Erica's 14th Birthday

Erica turned 14 on Wednesday.  She got out of school and went to Wendy's for lunch.  After school I told her that we were going to see Frozen after dinner.  She was excited and enjoyed the movie.  She then opened presents and had Oreo Ice Cream Cake.  People in the office at school sang to her twice.  The young women and leaders sang to her and gave her cards and gifts.  She had a good birthday.

Erica's smile and laugh always light up the room.

Erica is doing great in school and likes junior high even though she thought she wouldn't.  She has been very responsible with her grades and homework.  Erica talks to her teachers whenever she has a question or problem, which is great.  She likes to hang out with her friends and watch Studio C whenever she gets the chance.

The day after her birthday Erica was slow getting ready for school.  When asked why she eventually responded "I thought since it was my birthday yesterday I could just stay home and have fun today."  It didn't work.

Christmas 2013

We had Grandma and Grandpa Elder over for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

On Christmas Eve we did the traditional reading of scriptures and singing Christmas hymns and primary songs.  The kids all slept in the basement.  We set up the tent for them but it smelled bad so we took it down and they slept on the floor.

Here is the tree on Christmas Eve.

This is the only picture I took on Christmas.  Joshua was so excited about his Iron Man masks he was speechless.  When we opened apple juice from Grandma Eli did several fist pumps.  We enjoyed, as always, the kids opening gifts from each other.  Erica gave Joshua a hug after opening fuzzy socks from him.  We all got many nice things.  The girls tried on clothes and the boys played with toys after the gifts were all opened.  After lunch we rearranged the kitchen to fit in the new dishes Charles got.  It is nice to have matching dishes when we sit down to a meal.  We are still adjusting to the rearranged kitchen.  Each of us goes to the wrong cupboard or drawer occasionally.

During the break from school we went to a restaurant to eat, went bowling, played the new games we got and put together puzzles.  For New Year's Eve we invited Curtis and Marianne to play games and have snacks.  Cherilyn and Allison went to a dance for most of the evening.

For Thanksgiving this year we stayed home.  We enjoyed the time together.  On November 16th we went to my parents.  My mom and her sisters threw a 55th wedding anniversary party for my grandparents.  It was fun to get together with family for a short time.  Seeing my grandma literally bouncing up and down was priceless.