green and purple polka dots

Those are the colors that i have painted on my nails in honor of Halloween. I painted all the girls in black, green, and purple. This is the only time I do black nail polish. I think it is such a depressing color and I see my nails too much to have them depressing. But when Halloween comes all of the sudden it is no longer a depressing color it is the medium for all the fun spooky designs you can think of. Becca has little spider webs in purple and green.I love painting nails I find it very therapeutic. It is the best when i am seriously annoyed with the girls to pull out the nail box and watch a movie or chat while I paint nails. No more frustration. Thank you Heavenly Father for finger nail polish.

A side note Congratulations Brandy and Branden I am sure maysee is beautiful.
Congrats also to Richard and Jenny, a Girl, Hooray. Richard I reserve rights to mercilessly tell you "I told you so" any time she is emotional or squeals for no good reason.

~Not a fun post to submit!~

I have been so very remiss in posting that a major event has passed without comment. Maybe it was me not wanting to face the issue. It is not a pleasant major event.
Nathan is deploying. He will be gone for 1 year. The most I will say about where is the desert. When? Some time in the next couple months.
On a more fun note I have recently learned how to digital scrapbook. I have now completed 2 pages. Here is one of them. Pics of our summer to follow.
Have a great day

NINA

a lawyer, a birthday, economics,and a national holiday

Happy 4th of July everyone. We ended up with a full yet incomplete day. I actually need to begin with last night when Nathan wen to work at 5:00. We shared birthday cake with a friend, red velvet with white and blue coconut, pecan, cream cheese frosting.It was fast Sunday and I am being a military single mom again. Church was great! We had some wonderful testimonies born and went 15 min. over. We also sang some of my favorite hymns today. The patriotic ones. Primary went well. My two rowdiest students were not there:) so the class flowed pretty well. We had a great sharing time lesson on the Nephi's vision of America being a free and blessed land.
Next we went to an open house for a lady in our ward who just finished her law degree and is already in a new practice.She amazes me. Between "His" and "Hers" they have 14
children. She home schools.And now she has passed the bar for law. Had a great time there getting to know some of the ward members that I really haven't gotten to know yet.
We got home about 6:00 and Nathan was just changing out of his uniform so we had very good timing. We ate dinner and then had family home evening.
Our months topic for FHE is finance. Last week we covered debt and interest. This week we covered wants vs. needs. The girls did very well until we came to taking family trips. Want?or Need? We explained that trips were a want but the girls argued that we nee to spend time with family and you have to go on a trip to see family. Nathan got the very unpleasant task of sharing that no going to see grandmas and grandpas wasn't a NEED. All three broke into tears. because when they grow up coming to visit mommy and daddy won't be a need it is a want. Too Sweet huh? The lesson went on for a record breaking 11/2 hours.
Today is July 4th. The day we celebrate our independence from religious and economic oppression. It is a day of tradition. None of which we kept this year. No steak on the grill and corn on the cob, no baked beans or apple pie. And worst of all no FIREWORKS. I love this Holiday and usually we go all out but it just didn't come together this year. WE are already planning next year so wish us luck.
And here we are now 12:30 wishing you all a very good night. Hooray for freedom.
Nina
P.S A friend of mine and I recently processed 150 lbs. of peaches that we paid about $5/30lb. box. After that I processed on my own 26lbs. of blackberries that my family went to a farm to pick ourselves.How crazy and wonderful is that?

Its been a while

Summer is here which means life is busy. We are all melting here. It was 99' when we left church at 1:00 today:::[ The home remodel has been put on the back burner, a bit, largely because I just couldn't handle the mess it creates any longer. The girls are doing well. Nathan's schedule is wonky, as usual. We adopted two little kitten that we named Pigeon and Shadow. A friend of mine told me about a utube video she had recently been told about and I thought I would send it on. It is worth watching and corny as ever:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

I hope you all have a great week and we'll see you soon. Mom, Dad, Gran, Branon, and Terie we are all so excited for your visits next month. Lots of fun things to do. NINA

The weeks of cakes

Last Saturday I made a double layered spice cake with an apple filling for Family Home Evening. On Sunday there was a sign up for food for a funeral. I signed up for dessert and a salad. So on Tuesday I made a double layer lemon cake with a blueberry filling. Today I made Nathan's birthday cake, a four layer german chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. And next Sunday I will be making a Tres Leches cake for a "Cafe Rios" night with friends. Thats a lot of cake! Surprisingly enough I have also lost three lbs. this last week (hopefully it will stay off). I thought I would put the recipe on for the german chocolate cake and tres leches. Enjoy!
NINA

I like a richer chocoloate cake than is traditionally in german chocolate so I went with Hershey's "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min
Skill Level: Beginner
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.


