Christmas Dinner!

Piles and piles of snow changed the location of dinner to Dad and Mom's. No one could get into our neighborhood, and it was safer if grandma stayed put. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings and delicious homemade cakes that grandma made for dessert. Alan & Lisa and girls stopped by for dessert. Ricky enjoyed meeting his cousins. And Kelli, the fairy godmother, came thru with gifts despite the weather and lack of deliveries!

Christmas Morning!

Santa came~everyone was happy~although not quite awake! We forgot that 8 year olds get up a lot earlier than teens and old tired adults!

Christmas with the Lind's!

We had a great time celebrating with my family. All three kids were really excited and loved everything that they received.

Christmas with the Hardings!

Sunday, Dec. 21, Jason got the crew here and we celebrated Christmas early. Jason and Kate had hoped that they would make it to Sacramento for Christmas with his mom...but the weather did not cooperate for their plane schedule. Ricky was thrilled with his Beavers stuff...he is all decked out from slipper to backpack. We enjoyed a nice day together. We even had spaghetti like Ricky requested. Grandma Baker was here from CA too to celebrate.

Merry Christmas from the Hardings!

Here is our decorated tree! Tall and beautiful with the children posing!

We never made it to get pictures taken...so since we were snowed in...we did it ourselves!

We got the kiddos all dressed up the other evening and shot about 100 photos and a few turned out half way decent! (This is Nicole's least favorite photo. She hates how much taller Amanda is than her!)

My favorite of Nicole, Amanda and Ricky!

Ricky's contagious smile!

Merry Christmas from the Harding family!

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

I think that the pictures say it all!

Snow???

Amanda and Ricky actually braved the cold weather yesterday and played outside. Ricky hasn't ever played in snow before and Amanda was glad to have some company outside, since the rest of us decided it was way too cold. They did convince Dad to come out for a few minutes and build a hill and sled.

Here is Ricky's snow angel! The best part of the day was when I got a text in the afternoon that said no school on Monday. Everyone was excited about that!

Winter Formal...Passport to Paris!

Beautiful huh?

Nicole had a fabulous time with friends at the dance.

Nicole and Mallory at the Dance.

Mom and daughter before the dance.

Amanda's Band Concert

Chimes, Xylaphone, and Bells...Amanda had parts on all three instruments.

She did all from memory.

Concert band & Mr. Hunt are so glad to have you. We are so proud of the job that you did.

The Christmas Tree!

We had a blast on Saturday going to get our Christmas tree. The weather was PERFECT! Ricky thought that it was so fun to cut down your own tree. Although he thought he needed the small one the same size as him for his room too! We decided that one tree was enough! Watch for photos of the decorating!

Ricky passed!

Ricky passed his swimming lessons! Yeah! Congratulations Ricky!

2nd Try! Say Hello to Zoey!

Say hello to Zoey! Nicole adopted Zoey from the Troutdale Animal Shelter on Saturday. She is all black like her original cat Tarzan.

So far Zoey has been a lot of fun to have around. She is about 7 months according to the shelter. We still have to take her to the vet, but she is recovering from surgery right now.

Ricky Meets Great Grandma Baker!

Ricky thought maybe he was as tall as grandma!

Ricky met Rob's maternal grandma for the first time. She is here visiting for 6 weeks from sunny California.

Thanksgiving in The Dalles!

Ricky & Kelli make a wish...

Ricky wins!

Dinner with the Hotchkiss', Aunt Kelli and my folks.

Delicious...and even better...Aunt Sharon had it at her house! We had a lovely day together as a family.

Great Wolf Lodge

We spent a couple days at The Great Wolf Lodge before Thanksgiving. We had a great time playing in the water and just hanging out as a family.

If You Remember...

As many of you know, we are in the process of adopting Ricky. The termination trial was due to start tomorrow morning and was cancelled today by the mother's attorney.

It is rescheduled. Ricky is very confused and anxious. Please pray for peace for Ricky and that the judicial system will stick to the next trial date.

We are hoping for a wonderful Christmas season for all!

Calling All Duck Fans!

Just need to gloat a little around here!
Did you hear the Ducks won and the Beavers lost!
:-)