A lot to be thankful for!

We have been so busy this past month that time just seems to be flying by!  Brody had his first official school program.  He participated in the school's Veteran's Day program.  All of the school was involved in some way and they put on a really nice program and lunch.  Brody's class (along with the other Kindergarten and the two first grades) sang two songs.  He did great and I was so proud of him!

Brody's class and the other Kindergarten classroom put on their annual Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast the week of Thanksgiving.  The kids did a little program and then had bread, popcorn and grapes with their families.  It was very cute and nicely put on by the teacher's.

Briana had her annual Christmas open house at school two weeks ago.  This is such a great event they put on every year.  The kids get to play games in the different classrooms, decorate cookies, do a craft and of course see Santa!  We had a great time!

We were able to spend Thanksgiving this year with cousin Carter which was great.  Kimberly had spent a week and a half in China so Carter got to spend a lot of time with his Iowa family.  Grandma Barb traveled to Denver for a week to watch him and then brought him back to Iowa.  I got to spend a day with him too which was a lot of fun!  He gets along so well with the kids and is a joy to be around. We definitely miss him when he goes home!

We made our annual trip to the Festival of Trees.  With Carter in town all of the cousins got to go together this year.  Brody and Briana enjoyed all of the crafts and games and of course seeing Santa!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of the family.  For our side this year we rented a banquet room at a hotel and the kids got to go swimming which was a highlight of their day!  We celebrated at Grandma Candy's after with snacks and dessert.

Briana had her first official parent/teacher conference last week.  She is doing very well in school and is a joy to have in class.  We are working on writing her name and she is getting better with that everyday. She is learning her letters and letter sounds.  She is very into art and drawing right now. She has made lots of new friends this year and really loves to go to school!

I continue to be super busy with different things at Brody's school.  I am finishing up our wreath sale fundraiser this week that I helped co-chair with another Kindergarten Mom.  It has been a learning experience for us and has kept us super, super busy!!  But now that we know what we are doing it will go smoother for us next year.  My kids have been amazing helpers and have worked hard to sell wreaths!

We are almost ready for Christmas! I have almost everything done I just need to wrap.  I am usually done way earlier than this but have been so busy this year that I am almost down to the last minute. We are looking forward to Tim having some time off work and the kids being off school and just getting to enjoy some down time as a family!  We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!