I got this recipe from www.allrecipe.com
Here is the frosting. It says to cook until thickened this means until its about the consistency of sweetened condensed milk.
Cooking Level: Intermediate
German Chocolate Cake Frosting By: Denise
"Coconut Pecan Frosting for German Chocolate Cake."
Customize Recipe Kitchen-friendly View Prep Time:
20 MinCook Time:
10 MinReady In:
30 Min
Servings (Help)
Original Recipe Yield 1 frosting for 2 layer cake
Ingredients
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
Directions
1.In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Let cool to room temperature before spreading on cake.


The Tres Leches or three milk cake is a trditional mexican dessert. It is vary simple and extremely moist. It can also be made completely from food storage. This recipe is from http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/treslechescake.htm

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 65 minutesIngredients:
•1 1/2 cups cake flour (I use all-purpose and it wourks just fine)
•1 pinch salt
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/3 cup oil
•1 cup sugar
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•5 large eggs
•1/2 cup whole milk
optional add 1/2 tsp nutmeg (I think it adds al little more and the first recipe I used called for it)
•Cream Syrup for Soaking (see recipe below)
•Whipped Topping (see recipe below)
Preparation:
Combine flour and baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture one at a time until well combined. Stir in the 1/2 cup of milk, then gently fold in the flour mixture a little at a time.
Pour batter into a lightly greased cake pan or baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until it feels firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool until it feels room temperature. Turn it over onto a platter with raised edges. Pierce cake with a fork 20-30 times. Let it cool in the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes.

Cream Syrup

•12 oz. evaporated milk
•14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
•1/2 cup heavy cream
Whisk together the three milks. Slowly pour the liquid over the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Occasionally, spoon the milk runoff back onto the cake.

Whipped Topping

•3/4 cup heavy cream
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•1 tablespoon sugar
In a chilled mixing bowl add heavy cream, vanilla and sugar. Beat on high speed until peaks form. Spread a thin layer over the cake.

Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or garnish with fresh berries.

I am keeping it short and sweet this week, here is an update of the progress of our kitchen in pictures. Nathan had a great time tearing out the dividing wall between the kitchen and living room. Even with wires still hanging from the ceiling it looks great. The mess has been awful. The dust has caused me to wash every dish we own at least once if not twice. That has been our week.
Hope you all have a great week.
NINA

A week worth documenting

A few pictures of the airshow This week has seen some major changes in our Kitchen, Hooray! We painted the whole of it, installed new outlets and covers in over half of it, and got on side top and bottom of the cabinets painted, oh and painted the pantry. We have also finished the major purchases for it except for the counter top because we need to wait until we get the kitchen sink in to make sure that when they cut the granite its done right. The Island ships out the 31 of this month and we will get the flooring and sink in mid June. This is all very exciting and I am so pleased with the progress so far. Unfortunately no major remodel is very kind to the rest of the house. all the stuff that was in the kitchen cabinets is now on the living room couch and the dining room table. This also means that bless their hearts our children have been left to their own devices for most of the week. We did manage to make it to the Andrews AFB air show to see the "Blue Angels" fly. Too bad by that they were very done my the time they flew having been there since 11:00 that morning. We all got sunburns although none quite a extreme as my own. We had a lot of fun. Nathan was working the squadron pizza shack while we walked around(glamorous huh?) Here is a quick tour of the kitchen
Here are Mara and Becca showing off the "moves" they have learned from watching "Dancing wtih the Stars"

New e-mail

I just changed my e-mail address if anyone wants it please let me know and I will e-mail it to you.
Hope you have a great day
NINA

