More Powder Shots!

Here are a few from what was supposed to be our "family" ski day but Andy was home sick with a nasty cold so it ended up being just me and the kids.

Here are the Powder Shots from Snowbird:

So proud of him!

Love that she's grinning ear to ear!

Happily enjoying a Hershey's kiss while riding the lift

A New Kendallism

Today Kendall and I went to Petco and while we were there we got to see some "skinny" pigs!

Meeting a Denver Bronco

Bring a Denver Bronco to School Day?

It was for one of Riley's classmates.  Riley's friend, Kaden, is the little brother of Denver Bronco, Zane Beadles.  Now that Zane's NFL season is over, he came home to visit Utah and one of those stops included Grace Lutheran School and Miss G's 2nd grade class.  Zane is also a former Ute standout.  Most of the kids at Grace are Utes fans by default, which made this visit even more special.  Denver is the closest NFL team to SLC and some of these kids remember seeing Zane play for Utah and have continued to watch him in the NFL.  Kaden is pictured above with his brother Zane.  He came to talk to the kids about what he does for a living.  The kids were able to ask him questions and he talked to them about what it's like to play football in the NFL.  Zane is an offensive lineman who's job it is to protect Tim Tebow.  What a great conversation for kids in a Christian school, huh?  

A happy bunch of second graders posing with Zane Beadles from the Denver Broncos!  This totally made Riley's day!  He talked about meeting Zane the ENTIRE way home from school.  On a side note, last year during our Jog-A-Thon, we were about $500 short of meeting our $13,000 goal.  Thankfully after a call from Jill, Kaden's mom, Zane graciously donated the remaining $500 to meet our goal!  What a great guy!  So glad my kids are able to be exposed to people like Zane.

What a Week!

It's just been one of those weeks here around the Chunko house.  Andy was gone all of last week, sick as a dog over the weekend and gone all of this week.  So basically I have had NO break from my little munchkins for two weeks.  To top it off, our sweet 12 yr. old Penton got sick this week.  I was scared to death we were going to lose her on Tuesday night.

Tuesday is our busy day.  Both kids have school which means multiple trips to Grace during the day.  I also had a friend over to do some crafting that afternoon.  After school is when it gets really busy.  Kendall has dance class at 4:15 and Riley has scouts at 6:30.  Instead of a den meeting this week, we were given the opportunity to go to Chili's for a fundraiser dinner - 15% of the bill went to his pack.  We met another family there (who's hubby is in the marines and gone until March).  Her two oldest kids are the same ages as our kids and they get along really well.

So after a crazy day, and a nice meal with another adult, we get home to discover Penton had peed and pooped all over the kitchen.  She came hobbling out of the family room (where she's NOT allowed) into the kitchen to see us.  Immediately I knew something was wrong.  She could barely walk and she doesn't usually have accidents in the house.  She also didn't seem herself - she was shaking, panting and extremely nervous.

I tried to call our vet, but unfortunately by 8 pm, they were closed.  I called the 24hr. ER Vet in Sandy and explained what I knew.  They suggested she had a seizure.  THAT freaked me out.  All I kept thinking about was I can't lose my dog tonight while Andy is away.  Not in the middle of the night with two kids by myself.  I asked the vet what I could do to ease her anxiety and what to look for.  I decided to just wait and see would be the best course of action.

In the meantime I had Riley put himself and Kendall to bed (He's so dear to help me out that way.  Both kids said prayers for Penton before bed.)  I called Kevin and put him on alert.  I warned him that I might need him to come watch the kids in the middle of the night while I took her to the vet if she had another seizure.  I also sent a message to Kenna who is a friend of mine who watches our kids for us a lot.

This is a picture of Penton Tuesday night.  You can see how scared she was by the look in her eyes.  She's a tough dog and can tolerate a lot of pain, but to see her scared and nervous freaked me out even more.

