Sunday Good Times

Our friend Margaret came for lunch yesterday and brought her nail polish. The girls were excited to see all of the designs Margaret can make on fingernails including Christmas decorations. When Margaret was through Alyson had 1 Santa, eight reindeer, and Rudolph on her nails. Ellary opted for alternating candy cane stripes and reindeer, and Kourtney requested ladybugs. You can see how beautifully they turned out. We are blessed to have Margaret as a friend not because she knows how to make the girls happy with nail polished but because she is a very genuine and fun person. It was great getting together with her!

Before bedtime the kids and I sat at the table around Oma's lit Christmas tree. We drank hot chocolate, ate candy canes and gingerbread men as we played Uno and listened to an old Elvis Presley Christmas record of Oma's. We enjoyed the glow from the candles and had fun playing Uno together. It was a mix of Allee/Farnsworth traditions! We look forward to doing this again several more times before Christmas.

Ellary's dance class

Ellary has been enjoying her dance class very much. Last week her class informally performed for the parents. She is very good at following her teacher. I love  seeing how far Ellary is coming as a dancer, and it's wonderful how much she loves it!

Trip to the Chicago Temple

The Friday after Thanksgiving our family met some friends in Chicago and went to the temple. We swapped watching our children at the Kohl's Children's Museum. It was very peaceful to be at the temple again. The children also had a wonderful time playing with their friends. Thank you Hubers for inviting us to go with you.

Thanksgiving Day Berbee Derby

Keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, our family participated in a 5k this year. Instead of running the Turkeyman 5k in Lansing we ran the the Berbee Derby in Fitchburg . Alyson ran with Kris who was pushing Ellary and Keegan in the double stroller. Kourtney ran with me as I pushed Joel. Unfortunately, it was a pretty rough experience as it was so cold that morning. The little kids just didn't want to be there. Still, we kept with our tradition and made some good memories.

Die Hard Runner

This picture says it all! Kris has been running every day since October 25th, with the exception of Sundays, regardless of how cold it is in the morning. This particular day he began his run in Sub Zero temps without the wind chill factor. He got home with a 2 inch icicle on his elbow and little balls of ice on his eyelashes, eyebrows and hair.  The front of his shirt was frozen too! Talk about a die-hard runner! I'm proud of him for keeping it up in spite of his busy schedule and the freezing temperatures we are experiencing in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Badgers Take on the Indiana Hoosiers: Braving the Cold

Kourtney was the only brave soul to weather the cold and rain in order to see the Badgers take on the Hoosier football game a couple weeks ago. I'd like to think it was to spend time with her daddy. The big reason or I should say overwhelming factor was that she was born in Indiana therefore making her a native Hoosier.  I hope everone in her section of seats were nice as she rooted for her team. They probably just felt sorry for her because the Hoosiers got creamed. Still, what a trooper!

Dino, Dinosaurs and More Dinos

Keegan is obsessed with dinosaurs these days.  So what better place to take him for a daddy son date than to a dinosaur extravaganza at the Kohl's Center in Madison. Here are some pictures just to document the special occasion.

Ellary's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Performance

Ellary was so excited to play a pilgrim in her kindergarten class Thanksgiving Performance last week. The children dazzled us with songs and recited poems. Then we went back to their classroom and they had a feast. Ellary did such a great job especially when she said her individual part, "We're going on a turkey hunt. You can come too. Let's look for the turkey with its feathers painted blue." I'm looking forward to the many more performances she'll be participating in over the next 12 years.

Fall Orchestra Concert

Alyson and Kourtney are participating in 4th and 5th grade orchestra this year.  Aly plays violin and Kourtney plays cello. They get up extra early once a week and practice at the high school before school and then practice once a week during school. Just last week they had their first performance at the Middleton Performing Arts Center. It was great! They both did very well.  Keep up the good work girls!

Primary Program

The children worked very hard to memorize their parts for the Primary Program at church a couple weeks ago. They did a fantastic job! Alyson also played the prelude and postlude music on her violin, I Am A Child of God, and We'll Bring His the World His Truth. Great job kiddos!

Daddy Daughter Trip to South Bend

Kris took Alyson, Kourtney and Ellary to South Bend to watch BYU take on the Notre Dame football team. They left Friday afternoon and arrived that evening to stay the night with a friend who lives next to campus. Saturday morning they toured the Notre Dame campus and froze their tails off! Kris took lots of pictures to document their adventure together. Then they watched the football game until halftime and drove home.

O'Ryan's Visit

My nephew O'Ryan came to visit us for a few days this past week. We had such a great time having him here and showing him all the wonderful things about Madison Wisconsin. Some of the highlights included going to the BYU vs Wisconsin football game, showing him around campus, attending the BYU football team devotional, taking him to the Mustard Museum in Middleton, participating in the Girls on the Run 5k and just hanging out talking and playing games together.

O'Ryan has a few other trips planned before he reports to the LDS Mexico City Missionary Training Center on January 1st, 2014. He has so many great experiences ahead of him and we are excited for all he is going to get to do and become over the next 2 years until we see him again.

Here are some of the pictures we took while he stayed with us.