How does one put into words the expression of love and admiration for a mother. The person who clothed, fed, diaper changed, let you hug her when you threw up, held your hand on the first day of school, told you to get beck and try again and then cheered the loudest when you finally got it, held you when someone did or said something unkind. My mother went through the destructive years of young boys and the tempestuous years of teenage girls. She went without many "comforts" so that my brothers, sisters and I could have them. I grew up in a military family, my dad was often away or had a crazy schedule but my mom was always there.
As a mother I now find myself becoming more and more like the woman I swore I would be nothing like(tempestuous years)and wishing to be even more like her. I now drag my kids all around the place following my military husband and trying to be the stabilizing factor my mom was for me.I hear myself singing "Love at Home" when my girls start arguing.
I grateful to more mothers than just my own. My husbands mom is an exemplary woman who raised three wonderful boys. Both of my grandmother's were and are great women who struggled to do the best for their children when they were in difficult situations. My sister-in-laws mother, who, when I was a teenager taught me many things, the least of which is to be grateful I came from the home I came from.
And so here it is my deeply flawed and inadequate tribute the mothers in my life. Thanks you and I love you all.
NINA

Here is a quick kiddie Quip from the dinner table tonight.
Mara - Teia you want to be a pilot like daddy
Teia - well actually now I want to be a dolphin trainer
Becca - I change every week

A Book Review

Today I thought I would blog about a book series that our family has recently been listening to on CD, The sister's Grimm, by Michael Buckley. The sisters Grimm are the great, great, great... grandchildren of the youngest of the the famous brothers Grimm who wrote the "fairy tales" only they weren't really fairy tales they were histories.After the kidnap of their parents, Sabrina and Daphne, the sisters Grimm are thrown into the world of fairytale mysteries. The two sisters along with their Granny Relda solve the town of Fairy port Landing's fairytale mysteries. The books are a collection of funny and twisting convolution of fairy tale's put together. Our girls hang on every word. Nathan and I find them very enjoyable as well.There are eight books in the series and here they are in order.
The Fairytale detectives
The Unusual Suspects
The Problem Child
Once upon a Crime
Magic and other Misdemeanors
Tales from the Hood
The Everafter War
The Inside Story
Book eight is only out in book and not in CD yet.
Hope all is well and you are enjoying life.
NINA

"isms"

Becca - Why did the cow jump over the moon?
Teia - To get exercise.

Mommy - Mara you are impertinent.
Mara- What is impertinent?
Daddy - not pertinent
Mara - oh.... is daddy being Fasheshioush(facetious)?

The girls learned about estimates today and we tried to estimate how many pieces of broccoli were in the bowl. Mara- 20, Teia- 40-50, Becca- 30, Mommy - 68, Daddy - 75, Actual - +100.

disclaimer on the last post

You can really tell I was struggling yesterday. I apologize for my lack of spelling and grammar in my last post. I blame it on the migraine. I felt pretty lucky to get my thoughts out in any coherant form.

a legitimate excuse

I really do have a legitimate excuse for missing my post last week. Nathan was working with the Japanese during the recent Nuclear summit and we were TOLD that we couldn't post electronically all week long for security reasons. That being said I really don't have a lot to say about the last 2 weeks except that I am exhausted. Here is the basic brake down of my schedule

April

1- on an airplane or in the airport for 12 hours total, I am not a fan of flying!I went to my baby brother's wedding in Washington state

2-helped with preparations for wedding
3- went to wedding. It was very pretty and nice

4- spent the day touring Yakima WA stuffed into the back seat of a Chrysler 300 with my 300+ lb baby brother and his new wife. I got to see a tea pot shaped convenience store though so it was all worth it.
5- Saw the U.S version of Stone Henge(bet you didn't know we had one, me either) and way too many hours on a plane again

6- landed around 1:30 in the morning by 2:30 Nathan had a deer and seriously damaged our mini van. cleaned carpets and picked up rental van.

7- cleaned more carpets, went grocery shopping, and did laundry.

8- picked up new couch(hooray), got in-laws from airport, did more cleaning

9- Nathan went to work and the rest of us had an easy morning, met Nathan for lunch and then took in-laws to arboretum

10- Luray Caverns, seriously cool, got lost on the way out there, dang tom-tom! 2 hour drive from home but worth every minute.