I got Penton comfy and calmed down near the laundry room so I went into the family room to clean some things up and to look up some info on seizures.  I heard Penton shuffling around on her bed so I went to check on her.  It was dark to try to keep her calm and peaceful.  In the dark I smelled urine.  I later came to find that she had peed while continuing to lay in it.  She was shaking and panting heavily again.  I was concerned she had a smaller seizure.  Thankfully just at that time Kenna called to check in on Penton.  Kenna offered to come over and help me figure out what to do.  As soon as Kenna took one look at her she became the voice of reason for me.  She helped me get Penton into the back of my car and I called Kevin on the way and asked him to meet me there.  I was terrified I'd have to put her down and didn't want to do that alone.

We got to the vet and he took a good look at her and decided that she didn't have a seizure but instead has idiopathic vestibular disease.  I had never heard of this before but he said it's common in older dogs.  The nerves between their middle ear and brain go haywire and they get really dizzy and have balance problems.  That was why she couldn't walk well.  She also had a head tilt and eye twitching.  The nervousness and panting were do to the stress and fear of not understanding what was happening to her.  He said there is no medication for this condition and that it should subside in about a week.

What a relief that it wasn't seizures or a stroke, which both have similar signs as vestibular disease.  The sad thing is that she struggles to walk.  The carpet, which she's not allowed on, and the grass seem to offer her the most stable conditions for walking.  She falls over or her back legs give out often.  She hasn't eaten for the past 2 days which also has me concerned.  She's lost her spark.  She looks so sad in her eyes because she doesn't understand what's happening to her.  It breaks my heart because I can't do anything to help her feel better.  I have broken my rule about the carpet for now.  She slept there last night.  We leave a light on at night for her to help orient her if she wakes while it's dark.  I try not to carry her so that she feels more grounded, even if it means her legs give out.

I'm hoping that she recovers sooner rather than later.  She's such a sweet hearted dog and I hate to see her suffer like this, but I'm thrilled that it will pass and she should be her old self before long.  We adopted Penton when we lived in Albany, NY from the humane society.  She's been with me through almost my entire married life.  She was our "kid" for many years and has always been an important part of our family life.  I know at some point, her life will end.  I'm just very thankful that it wasn't this week, while I was solo.  I'm also so grateful for Kevin and Kenna.  Knowing I could count on both of them in a difficult time while Andy is gone.  It's so comforting to have that security here with no family to lean on in times of struggle.  And just in case I didn't have enough going on this week, God decided I could use another challenge and allowed me to get sick.  I've been under the weather (fighting it as long as I can) most of the week and it's finally all caught up with me.  Guess He thinks I can handle it, right?

If you have an older dog, you may want to check out more on vestibular disease HERE.  I had never heard of it before and if I knew about it in advance I might have been less freaked out.

More Skiing

Today was supposed to be a family ski day, but Andy ended up getting a nasty head cold this weekend so I fulfilled the promise to the kids by taking them to Snowbird solo.  It was a fantastic day.  Kendall was determined to do everything that her big brother did - including following him over jumps and through the trees!  She does NOT want to be left behind!

Here are some pics and video from our day:

 My happy little skiers!

Thankfully Riley didn't mind riding up the lift alone all morning!

My flying sofa buddy - she almost cleaned me out of Hershey kisses today!

Waiting on Kendall and mom

Thankfully Kevin met up with his nephew Tristam (who is also friends with Riley) after Tristam finished with his ski practice.  We all had lunch together after a few more runs.  After lunch Tristam and Kevin took Riley out for a few runs.  They went up to Mineral Basin and then took Chip's Run across to get over to Baby Thunder - one of Riley's favorite areas.  They also went up to Bassackwards - which is one of my favorites!

Kendall and I continued practicing on Chickadee until the boys were done.  Riley was so grateful to ski with Kevin and Tristam - he talked about it the entire time on the Snowbird bus to the car!

Andy is thankfully starting to feel better but was pretty bummed to have missed out.  He was looking forward to it all of last week.  Maybe we'll head up again next weekend.

