Christmas 2010

Lots of celebrating this year.

Auntie Pam, Uncle Markus, Nickolas, and Julia arrived from Zurich on Tuesday.

Quinn arrived home on Wednesday.

Thursday night we saw 

"A Christmas Carol" at the Glendale Centre Theater.

Friday night was the 

Feast of Seven Fishes and Christmas Eve service at the barn.

Christmas morning at home.

Christmas dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's.

So thankful for the time that we had with family.  

Thank you Jesus -- for giving us cause to celebrate!!

Help us to love you and love others.

A Little Night Music

Sarah has wanted to have a caroling party for years.  

Trouble is that she usually thinks to asks about having it in mid-December. 

Kinda hard to plan it then.....

This year she had the invitations all made out in September!!

Ten girls singing sweetly through the neighborhood in beautiful harmony.  

Celebrating and sharing their excitement of their Savior's birth.  

It was a blessing for all!

Fun Day!

Spent a wonderful day at Disney before our passes were blocked out for a few weeks.  

Lovely day -- lots of warm sunshine and pretty quick lines.  

Goofy kids had just as much fun with mustaches out of the vending machine at dinner!

Happy Homecoming

So glad to have Christopher home.  

First stop, Taco Bell.

Sorry that he didn't feel good after........

Four Guys And A Weekend

The Birthday Surprise!

The Destination!

The Fun!

The Food!

The "Work"

The Shopping!

The Recreation!

The Almost Departure!

The View!

yes, right over the Richert abode

The Friends!

Annual Boutique

Our homeschooling group does a Children's Christmas Boutique every year. For years, our kids have participated. They have made everything from dog treats to decorative soap. This year, Sarah has been sewing really cute bags. Then she and the cousins potted paperwhites, and made jam, fudge, and jello play dough to sell together. They had a very profitable day!!

A Few Fancy Evenings

First of all, Sarah and I got a chance to see Phantom the week before it closed. My was that fun! We had an amazing dinner and then enjoyed the incredible performance. We went with a dear mother-daughter combo that have been homeschooling friends for years, but we haven't ever gotten to do anything like that together before.




Then, last weekend, just the (in town) adults took my mom and dad out for a fancy dinner at the Saddle Peak Lodge in the Santa Monica Mountains. We were there to celebrate their 75th birthdays and their 55th wedding anniversary. They had steak and potatoes on the menu for Dad -- that's a must. But they also serve elk, wild boar, buffalo, antelope and more. Its been a while since we've been out without the kids. Made for a much more quiet celebrations than we are used to, but we had a great time.

Traditions

Traditions mean a lot to me. I cherish my childhood memories and the things that we did regularly when I was growing up. I want my children to have happy memories when they look back on their own childhood. Even the things that they find a bit "dorky" now, we still insist we do together.

A little puddle stomping during an unexpected rain.


Doughnut making at Grandma's with Auntie Tommie's old recipe.......made with mashed potatoes. Yummy!!




A drama, supper, front yard bonfire, costumes, and trick-or-treating make for lots on fun on All Hallow's Eve.

Apple Picking Adventure

So we had this great idea -- let's go apple picking after church on Sunday! Sounded like a great idea for a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a few other families. And we found out that there were apple orchards within a couple of hours from us....rather than having to drive 3 - 4 hours into the mountains. I printed out directions to Solvang for everyone. Of course, one of our dear friends thought his GPS had a shorter route.

OK -- what the heck, we'll try shorter!

The road started out as two lanes, but as we made our way through the mountain it got more and more narrow. The higher we went the more twisty the road became. At the top it was barely one lane and the pavement totally ended. The road down the other side of the mountain was dirt and more the size of a bike path rather than a road for two large SUVs. You can imagine the looks that we got from mountain bikers, hikers, and dirt bikers!! We made it, though.

The dirt path from the back seat.


Of course, my camera ran out of batteries right after this shot. Our picnic was fun and the apple picking was short and sweet. But we will never forget our journey to get there!! And yes, Paul washed the car as soon as we got home that afternoon.

While We Were Playing.....

We decided to get in a Disney day before school starts. As we were exiting Small World, Connor's phone rang. It was Christopher!! We had been thinking of him on his way to Africa as we watched the cute little African dolls and animals sing just moments before. Come to find out, his flight was canceled and he was still in Zurich. Just after Indiana Jones, we got another call saying that another flight was canceled and he would be in Zurich another night. Long story short, he is on his way right now to Dubai and will then fly to Entebbe. Our boy is becoming quite the world traveler.

Off To Africa

He's off! Christopher left yesterday for a three month stay in Gaba, Uganda. He will be working African Renewal Ministries at the Wentz Medical Clinic. He decided to take a break from school and wanted to do something purposeful. We are so grateful to the folks of ARM for allowing him this opportunity. We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for him on this journey! His first stop is a short visit with Auntie Pam, Uncle Markus, Nickolas, and Julia in Switzerland. You can follow his journey at

www.chrisrichertuganda.blogspot.com

We miss you all ready, Christopher James Lawrence!!

A Birthday Celebration and a Drama

Yesterday we had friends and family over to celebrate Livi's birthday. We were also entertained by a hysterical skit that Sarah wrote. She wrote it right before we left for vacation and the girls practiced while we were in Jackson. They put together their own costumes and Tegan helped out with makeup.