11- church, and Cherry blossom festival concert for Mormon Orchestra of Washington D.C

12- Nathan went to work for a very LONG day of standing on the flight line and the rest of us went to the National mall and walked and walked and walked a..n..d.. walked through the Jefferson memorial, 2 Smithsonian's, by Washington memorial, through FDR memorial, and in Lincoln memorial.

13- Baltimore aquarium

14- out to Virginia to visit Nathan's dad's old high school and old house and the woods he used to play in. We also took in the Air and Space museum near Dulles. I got the girls space ice cream:)

15- out to St. Mary's City the first Catholic settlement in the U.S and an unexpected connection was found. Nathan has a great...... Grandfather who was one of the first settlers of Maryland.

16- STAYED home. Nathan and his dad started the process of killing all the poison ivy in our back yard trees.

17- Took Nathan's parents to the airport. Everyone was sad they had leave especially Teia. I was supposed to go on a helicopter flight over D.C again but decided I would rather not be social. So instead we went and picked out the paint for the great room!
18- Spent most of the day in bed with a migraine. I guess I just had too much fun!
here are a few pics to get you started. It may take months to get them all on here.

Love to you all

Have a great week

NINA

While the cat is away, the mice will play.

While Nina was gone over the last few days, the Girls and I (Nathan) went out and had some fun.
First, We went to the National Zoo.
We saw one of the panda's out playing.
Then we got to get up close to the zebra.

The next day, we went to go se the cherry blossoms in downtown DC.







More to follow?

Sing thine Oblations

Having grown up watching the Mormon Tabernacle choir perform at least twice a year for General Conference I sometimes think its easy to forget that there are people up their singing. They are so precise and well trained. The Mormon choir of Washington D.C was not so tonight. The concert was amazing! That being said there was such a showing of human frailty that it was thought provoking for me. This is a good thing, I think. From the old gentleman who was so bent over he took up two people's worth of space to the women who could no longer stand, whether from age or pregnancy. My heart soared when I watched the faces of the singers who knew they had gotten it right! To some people, myself included generally, it would have been a flawed performance. They had to stop and start one song twice because the pianist got ahead of the chorister and then vice versa. This only seemed to add to the performance.As the choir sang of the resurrection of the Lord I saw human nature grasping toward a loving Father in Heaven as if to say "Thank you." Like a child bringing home a picture they drew of home just for mommy and daddy. I can't wait for the next concert at the Visitor's center in two weeks, "A celebration of Cherry blossoms." Till next week
NINA

There is something so comforting about FIRE

I caught your attention with that title didn't I? For the last three days my family has sat around a fire every evening. This is largely due to the need to get rid of a whole bunch of twigs and branches. We have one those little fire pits so don't go imagining anything grandiose. On Friday night it was our turn for date night swap and the swappers made a fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Saturday night it was just the girls and I and no marshmallows. And tonight it was all of us and the a few friends with marshmallows and starbursts(don't knock it till you try it, YUM).
I love fire. I always have. The smell makes think of the mountains and long walks, cold nights and good books all rolled into one. I love to watch the flames dance with the slightest change of the breezes that blow. The change of colors from yellow to orange and sometimes a kind of strange blue tint out here. The warmth that fire gives is always welcome even on a warm evening. But mostly I love what fire does to people when they gather around it. You can complete strangers sitting around a fire in the evening and by the time the last embers die out you have at least one new friend and no is really strangers anymore.
I have decided that one of my favorite things as a child was to sit around and listen to my grandma's stories when we would camp. Last night I started telling my girls stories from my grandma and from my own childhood. My grandma is no longer here to tell the stories she loved so dearly so now it is my turn to pass those on to my children. The girls enjoyed it so much that they started telling stories around the fire tonight. We have a lot more branches to go through which means we have a alot more stories to tell and starbursts to roast.
I recommend to you all to sit down by a fire and tell stories.
Good night to you all. I am off to revel in my smoke smelling hair while I sleep. The sheets will all need to be cleaned tomorrow but what a way to start spring.
NINA

Teia's 7th

Today is Teia's 7th birthday. It is also a little known day- Pi day. It is the day that we celebrate the ratio for finding the circumference of a circle. How do I know this? My dad used to teach math. The day I had Teia my dad got pie for all his students. Teia got her first nickname the day she was born, pi baby. My dad has called her pi baby ever since she was born. This makes her feel very special since Mara was born on Flag day.
For our family birthday parties are only held on odd year birthdays so she had a party this year. We had her birthday party on Friday. She got to invite 7 people because that's how old she was turning. Only 3 came, which was fine for me. The theme was Easter(so easy huh?). Teia wanted to let everyone make their own pizza and watch a movie. Then we had cake and opened presents. It was all very simple but fun.
Here are a few pictures of the big event.