Momma's Little Chickadee

Today I took Kendall up to Snowbird for a mommy/daughter ski day.  The canyon road was closed this morning due to an avalanche and by the time we headed up, it was bumper to bumper traffic!  Snowbird was PACKED today!  I haven't seen it that full all season!  Cars were parked out on the canyon road!

Kendall did a fantastic job skiing today.  We started out using a friend's harness but quickly realized it was completely unnecessary.  I wanted it for an "emergency brake" so to speak, but she did just fine after two runs.

After we practiced her "pizza" wedge to stop, we started working on snake turns.  She's not thrilled about doing them, but she can and knows she has to if she wants to ski with her big brother.

I admit I did use some external motivation to keep her going.  If she did what I asked without complaint, she would get a Hershey kiss on the chair lift (aka flying sofa) ride to the top.  It gave her motivation as well as kept her energy levels up.

We broke for lunch when she started to fuss and whine.  Nothing like pizza and root beer to make her happy again!  After lunch she was rested up and ready to head back out.  We practiced more snake turns until it was time to go get Riley from school.  A great surprise as we were leaving was to see her ski school teacher Courtney.  They shared a big hug and she asked how Kendall did skiing today.  Courtney was such a sweet teacher and perfect for Sissy.  Ski school was money well spent for sure!  Today was a great day - I really enjoyed skiing with Kendall. We had so much fun and she was asleep shortly after pulling out of the parking lot!

Here's just a snapshot of our day at Snowbird today.  Enjoy!

Even More Reason to Dislike Tom Corbett

Below is an article from The Moderate Voice written by Walter Brasch.  It shows Tom Corbett's involvement in the JS scandal at PSU.  It fuels my frustration of the entire situation.  This is the stuff the national media outlets have not put on air but should have.  I don't know many people who like Corbett in PA (maybe that's because I have a lot of teacher friends there and he's not a big supporter of keeping the educational system in PA funded properly!)  Enjoy the article!

Sanctimonious Hypocrites Can't Diminish The Warmth For Joe Paterno

Gov. Tom Corbett (R-Pa.) praised Joe Paterno and ordered flags on all state buildings to fly at half-staff for four days.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who had said he was “personally disappointed” in Joe Paterno for not doing more to alert authorities in the Jerry Sandusky case, while acknowledging that Paterno did nothing illegal and followed university rules for conduct.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who, as attorney general, assigned only one investigator to the case in 2009, while devoting almost innumerable personnel and financial resources to prosecute high-profile cases that could help lead him to the governor’s office.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who had the authority to order the arrest of Jerry Sandusky as soon as the claims were made, but who allowed the investigation to drag two years.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who stepped up the investigation only in the third year, after he was elected governor.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who accepted about $200,000 in campaign donations from trustees of Sandusky’sSecond Mile foundation and then danced around questions of why, as governor, he authorized a $3 million grant to theSecond Mile.

That would be the same Tom Corbett who as an ex-officio member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, with the power to increase or decrease state appropriations to the university, big-footed his presence to demand that the Trustees do something to Joe Paterno.

Now, let’s look at the Board of Trustees. On Jan. 22, the day that Joe Paterno died from lung cancer, the Board issued a honey-dripped PR-laden written commemoration.

That, of course, would be the same Board that, influenced by the harpies of the media and a horde of the public who knew everything about everything, except people and football, had wanted to terminate Joe Paterno’s contract after his teams had losing seasons in 2003 and 2004. He was too old, they said. He was getting senile, they claimed. His coaching strategy was too conservative, they cried with the shrill cry of a wounded hyena. But, an 11-1 season in 2005 quieted their panic. And so they stewed, knowing that a football coach, educator, philanthropist, and humanitarian had a greater reputation than all of them combined.

That would be the same Board that violated every expectation of due process, listened to the other sanctimonious hypocrites who were quick to condemn someone without knowing the facts, and by a cowardly and impersonal phone call violated four levels of the chain of command and fired Joe Paterno hours after he had announced his retirement. It was their pathetic way to make people believe they, not the most recognizable person in Penn State history, were in control. The reality, of course, is they botched the firing in a feeble attempt to protect themselves, not Penn State and, certainly, not the rights of a tenured full professor, who had given 61 years of service to the university.

