kicker of the month

I just got a message that calvin is kid kicker off the month at KARATE! way to go!

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Does anyone know why my videos won't work?

I have resized them so that they are under what it needs to be. It said it uploaded. But now it won't show on the post. The video of Calvin's Christmas performance is so cute, I wanted to put it on but I can't get it to work.

Calvin shows courage

Here is a letter from Calvin's kindergarten teacher:

Hi Chrissy,

We are studying courage for Character Ed in Jan. I have chosen Calvin to be our example of courage. I will talk to the class about Calvin, and why I think he demonstrates courage. In a nutshell, he showed great courage coming to Lincoln after already starting school in Manilla. He is always a good example in class, and he makes friends easily. He has shown on many occasions that he has courage when he makes the right decision; not necessarily the easy decision. He has made the transition from Manilla to Lincoln very smooth, and is a great student overall.

I will need a picture of him that can be posted in the lunchroom, with all of the other students being recognized for courage. Could you send one in?

Thanks so much,

Rachelle

Calvin's Kindergarten Christmas performance

Calvin's drawings

Calvin loves to draw. It is his favorite pass time. He probably draws 10 pictures a day. These are two castles he drew and asked if I would put them in the blog book. For a 5 year old I think he is pretty darn good. Just look at that detail. He loves drawing castles, ships and things like that.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great fun. We celebrated with both families and had good food and good company. But the best part was that Aunt Emily, Jon's sister got home from her mission to Switzerland the night before Thanksgiving. It has been so much fun to visit with her and have her home. We are grateful for all of our many blessings but most of all, great family and friends and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Turkey Coma!!

Playing games!

New Family photo

Calvin's school was doing a fundraiser where they were offering a family picture for $10. We thought that was a pretty good deal and I think it turned out cute. It is kind of funny though because we haven't done an indoor formal setting for so long. Outdoor photos are more trendy, so this just looks a little old school to me. But I like it.

Trying to simplify the season

After much thought, deliberation and prayer, we have decided from this Christmas forward we will no longer be doing sibling and friend gift exchange at Christmas. We have decided to simplify and just get gifts for our parents and our children. Don't worry, we love you and want to spend time with you at Christmas. The best part of Christmas is spending time with those we love. We love spending time with you but we feel gift giving is not necessary to show our love for you. We are giving you the gift of a stress free Christmas; now you no longer have to worry about what to get us or what we will give you.

Part of this was born from the fact that not everyone has a lot of money to spend on Christmas and when there are five-thousand family members and friends that we would like to get gifts for, we can't afford it. And if we can afford it, it is because we got everyone a two dollar gift that will either have to be eaten (thus screwing up the diet everyone is trying to stick to) or it will clutter the house until the guilt of throwing away a "gift" is overcome by the desire to have a clean living space. This sounds like a big waste of time, money and stuff.

After we thought about it some more, it just didn't make sense to give everyone we know or are related to a Christmas present. This is the Savior's birth we are celebrating and we give each other gifts in similitude of the gift He gave all of us. But all the people we would give gifts to already have a place to live, clothes to wear and food to eat.

The Savior has told us to clothe the naked and feed the hungry, so we are going to take our opportunity to give gifts on Christmas to someone who really needs it. This will be our Christmas tradition and an opportunity to teach our children (and ourselves) how to become more Christ-like.

We hope we don't offend you by not giving you a present. It's not because we don't love you, we do, but we want to make some traditions in our family which will benefit those who need help. And to teach our kids that we don't have to make Christmas so stressful and get everyone we know a gift. We love you and the best part of the holiday season is spending time with our family and friends and enjoying your company.

We love you,
Jon, Chrissy, Calvin, Lily and Ava