A few things I've learned this year...

1. Matthew's teacher actually had to talk to him about following the rules; he decided to wear the little wrap-around sunglasses you get from the optomitrist after your eyes are dialated, in class. Which MIGHT be understandable if he had just had his eyes dialated, but this was two days after the fact! Sometimes it is nice to see a hint of rule bending in him.

2. Apparently the kids had "intimate" weather schedule at school this week! Hmmm...that might be something interesting. I laughed all the way home when Matthew mispronounced inclement as intimate!

3. Tornado's can happen in AZ. We were under a tornado watch/warning (whatever it was called) the other night with all the rain.

4. We are actually getting climatized to this desert weather. I hate to admit this, but after three days of clouds, I was ready for the sun to be out.

5. I'm alive. Yes, you read that right. I called the insurance company to figure out a claim and the gentleman I was speaking with starts laughing hysterically. I was a little taken aback, but when I found out why he was laughing, I laughed the rest of the morning. The reason the insurance company wouldn't pay the claim was due to the diagnoisis code which was: unknown causes due to morbidity or mortality. So the gentleman laughed because here he was talking to someone who apparently was "dead".

December

December brought the usual amount of pure joy, excitement and craziness. The smiles on the kids faces as they were off in dreamland wondering what Santa would bring them. Making wish lists so long that we had to try and pare them down to three-five items which they thought was pure torture. The fresh smell of pine as you walk into the house ( we have yet to cave to the artificial tree). Trying to get all the school reports and projects done before the end of the term. Attending choir and orchestra concerts. Enjoying the myriad plates of goodies that were dropped off at the door.... the list goes on and on for all of us. The whirlwind of activities is part of the excitement of the month and the season, but sometimes even when trying to cut back and enjoy the real reason of the celebration, it still gets a little blurred.

Matthew had his eighth birthdy a week before Christmas. And as the calendar fell this year, his baptism was the following day. Our stake does baptisms on the third Saturday. As many of you know in our church children are baptized when they are eight, not at birth. At first when I realized we would be doing birthday celebrations, baptism and Christmas with Grandparents coming to visit it would be absolutely nuts. As I look back it was one of the most special Christmas' we could have had. There was a peace and a calm in our home. We were able to witness Matthew's baptism and reflect on our own testimonies of the gospel, realizing the great gift we have been given through the birth of our Savior and his atoning sacrifice. Also, as I read many Christmas cards and looked at our own family I was struck again at the tender mercies the Lord has blessed us with. I was again grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives, as well as our family and friends. Even though we are all faced with different trials, the Savior states his hand will always be outstretched and how thankful I am for that. The real meaning of Christmas was felt in our home and was not lost- that was a real gift for me.

Of course, we enjoyed Christmas morning. Matthew said he woke up at 4 am and couldn't go back to sleep, oh the magic of Christmas morning! My parents stayed for Christmas so we enjoyed having them with us

A few of the other highlights of the month:

- Visiting the Air and Space Musuem in Tucson and seeing a Blackbird, B-29 and B-52 and, then on the way home driving through a dust storm that forced us to pull over to the side of the road and wait for half an hour. This experience is worthy of its own post- let's just say this was a real life application of listening to the spirit and in the end everyone is safe.

- Eating pizza while listening to a Wurlitzer Organ- glossy jet black wth gilded gold- quite a sight and played by a masterful organist!

- taking the kids skiing- the only thing we have found that makes our kids sleep in past the sunrise!

This is Matthew trying to snowboard on the sled.

Brandon and Matthew

Zach fell asleep

Andrew cruising down the mountain

Zach finally decides snow isn't so bad and spends the entire time trying to eat it!

I had to put these next two pictures in because they were so funny ( plus I forgot to put the Halloween one in an earlier post)

Andrew decided I was taking way too long to put up the Christmas decorations, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.... Although I was a bit displeased he did this himself, I am impressed he got all the houses up, plugged in and working.

This is for all of you who wonder what life is like having boys... you try and put up some sort of holiday decoration (or any decoration for that matter)and it just turns into a new play place for legos and army men and it makes you say Why??? :) I love my boys!!!

November

Saturday's thruought the fall found us at the Soccer Complex. We have a standing rule in the house that the kids can't play organized sports until they are in Kindergarten... which means this year Andrew got to play as well. Some Saturday's were v.e.r.y. l.o.n.g. and some v.e.r.y.h.o.t. but by November the temps were perfect and we enjoyed watching the boys. Andrew had played enough backyard ball with Brandon and Matthew to be quite a dominating little player. Brian coached Matthew's team, which ended up having quite a few kids from church and the boys school on the team which made it fun. Brandon had one of those "character building"season's as his team won a total of two games all season.

The boys begged Brian to allow them to take apart the old printer. Hmmmmm..... this is yet another instance where I see the Teuscher gene coming out in them.

Brandon just finished a unit on the Anazasi people in History so we took a day trip to visit Casa Grande. It is one of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America, and its purpose remains a mystery. There is something about being able to visually see things that you learn about in school. As I side note-- I wish schools would take more field trips! I know, I know... it all boils down to money.

A number of Brandon's games this year were played on Friday night. They really enjoyed playing "under the lights" We were just glad that some Saturday's weren't as long.

We went to San Diego for Thanksgiving. Eric and Emily came out to do Blake's blessing there insead of in NY. Zachary was glued to him. He was absolutly captivated by him. All we heard was "Baby Bake" the entire weekend. There was a house full- Eric and Emily, Jamie and Heather, Nathan and Karen Ryan and Cassidy, Dawn, Laurel and all of us... We got the dining room for our sleeping quarters. Brian commented that you've got to be pregnant, have a new baby, or be the first ones at mom and dad's house to get a bed- none of which we qualified for. The dining room table got moved, lest you think we had a fort under the table for our bed. Which come to think of the boys would have thought it quite the sleeping arrangement. All in all we had a wonderful time. Karen has some good pictures on her blog of all the boys and the various types of turkeys we ate. (She always has the best action/candid shots out of all of us!)

Thanksgiving morning soccer game.

We toured the USS Midway while we were in San Diego. I was amazed as we walked through with the amount of wire/cabling that was strung overhead. I don't know how people who are stationed on aircraft carriers don't get claustrophobic. The hallways are so narrow and the ceilings low. The first picture is taken in the room where the "nerve center" of the Navy's operations in the first Desert Storm took place.