Christmas Program

This is an all day event for us. When your kindergartener starts at 9:30 and your sixth grader doesn't end until 1:30, it makes for a long day. But the kids did awesome, and it was so fun to see them. Max had a funny part that he had to speak. He was so nervous...I could tell, but he did really well. Right after they were done, we took off for Utah.

Christmas {C}ard

Because we can't always be serious!

Merry Christmas from the Crazy Arkoudas’ 2011
*Ryan *Melanie *Sam *Noah *Caleb *Max *Mara *Emma *Annalee

This year was full of tons of changes and exciting times!
Sam played basketball for the first time this year and loves it. He was recently diagnosed with juvenille arthritis, but has such a great attitude and has learned to eat things that don’t cause flare-ups. He will be 14 and advanced to a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood the 19th of this month.

Noah is in the sixth grade, and received the Aaronic Priesthood this summer. He is enjoying going to mutual with Sam and dad, and finally found his smile. He and Caleb want to raise a sheep this year for 4-H in addition to their pigs, so our farm will have baby lambs this spring.

Caleb will be 10 in January. He is still our animal lover and this summer, when we found a gopher in our garage and the older boys caught it under a bucket, he freed it when the boys left to find something to kill it with. He is still about the same size as Max, and is hoping for a growth spurt anyday. He was my goat man all summer and he has the most promise for being able to actually milk them for me.

Max’s smile is permant and infectious. He is 8 and got baptized this year, the day before Noah got the priesthood. It was an eventful September. He is in 2nd grade and loving it. He finally, FINALLY! got the hang of reading and has taken off with a zoom! He has lost 3 teeth this last week and we wonder if he will be able to eat anything at Christmas. He is looking forward to raising a pig this year with the older boys.

Mara, 5, started kindergarten this year, much to my dismay. She thinks she is as big as the boys and is still the little mother. She is quite the helper with Annalee and carries her all over. She has amazed me at how fast she learned to write and read. She is mine and Ryan’s shadow, and I love it.

Emma, 3, is our chatter box! She never stops talking. My adaptation skills have allowed me to ignore her, so often I hear her say “Mom, Mom, are you listening to me?” She is amazing at what she thinks about and how in tune she is with all that goes on in our family and what she picks up. I hear her repeat things others have said that I had no idea she was even listening to. She tries to pick up Annalee too, and I am constantly telling her to “leave the baby alone.”

Annalee was born in May, just 5 days after my mom and dad got home from their mission. She is the only one, other than Sam who went to their due date. She must have been waiting for grandma. She was born at home and it was the most amazing experience. She has brought such a calm, loving influence into our home. She has her daddy wrapped right around her little finger, and is surrounded by constant smiles and loves. I don’t know if there has ever been a baby as loved as her. She is so calm and happy all the time! Often I am asked if she ever cries and I have to say…what is there to cry about? She is always held, fed, and changed. There is always someone to entertain her. But she is just a content little soul.

Ryan was made scout master in additon to his responsibilities as first councilor in the bishopric. He took all the boys to Melita Island Boy Scout camp. Sam and Noah got to go and they all LOVED it. Ryan was also made manager over the weed department, so he now is in charge of all the weeds and mosquitos in Cascade County.

I am loving the slowness this year has brought. I love being a mom, and seeing these kids grow and change.
At the end of January 2012 we will have lived here in Montana longer than anywhere else our entire married life. I wonder what this year holds. We love our land here in Great Falls, the animals, and the responsibility it teaches our children.

We are continually in awe at how much we are blessed by our Heavenly Father. We don’t feel like we deserve the abundance of blessings we receive but are so grateful for them. We hope this Christmas season finds you happy and safe. We love you all and are so grateful for your influence in our lives.

Annalee's 1st Christmas!

Rosetta Stone

In ECS Noah get to learn a new language. He chose Irish, since no one else did. Does that make sense? He picked a language that no one else wants to learn? He's quirky like that. anywhoo, he practices at home and it is really funny to listen to. The other night he was up late practicing and I snuck around the corner to video him. He is just Awesome!

