We couldn't be more proud!

Today is New Year's Eve so what better thing to do than something totally new and different?  Orem High swim team held its first annual Alumni Battle for the Paddle meet as a fundraiser.  They wanted a lot of people to swim so this is how the email read "We are going to be pretty loose on what qualifies as alumni so if you ever have swam or simply wanted to, now is the chance. " Caroline recruited Nelson to swim and we took off for the pool.  Upon arrival, the people on deck, warming up, etc., looked more like Michael's friends that anyone our age.  Nelson wondered if he would be last, or if he would totally drown.  Nelson had his doubts, maybe regrets, but Caroline and I cheered him on so he said he'd swim.

 Nelson and his biggest fan.  People will do anything (literally) for the admiration of a 15 year old.

 Here's Nelson on the blocks getting ready for the 50 free.  Caroline is in the back, ready to time.  The guy next to Nelson is 28 and also the next youngest swimmer there.   A lot of the swimmers had their state swim times listed as their seed times. I wonder if they could have found Nelson's from 1984?  He was in the outside lane of the 1st heat, generally where they put the slowest swimmers.  He took 2nd in his heat, and then his time beat every swimmer in the 2nd heat and most of the 3rd and last heat also!  WOW!  He placed 4th and even scored points for the team!  Do you see the list of ages next to the names below?  That has to make an old guy feel pretty good about himself!

 Next he swam the 50 back.  Here he is resting afterwards.   

 He took 3rd in this race.

After all was done he was glad he chose to swim.  We are so proud of you Nelson!!!!

Sundance getaway

Yeah, we're spoiled rotten.  Chuck and Oranee got a cabin at Sundance for the family to get together over Christmas and ski.  We all get ski passes from them for Christmas every year (the BEST present ever).  It's awesome because all of the cousins ski.  This year, the Jensen's came for only part of the time and the Pearce's had a tennis tournament the same days so it was mostly the Conger's and us.  Here we are at the top as the sunset gets gorgeous.

 Here we are ready to hit the slopes!  Katie got a new camera for Christmas and it films in slo-mo so we had everyone ski in a big line down the mountain at her and filmed it.  What other crazy fun things could we come up with?   We had lots of fun cabin time playing games, watching movies, eating macho nachos and leftover Christmas candy.

Wow!  All 5 of us together.  It's amazing how hard it is to get a picture of everyone just once a season.  We sure missed Michael!

Indoor Champs

 Have I expressed enough times how much David loves soccer?  The regular season isn't enough for him.  He also played a season of indoor soccer with another indoor season to play before the regular Spring season starts.  Here he is with his team.  They took 1st place in their league and got super cool t-shirts to prove it!   

I guess it's not too surprising that the top 5 scorers in the league are all from David's team but they are and David is among them.  Way to go David!  You rock!

Skype is the best Christmas present ever!

This year for Christmas we were hopeful that Michael's plan to skype us would work.  Our phone call in July from Amsterdam was pretty much a disaster and there has been much stress on this end about whether or not we would actually be able to talk to him.  We set up our skype and thanks to the Congers and Finleys who helped us test it out to see how it was all working so we would be ready.  Michael would have to use the computer at an internet cafe so he planned to reach us on the 26th since they were closed on the 25th.  We weren't sure when, how, or if it would be successful!

 Hi from the Congers...

 ...and the Finleys!  We were at the computer waiting when we got an email from Michael that he was at the internet cafe but all of the skype computers were taken so he didn't know if it would work or when he would get an available computer.  While waiting, we emailed back and forth a couple of times, trying to think about plan B.

 Success!!!

 These are screen shots we took while online.  

 This was the very best Christmas present ever, to have all of our family together again even if just for a short time.  He is happy and well and loving Romania!   How do you like the new family picture?  I LOVE it.  Signing out...one happy momma!

Christmas Day

 This year was special because Christmas was on a Sunday.  We wrapped the family room so the kids couldn't see the tree before church.  Here they are waiting at the top of the stairs to be called down, as tradition dictates.  The difference this year is that they have been up for a little while getting all dressed in Sunday clothes.  We had church at 9  and David went early to get the sacrament ready.

 Stockings on the dining room table instead of in front of the tree so the kids could have a little bit of Christmas morning before church.

 Is this the saddest sight?  Michael's lone stocking.

 Breakfast of the usual...little cereal boxes from our stockings.  The sweet rolls and breakfast casserole will be ready after church!  We had the most wonderful sacrament meeting.  Everyone was so happy and there was a lot of wishing neighbors a merry Christmas and greeting each other.  We had so many people at church they had to refill the water trays and bless the water again.  Our choir director is amazing and we had a great program.  The primary children started with 2 songs.  One I had never heard before and two of the teachers sang parts at the microphone.  It was beautiful and of course started the meeting off with wet eyes, the spirit was so strong.  Next, Katie and I went up and joined the choir.  We had such wonderful music, interspersed with short narration and singing from the congregation.  It was just the right mix of everything.  What a great way to begin the day?  I wish each year could be that way, really.  It was amazing.

 Back at home, everyone changed back into pajamas.  That's another tradition.  We stay in them all day long and then get right back in bed in them at the end of the day.  We love to be in jammies.

