December 2015

Reuben caught some nasty bug that made his eyelids and lymph nodes swell up like you wouldn't believe. He hardly ate for days, and slept for 20+ hours every day. He looked awful!! But whatever it was, it slowed his whole system down so much that he didn't have a single seizure for two full weeks - crazy!

The side view.

'Vania saw this pretty dress (which is WAY too small for her) and was certain she wanted to wear it.

It's so small we can't even get close to zipping the back!

Two readers.

Reuben's still wiped out. Love how the cat is keeping an eye on him!

And the other cat, too.

Time to decorate the tree! It's the first year we've had a real tree - our neighbor started working at a garden center and one employee perk is a free tree - and she didn't want it!

He's doing a little better...but still pretty puffy.

Two men and a cat sleeping on the big chair

Owen working more on his trailer

Look what 'Vania drew! Those are three deliberate circles, which she called balloons. Crazy. Little girl isn't even 20 months old yet!

The kids - all six of them!

The children's choir singing at church. Leah's up there next to two of her best friends.

And Owen, wearing his suit, as always, but this time with a green shirt and red tie for Christmas.

Fun to see these sisters wearing the dresses that I originally made for Leah and Rinnah!

Silly Rin! And Evania looks deceptively innocent in this one.

Owen, Leah, and Rinnah wanted to take one last visit to Grandma G's empty house before the closing. Looks pretty different with everything out of it!

The kids' 4-H club goes bowling every December at a neat old Catholic school basement alley with six lanes - we get to rent the whole thing for the evening for $125 plus $1 shoe rentals. Not bad!

Krassi really gets a kick out of pushing the balls down the ramp.

Reuben, too, is fully engaged.   BOOOOM!!

The funniest thing this year was Evania! She was bound and determined to get in on the fun!

Here she is, belly and everything, pushing her purple ball down the ramp. (Don't you love Rinnah's outfit?! Pink leotard, complete with ruffled skirt, green and red plaid pleated skirt, and bowling shoes.)

My little girls with second cousin Joy. It's fun to live close enough to the airport that family and friends stop through our house on their way to and from distant locations.

Family Christmas! This year the three girls received my three porcelain dolls. Evania is really too young to play with hers, but LOVES to hold her!

A broad shot of the activity.

Owen gave Reuben a matchbox car with a flag on it!

Love how happy Owen is about showing it to Reuben.

Here's Leah with her doll.

And Rinnah with hers.

This is the way Reuben gets his work done - Jacquie Lawson greeting card previews on the computer, his iPad on one side of the keyboard, his Bible on the other, and a piece of paper to make little marks on with his markers.

Evania got some new hairclips at Steve and Kris's house!

A Nerf war was obviously a necessary part of the day. We laughed when Krassi ran across one that had been abandoned on the floor.

They even convinced Rinnah to get in the action - with some serious protection!

This was my view coming around the corner into the basement.

At Reuben's quarterly appointment with his neurologist, we always have to stop at the "balls" - a cool moving sculpture in one of the lobbies.