That, of course, would be the same Board that should have known for at least six months, and probably longer, of a grand jury investigation into Jerry Sandusky’s conduct, but apparently had no crisis management plan to deal with what would become the greatest scandal in its 156-year history.

That, of course, would be the same Board that had operated in a culture of secrecy that regularly violated the state’s Sunshine law and enjoyed its status as receiving state tax moneys while not having to be under the glare of the public right-to-know law.

That, of course, would be the same board that includes the CEOs of U.S. Steel, Merck, and a major division of the Bank ofNew York Mellon; and an assortment of senior executives from insurance, investment, and education. Even a retired assistant managing editor of The New York Times is on the Board. And, yet, this Gang of 32, which should have known better, bumbled, stumbled, and proved that malfeasance and incompetence is what it should be best known for. For the most part, they acted like undergraduates struggling to earn a grade of “C” in a course in human relations, having already decided they didn’t need the course in business communications.

Now, let’s turn to the new president. The Board forced the resignation of a respected 17-year president for not doing enough to investigate the Sandusky allegations. By most accounts, the new president, formerly the provost and executive vice-president, is a decent person with a good academic reputation. But, is it credible that if the No. 1 person should have known more and done more, how could the No. 2 person be ignorant of the allegations. Nevertheless, the Board sent the newly-minted president out on nothing less than a belated PR field trip to calm the rising storm against the Board for its incompetence and insensitivity in firing Joe Paterno. At three meetings with hundreds of alumni, the new president, facing alumni wrath, did little to alleviate their anger. But, he promised the university would do something—he didn’t know what—he didn’t know how or when—to honor Joe Paterno.

Of course, since the Board was so inept, secret, and hypocritical in its own actions, it had no idea what it was going to do.The Board statement the day of Joe Paterno’s death merely stated the university “plans to honor him,” and is considering “appropriate ways.”

The greatest honor will not come from the Board, the administration, or even the Legislature, many of whom sought the media spotlight to pander to certain voters by condemning the coach. At the statue by Beaver Stadium, thousands of students, staff, faculty, and community residents are coming to pay their respects. Hundreds had met him, for he was one of the more accessible persons in the community, often walking home alone from practices and games; his phone number was in the book; his home was in a quiet residential area not a mansion on a hill reserved for the wealthy. Most of the mourners had never met him, but they all knew him.

On Tuesday, about 27,000 people from all over the United States stood in line up to three hours to walk past the body ofJoe Paterno, guarded by past and present scholar-athletes. NFL super-stars and football fans, academics and those who never went to college, all were there to honor the man who was an outstanding quarterback and cornerback who earned an English literature degree from Brown University, one of the more prestigious in the country; a man who later created the “Great Experiment” to develop and promote a winning football program that would make education and citizenship more important than sports, and would make “success with honor” more than words.

Within ten minutes, mourners grabbed the first 10,000 tickets for a Thursday memorial at the Bryce Jordan Center. The center capacity for the memorial is 12,000.

Sue Paterno need not have worried when she quietly asked some mourners to keep her husband warm. When journalism turns into history, it will be written that Joe Paterno had done more than was expected, in every part of his life. The people, not the governor or the trustees who will quickly be forgotten in the cold, will keep Joe Paterno warm.

[Dr. Walter Brasch is an award-winning journalist, former tenured full professor, and author of 17 books. His current one is Before the First Snow: Tales from the Revolution.

Money Well Spent

This year was the first year that Kendall was old enough to enroll in ski school at Snowbird.  Riley's been in the program for two years now and has done extremely well so we decided to fork over the $ for Sissy to learn.  We were planning to use those Saturdays to get some skiing in ourselves but Mother Nature didn't cooperate.  It's been just under 2 weeks since Kendall's last lesson and I wanted to get her back out to keep practicing so she wouldn't lose interest and wouldn't forget all that she had learned.  

