Missing Philip

It was great to talk to Philip (Elder Awbrey) on Christmas. We miss him and love him so much. Sounds like he's a little missing us there too. I know he's keeping busy but it is hard to be away.
I have it much easier than he does, because I'm here and extremely busy too. He's gone and everything familiar is gone too. So we are trying to write often as he loves getting mail (mentioned it a lot on the phone!). I also have an extra bonus with a couple who are missionaries about 22 miles away from him, who have a blog and post pictures. They are so sweet. The Hugos had them over for Christmas and Thanksgiving and posted pictures, so I got to see my missionary too. Very grateful for them.
So if you have time, please send Philip a note, draw him a picture, whatever, stick it in the mail. He'd love to hear from you!! :)

www.hugomission.blogspot.com for the Hugo's blog :)

Toesocks

It wouldn't be Christmas with out socks. And we all love toe socks!!

Dad's Birthday

We finally got around to Greg's Birthday. THe candles are in the shape of a smiley face. Hey, that's just too many candles to light, I have a smoke detector that works!
And everyone, that's Larry on the right, our neighbor who can fix anything and is part of our family. He's always there to help fix your car, critique your project, fix your French horn, or help eat up that extra crawfish! Thanks Larry, you're the best!! :)

Nerf Weapons

Oddly enough, Alexander and Connor, the 6-year-old across the street, got the same stuff for Christmas. We should have taken a picture of the two of them together. It was so cute. Both got nerf weapons and pillow pets!
Alexander went out and conquered both of his sisters at the same time! (You can see he picked up a penguin, too!)

Pogo Girl

I know, it's a picture of Dad and Alexander working on the game... but Elizabeth was unstoppable on her new pogo stick! This one is a lot sturdier than the last one she wore out!

Snuggly things

Pillow pets and snuggies were the big deal this year. Alex got a pillow pet (a... you knew this was coming... duck) on his last band trip and we all fell in love. And there were so many snuggie jokes going around we had to get them... (I got some major deals on these!) and the house is so cold most of the time (a/c in summer, a/c in "winter") that they'll actually get worn. It took everyone a while to figure out they were backwards! Alex likes the way his trails behind him like a royal robe.

And to you drama students, that's BathRobee! Or the Blonket!! :)


Regardless it was a snuggly Christmas!

Eliz in her snuggie

And the purple corner of the room...

Alex Christmas

Katie Christmas

Katie opening her presents!

Backstage with Elizabeth

Here is Elizabeth and crew. She is the stage manager for their drama club. She's in charge of training her crew on lights, sound, props, cues... and she does a terrific job! :)

Alex gets his license!

And here he is, signing his name on the dotted line. Congratulations kid!
(There goes my insurance bill!)

Alex goes to the Office of Motor Vehicles

Yes it was a big day when Alex finally decided he was willing to take the driver's test. In Louisiana, you take the written after you take a 16 hour courseto get your permit. Then if you wait until you're 18 you don't need any other formal school if you can pass the driving test. Strange! He took the test in my big ole minivan.

Actually we went to get him a hair cut first. It was way overdue and he wanted to look good for his picture! :)

Girls Decorating Tree

I am sure someone can explain where the little stars come from...
E&K decorating the tree.

Katie helps decorate

It's a pretty tall tree!

Box o Christmas

What a cutie!

Setting up the Tree

In some parts, this would just not be normal... instead of chopping down a carefully selected fir tree to drip pitch all over our floor, we have our perfectly proportioned, shed-free, prelit tower Christmas Cheer!

This is Alexander and Elizabeth helping to get it out of storage.

Merry Christmas!

I gotta hand it to my mother in law. She is awesome with computers. She read a post about Elizabeth getting a pogo stick and very shortly had found, scanned and posted a picture of Elizabeth's Aunt Lori on her pogo stick! It takes a serious block of time and concentration for me to get pictures up!
It was a quiet CHristmas for us, mostly because we curtailed all the visits by me getting stomach flu and Greg was scheduled to be out of town. He got vacation at the last possible moment so he was here when Philip called from Arizona. It was so good to hear Philip's voice. He's a great kid. He loved hearing all of us too. It's great to be family!

Still Alive!

Just a note to say "I'm still alive" - busy, but alive! Love you!! :)