Mikey's a Cub Scout now!

Hard to believe time flies so fast, but now our little buddy is 8 and a Cub Scout! This was his first week and he's really excited about it. He is proud of his uniform too.

Now with the neckerchief it's complete!

The Sperrys come over...

These were taken over the Christmas holiday when Sarah, John, and their children came over to our 'stead. It's always a blast to have them come by. Our Mikey had just celebrated his birthday on the 21st. Here, John is trying his hand at one of Mikey's games on the computer. John found out that the game, "Turbo Driver" by HotWheels, is tougher to play than Mikey makes it look. :)

Our Hannah just loves it when Arwen, Ellie, and Jack get to play together. Even Breanna, Janessa, and Mikey had fun too.

Christmas at Mike and Juliann's

We've waited all year for this day and we had a good Christmas. We hope the rest of you did as well. As you look at these photos, please remember that this is the one day each year when we don't really mind not looking our best. All had a good time as can be seen.

Below is a picture of our tree, lovingly decked out by our children. The way, I think, trees should be decorated once children get old enough. And Christmas is a time for children anyway.

The photo below was really a Kodak moment. Here we have the big brother reading to his little sister. I say a Kodak moment because it just doesn't happen often enough.

Merry Christmas to all our families!

Mikey's 8th Birthday!!

It was our Mikey's 8th birthday on Saturday, the 21st. As the wonderful boy he is he started out his day going to the arcade at the mall and playing video games. The skateboarding one, seen in this picture above, is one of his favorites. Hannah is watching Bree playing on a game next to him.

He also loves in-the-cockpit racing games. That way he feels like he is really there a part of the action. The plus for him is that his hand-eye coordination is very good; confirmed by his Grandpa Sharp. He also wants to be a race car driver when he grows up, he says.

Later on the next evening, as his birthday was on Sunday, it was time for presents at home, which he was very excited to get underway. He said that he was given everything he wanted, which was great for us, and his Grandparents to hear.

He couldn't even wait to get the above present put together. I was working on it and so was he. Looking back it was kind of funny to have two guys telling each other to wait. Too many men in the kitchen, I suppose.

This last picture is of him standing proudly above his birthday cake. It had a monster truck theme, complete with a monster truck placed on top, which means a lot of frosting for the truck's course, of course! More to come as his other special day approaches...

Two kids on Sunday

Our kids, like everyone else's, look best on Sundays. In Mikey's case, as soon as he gets home, the nice clothes for church come off fast. So my wife has to be even faster to get a snapshot of him.

Hannah needed to get hers taken too, even though she had already changed, but her hair done up pretty.

Our Kids decorating our tree

Our children had a fun time decorating our tree this year. They were so exited it only took 1/2 hour. If I would have tried, I and the tree would be still trying to get off the carpet.

The children really had fun. I had fun too just letting them be busy, excited, loud bees. Just happy little workers.

I thought it was cool (and helpful) that Bree could put on the tree's topper since she is now taller than my wife. That is an important job that I now don't need to perform. :-)

Below is my best Scrooge face. But my wonderful kids and Christmas music snapped me out of it. Life doesn't get any better than having children around.

Hannah's Birthday!

Today Hannah turned 6! She was very happy and we were happy to be there for her. It is surprising that she has been with us that long. We couldn't imagine our family without her and her contributions. She lights up our hearts with her bright, smiling face and cute phrases.

Dad next to the birthday girl...

We would also like to wish Grandma Sharp a Happy Birthday on this fine day. We thank her for the delicious cake she made for our Hannah, and we thank those who sent cards too.

Birthday 39th

My birthday started off with my wife behind her camera, as I should have anticipated. She was in an enviable position in that she was on the safer side of the camera.


We had lots of, children in attendance: our 4 and the Sperry's 3. They all had a fun time, as did all the adults there. Also there were Mom and Dad Sharp. It's always great to have them over.



Here is a shot of some of the wonderful food that
was so well prepared for the occasion. In addition
to the 4 metric tons of (my favorite) Pistachio salad, we also had (my other favorite) Swiss Enchiladas. And the cake was an ice cream cake!
Mmmmm... Heavenly!






We are grateful for those cards and wishes
sent my way. Thank you all!

Church program coming up...

For an upcoming church program, Hannah and Mikey have to practice their respective parts. The program deals with becoming an eternal family. When Hannah says her line, "I hope I can live worthy to be part of an eternal family," she says the word "turtle" instead of "eternal." Very cute, but you can't come right out and laugh. It's more like keeping it to yourself and just smiling. She really wants to memorize it, so she is very serious as she tries.

Duct tape repair...

The other evening one of our candy jars came up damaged. We were told by Mikey, not the guilty party, that he would fix it. So, to repair the damage done, he used a man's best fix-it-all: duct tape. He said, "Here, mom, it's all fixed!" He did a good job, really. Considering his age, 7, I'd say he's ahead of the curve. So, we had to publish it.

Our Halloween crew

Three of our kids went trick or treating with us ; one daughter was spending the night at a friend's house. Their haul was quite substantial!
Since we are from a small town, we decided to hit the closest bigger small town for our candy collection operation.

Janessa was dressed as a regal princess. Mikey was the web slinger, again. Hannah couldn't decide if she would be a cheerleader or a flapper (think 1920s). In the end, the flapper won the nod for the night.

For the actual trick or treating, Hannah decided to be the flapper.

Breanna decided on the witch again this year. What would Halloween be without the obligatory witch? She had a lot of fun though.

A little resemblance here?

But our witch is really a good witch, see?

Breanna's Birthday!!

Our eldest daughter, Breanna, just had a birthday! (October 23) We are very proud of her and now we have our very own teenager. She is a big help to us here at home and we're glad she is our daughter. She is actually Grandma and Grandpa Sharp's first teen.






Here she is with two of her favorite novels, books 3 & 4 of the Twilight saga. She is a blindingly fast reader. (Only she can open the fridge before the light comes on...) And she remembers what she reads, always a plus. She got these books from her aunt Sarah and uncle John Sperry.

Calling it a night

One of the things that our two youngest really enjoy is catching a lift on my cruiser. Here me, Mikey, and Hannah are making the trip and turning in. Yes, we leave the light on for 'em.

Some more pictures of our children

This picture is of Hannah's "new sister," Emily, in answer to Mikey's "brother."

This is a picture of Mikey giving his "new brother" a ride in his Heely (a shoe with a wheel in the heel.) He's even named it, "Larry," after the VeggieTales cucumber by the same name. The "brother" is a cucumber that my wife brought home from church today, and Mikey treats it as the brother he's long been praying for.