Kevin was available yesterday so he came with us to Snowbird to take her on the magic carpet.  She was so excited for Uncle Kevin to come and watch her ski.  I was so pleased to see that she's starting to get the idea of making turns!  Tomorrow we're planning to have a Mommy/Daughter day at Snowbird and spend it on Chickadee!  She's ready to move on and have more of a challenge.  Her teacher spent most of the last day of ski school with her on Chickadee so she'll know what to expect.  I'm so proud of her!  She made the adults who were learning to ski look bad!  ;)  She's picked it up quickly!  Soon both kids will be out skiing their parents!

Why We Are Now Loyal NIKE fans

If you missed the Joe Paterno memorial that was aired live today for 2 1/2 hours on ESPN and Big Ten Network, you missed out. I used up almost half a box of tissues today. I had to drive to school to pick up Riley with my sun glasses on because my eyes were swollen. My sweet little girl came into the room and saw I was upset and asked if I was alright. I told her I was and she turned and looked at the TV and saw Jay Paterno and said "Mommy I'm sorry that guy died." I told her that I was sorry too.

I applaud Phil Knight (founder and CEO of Nike) for his tribute to Joe today. I'm so glad he took a stand and publicly said what a lot of us PSU fans and Joe supporters have been feeling these past few months. You may not agree and that is certainly your choice. But I have read A LOT of info on this issue and feel in my heart that Joe was made out to be a scapegoat by numerous parties involved. I was enraged by the media and their treatment of Joe to earn ratings. I was shocked and mortified by people who were so quick to judge and condemn Joe without all the facts - and YES some media outlets were reporting misinformation about the situation. I am frustrated by the fact that the Grand Jury report that was published and what people were basing their opinions on, was not accurate on the testimony of Mike McQuerry...The list could go on all night.

The fact is, Joe will always be a hero and a legend in our house and our kids will be taught Success with Honor. We would be PROUD to have our kids attend PSU someday if they so choose, and become a part of his legacy that the current student body is determined to continue and pass down.

God bless you Phil Knight for standing up for our hero today!  Click on the link below to see Phil's tribute to Joe.

Nike Head Phil Knight: JoePa A Hero, Not A Villain - Video - WTAE Pittsburgh

RIP JoePa

As most of you know, we are avid Penn State fans in our house.  What may of you don't know is that we stand behind Joe and his unfair treatment by the university and from the media.  We continue to believe Joe was the man we always knew him to be and never once did he reveal anything different in his character.  He was a true inspiration to everyone who's path he crossed and to those who loved his "Grand Experiment" and Success with Honor motto.  He was a man of integrity, honor and character even to his death.  He never held resentment or bitterness towards the university he dedicated his life to - which I don't think I could ever be that gracious after the way he was treated.  Leave it to Joe to teach us a lesson even in his death.  

Here are some pictures from the www that have caught my eye and struck a chord with me.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

So true to Joe's character!

We are...Because you were!

Rest in Peace Joe and God Bless the Paterno family for sharing Joe with all of Pennsylvania and the Penn State community.

A New Favorite Song

The kids and I spend a good deal of time in the car - driving to school, driving home from school (multiple times on Tues/Thur because of preschool) , to Little Gym, to ballet, to karate, to scouts, bible study and then of course the grocery store, errands, etc!  When the kids are in the car with me it's almost always a Christian station we are singing along to (I'll admit to exposing them to country music every now and again).

The kids favorite song us to be Lift Me Up by The Afters.  What a FANTASTIC song!  Kendall can name that tune with just a few bars - like that show Name That Tune?  She absolutely LOVES this song.  She sings it all the time - at home, at school, at the park, etc.

