Complete Dance

Last night Kaitlyn, Erik and I popped by the gym to see the progress the girls have made on their dance. This time I got to see it from start to finish, so now I won't feel like I'm missing anything being away for the telethon on Saturday. She is REALLY excited. Today we went out and bought big, fluffy, pink and white pom poms for the show. She can't wait!!

I hope the gang survives without me. I will sure miss THEM! A week and a half will seem so long I'm sure---but I know once I'm there the time will pass quickly. It will be really nice see everyone, and to spend some quality time together remembering Grandma.

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A Cute Dance!!

Krista's Gymnastics Club is preparing a dance for the "Telethon" which will take place next weekend. The Telethon is organized to raise money for sick individuals. There will be a whole afternoon of presentations and activities and Krista's club will participate. Donations will be accepted in person or by phone. They have been working on this dance for a few weeks now. It is REALLY cute!! I'm sad I will miss the show due to my trip to America. I'm going to sneak back on Wednesday before I leave to see the dance one last time in person before I go. Here is a small clip of part of the dance. ENJOY!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Krista's First Mass as an Altar-Girl

Krista Marie is officially an altar girl now. As of September, she has started her religous study preparations for her First Holy Communinon (bi-weekly classes and masses), so she now has the right to serve during mass. Her First Communion will take place in April of 2009, just before her 10th Birthday. The preparations are much longer here in France and they also receive Holy Communion at a much later age. I believe this is better because the children are more capable of understanding this sacrement. I am very happy that Krista has chosen to become an altar girl. She is very excited about this big responsibility. She did a wonderful job in her first Mass (a few weeks ago for All Saints Day). This is the church where Kaitlyn was baptised just 1 short year ago. On a sidenote, when I was in Catholic school, only boys were able to serve in the masses. I am so glad the times have changed and she is now able to participate freely in our religious services. I am very proud of her.

Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother...1913-2007

I posted a few weeks back about my Grandma and how her time was drawing to a close. Sadly on Saturday November 17th at 11:50 pm my Grandma passed away. She was my only remaining grandparent-- the only link to my childhood days of grandparents. She died quietly in her home, not from illness, but from the tiredness of old age. She died in the same room where her husband passed away years earlier. She lived 94 wonderful years and we will all miss her dearly. I will be off to America with Kaitlyn for the funeral in a week. It is the end of an era for me. I have such fond memories of Grandma from my childhood days and of special holiday celebrations and visits with my grandparents--but even more so of my Grandma, as my Grandfather passed away when I was only 10. I am so thankful that we were able to see her this summer when she was strong and doing well. My children have wonderful memories of their Great-Grandma also. It is amazing that they were able to know her and will always remember her.

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Personality Shots

18 Months Old....

Our sportsman

Basketball Guy

Erik is our real sports guy these days. I don't know whether it is the actual SPORT per se that he is "into", but rather the idea of uniforms in general. He LOVES uniforms. He LOVES dressing up. He is asking for uniforms and costumes of all genres this Chrismas. Seriously, he is ONLY asking for uniforms this Christmas. He has his list all set for Santa. He wants a complete basketball warm-up set and uniform, a complete soccer uniform (shinguards, cleats), a policeman costume, and a cowboy costume! No toys mentioned this year at all. Amazing really. He is such a very creative little boy...and his imagination just runs wild when he dresses up and acts out the roles. It is great fun to watch!

Here he is in his basketball uniform from when he was 1 1/2 years old. I had to dig it out of the storage bags in the basement. It is a size 12 months! Still fits!

Halloween Fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEN!! The gang had a fun Halloween "season" this year. We started off the fun with the American Halloween party, which was a hit. Krista was the same spooky black cat that she was last year, but Erik was a cowboy this year. He LOVES dressing up and had a fun time with his guns. He especially enjoyed making pasta skeltons and eating cookies and candy at the party. Krista did a great job making handprint bats and Kaitlyn stayed at home for naptime!!! A few days later we carved pumpkins and baked the seeds---YUMMY! The kids always love those. They did a great job this year designing the faces and drawing themselves on the pumkins. Then, the was the big fun...Trick or treating last night. We went with our neighbors and had a great time walking around. The temperatures were fairly mild so the kids didn't completely freeze (although their hands were very COLD when we got home). All in all we spent 2 hours on the hunt and Kaitlyn made it through about 45 minutes before she had a complete meltdown. Either she didn't like being out after dark, was scared, hungry, tired or cold...your guess is as good as mine. She didn't really understand anything but I'm sure next year will be fun for her. Here are some of the photos from our Halloween season this year. Enjoy!



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