Kaitlyn's Choir Performance and Andrew's Preschool Songs

For FHE we went to Kaitlyn's choir performance. It is made up of 4th and 5th graders. There were three other elementary schools that performed as well. They all sang some songs together and then each school performed a song by themselves. It was beautiful, when ever my kids perform it brings me to tears. The church they performed at is called "The Church of the Brethren" and it has been around since La Verne first became a city. It's super old. I wish I had better pictures or even videoed it, but alas, this is all I have.Andrew had a little holiday performance in preschool as well. He was so cute! I can't believe how much he has grown. I also can't believe they got him to wear those antlers on his head!

Fire Station Field Trip

So on top of the school assembly, Ella had a field trip to the fire station. It's located down the street so it's a nice short walk. I went to help out. I was really impressed with how well the fire men and the paramedics taught the kids practical and helpful information. The highlight for the kids would have been taking turns adjusting the sprayer on the fire hose. It was a nice, warm day and some of the kids got a little wet. And yes, it's the middle of December!

School Assembly

Today there was a school assembly. Kaitlyn was chosen based on a math aptitude test to be on the Math Olympiad team for Oak Mesa Elementary. There were only 5 fourth and 5 fifth graders chosen. They go on to compete at the district level in February. Go Kaitlyn!
Both Kaitlyn and Ella participated in the Reflection's program, Ella received an honorable mention in the Reflection's visual arts category for "best use of theme." She drew a picture of a jungle and monkeys. It was entitled "Together We Can Save The Rain Forest." Great job Ella-bean! They are both wearing red shirts and are in the front row, so they aren't too hard to find in the group shot. Ella also serves on student council and photo below is a poster she made to encourage kids to bring in their bottles and cans to recycle to raise money for student council.Ella was tested and earned her yellow belt on December 9th. She was super excited and has a blast in her karate class.

Still in the 70's in December!

So Andrew was Super excited to get invited to a boy's pirate birthday party for a boy in his primary church class. The weather was beautiful! It was at a park in La Verne. He has some good buddies as friends that go to his preschool and church. It's nice he has some boys to run around with when his sisters are in school all day. I can't believe he will be in kindergarten next fall! I thought this picture was funny of him and two friends all drinking their root beer!

Afternoons in December

Ok, so it's December and it's 76 degrees outside! I am loving the warm winter weather! The trees still have colored leaves on them! The kids love to play at the park right by their school, so I brought the camera along today to take some pictures. I even had to turn on the air conditioner when we got back in the car to drive home! The blond girl is Isabell she is in third grade (in between Kaitlyn and Ella), and her little brother is also named Andrew and goes to Andrew's preschool. All five of these kids could play all day, they are all really good friends. Isabell and Andrew's mom is an awesome lady, we have a TON in common. She and I sit and chat the whole time the kids play.

Nativity Display

On Saturday, December 4th, we went to a Stake Center in Upland that had over 1,000 nativity scenes on display. They had various musical performances as well. It was fun to see all the different styles and materials used to make the different nativity sets. One of the nativity sets took up a large room and was pretty much the whole city of Bethlehem. Someone said it took them 11 hours to set it up!

Start of Holiday Season

So Saturday, after Thanksgiving we went to little downtown La Verne where the kids got to sit on Santa's lap. Andrew kept reminding me that he was just going to stand by Santa instead of sit on his lap, so the girls did the same thing. They had a little program of singing Christmas carols and then lit a large decorated Christmas tree. It was a nice way the start of the holiday season.

Thanksgiving Break

So Tiffany and Jason and their boys came down for a visit and had Thanksgiving Dinner with us. We had an amazing meal-thanks to Jason! I regret not getting my camera out earlier so there would have been more pictures with the cousins and family. On Friday, James really wanted to go on a little hike so we took the kids up in the foothills near our house and these are where the pictures were taken.