At Least He's Paying Attention At Church....

Scott and the other boys got into trouble for not getting their jobs done in time for dinner. This meant they would be going to bed early. Scott was quite irate with me and gave me his usual speech about hating jobs and why did he have to work when all of his other friends didn’t. All the while, steam is coming out of his ears. He then says “God sent us here for a test and it’s not going very well. I’m going to outer darkness. I just know it!”

Afternoon at the Park

We went to the park the other day and the kids had their usual fun until they saw a whole bunch of leaves nearby and suddenly this trip to the park was "the best time I've ever had at the park, Mom!", said Scott. They threw the leaves in the air, they rolled in them, they made leaf angels, they buried Scott in them, and they made a huge pile of them and played Superman!

The Joys of Picture Taking

You know how it is when you want to take a quick snapshot of your kids before you head off to church or wherever. Highly frustrating I'd say. It seems almost impossible to get every one of them looking at you at the same time, let alone smiling at the same time. Good thing they're cute, huh? Here are some of the shots we got. Sadly, there are a lot more.

Merry Christmas!

Joshua was thrilled to get new train stuff for his old wooden train set. We were thrilled this made his train set seem like new and didn't have to spend much!

Noah had it all: candy, more candy, and a remote control jeep.

Scott had mastered his many Lego sets so we thought it was time to move on to bigger challenges...a motorized Erector set!

Steve surprised Elizabeth with a decoration for the mantle in the new home they are buying.

We five Turner kids (and families) gave Mom and Dad a digital photo frame this year.

The one time these boys are excited about jewelry...when it's candy!

I didn't realize it when I took the picture, but note the green star on top of Noah's head. It's really the star on top of the Christmas tree. Am I good or what?

Steve's been waiting for the Star Wars movie sets to come out on DVD and my Mom and Dad delivered.

Last year Steve and the boys bought me this massive stocking and filled it very nicely. It has now become a tradition and I am definitely not complaining.

Checking out the goods in their stockings.

Merry Christmas guys!

Christmas Eve

We were fortunate enough to share Christmas eve with my parents and part of Steve's family. We enjoyed an awesome lasagna dinner and opened some presents from Steve's family. My Mom and Dad hung out in the background because they would be sharing Christmas morning with us later. It was a great evening. I had to take a picture of Noah and Scott reading quietly when they were finished eating. Normally they would be running around like crazy making all kinds of noise, but they must have known presents were coming and they'd best be on their best behavior. They just sat waiting patiently while the adults finished eating. Amazing!

A Peres Tradition...Apparently

Joshua finds a tree he loves. "Cute tree!" he says.

Aunt Anne. Ain't she purty?

Cousins Kristina, Rebecca, and Elizabeth

Scott says "Mom! Can I please take it home? I'll take good care of it." Hey, better than a dog, I say.

Cousin Elizabeth and the "cute" trees.

Every year, rain or shine, Steve's family gets together in Placerville, CA for their annual Christmas tree hunt/picnic. They go to a tree farm, hike through the hills, find the perfect tree, and some staff person comes and cuts it down. They wrap it up all nice and pretty for you and off you go. Everyone brings food to share, a football to toss, and a big appetite. I think I like this tradition.

Cousin Rebecca warms up her shivering little doggy.

Ah, cute.

Uncle Rick

Aunt Anne and Cousin Kristina

Aunt Teresa and Aunt Anne (Steve's sisters)

Scott, Noah, and Joshua

Phyllis and Grandpa Peres

Deck The Halls

Noah

Scott

Joshua

Scott

Scott

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas. We decided this year that since everything is boxed up and ready to move again soon we didn't want to get everything out, so just the bare minimum got put out. The kids did almost all of the work. Steve supervised from the couch--with his eyes closed. They were almost more into taking pictures of each other taking pictures than putting ornaments up.