Recently we've been hearing Andy Cherry's Our God's Alive on the radio. We listen to Air1, KLOVE, and The Message (XM) in the car. After hearing it a few times, we were hooked. The kids wanted to know who sang it and wanted to hear it over and over.  I have this awesome app on my phone that's called Sound Hound.  If you hold the phone out near the speakers, it will tell you what the name of the song is and who sings it.  It also allows you to download it from itunes right from the app.  So that's what we did and the kids request it daily (and usually ask me to put it on repeat).

If you aren't familiar with this song, take a listen...I really like it. This is his single and his album should be out this spring. I can't wait to hear the entire album after just hearing this one song. Hope the rest is as good!

When I have the kids attention, I want to make sure I am exposing them to something that aligns with our values as a family.  Christian music is one of the few genres that I completely trust with little ears in the backseat.  I always think of that song "Be careful little ears what you hear."  We have such a short time to mold them and influence them and I'm trying my best through what we spend our time listening to in the car.  

No Surprise

As I was reading an article in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning on the topic of education in the state of Utah, I came across this quote:

"...only about 27 percent of Utah high school students who take the [ACT] exam score high enough in all four tested subjects to be considered ready for college and careers. About half of the students entering Utah’s open enrollment colleges have to take remedial classes, and only about 58 percent of the University of Utah’s freshmen graduate within six years of starting, a relatively low rate compared with similar institutions across the nation."   

Really?  And this surprises anyone?  The entire article can be found HERE if you are interested in reading the entire story.  They highlight one charter school in the article and how they have managed a higher success rate with graduation as well as test scores.  If you haven't ever tried to get into a charter school in Utah, you don't understand how stressful it can be...it's a lottery!  The only pull you get is if you have another child enrolled in the school.  I tried to get Riley into two charter schools that are located less than 1 mile from our house in either direction.  There are at least 3 charter schools just in Draper alone!  Makes you wonder why charter schools are so popular?  It's because it's FREE and you get a much better education than the regular public school.  So basically you get the advantage of a public school without paying a cent!  You can imagine the demand at enrollment time.  

When we decide educating our children is really important to us as a society, then maybe we'll have more schools like these charter schools or private institutions.  Then we'll have more parents who value a quality education and encourage children to do their best and be accountable for their education.  As for us (and you all know how difficult it is to satisfy me being a former teacher) we will most likely be paying to educate our children until they are 22 years old.  How sad is that?  But it's the one gift I want to give our kids - a quality education.  It's one my parents made sure that I had and I appreciate that they valued education.  My kids will know how important knowledge is to their futures.  Whether they choose to go to college or into a trade - it won't be because they couldn't get into a good college, it will be because that's what best suits their needs and desires.

Okay...getting off my soap box now.

More Powder Shots!

Yesterday Riley had a GREAT day at ski school - actually both kids did fantastic according to their teachers.  Riley's teacher isn't my choice of an enthusiastic type personality to be working with kids.  He's older and not full of enthusiasm like you'd expect.  The first day wasn't a good one for Riley, but each week has gotten better.  When I picked Riley up on Saturday, his teacher said that Riley's first day he appeared to be the weakest of the group and now he's the best in the class!  Way to go Riley!  We couldn't be more proud of him, especially with the instructor he's with.  We were anticipating having to request a different instructor because of their differences in personality, but Riley was so thrilled with his performance on Saturday that I'm glad we decided to have him stick it out and learn to deal with people who don't naturally match up with his personality (that's what life is full of so why not practice it now, right?)

Here is Riley with his ski mates and his teacher

A powder day!

I may have to buy this one...

Kendall's teacher is INCREDIBLE!  She's young and full of energy and excitement.  She's perfect for our little snow bunny.  Kendall and her teacher couldn't wait to tell us that she skied down Chickadee THREE times in her afternoon session!  She was grinning from ear to ear.  Courtney said that she'd like to see if Kendall can ski without her edgie wedgie next week.  Maybe I'll take her up to Snowbird some day this week before we pick up Riley from school.  It's a nice perk that the kids' school is near the mouth of the canyon!  It's about 8 miles from Grace to Snowbird.  

