The Initiation

I think we are about the last people I know to go to Build-A-Bear. Grandma and Grandpa Ballif gifted the children with a trip to the workshop this year for Christmas, so we made our way through the piles and piles of snow a couple of days after for our first experience. The kids loved it.

Cameron and Cade both chose Alaskan Huskies, Caleb chose a black bear and Paige a cute grey kitty.

The kids helped stuff their bears.

They rubbed and loved on their animals' hearts before stuffing them inside.

Then they bathed their newly completed animals.

Even Paige caught on to the whole process.

To finish up they all picked out an outfit for their animals. Cameron picked a football outfit, Cade picked a rocker t-shirt and shorts, Caleb went with some camouflage and a backpack and Paige just had to have the Tinkerbell dress and a pink backpack.

Here are the finished products with their proud new owners.

Christmas Decorations

Aunt Jenn and her family sent us some fun Christmas ornaments to decorate this year as part of our Christmas gift. We pulled them out on the afternoon of the 24th for a fun activity (really to help focus some of the extra energy that was present on that day).

Even Paige got into it. She mostly painted hers with water because I didn't dare give her the acrylic paints, just the watercolors. She still enjoyed herself immensely. In the end we painted it a nice pink together.

Only a few more hours until Santa comes!

Our Christmas Train

We finally got around to putting our Christmas train up just a few days before Christmas. We have had this train since we lived in Houston and it's been a fun addition to our tree every year. The kids love it and I think it is probably their favorite decoration--it gets lots and lots of loving every year.

Christmas Cupcakes

So what do you do when you buy the cupcakes in advance for your son's class Christmas party and then school is canceled? You have your own little party at home.

Notice there are no photos of the boys eating their cupcakes...they just aren't nearly as delicious as Paige.

Sharpies

Evidently I have a son who is fascinated with Sharpie markers. I have repeatedly talked with him about getting them out of my things and taking them to his room where they are used for things they shouldn't be used for and left lying around. Earlier in the year one of the bedspreads became an unintended target.

This time Paige found a Sharpie that had come from previously mentioned son's backpack in the family room and while sitting in close proximity to her brothers proceeded to color on her hands, feet, a board book and a little on her pants...so much for that book and outfit. And on that note could someone please explain to me why a gradeschooler needs to have a Sharpie as part of their school supplies?

A little documentation:

I am hoping that one of these times he gets it. Hopefully sooner than later.

The Results are In

It's a boy! And a very busy one already I might add.
Everything looks good and we are excited to meet this new little one in mid-April!

Christmas is Coming

Sunday afternoon we pulled out the Christmas tree and decorations for a family decorating party. We have concluded that this little tree that Grandma Diane sent me in the MTC (I was there for Christmas) has become a wonderful distraction. The kids can do their decorating on it giving Blake and me time assemble the tree and put on the lights and ribbon before the kids put on the final touches.

Happy Decorating!

Enjoying the Ice Cream

At our Streuling Family Thanksgiving dinner Paige demonstrated for us how to truly enjoy a bowl of ice cream--one of her favorite things.

Thanksgiving Trip

For our third year now our family has driven to Utah for the week of Thanksgiving. It works well right now while the kids are all still in elementary school since it is also the end of Parent/Teacher Conferences. They end up missing 3 half-days of school. I can justify that.



This year we brought along a couple of extra things: a bulging waist and a stack of "barf buckets".



Paige came down with the stomach flu 2 days before our scheduled departure. She would be sick after eating breakfast but then would keep her food down for the rest of the day and act fine. We kept thinking she was over it and then the next morning would come. This lasted through Saturday. Everyone else was fine until early Thanksgiving morning when Caleb came down with it. This is how he spent his Thanksgiving. He really looks too happy here in the photo but he really had no appetite and layed around on the couch all day.





I did a very weak job in the picture department this trip. But for family history sake here is a brief synopsis of our trip:



We tried something new this year and left on Friday evening to drive to Dillon, MT all in order to finish the drive early enough Saturday so that we could watch the BYU-UTAH game at Steph and Evan's where we were staying. We're not so sure it was worth making it for the game now but it was nice to get into SLC in the early afternoon for once. We have been waiting to share the baby news with our family for this trip as a little surprise. We decided we would see if anyone would be brave enough to say anything about my expanding waistline. Steph and Evan weren't. Cyd and Jeff came over later and they weren't either. So after a few hours we finally said something. All claim they knew they just didn't want to be the one to say something and be wrong.



We spent a couple of days with Steph and her family and on Monday headed down to Provo to stay with Blake's parents for a few nights. We visited, saw Bolt, ate at Gondolfo's, I went to Twilight with Krista and Amy, ate at the Brick Oven, and did a little shopping among other things. The boys loved playing Doggy Dominoes and Steal the Pile with Grandma and Grandpa. My Dad and Sylvia had been in Paris and arrived home Wednesday evening so we stopped by that night to say hi. Sylvia was the first one there to say something about the baby. She was in the middle of a phone conversation when we arrived, but when she looked over at me after a few minutes she exclaimed "Kara, do you have something you want to tell us?"



Thursday we were back to Steph and Evan's for the Ballif Thanksgiving dinner and to spend our last two nights. (It's closer to Spokane). We spent Friday afternoon at Jenn and Justin's house for the Streuling Thanksgiving dinner. Jenn was also brave enough to say something about the baby. It was a lot of delicious food two days in a row.




We left Saturday morning for the long drive home. The weather was fine and the drive was mostly uneventful for us. We did come upon a roll-over accident shortly after it happened which is always sobering and we did aquire a crack in our windshield that has been slowly growing. Better that than an accident though.



Despite the sicknesses we had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and we apologize to any of our family members we may have infected with our presence. Thanks for having us anyway!



We love you all!

The Sphinx

Cameron's 4th grade class has been working on research projects for the past few weeks. They picked a topic they were interested in and have been reading and writing about it. As the final phase of this project they built a clay model of their subject. They will be painting them together at school and then displaying them for others to see. Good work, Cameron! (And a special thanks to Dad for all his help.)

Breakfast Conversation

After quietly eating her breakfast for several minutes:

Paige: "You know Elmo?"

Mom: "Elmo? Yes."

Paige: "He say 'la, la, la, la'."

Mom: "Yes he does."

This of course was followed by our rendition of Elmo's Song.

Paige and Jane and a Song

Ring around the Rosy,


A Pocketful of Posies.

Ashes, Ashes,


We all fall down!

A Letter

Dear Friend,


I just wanted to thank you for NOT cleaning up after your dog on your last visit to the park. It really made my night when my son climbed into the van after playing at the park oblivious to the fact that his shoes were covered in dog leftovers and smeared those leftovers all over the seat. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to clean that mess up. My husband also wants to thank you for allowing him the opportunity to clean off our son's new school shoes. I didn't want to be selfish and have all the fun.

Sorry we could not thank you in person. We hope this letter will suffice. We hope you have a wonderful day too.

The Ballifs

P.S. If anybody needs a ride somewhere, just let us know!

More on Canning

My other little helper!

Canning Season

The canning is done! When I'm looking at the boxes of waiting fruit I wonder if it really is worth it, but to see it all done now feels good. And now I can clean up my kitchen that has been a disaster area for the past two weeks. That will just add to the good feelings.

35 jars of peaches

4 jars of pearsauce

10 jars of raspberry jam

21 jars of pears (not all pictured--I can count)