Scott Family Christmas!

We had a great two days celebrating the Christmas holiday with extended family! It was fun and relaxing, and great to have everyone meet Beverly. We also took some time out to celebrate Grandpa's 70th birthday!

We had 17 people in Grandma and Grandpa's house, and so it was loud and crazy ... just the way a family gathering should be! We opened presents and TJ coordinated the "First Annual Scott Holiday Ping Pong Tournament" which was a big success!

I'll let the pictures speak for the fun themselves. Click on them for a full size view!







A few other pics if you click on Beverly's Blog

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary! On Dec 26, 1982 ... Mitch had graduated from college and had been working in banking for just 6 months. I had just finished my last semester of college and would be starting my student teaching assignment in early January. So we squeezed a wedding and honeymoon inbetween semesters.

We had a very small and simple wedding in the chapel of Mitch's church, with a cake and punch reception in the fellowship hall. All of our friends at the time had big weddings with catered dinners and bands ... and at the time, it felt like we were doing something a whole lot less and exciting than they were. But we paid for our own wedding and honeymoon, and the budget of two 22 year olds was tight! Mitch wore a suit and not a tux, I wore a borrowed wedding dress, instead of buying flowers we used the poinsettias still in the church from Christmas, and there were no fancy wedding albums or videos of the day.

Today, the way our wedding ceremony and reception happened are no longer important ... what is important is that we have had 26 good years that have brought our children into our lives. Hard to believe it has been 26 years!

Merry Christmas!

The wrapping paper was flying this morning as the gifts were opened ... and a good time was had by all!

Last night Drew sang at church for the Christmas Eve services at 7 & 9pm, and it was so great to hear his voice fill the sanctuary again. We all went to the early service and then I went back with him at 9 so I could hear him sing again. It was great and a wonderful part of our Christmas tradition to hear him on the special night.

Merry Christmas!

Ice Clean Up!

There was some hope the temperature would warm up enough yesterday to melt some of the ice ... it did a little, but the trees are still bending from the weight of the ice that is on the branches. TJ spent two hours working on the driveway to clear off the ice while Mitch was at work. What you can see him scraping is all ice, not snow!

There will be lots of clean up needed with downed limbs and branches from the trees once the weather allows. But we were more fortunate than many in the area who had large trees fall or were without power all day yesterday.

Slipping and Sliding!

Hate to bump the post with Abby's cute program pictures already (see below) ... but we woke up to probably close to one half inch of ice all over everything! No school today, so an extra day of Christmas break for the kiddos! You can see how much ice is around, and the weight on the trees. While I was out taking these pics, I could hear ice and limbs crashing in the wooded areas around us!

Click on the pictures for a full size view!

I put a few other pictures on Beverly's blog,
http://www.tenmonthsintremont.blogspot.com/

The Kindergarten Christmas Sing!

(click pictures for a full size view) Abby had her very first school program today ... thankfully the kindergarteners are scheduled in the morning on their own time, instead of the rest of the grade school whose program was cancelled tonight due to the forecasted ice storm! She's in the 2nd row from the top, on the right side. Looking away from the camera in this pic, ha ha




She loved getting all dressed up in a new Christmas dress that I bought her for the occasion, complete with her new "jingle bell" earrings. She has already told me she is wearing it again on Christmas Eve to church, and when we go to Grandma's for our family celebration!













We watched the kindergarten classes sing as a group, then each class did an individual song, then another group song at the end. They did a great job. Abby's class sang "Must be Santa" and had these fun Santa faces on during the song!

After the singing was over we were invited to the classrooms for refreshments, and the kids loved showing their parents and extended families around their space! She also took a moment to pose with her two favorite guys, and her teacher and the aide in the classroom!

Christmas Tree Farm!

Today we were off on our annual pilgrimage to find and cut down our Christmas tree! It is a 26 year tradition here for Mitch and I, and a lifelong one for all of the kids. They have never known an artificial tree or one bought from a parking lot somewhere. We have had warm years where we went in short sleeves, cold years where the snow was flying, rain, sleet, snow ... you name it! But one thing that never changes is the fun and tradition, and I know we'll all remember these tree farm trips fondly!

Here are a few fun pictures from the day. Click on them to see a full size version.














There are a couple other pics on Beverly's blog,
http://tenmonthsintremont.blogspot.com/

5th grade band concert!

Our little 5th grade drummer had his band concert debut tonight! They did two songs, and he played his snare drum on one and the bells on the other ... they have a pretty big band for a class their size.

Of course the percussionists are all in the back row, so you can't really see him. But we could definitely hear him! :-)

5th grade has always been in the grade school before ... TJ's class being the first class to move to the Middle School ... so it was the first time the 5th grade band has ever performed in the Christmas Concert. It was really fun to see how far they have come! If you click on the picture to see the full size version, he's in the back row and just to the left of the band director.

Christmas Festival

This weekend I traveled to Kenosha for the Carthage College Christmas Festival. Mitch and the kids stayed home, so I asked a friend, Joan, and her daughter Liz to come along for the ride. We had a really fun time going to the program, spending some time with Drew, and doing some holiday shopping at an outlet mall in the area.

The program was Friday night and was really beautiful. All of the Carthage vocal groups were part of the program, and it was great to see Drew with Carthage Choir. This event serves as a fundraiser for their European Tour in January, so he will earn a bit toward his trip for their three performances (Fri-Sat-Sun). It ended with a beautiful service of light with the entire chapel and all choirs singing "Silent Night" and participating in the candle lighting.

We also got to have dinner with Drew and meet his friend, Sarah. We had a good time getting to know her and I don't think she felt too much like she was attending an inquisition, ha ha. Joan took pictures this weekend too so I may have more to add when she sends them to me.

On the home front, Roxy is settling in well but still full of puppy energy! Here are a couple of recent pics.

Meet Roxy!

For more years than I can count, TJ has wanted a puppy.

Begged for a puppy.

Last night, Christmas came early for TJ!

Meet Roxy, our new 7 week old lab/bulldog mix pup!

She has a lab face and tail, and thick bulldog legs and big feet. She's black/brown brindle colored with four white paws and some other really cute white markings. She's a sweet dog and has already turned our house upside down, ha ha ha

We haven't had a puppy in the house for 12 years ... so it's like starting all over again with a new baby! Our big dog (Rosie) is tolerating her, and the cats are not so sure about it all :-)