house: Nick and Christi closed on a single wide trailer on Crouch Mesa. It sits on a lot not quite an acre and has a great view of Angle Peak and in a short walk you can see Shiprock and most the basin. We are about as smack dab in the middle of the tri-city area. It has four bedrooms and two bathes yippee! Donna chose to stay at Joylynn so only Naya and Ahonora share a room. For those who don't have it our new address is: #5 CR 3149 Aztec NM 87410


2nd change New school: with our new house came a new school district but no we are not in Aztec schools instead the kids go to Farmington schools, specifically Country Club. Well Fi does, Dreigan is currently in an interim program housed at Rocinate, while Farmington schools make head and tails of his IEP and what is best for Drei.

3rd change New pets: At the end of July we brought home a dog. Christi's cousin was having to get rid of her beloved dog, so we are now the proud owners of a beautiful dog names Heske. He is sweet and generally well behaved. Then the first week of August Christi went to work and found the mama cat there had been hit by a car and killed so she brought home 3 3-week-old kitten to which the family have lovingly nursed them. Their names are Odette, Cottonwood and Stormy. Then last week after a fateful trip to the vet hospital we brought home a five week old kitten that had been found in the hospital's horse corral. The children have named him Boba Fett.

4th change Lost pets: Fionna's beloved calico Aurora disappeared.

She was sad but loves her new kitten Odette. Then last week stormy became very sick. When he did move he cried. Last Monday we found him in the litter box frothing at the mouth. Nick and Christi rushed him to the vet hospital, where the vet announced he had a congenital defect now allowing him to pee. Nick and Christi were then faced with two choices to try some very expensive treatment that may not work or put him out of his misery now. We had a quiet funeral in the backyard for Stormy's short little life. His death is how we came by Boba Fet.
At this point have you lost count on our animal count. Well here it is four kids, 1 dog, and 6 cats. The lord has graced us indeed. Nick and Christi knew there would always be pets they just have to wonder how many.

5th change Hearing Aides: Fionna got hearing aides. They have helped her so much.


6th Change Weddings: Both Nick's Brother Ben and Christi's sister Becca

had their wedding ceremonies this summer in which all the kids and Nick participated.


Christ was matron of honor in Becca's ceremony. We were also invited to more. Sorry Shannon we missed yours. Amanda yours was amazing we all had a great time.

Other than that all is pretty much the same. Christi still runs the cub scout pack and girl scout troop in Bloomfield which make us a tri-city family. Nick runs the Webelos den.

If you want popcorn candy/nuts or magazines let us know as both scout groups are selling them for fund raisers