Merry Christmas!

At the ward party:














At the Cherrys on Christmas Eve:



















Thank you Nana & Papa, and Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Zane, for the presents!

Crazy Houston weather

Our weather is so crazy lately. Earlier this month it actually snowed for the first time in years. The kids had fun running around trying to catch the flakes on their tongues.

Is it really winter?

Last Saturday we went downtown to a new park called Discovery Green. The kids got soaked in the water fountains and had a blast. We also rode the free trolley through downtown and then ate donuts in the park before heading home. It was a fun day!

Misc old pics

I'm finally cleaning up my pictures folder. Here are a few pictures that didn't get put on our blog but should have.

First, here's Claire on her first day at preschool. She goes three times a week. I think she enjoys it even though she insists she doesn't. She has a couple other cute girls that she plays with, but she's adamant about not playing with any of the boys!












I think Claire took this picture in October. Here's Tim trying to fix his chainsaw (again). After Hurricane Ike he found a lot of trees to help cut down. Finally his little chainsaw gave up and he somehow convinced me to let him buy a new (very expensive) one. Of course since then he's only used it once, and the one time he used it, it broke!









In the fall Tyler played soccer at the Y with his best friend Matty. It was really hard to get to the games and practices since I was really sick, but they had a lot of fun.









And here's a fun Halloween pic. Claire was Dr. Siddiqui (our pediatrician), Tyler was Batman, and Scott was Superman.

It's a girl!

Claire was talking all day about how she really really hopes the baby is a girl. It looks like she got her wish! We're so excited!

So far, here are our top names: Rose Elizabeth and Emma Beth (my mom's English name is Elizabeth). What do you think?

So long, old couches!

Well, many of you will be happy to know we finally got rid of the $65 couches we bought when we got married. Actually, the loveseat is now in Tyler and Claire's room. Anyway, the big couch was getting SO uncomfortable--the metal bar from the hide-a-bed always cut into our legs when we sat down--and with me lying around all the time it was time to get something a little more comfortable. So, if you want to know what our new furniture looks like, this is your excuse to come visit us!

Here's Claire's first story:

The Wet Princess
By Claire Chartrand

Once upon a time, there was a princess. Her name was Sleeping Beauty. She was trying to find a house, but she couldn't find one. She had to build one. She didn't know what to do, so she got all the things to build her house. She made a beautiful house, and she wanted to go inside it because it was raining.

The end.

Here's Tyler's first story. I did help him a little with the grammar, but he pretty much made it up on his own in about ten minutes while I wrote down what he said. It's patterned after the series, "If You Give a Moose a Muffin," and has some similarities to it. He shared it with his class, and his teacher also had him share it with a second grade teacher, who (according to Tyler) said it was the best student story she's heard in her three years of teaching. I tried to convince him to draw pictures to go with it, but art just isn't one of his interests. I'm surprised he likes making up stories, since both Tim and I are the opposite! Here goes:

If You Give a Horse a Drink

If you give a horse a drink,
He’ll want some ice to go with it.
The ice will remind him that he wants to play with it.
When he plays with it, he’ll get all wet.
He’ll ask you to get a towel to dry himself off.
The towel will get all wet, so he’ll want to hang it up on a clothesline to dry.
Seeing the clothesline will remind him of a zip cord, and he’ll try it for a zip cord.
He’ll break the clothesline because he hung on it.
He’ll want to go to the store to fix it.
When he feels how chilly it is outside, he’ll ask to borrow a sweater.
When you give him the sweater, he’ll notice that one of the buttons is loose.
You’ll give him a needle and thread.
When you give him the needle, he’ll poke his leg with the needle.
He’ll want you to give him some ice for his leg.
And, chances are, if you give him some ice,
He’ll want a drink to go with it.