Time to get festive!

The house was all decorated on Friday, except for our real tree. We usually wait until the first weekend in December to go get it, but we are all feeling extra festive this season and wanted to get it early and get our decorating finished. So we hit the the tree lot and brought home a beautiful noble fir.
While Joe was wrapping the lights around it, the kids were happy pulling the ornaments out of the box and talking about all of the fun memories we've had.

Joe put up our angel...

Then we were ready to hang the ornaments. This is my favorite part...we have Christmas music playing and lots of hot chocolate to drink!

Finally, the finished product...
We sure are enjoying the holiday season already!

Skating Fun!

Old Town Temecula set up an outdoor ice skating rink for the holidays this year. Jax was spending a few days with us, and since the kids had been so good while Joe and I decorated the house for Christmas yesterday, I decided they deserved to have a little fun today!
Zoe and Jax had both been ice skating several times before, but this was Cooper's first time on the ice. They were all excited to get their skates on and get out there...
The first few times around the rink were a bit rough for the boys. There was a lot of rail holding and a few good falls.
Zoe got out there and immediately took off. She had a big smile on her face!
She was also really good about helping her brother!

After some practice, and some skate switching, the boys got the hang of it. Jax didn't like how small the rink was, since he's used to going to the large hockey rinks, but he hung in there. Cooper was determined to learn, and wouldn't stop until he could skate on his own.

Zoe even started doing some turns on the ice...

They had a fun session of skating, and Zoe and Cooper didn't want to leave!

Even after taking a REALLY hard fall and bruising up his elbow pretty badly, this guy was all smiles!

Hopefully we can go again before the rink comes down! It was nice to feel the holiday spirit in Old Town and get to enjoy the cool weather of the season.

Bounty of Blessings...

We have so many things to be thankful for this year...we are healthy, we have amazing family and friends, a roof over our heads, and lots of laughter to go around.

We hosted our annual Thanksgiving gathering and enjoyed spending some time together. Sonya came by for a bit in the morning to visit, and then left to gather with some good friends. We missed Martin this year since he spending the day with his girlfriend's family. We were happy to have Grandma, Grandpa, Poppe, Jeff, Cathy, Jax and Cole here though! We spent the afternoon cooking, visiting and playing.

Zoe and Cole had a good chess match going...
Cooper and Jax played with tech decks...

Then it was time for the food. We decided to set up a buffet for easier access!


Finally, dinner at the table after Zoe said a beautiful grace...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Well done!

Zoe was awarded with Honor Roll this morning at our Friday Flag Ceremony! She was excited to be called up once again, and even more excited to get to take her BIG step forward for receiving ALL 5's (92% or above) on her report card. She was worried about it this trimester, but her hard work really paid off!

Way to go Zoe! Mrs. Underwood says that you are a wonderful, kind, conscientious, and very hard working. We are so proud of you!

Cooper did great this trimester too! Since they only award honor roll to 4th and 5th graders, he wasn't able to be called up yet. We are so proud of you too Cooper! Ms. Chesney says you are an awesome student who takes pride in his work, is a friend to everyone, and she loves having you in her class!

Goodbye to another season...

The Cardinals celebrated the end of an awesome fall season with a party at the Ehmke's house. The whole team was able to make it and the families had such a fun day! There was tons of food, drinks, football games (both on t.v. and on a field), swimming, and lots of laughter!!
You've got to love southern California where you can swim even in November!

Lots of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, salads, and dips...

These boys all get along so well together. They couldn't resist putting together a football game on the grass...they ended up playing for HOURS!

Time for cake...


For part of their gift, each coach was given a Christmas stocking from their favorite sports team...

Coach Keith presented the boys with their part of the team banner and spoke a little about each one of them. He said that he absolutely loved having Cooper on his team. He said that Cooper is the kind of kid that does anything that is asked of him, no matter what it is. He gives it his all 100% of the time and never complains. Coop, we couldn't be more proud of you as a team player!

It was hard to say goodbye to this group of families. We have all gotten quite close the last few months, spending countless hours at practices, games, and celebrating with dinner or dessert after many of the games. We are so proud of the boys and how hard they played, and we were blessed with a fantastic group of coaches!

Go Cardinals!!

Cooper had his last game of the fall season tonight. It was a late game under the lights and the Cardinals pulled off a big win! The boys were excited and ready to go. Cooper did really well and pulled off a couple singles and a triple. He also made a few great stops and throws at short stop. It has been such a great season, and we were so blessed to be put on another team filled with great families.
After the game, Coach Keith got a bit emotional talking to the boys and letting them know how proud of them he is...
One of the families brought hot chocolate for everyone too...

We had such an amazing group of coaches!!
(Andy, Jason, Keith, Kurt, Steve)

Coop and Coach Keith...

Zoe also made a great friend this season, Maddy. These two girls have spent countless hours hanging out at practices and games...
We will get a chance to hang out with the families one more time at our team party, but we sure will miss them all!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

After coming down to watch Cooper's baseball game this weekend, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids home with them for the night. They had such a great time!
They bought some new hockey equipment, so they spent most of the weekend playing "street" hockey (or garage hockey most of the time!).

On Sunday, Gramps decided to take Zoe, Cooper and Jax bowling. He even sent some pictures from his iPhone...what a good Grandpa!

They had a great weekend and had tons of fun. It was nice to have some down time myself, since I finally finished my 8 week teaching job. I got some time to shop just for me, take a long hot bath, and Joe and I got to spend some much needed time together too!