Here are a few pics of Christmas 08. I set up the camera to take lots of pics of Chris until he caught me, cuz I cant ever get a good pic of him. So everyone can at least remember what he looks like. The kids had a blast today and got enough even though it was a lean Christmas. Lots of loves.

For Xarrissas birthday this year, we had a slumber party. There were 12 girls between the ages of 8 and 12 there. It was crazyness. We started the party off with the girls making themselves a necklace or bracelet out of beads. There were 5 packages of beads which equaled about 2000 beads at least. Then we pulled out the cupcakes and icing, and sprinkles, and they were able to decorate their cupcakes any way they wanted. Risa opened her presents, and the girls did a dress up fashion show. There were girls watching movies, some in the room painting fingernails, some making more jewelry, some dancing in the living room. It was a mad house. The boys took off and went fishing and camping, and its a good thing too, Chris wouldn't have been able to handle it. We tried getting the cops to come, but our neighbor that calls the cops all the time must have been away from her house that night or MOVED????? Could it be possible? I dont know, but we had the cops called on Benjamins party this year with 15 kids running in and out of the house, a jumping castle in the back yard, and at 2pm on a Saturday. They came and told the lady that she'd just have to deal with it, then announced over their intercom on the squad car "Happy Birthday Benjamin" It was awesome. K. Heres a couple pics.

DADDY GOT A TRUCK AND WENT MUDDING

Daddy has a new truck, and he finally was able to get it dirty. We had a big rain storm early december, and we live near the desert where the water likes to collect. Chris had a blast getting the truck covered. We took a few pics, then went straight to the car wash to clean it up. It took forever, and its a good thing we didn't wait til the mud was dry. It wouldn't have come off at all. Heres a few pics of the carwash scene . There was so much mud. It wstill is dropping off from undeneath. Loves to you all.

Xarrissa is becoming a little lady who likes to be involved in everything. In school, she is in the Student Council, and Choir, which they recently had a concert for Christmas. She draws cartoons for the school newspaper, and likes to read. She has a goal over the Christmas Holidays to win a contest of who can read the most pages in books. She's completed 5 books already, and it hasn't even been a week. She's at over one thousand pages, and plans to get to at least 3000 pages to make sure she's the one to win the Fabulous Prize when school starts again. Cross your fingers for her. Loves to you all.

Official Snow Day Reported In Las Vegas. Its a Miracle!!

Well, The kids actually stayed home for our first ever snow day in Las Vegas. They had a blast playing in the snow on Wednesday night before it got dark, then it stopped snowing by around 10 pm and started melting. By Thursday, there was no snow on the roads and by afternoon everything had melted, but the kids got to stay home still. So one day of school left then they are off for a few weeks. Since this is my first ever post, I'm hoping all turns out well. I'm taking tutoring from Savannah on how to accomplish all of this complicated computer stuff. All I've ever done is check e-mail and surf the web for information. Now that she and I will be doing the Grocery Smarts Training, I felt the need to blog and give my Hopeful Hostesses something to look at to inspire them. I hope all is well with the family this Holiday season, and we hope to see all of you soon. Love from the Oviatts