A New Year

We are doing well. Each of us in our own way:
Nick is keeping busy with work. Learning the front counter and running the warehouse. Comes home to find the dogs waiting for their walk. Started rehearsing at the church on Wed for the Easter Cantata. He is also singing every Sunday with the Praise Band and is a Trustee.
Christi is keeping the household going with the coming and going of all. She has found time to do a Bible Study on Thurs nights and is the Service Unit Manager for the Girl Scouts. Has decided to do Pampered Chef. Has become the home repair person....She has replaced two electrical plugs and the light switch for the girl's lamp. Got a couple of switches to go then it is on to bigger and better things like replacing the dishwasher. She has also taken couponing to heart spends a whole day planning the shopping trip. The other day we saw the profit.....saved $100.00 and got $.45 back from the store.WhooHoo.
Dreigan has celebrated his 13th birthday several times. He says the $60 he got from various family members was the best.  He also got a trip to Abq with Nick to see the Myth Busters show. Doughnuts from Grandma, Camo hunting gear from Dextin and family.  He has a minor leading role in the spring dance recital "Tangled". Watch for more info. He also attended his first Klondike camp out with his Scout Troop which he really enjoyed. Next Tuesday is his court of honor and he will receive his Tenderfoot Rank. We have gotten the summer camp paperwork and has started that. He also got an invitation to attend the National Jamboree in 2013. Now all we have to do is come up with $4,000 so he can go.....any helpers????  His biggest news is that he is now spending more time (mostly nights) with Dextin at his house. He just had a teacher/parent conference which was good. His teachers all like him and said if he keeps improving then he will be put in more regular classes. He is practicing his trumpet for the spring concert. He is the Church Bell ringer and wants to become one of the acolytes.
Fionna has had a very hard 2 weeks. She is getting over pneumonia. She is feeling better and is not running fever any more. She has a minor leading role in the recital this year and is very excited about it. She loves school and enjoys going but she HATES homework. She is a straight A student and is learning multiplication. She has the pre-teen mood swings and like to be alone and her little sisters just don't understand that. She is busy with Girl Scouts and all the projects. She is getting ready for Thinking Day and a booth her troop will be doing.  She also is selling Girl Scout cookies if you need some. Is getting ready to start collecting stuff for the Blue Star Mothers. She is her Grandma's helper at Church with the Children's Moment. She is still resistant to wearing her glasses and hearing aids but is becoming more accepting of them.
Naya is so excited with learning the sounds and the letters. She will point out the special sounds she is learning on anything she sees......"st" is the one this week. She is reading easy books now. She also has started addition. She is a straight A student also.  She will be doing 2 chapels at school this month, if you want to attend let us know and will will give you the times. Loves going to school but doesn't like to practice writing her spelling words. She too is busy with Girl Scouts and has taken on a project of protecting the ducks from being fed the wrong food.She also is selling Girl Scout cookies. She is so thrilled that her dog "Ariel" is sleeping in her room with her. Naya is having trouble with who is in control now and is learning where the line is. She will be dancing in the spring dance recital also. Her class does a number or two. Her Asthma has flared again but she knows how and when to get help.
Ahonora, what can be said about that bundle of energy. She is getting ready to celebrate her 3 birthday. She talks a mile a minute and has good use of words.She is constant in motion and if you can't find her or hear her you know that means trouble. She is struggling with the concept of big girl and baby. She has gone to Abq to see ENT and is scheduled for a T&A on the 22 of  Feb at UNM. The week before she is going to Carrie Tingly to see the Endocrinologist, this is to create a baseline for growth hormones. She wants to go to Girl Scouts like her older sisters and can't understand why Mom won't let her. She loves it when her Daddy reads to her. She insisted on the "Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe" the other night and sat so still listening through the whole 1st chapter. She is really the example of "If she was the first child there would have been no more." She is into anything and everything. Christi said the girls could wear make-up to church if they got ready soon enough.  Before we knew it she was gone....to be found at her mother's vanity putting lip stain around her eye...Went to church looking like she had fallen and skinned her face.
Donna is keeping busy with the Church and cleaning Mann dance. Has had good days and bad days but don't we all. She is getting ready to start the 3rd round of Interferon as soon as the Insurance company decides what they will pay. Also has started the liver transplant paperwork. Is trying to fit in going to a music class and a crafting class but just hasn't managed it yet.
The homestead is going great.  We have done some improving and gearing up for spring.  Flowers and vegetable garden in the plans.  Working hard at trying to get everyone on board for livestock (chicken and a cow).  The fence has been repaired and repaired and repaired because of the dog that loves to dig. We still need a wheelbarrow, rototiller, and a truck but they will come.
Heske and Ariel are not the normal dogs.....They don't bark, won't eat raw eggs, french fries, cheerios, and will take a lick or two of broth. Need to send them to dog school.
The cats (Pink, BB, Moochie, Brownie, Cottonwood, Emily, & Boba Fett) have picked up the slack and  have become goats.  They will eat vegetables (love broccoli), bread (cannot leave any out or they eat plastic and all.). Tuna being opened calls them all.