The kids have only one more day of ski school left before they become our responsibility to teach and practice.  We had anticipated getting lots of skiing in while they were in school, but with our lack of early snow, we couldn't justify the expense of the lift tickets when the entire mountain isn't open and to ski on crappy snow.  My dad calls us ski snobs because we will wait for better days ahead.  I guess if the shoe fits...

Powder Shots

At Snowbird they have photographers who are out on the mountain snapping photos of skiers during the day.  Last Saturday there was a photographer out on the Chickadee Bowl area (where the Magic Carpet is located) while Kendall was getting her lesson.  I haven't purchased them so that's why so see the Powder Shots logo on the picture.  I thought they were worth posting regardless.  I may consider a purchase in the future, but for now, here's our little "powder hound" as her daddy calls her.

This is the exact reason that she's in a lesson - you see that "pizza" or snowplow position she's in?  She gives me a hard time about practicing it but will do it for Courtney, her instructor, all the time!  Little Stinker!  Courtney has been great about sharing what teaching techniques she's been using with Kendall so we can both use the same language and I can have Kendall practice the same skills in the same manner.  Last weekend she had to use a stuffed animal to help motivate Kendall.  Good tip to remember!  She would throw the lion into the snow and have Kendall ski down and stop to pick it up.  She also tucked it into her vest so she was skiing with the lion.  Sounds like the famous "whatever works" philosophy I've utilized many times!

Celebrating Christmas From Across the Country

Since it's unlikely we'll be dragging the kids across the country for Christmas again since it's pure torture and terribly stressful while they are little as well as awfully expensive at the holidays - we celebrate with Grammy and Pappy Chooch by sending gifts through the mail.

This year Pappy Chooch sent the kids these awesome doodle boards that use a stylis pen and erase with the touch of a button!  They will be great for travel in the car.  Riley also got an awesome railroad pocket watch.  It's a Pennsy (PRR) watch and the best part...It was made by Hamilton Watch where my grandfather worked in our hometown of Lancaster, PA!  Kendall received a cute Barbie pocket sized radio with headphones.  She dances around the house while playing tunes!

Grammy gave the kids some special gifts too!  Riley received some new video games for his DS player.  He was thrilled with Transformers and Kung Fu Panda to add to his collection.  He also received a Bumble Bee Transformer KREO (Lego) set.  He had Bumble Bee assembled in less than 30 min!

Since Kendall received a Leap Frog Tag reader from Santa, Grammy thought it would be nice to add to her collection of books to read with it.  She gave Kendall a Cinderella and a Tangled book as well as a pack of 6 phonics books.  Kendall loves to listen to the stories with her tag reader.  This way she can "read" books during her rest time in the afternoons.  Grammy also gave Kendall a friend for Strawberry Shortcake.  She got Plum Pudding and was so thrilled!

It's difficult, as you can imagine, to live far away from our families.  It is very unlikely we would ever move back "home" so we have to try to create the best environment for our kids with the time we have at the holidays.  The best part is that it has made us a very close-knit family.  We spend a lot of time together and actually get to enjoy our time together, especially with Andy's crazy travel schedule.  We're not over scheduled, trying to visit everyone or attend every family function.  We have time to stop and actually enjoy the season.  The sad thing is that our kids won't have the same type of memories of the holidays as I had growing up.  Each holiday was spent the same way every year with extended family included in most of them.

Our kids ended up having a great Christmas and are very blessed little munchkins.  They feel very loved by all choose to be a part of their lives no matter where they live.  We are grateful for technology like this blog, skype, facebook and now facetime to better keep in touch with our loved ones.

It's sad that the kids don't get to see their Grammy and Pappy Chooch more often, but we try to do the best we can with the resources we have.  The kids haven't seen them since June and we don't know when they will see them again.  But thankfully Grammy and Pappy Chooch are often included in their prayers.  Kendall has had numerous pretend phone conversations with Pappy Chooch on her little Minnie Mouse play phone.  They are a part of our lives even if we don't get to see them often.