There's only five more days!

The view of our neighbor's across the street.
The past 10 days have been a whirlwind! We had parent teacher conferences. They went well. I love how well each of the girls' teachers know them, and find ways to challenge them in a positive way. Friday was the girls' last day of school before the break. They were so excited to pick out gifts for their teachers and get goodies for their class parties.

Last night was our ward Christmas party. The kids were in the live nativity. Makayla was an angel, Malia was Mary, and Jared was a sheep. It took a little longer than I thought it would to get their costumes rounded up from what we have at home. They were up on the stage and all the lights were off, so the camera took them in night vision mode. I kept hoping Jared would turn so I could get a shot of his face, but I could only get one of the back of his head.

Today, Makayla played her viola in sacrament meeting while another boy in the ward played the violin, and the Primary children sang. They did so well! I have consistently been impressed with Makayla. Our Primary chorister asked me during our Mom's group a few weeks ago if I thought she would be interested in playing. Her son plays the violin, and wanted to play, but she thought that if he played alone, it would be harder to hear him. She knew Makayla has only been playing for a few months, and with her bow for an even shorter time, while this is her son's second year playing. I asked Makayla, and we gave it a try. Fortunately, another friend of ours plays the violin,the viola, the piano, and helped Makayla with fingering and transcribing the notes into letter form (Makayla hasn't really learned to read music yet)! Some of the notes and fingering she hadn't even learned to play yet in her strings class! I wish I could have video taped it for you! It sounded great. I had to smile watching Makayla's intensely serious, and concentrated expression throughout the number.

Derek is the master of scars. All of his bruises and scratches had finally healed, then he gets a scratch on his cheek which Jared and I have no clue how he got it. One day J-boy says, "Mom-o, come look at Derek's face, he's bleeding!"