Ward Christmas Party

{CHRISTmas} Devotional

Tonight we got invited over to the Diede's to watch the First Presidency's Christmas devotional. We were excited that we would get to watch it sitting on comfortable couches instead of hard chairs crammed around a computer. (We don't have cable and thus have no T.V. A thing I love except at conference and Christmas devotional time)
The Diede's made us popcorn and we took cookies and I loved the messages this year.
I loved how President Uchdorf said: "The Lord does not require us to move mountains, but he does expect us to walk forward one step at a time to climb the mountain."
Those words really hit home hard for me. I am continually amazed at how mountains appear in my path and they seem impossible to climb, but with prayer and with constant movement in a forward direction; even if that movement is a hairs breadth, I somehow seem to find myself on the other side of the mountain looking back. That look back is always with eyes of understanding, and wisdom, relief that that trial is over and often with joy at the learning and great wisdom that I have received. Now don't get me wrong, those climbs sometimes are more than I can bear. Some of them are flat out gut wrenching, and not enjoyable in the least. There have been times that I have truly wondered if the Lord had heard my prayers, or if he was even mindful of me. There are trials that I am facing that I wonder why guidence was not given to me so that I could avoid the struggle, but really that questioning is so short lived(though it is awful in it's fullness) Because I truly know that the Lord is mindful of me, and that at times, I am lifted on wings of angels. Often those angels are those that know me best and lift me with a kind word, a smile or a hug. I know where my strength lies, and like I always say...whatever I have to go through to get me where I want to be in the end, well then it will be worth it.

I have never like the saying..."I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." It has never seemed right to me somehow. Especially when sided next to "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." When I take a second to look with an eternal perspective, it is easy, and all things are possible.

{Tree's Up}

Oh how I wanted to venture up to the mountains for a fresh one this year, but I wanted more to have the tree up this week instead of waiting for the weekend, so we pulled out ol reliable.
Thing is, he's not so reliable anymore. The lights were glitchy, some came on, some didn't, then they switched midstream what would work and what wouldn't.

Emma, played in the box.

Caleb pretended to be a tree.

The girls were thrilled with the excitement! Especially Annalee. Her first Christmas!

We even got the train set up around the tree!

Max was playing a game with Annalee. He would drop the santa hat on her head, and in less than a second she would have it pulled off. He was giggling so hard! We tried to capture her with the hat actually on her, but this was the closest we got. She is QUICK!

Here....we got her in the Elf Hat though!

{Bus Stop}

I watched the kids run to the bus stop this morning like I do every morning, and was struck with how different each one of them are! You can see their personalities in how they dash to the bus.
{Caleb} makes a mad dash as he tries to show me just how fast he can run. He waves to make sure I am watching.He runs a straight course until he sees the cat, then makes his path closer to where she is.
{Mara} skips, that's how she runs, with a spring in her step. Her ponytail and flaps of her hat bounce as she goes. She is the only one who will wave to me once she gets on the bus.
{Noah} brings up the rear. Ever watchful of his younger brothers and sister. When Mara lags behind because she is skipping instead of running, he slows to grab her hand before they cross the street.
{Max} carefree as ever just has a permanent grin on his face, but today I can't see it because he insists on wearing a face mask. It is -9 degrees, Maybe he was the smart one, even though the others tease him about it. He doesn't care if they tease him, he just dishes it right back out.
Oh! How I love them all!

Sing! Sing! Sing!

I have been swamped with music lately and I love it! Trying, but so rewarding.
The end of October I organized "Women at the Well" for our relief society. It was so amazing. We have such great talent in our ward and sisters who stepped out of their comfort zones to help present this amazing production. It went so well. The spirit was so strong! I could barely sing.
Then they had a stake fine arts festival and I had to get some people to participate. I thought I had found enough, four. But no, they asked me and Rachel Gurnsey to sing our song that we had sung for "Women at the Well" called "If Thou Had Been There" The night was amazing we have such talent in Great Falls!
Then Bring on the Christmas season. We are practicing for the Christmas day program for our ward. I am the choir director, and seriously three years ago when I started I thought this call was truly a call of desperation, not inspiration. I had no clue. I still don't have much of a clue, but in the process of trying I have learned so much, and mostly what I have learned is that when you accept a call, even if you feel completely inadequate, if you try, the Lord makes up for your inadequacies, and blesses you and those who chose to help you. The difficult thing about choir director is that you are totally at the mercy of those who will give of their time to come and help you. Without them you have no calling. But each Christmas we have been able to pull off amazing programs. Here's hoping this year is thought provocing and spiritual as well.
Aside from the Christmas sacrament, we had a relief society Christmas party and I had to learn a new song for that I also had to get some music together for the ward Christmas Party. It was our Primary Sacrament meeting program and all the kids had to learn a song. Then the little boys (Caleb and Max) were asked to sing at Stake Conference and I was asked to sing the song I sang with Rachel for the saturday evening session of Stake conference.
Like I said, SING! SING! SING!
I love Christmas! I love the music at Christmas. I love the feelings of peace and Hope the music instills. One year I didn't sing in a choir at Christmas time, and I totally felt like that Christmas was missing so much. I vowed never to miss out on that again....but this year more than makes up for my missing one year...I think!

Guess Who Has a Toother? {Annalee}

She loves her tounge. Mara taught her where her tounge was and Caleb figured out that if you touch her bottom lip she will stick out her tounge. She does it everytime and the little kids think it is so funny! They just giggle and giggle. She is GREAT entertainment! Yesterday Caleb was trying to make her perform and stick out her tounge and discovered a TOOTH!!!

Yep! It's there!Bottom Left!