Caroline playing basketball!

Okay, if you remember from a long post ago, Caroline and team sports are comical! She was the one who would run along behind the herd in soccer cheering for her teammates...she was the one who prior to her first practice of a new soccer season exclaimed that she could wear her sparkly pink belt with her new black & pink cleats...because they matched!

Well, our little prima donna is playing basketball for the first time, and is loving it! She is the only girl on a team filled with kindergarten-aged boys (she's in first grade, by the way), and she gets in there an mixes it up with the best of them. In her second game, she even scored a basket! In her game today, she made her free-throw at halftime, grabbed 2 rebounds, and played some great defense. She's making her Sabertooth Tigers coaches very proud...

My favorite memory of her young basketball career came when she first received her uniform from the coaches. She got the number 1, and she brought it over to me, holding it reverently, and said, "Dad, I'm number 1! I'm THE LEADER!" I replied, "Yes Ma'am you are!" and smiled quietly to myself...

Enjoy!

Alpine Village 2009

Every winter, we look forward to a very special occasion! We started attending the Alpine Village at Trinity Baptist Church many years ago, and it's now a family tradition. Trinity transforms their gymnasium into, literally, an Alpine Village. You almost have to experience it to believe it! There are several shops, each with a theme, that the kids visit. They receive a free book from the "book shoppe", and they make their very own top in the toy shoppe. They made an ornament in one shop, and filled a bag of candy at the candy shoppe. There is an amazing puppet show, there are wandering wise men that in are costume that will stop and have a conversation with you, and of course, there's Santa.

One of the kid's favorite (and our most dreaded) is the snowball fight zone, where mounds of blown "snow" are piped into an area, and kids can go in and pummel each other with the "snow". The dreaded part is that it gets EVERYWHERE, and takes forever to totally rid ourselves of the wintry mix. Still, it's a blast...please visit this link for more information, or to simply be wowed!

http://www.thealpinevillage.org/

Our Family Snowglobe

For a belly full of laughs, click on this link to see our Family Snowglobe...too much fun!

http://snowglobe.community.abcfamily.go.com/index.php/share-receiver?request=globe&id=1261450992-5AHB-0IBF-4B3036F159D5F-6905

What I learned from a friend!

I got this in an email from my friend Christa and I thought it was very interesting. I didn't know this and I thought I would share it with all of you! Merry Christmas!

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments..
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love..
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Football picutures we forgot to post!

I told you we were so far behind! Here are some action shots of our future Heismann trophy winner. They had a great year and won their very first game ever in the history of the 3rd and 4th grade team at Hope Church! They also ended up winning their bowl game-- well, the other team forfeited! Some of the pictures are also from Nicholas and other Cross Check (the league he plays in) All American players being recognized at a UofM game! Notice the pictures of Nicholas on the ladder in front of the band. Dr Nguyen had him stand up there when he got off of the field and the entire band cheered for him! So Fun!!

Becca Came HOME!!

We were all so excited that Becca came home for Thanksgiving! We got to hang out with her and Aaron on Saturday of that weekend! Here is a picture of Becca, Aaron and Caroline! We sure miss her being here!

Catching up!

We are so behind with our blogging! I will keep my comments brief and try to post as much as possible.

Here is a picture of Caroline's 2nd class project of the year. Over fall break she had to pick a book to do a book report on (her first book report!) and then had to decorate a pumpkin to look like her main character! She picked Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and here is a picture of her Lilly!