Randomness from Nina

I realized that for the first time in my life Family Home Evening has become a regular part of my week. To the point that when our company left after 7:30 this evening we had F.H.E. It is not always on Monday because of Nathan's schedule but we have had it every week for months now:)Pat on back!

Last night while making truffles Teia came in and asked what Nathan and I were making. Nathan replied "grenades." Teia went and told Mara and Becca that mommy and daddy were making grenades. I will never again call them truffles from now on they are grenades.

I have a purple kitchen.

My children give away free ballroom dance classes to anyone who will let them lead. They don't actually know any steps but they sure know how to dip and twirl.

I hate doing laundry to the point that my 8 and 6 year old do all the laundry.

I love going to furniture stores and open houses.My kids and husband do too.
Here are a few pictures from couch hunting this weekend.
Until next we meet
Nina

free digital ecard customized with Smilebox

Can you believe it? The girls did such a great job! I love the curls, it only took about 2 hours to curl it all!Enjoy it!

advances in children's shows

When I was little (yes I realize I am going to date myself here) Sesame street was pretty much it for educational t.v shows for young children. Now we have shows coming out our ears! I thought I would tell you my favorite and why
Backyardigans - I love the use of music and classic dance steps. It is not overly condescending which is also a huge plus.
Little Einsteins - Again I love the use of music and the good social behavior trait they try to portray.
Nihoa KaiLan - I love the exposure to a different language that isn't Spanish. It also help to reinforce good social behavior traits.
Go Diego Go - explores the world of animal life and children learn interesting life science facts. They also get exposure to Spanish.
Special agent Oso - Teaches ordinal sequencing.
My least favorites are Wow wow Wubsy, Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba, Imagination movers,& Sesame street(shocking, I know). Most of these I find very condescending and annoying.
Coming later a list of my favorite children's movies.

kids VS. frozen foods

My children are incredibly helpful:) They make my life much easier, most of the time. Lately they have been helping in putting away the groceries. Most of the time it works out quite nicely. Last Wednesday, however, it did not go nicely. Mara didn't know what to do with the hamburger. She asked me but I was indisposed at the moment she asked. I told her if it was something that goes in the bathroom to just put it by the door. She did put it by the door. Thinking that I didn't need to put away right away... Can you guess where this is going? Nathan was the one who discovered what it was.Today when they were putting away groceries Teia decided that frozen pizza and frozen stuffed rigatoni went on the shelves instead of in the freezer. So who does the match go to? The kids, of course. Luckily, today we caught the frozen food on the shelves before they defrosted.

WEEK 2 WOO HOO!

Hello all,
I made it to week two. Man, I am so impressed with myself.
Today was a very eventful day at church. I managed to get us all there only 5 min. late(N was on alert). The minute we sat down Mara started complaining about itching. Before the sacrament had finished being passed she had hives down her arms and anywhere the dress easily allowed me to see. My very sweet VT happened to be sitting in front of me and she offered to take both my primary class and my other two so they wouldn't miss primary. Off Mara and I went to break the sabbath at wal-mart(my least favorite store) to get liquid benadryl. For any of you who don't know Liquid medicine absorbs into the blood stream quicker than pills.Once we got the benadryl life was "smooth sailing." Sadly Mara is very used to this sort of thing( she is allergic to everything).
Saturday Nathan was on alert until late evening. Poor guy will have a 12 day work week.The girls and I played host to a friend of ours who is having a rough time right now. We cleaned the house and went to the library. After Nathan got home we went to Ikea. I love that store! We were a little disappointed when they were all out of the chairs we have been waiting until tax returns to get. It is a 45 min. drive without traffic:(
Friday was spent with our friend and in piano lessons. The girls and I are having our first recital next Sunday. I am playing an extremely simplified version of "Fur Elise." I am very nervous about getting up in front of people with my elementary knowledge and yet I am also eager because I have worked very hard at the piano.As long ad I can figure out how to I will post video of the recital. Friday also brought the decision to not continue homeschooling next year. I want to be able to enjoy my children;)I feel like this massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Its wonderful!
Thursday was an uneventful day
Wednesday was a trip to the chiropractor and the pharmacy and the..... errands
Tuesday the girls and I went to the LDS bookstore out here and got caught in traffic for over 2 1/2 hours. It sucked big time bad!
Monday Nathan was off so we spent time catching every one's grade books up. We discovered that Mara had not been truthful when she told us she was done with her math all last week.She got to play catch-up all week. I think she learned her lesson, though, 2 lessons per day is not much fun.
I think that sums up our week. I hope you are all well.
NINA

