Pure Joy in the Tower of Happyness

 This is the first real snow of the year! Unheard of! We usually get snow in October, and  here it is, just a few days before January and we finally have reason to break out the boots.

So I turned in my coupon for One Day of Pure Joy at the Tower of Happyness, and I got a hand massage up in the reading loft. Plus, I went upstairs and Eva was sweeping the kitchen and had set the table so beautifully, and she also made mashed potatoes! I'm feeling pure joy right now. I wish all of you could visit Eva's Tower of Happyness.

Mystery Present

Eva gave me a coupon book for Christmas. I'm going to redeem my first coupon tomorrow. In case you can't read it too well from the picture it says, "One day of pure joy at the tower of happyness." I can't wait to see what happens!

15th Anniversary!

 Our 15th anniversary was December 27th. Fifteen years! Ben surprised me with a trip into Denver. He arranged for the kids to stay with some friends and made reservations at the Capitol Hill Mansion Bed & Breakfast. For dinner, we had an appetizer at the Hard Rock Cafe, main course at Bistro Vendome, and dessert at Chili's. It was fun to wander in and out of restaurants along the 16th Street Mall and Larimer Square.

Thank you, Ben, for a wonderful anniversary and for 15 magical years.

Merry Christmas!

 Eva and her doll Julie are all ready for cooking in their new aprons.

 Spencer's wearing the gorgeous silk jacket Yumeng's parents sent him for Christmas.

 Last year it took Spencer several weeks to put together his new Lego set. This year he was done by lunchtime.

 Emily's rockin' the Christmas spirit in that crazy hat.

For Christmas dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house we had a crepe bar with all kinds of good fillings. Yum.

Danse Etoile's Little Match Girl Production

Amanda, Rebecca, and Keira pose with their wonderful ballet teacher, Marie Payanet. This was at the end of the first show.

 Here are the girls in their Match Girl costumes. I sure enjoyed their folk dance mazurka scene.

Curtain call. Rebecca did a beautiful job. This was her first big production, and she worked very hard on it. Rehearsals began in September. Now she's not sure of what to do with herself with a couple of weeks off from ballet.

Last Day of School

 Last year when we went ice skating to celebrate Christmas Vacation, Eva had to hang on to the wall in order to keep herself upright. Well look at her now! She didn't need to hold on to a single thing. In fact, holding on to her hand just slowed her down.

Here she is with her pal Madeline.

Sunday Evening

 Sorry we opened part of your present early, Aaron, but it sure came in handy when making BYU doughnuts. Yum.

Our friends the Shannons came over to help us act out the Nativity and play musical chairs. We've never put those two activities together before, but it turned out just fine.

Dream Chaser

 Have I mentioned what a gorgeous day it was here today? Sixty-seven degrees Farenheit. There were people out everywhere, walking their dogs, slappin' high fives, driving with the windows down and Bob Marley blaring as if it were the last day of school.

So we took a field trip. We went to CU to see the Dream Chaser (see below). We didn't get to see as much of it as we'd hoped because some well-heeled NASA professionals were there to inspect it, and they didn't want a bunch of homeschoolers running around making noise (we assumed). But we did get to peek in, and then we went to the ITLL to hang out and see the Big Factory of Small Balls. I didn't take a picture of it this time, though. We've taken too many pictures of it already.

See? I wasn't kidding about the weather. This joyous sunbeam even bestowed a special blessing on this bench. Lucky bench.

This is the Dream Chaser. I don't know who this happy fellow is, but he sure looks like a Proud Papa to me. This is a prototype. The real one doesn't look so fancy yet. It doesn't have a glossy finish or anything, and there aren't any cool disco lights in the real lab. If you want to read about the Dream Chaser, you can click right here.

Vocational Classes

 In addition to Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmatic, we've added a vocational program of study to our homeschool curriculum. Here you see the kids participating in a course entitled "Tile."

 Spencer carefully collected all the scraps he could find for a backyard clubhouse project. Unfortunately for Spencer, the above specimen is not a scrap.

We forgot to feed the kids lunch before the Tile class took place, but Eva discovered that the vanilla-flavored tile wasn't bad at all.

And King Herod Died

 Eva and Spencer performed in the Nativity at the ward Christmas party on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get Spencer's death scene on video (he was King Herod). It was quite dramatic and left an impression on everyone in the crowd. He was carried off over someone's shoulder. Several people told me afterwards that Spencer might have a career in acting ahead of him. I had no idea. A star is born. Watch out, Bad Guys.

Eva was an innkeeper in the Nativity. Here she is with her good pal Ava.

Train Track Garland

Friends and Cones

 Spencer's Advice: Make sure the dog is outside when your friends come over. Otherwise, something bad could happen. Rocco looks pretty serious.

Here's what happens when you run out of ice cream.