Lia's Winter Choir Concert

 

Logan's Last Wrestling Match of the Season

Logan and his opponent at the beginning of the match.

Logan and his opponent hand fighting.

Frist take down of the match.

Logan trying to get the other boy on his back.

The boys resetting due to going out of bounds.

Logan shaking hands with his opponent after pinning him and ending the match.

The referee raising Logan's hand as the winner.

Logan's teammates congratulating him after winning his match.

Ella's 1st Gymnastics Meet of the Season

Ella competed in her first gymnastics meet of the season this afternoon at the Holiday Critique Meet at the Tacoma Convention Center.  This was Ella's first time competing in this meet that is a bit unique as they do not hand out medals at the end.  Instead, the coaches give critiques to the group of gymnasts after completing each event throughout the meet.  Ella did a great, earning an 8.2 on beam, an 8.55 on vault, an 8.65 on floor, and a 9.1 on bars with an overall score of 34.5.  This is a great start to the season and I know that Ella will continue to grow and progress over the next few months.  Great job, Ella!

Although I took videos of each of Ella's four events, I did take some pictures of her warming up on each event.  Here she is warming up on the beam.

Ella jumping to the high bar.

Ella doing a cast on the high bar.

Doing an undershoot.

Ella warming up on the beam and going into a cartwheel.

Doing a cartwheel.

Doing a split jump on the beam.

And landing it.

Ella going into her tumbling pass.

Ella going into her round off, back handspring, back tuck.

Ella dancing in her floor routine.

Ella running towards the vaulting table.

Ella going over the table.

Another shot of Ella taking off the springboard. 

My favorite picture from the entire evening.  Ella doing a half on, half off twist off the table.  Look at that awesome, sideways position she is in!

Our Annual Trip to the Living Nativity

We headed out into the rain last night as a family to attend the Living Nativity that we go to every year at an Adventist Church in Auburn.  Although many events are being cancelled right now due to the historic flooding that is happening in our area, the living nativity was luckily not cancelled and we were able to drive up to Auburn without much delay.  We were one of the first groups led out of the chapel to begin our journey to Bethlehem and it was just as wonderful of an experience as it has been in previous years.  I am so grateful that we are able to participate in this Christ-centered activity as a family each Christmas season. 

Emmett was invited to feed the camel this year.

Visiting the Roman court.

The angels singing above the shepherds.

Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph.

All four kids after finishing our journey and enjoying the complimentary cookies and hot cider.

Emmett's 1st Grade Holiday Concert

Since Emmett's school hired a new music teacher for the younger grades, she decided to host a Winter Concert for the first time ever.  Emmett was so excited to perform and was even asked by his teacher to be one of the few students to read some information into the microphone at the beginning of the concert.  Lia got home from her high school's rehearsal and was able to join us right as we were leaving for his 6 pm concert.  Emmett looked so cute in his little suit and bow tie and did a great job singing all three of the songs ("Penguin Polka," "A Million Little Snowflakes," and "Jingle Bells") with the rest of the 1st grade class.

Emmett singing on the front row.

Emmett singing next to his good friend, Clara, who is in the blue dress.

Emmett posing with his big sister after the concert was over.

Lia Sings at PNB's Nutcracker

Although I have always wanted to take both of my girls to Seattle in December to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet perform The Nutcracker, I never could justify the price of the tickets.  However, after finding out that Lia's elite choir group, Vocal Ensemble, sings at McCaw Hall before and during the intermission of one of The Nutcracker performances, I decided to take Ella since Lia was able to see the ballet for free and I was able to buy Ella's and my ticket for 30% off.  Since I haven't seen PNB perform this ballet since 2002 when I went with my mission companion, Sarah McDonald, and her family, I was so excited to return and to share it with Ella.  We had so much fun dressing up and driving into Seattle.  After arriving early, Lia's choir group showed up a few minutes later and we were able to listen to them sing one Christmas song after another in the beautiful lobby for about 30 minutes before the show.  They sounded so amazing and it was so fun to watch Lia sing in such a beautiful venue.  After enjoying the first half of the show, Ella and I went back out into the lobby to find Lia's group singing on the third floor.  We enjoyed watching a lovely second half of this incredible ballet before heading home at 8 pm.  It was a wonderful, mommy-daughter date that I will never forget. 

Ella and I posing in front of the massive Christmas tree in the lobby after arriving.

Since the Waltz of the Snowflakes is my absolute favorite scene in The Nutcracker, I insisted that Ella take a picture with me in front of this photo backdrop.

Lia and some other Altos singing a Christmas song.

A shot of the choir on the stairs in the stunning lobby of McCaw Hall.

Cute Ella posing for me inside a picture box in the lobby.

Since we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the ballet, this is the one I was able to take during the bows at the end.

Santa Parade 2025

For the umpteenth year in a row, I took the kids to downtown Puyallup this evening to see our town's annual Santa Parade.  Although we are in the throws of some very rainy weather, the rain stopped before the parade which made for some very pleasant viewing.  Although we made it downtown a little after the parade had started, I found some amazing (and possibly illegal) parking and we only had to walk a few hundred feet to the road where we watched the parade.  Ella and Emmett squeezed their way to the front of the crowd while Logan and I watched from a few rows behind them.  As always, we had a great time watching all of the lit floats come down our way and enjoyed spotting friends walking or riding with various groups.  This is always such a fun, Christmas tradition and I am so grateful that I still have three children who like to see it with me each year.

Ella and Emmett at the front of the crowd.

A truck pulling a trailer covered in blue lights.

A reindeer semitruck.

A festive firetruck.

As the parade continued, the crowds thinned out and Logan was able to move up to the front with Ella and Emmett.  Here are all three of my kiddos smiling at me.

Taking the Kids to See Lion King

Although I have taken my girls before to see Broadway plays in Seattle, I have never taken my boys.  Since I saw the Lion King in Los Angeles in 2002, I have always said that the one Broadway play I would take all four of my children to see is The Lion King due to how incredible it is and how it appeals to both genders.  So when I found out last spring that it was coming to Seattle, I made the plan to take all four children.  After looking at our crazy December calendar, I decided to stay away from our busy holiday weekends and take them on a school day which is something I have never done before.  I ended up buying tickets to see the opening show which made it extra fun.  Since we had to leave home by 10:30 in the morning, I ended up keeping Ella and Emmett home from school.  After Lia came home from school and quickly got ready, we drove down and checked Logan out of class and headed up to Seattle by 10:45.  We made it there an hour later and had plenty of time to park our car, walk to the theater, and get to our seats before the show began.  Just like the last time I saw it, this musical did not disappoint.  The animal puppets, costumes, sets, songs, and dancing were all amazing and I am happy to report that my boys loved it as much as my girls.  It was such a fun way to kick off our holiday season by enjoying this amazing show together!

All four kids standing in front of the Paramount Theatre when we first arrived.

Standing by one of The Lion King posters next to the theater entrance.

All five of us down on the floor before the show began.  For the first time ever, I splurged and purchased tickets for seats on the floor so that we could see the animals walk right past us.  It was incredible as we were on the end of our row and were only a few feet away from them.