VanSickle Family: Pre-K Program, 5th Grade Puppet Show, Oregon Christmas and Rockin' New Year

Taylee's Pre-K program was Friday, December 18. It was a busy day. I dropped her off in the morning and then had to rush to work. My co-worker took my class so I could go watch Taylee's performance at 10:00. It was a cute show. The kids knew some songs better than others, but knew all of the actions very well-especially "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." We left pretty quickly after (just one cup of hot chocolate). I took Taylee to my classroom with me because my kids were doing a puppet show for kindergarten rooms and had invited Taylee to watch as well. After the puppet show Stan came to pick Taylee up and finish packing for our trip to Oregon. I left school about 4 p.m. and we were on our way to Spokane. Taylee fell asleep and so we had a pretty uneventful trip, even through 'puke alley' (Lincoln road). We got to our hotel about 10:30. For the first time ever, Taylee stayed asleep as we carried her into the hotel room and put her to bed. She slept through the night. We should have known she didn't feel well. The next day we left for Oregon. It was a long day of driving. Taylee didn't eat much for lunch when we stopped. She just wanted oranges. About an hour before we reached Marlene's house she threw up. Stan pulled off in the next town (I don't know what it was) and stopped at a Wal-Mart for some wipes and bags. Poor little thing had a temperature of 102. We got to Marlene's house and Taylee and Wene decorated the Christmas tree together and then it was time for bed for a sick little girl. She was feeling worse the next day, but we were off to the beach for a few days. The first day it rained the whole day and we shopped at the outlet stores. Stan bought a raincoat. I got a beautiful purple down coat and I got a screamin deal on two pairs of running shoes ($9.97 each pair, regularly $70). The next day at the beach was crabbing day. Taylee didn't want to go. She didn't feel well at all. After a little Tylenol she was off and running and didn't want to leave. We crabbed for 2 hours (not even half as long as Stan would have liked). That night was Family Bingo night. Taylee won nearly every time. What a lucky girl!

Then we were back to Wene's house. We had fun hanging out, shopping, and running (me) until Christmas. Christmas day we drove around and looked at lights until Santa had come. Taylee must have been good this year because Santa brought her a lot of stuff. Marlene cooked and cooked all day and we had an amazing Christmas dinner of eggrolls, sweet and sour chicken, and other goodies. I'm supposed to get the cheesecake recipe, but as my baking skills leave a little to desired I don't think anything I make will live up to the standards.

The weekend after Christmas we took the Redwood Highway down to California to see the Redwoods. Stan was nervous with my driving (which was fine by the way). He said everyone was nervous because the dog really was going crazy, sniffing, barking, pawing at the windows. Marlene didn't say anything and Taylee fell asleep on the windiest road she has ever been on. Turns out the dog was just crazy about the redwoods, really crazy. So basically it was just Stan. We stayed at the PennySaver Inn which had a great warm pool, but it was detached from our building. After crossing the parking lot, cold, and dripping wet Taylee and I were looking forward to a nice warm shower....no hot water in our room. We rinsed off in cold water and cranked the heat. The hot water was back the next morning. Taylee left a bag of her three My Little Ponies and two Littlest Pet Shop there at the hotel. Good thing she had a birthday coming up. The next day we did the drive-thru tree and then went to the Trees of Mystery. It was very beautiful. Bella got to walk along with us and even ride in the gondola.

After a wonderful Christmas holiday, it was time to go home. We were invited to our friends, the Virts' house. Taylee and Abbie were going to put on another show. Lots of practicing, still no show that we saw. For them it's all about the process, not so much the end product. A great conclusion to a great year!

We WISH you a merry Christmas...

Away in a Manger

Jingle Bells

All the kids--Taylee had just passed out bells
Erin, Sam, Taylee, Jamie, Tate, Eliot, Stella, Grant, Garrett, and Grace

All my kids, including Taylee. Taylee is right behind the little boy in the red shirt on the left side.

Tree decorating with Aunt Wene. This was so nice because we did not have a tree of our own that year. No holiday decorating on the sheetrock and bare studs of our walls this year.