A cheesy Valentine post

I am all fingers when it comes to blogging. I sit here trying to think of what Witty thing I can come up with this week. That is probably why I go so long in between posts. My dear sweet mother was lamenting my lack of blogging so I am yet again setting the goal to blog every Sunday.

On to more pleasant things, I thought I would open up a part of my life that is not one I talk about much, MY Husband. I have got to be the most blessed wife in the whole world! Cheesy, I know! I would be remiss if I didn't say so.Nathan and I have been married for nearly 10 years. In that time we have never had a "real" fight. Nathan is a very gentle and loving man. He does not raise his voice with me ever! In order to grow closer to me Nathan has learned many of the things that interest me ie. ballroom dancing, interior decorating, and photography. Nathan is an extremely happy person and has filled our home with much laughter. My mother likes to tease that Nathan could make a toy out of anything and it is SO true. I am so very happy that Nathan chose me. I am more enamored with him now than I was 13 years ago when we met.

Thank you for indulging me in this extremely cliche Valentines composition.
Here is a sweet Valentine quote:
Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939
Until Next week
Bless and keep you all well
NINA

Here are a few pictures from Christmas and a trip to Baltimore and the USS Constellation. An old wooden ship. It is a sister of old iron sides.

So this will prove how ditsy I am, can I respond to comments on my blog and the people who I am responding to receive the response? Please help me!

time for another update

I think I am constantly behind in my blogging. I can't even think about all that has happened since the last time I blogged. November was forever ago.
We had a memorable Thanksgiving with a fellow pilot and his family(one of the other two LDS families). The girls had a great time playing with their boys. We ate way too much and talked about our families back home.
December 20th began a large snowstorm. 24 inches fell in 24 hours. Our neighbors, who have lived in the same house more than 20 years, said it was the most they had ever seen. The Leake's struck again!
The Christmas season brought many joys. Time with new friends and old friends reacquainted. We had a very fun night of music with some of the members of our ward. We live in a very talented ward. Christmas eve we met up with some of our friends from California, the Moon family. We had so much fun with them. The girls taught their boys how to ballroom dance. I did all the cooking as the moons had only moved out here 2 weeks prior to Christmas. We again ate too much. I love holiday cooking! We had a pleasant Christmas morning in which we all slept in:) The favorite gift for everyone seems to have been a purple beanbag that Becca got from Santa Claus.
January was an uneventful month. February has started with a bang. Maryland has now had the 2nd worst storm in recorded history, more than 30 inches. That was last weekend. It was followed on Tuesday with another 15 inches. N has had no work since they closed the base to all but essential personnel. We have enjoyed having him home.
Homeschooling is getting easier and more enjoyable for me. The girls, however, often re numerate all the reasons they wish we still lived in Cheyenne. The #1 being that they didn't have to work so hard in public school. They say this even though they only do about 3 hours each day.
Nathan's back may never be the same after shoveling snow. He is enjoying flying as always. His classes for his masters are going well. He of course is getting top scores.
I am me! I teach the 7 turning 8 year old in primary. They are an energetic but smart and good group of children. My days and nights are filled thinking of homeschooling. It takes alot more work than just putting kids on the bus. And that is about it.
I think we have updated you all by word. Now the only thing left are pictures. They will come soon.
Love and blessings to you all
Nina