Baby Feeds Dog

I know its been a while... but here's our most recent news.... Happy Valentines Day to us...

Audrey fell in the church parking lot on Valentine's Day. We were scurrying to get inside because it was COLD and WINDY. She fell and her tooth broke the fall. Poor baby! We are going to the dentist w/out insurance today. We will see how that goes money wise.... (I have dental insurance on me through the school, but we were waiting on the girls because they are still so young. In fact, they were about to start dental insurance in 2 weeks! That's when PJ's new benefits begin.) However, I sadly do understand that she will have that chip on her tooth until she loses it.... in another 3 years! It's a good thing she has a strong personality!

Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

I never seem to be able to get out a Christmas card and a letter, so I guess this is just as good as any! We have a had a very BUSY year to say the least, but feel abundantly blessed by a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us in every aspect of life. I will try my best to update everyone on our past year of life.

PJ:
PJ graduated from college! After a hard few years of traveling to Stillwater EVERY day I have a husband again! We are so very proud of him! He has also been rallying a group together for a steel bridge competition after his concrete canoe competition this past spring. He continues to spend his free time on nerdy websites that teach him about completely RANDOM projects and ideas! BUT, he also has a LOVE for cooking. He has discovered the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie AND looks forward to having time to experiment with dinner at least once a week. (Wish us luck!) The best news (and one of our MANY blessings) is that PJ got a JOB! In TULSA! On a BRIDGE design team! He has even received his official business cards! I am very proud of him!

Rachel:
I continue teaching 1st grade, dance, and the CTR 6 class at church. I just can't seem to get away from little kids! I really love all my jobs and the children. It is so neat to see them grow and progress! AND of course, I have the best job of all: a MOTHER to my little girls! I will tell you all about them in a minute. I've had some fun this year: making duct tape wallets (got my picture in the Tulsa World), staying home this summer with the girls ( we stayed very BUSY!), bought a house! (more to come later), and even learned how to knit (thank you nifty knitter!). Overall, I am a very busy mommy, wife, teacher, dance instructor, and woman!

Janie:
Well, Miss Janie is blossoming into quite the ALL STAR! This summer at swim lessons she moved up almost two levels! She is a little fish out in the water! She LOVES dance! She is quite the performer and has such a wonderful memory to remember ALL of her many dances! During her tap number this summer she fell on her face, but kept on dancing to the end, tears and all! THEN, this past Friday we had our first Christams show and she didn't look at her teacher once! She definately has talent! She started Pre-K this year and LOVES school! She is a good helper to her teachers AND loves being around new friends. She has taken quite the LOVE to reading and is now reading me simple bedtime stories. She is also excited to be starting piano lessons next month! She absolutely LOVES the piano and she makes such pretty music just diddle-daddlling around on it. I look forward to seeing her progress in that talent as well. She also has a LOVE of ART! She has enjoyed visiting the Tulsa Philbrook museum on family days to create and learn new artistic talents. She loves to draw, color, paint, cut, and create at home as well! She is quite the budding artist! Goodness, dance, music, and art talents.... look out Julliard! Overall, Janie is a wonderful daughter, big sister, and friend. She is a great example to all those around her and always tries to choose the right. We love her very much!

Audrey:
Audrey is a whirlwind of curiosity and JOY! She is always on the go trying to keep up with big sister (and surpass her at times). Audrey is turning into quite the chatter box and keeps us laughing! She too, is dancing of course and seems to enjoy it. She had her first recital this past summer and did a great job! She has even started tap and LOVES it. I don't always think she is keeping up w/the other girls... she is a good 1 year older than everyone AND up to 3 years younger than some! BUT she continues to tell me that it is her FAVORITE! She did a tap dance at the Christmas show and had fun as well, but still needed to look at mommy in wings to do the dance. Audrey seems to be constantly on the GO! She will pause and take time for coloring, reading, and movies. She LOVES to climb and keeps us on our toes. She also seems to be a bit of a tough and tumble kind of girl and rarely gets upset by a bump or a bruise, but if sister takes something, or accidentally hurts her, the DRAMA comes out! She is such a drama queen some days, which usually just cracks me up!She is starting to learn her boundaries, but they must be BLACK and WHITE... she WILL test the limits. However, she is turning into quite the little princess. She loves playing dress up, singing, and dancing with her sister. AND she loves to snuggle up first thing in the morning! (anything so she doesn't have to get up) She is quite the night owl like her daddy. She also got her first "Big Girl" haircut. It is very fitting for her "on the go" personality. Overall, Audrey is a DELIGHT and a JOY to have in our family and keeps us moving! I look forward to being a part of her life as she unfolds and discovers the wonderful world around her!

A few memories from this past year:
* My grandmother Ruggles passed away this summer leaving a wonderful legacy behind her. She is greatly missed, but we all know she is doing cartwheels in heaven and planting a beautiful garden! During that time I was able to reunite w/all my cousins and their little ones as well. It was a joyous sight at which grandma would have loved!

*We bought a HOUSE! So the Saturday after PJ was offered a job... I put money down a house w/out him seeing it! He liked it, we signed a contract, got financing, and a month later we were closing! AND then moving! It all happened so fast! It truly was a blessing!

Well, I'm sure I have taken enough of your time. Thank you for letting me indulge on the story of our life this past year. I hope the year has brought you some warm memories and blessings as well. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fall Happenings....

Things might get busy here before too long. SO, I thought I should at least post some pictures.



Halloween Pics: Fairies from Tinker Bell




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