 This year all three girls got matching pj's.  It's amazing how hard it is to get a straight picture with these two.

 Well, close enough.

 It was fun to open the gifts that Michael had sent from Romania.  David got a real Romanian soccer player's jersey, worn in an actual game.  David was over the moon excited.  He pretty much loves that shirt more than anything else he has ever owned.

 Caroline got a music CD from a Romanian artist and these traditionally dressed dolls.  They are awesome and the music is pretty good actually!

 Katie got a lefty pen and a Romanian fairy tale book.  Here she is reading in her not-so-fluent tongue.  She spent a good part of the day with google translate figuring out what the story says.

An unexpected gift from my Uncle Bill in Alaska for the kids was a special treat.  He and my Aunt Jani came to visit us in October and it was wonderful.  A couple of years ago when I was in Alaska visiting I told them the story about Caroline and her coonskin hat.  They really loved it because my uncle does a lot of hunting and then his own taxidermy.  He was tickled that the kids got so into the mountain man rendezvous and making things like that.  He sent each of them a knife with elk handles and a leather holder, some of which he made himself, along with feathers and leather all swapped up in sinew for future projects. That was so thoughtful and really fun for these kids to have such a relationship with a great uncle.

We had a wonderful day and thought of Michael a lot.  He reported a good Christmas in Romania the next day when we got to skype with him.  That was the best present any of us got this year.

Christmas Eve

Bowling on Christmas eve is an Abbott family tradition.  It is so fun to get together and play.  Lisa booked a party for us so we get 2 hours of bowling, soda, balloons, contests, and at the end you get game tokens and free bowling coupons.  Way to always find the deal!  We got 4 lanes and here are all the groups...

Even Michael bowled in Romania on Christmas eve!  We sent him a little toy set of pins and a ball.  He has gone bowling over there but P-day wasn't Christmas eve.

 Yes, you can be super impressed...for a moment.  They have a game called 5-tap where if you get 5 or more pins, it counts as a strike.  So, maybe I didn't legitimately bowl a 300.  Or maybe I did.  Nelson's first 6 frames were honestly his REAL score.  He had 5 strikes and one not too good frame.  So, he went to the counter and asked to be put back on real scoring to see what he could get.  It's amazing when you have no pressure to score how well you can do.  After he turned off the 5-tap he didn't do as well but still super good! 

 At the end, they give a bowling pin trophy to the highest score and Nelson won!  He really did score a 176, his best ever.  Here he is celebrating the victory.

 Oranee made to die for prime rib and then after dinner Santa arrived with rubberband guns for the kids and dads and MAC lipstick for the moms.  I got the good gift.

 Katie was an angel who played the piano for the nativity.

Here are the kids all dressed up for the nativity.  Yes, even the returned missionaries and married kids participated.  What good sports.  They were told they had to until they have a child of their own to replace them.  Jordan and Tara agreed to be angels, Charlie's angels that is, with their rubber band guns.  Nice touch, don't you think?

We had a wonderful time together!

Katie loves choir

Lucky me that Steve Schill's daughter is in choir with Katie and he has a super-duper camera and is willing to take some shots for me occasionally.  Katie is the Acapella choir president, is also in Chamber choir and is in AP Music theory.  She has 3 class periods with Mr. Keyes!  I never had even 2 classes at a time with the same teacher.

 Here is the Chamber choir on retreat to St. George.  They went to Zion's National Park and went hiking.  The acoustics at the emerald pools are fantastic and they serenaded the other hikers there that day.  Katie is the one in the red shirt, blue baseball hat.

 Here she is at the Christmas concert at Orem High.  They borrow the handbells from Orem Community Church and in exchange they come on a Sunday in December and perform their Christmas music with the bells for them.  It is a really cool thing they do.  She had a solo at the concert for the song Angels We Have Heard on High.  She was the angel in the balcony singing the beginning lines of the song and then joined by other "angels".  Then they ran back down to the stage and joined all of the school's combined choirs finish the song.  It was really cool to have them singing from the tech balcony, it carried out and filled the auditorium.

The Chamber choir went to Primary Children's Hospital on Christmas Eve to sing and give a little cheer to the patients and their families there on Christmas.  Katie is on the left with her thumbs in her pockets.  She LOVES choir!!

Ski!!!!

If anyone reading this lives in Utah County you know how fun the inversion if getting.  It is cloudy and dreary all day every day.  This is what it looks like from above the clouds.  It is bright, clear skies, sunny, warmer than in the valley AND you get to ski in it.  Pretty awesome.

Looking towards our house...where are you???

Santa was even at Sundance today handing out candy canes!

Katie, Caroline and David taking in the view from the top, great day!

Happy Birthday David! 14!!!

Here is Katie being goofy, trying to get the camera set for an automatic timer shot.  Silly girl.

 David was ordained a Teacher.  What a wonderful day!  How nice that 4 grandparents got to share this day with us.

Butterscotch bundt cake is David's favorite, he's not much of a chocolate fan.  

Happy Birthday David!  I can't believe how grown up you are getting!

Christmas Begins!

 We got together with my family for Christmas the Sunday before Christmas.  Dad and Kathy were in town for a big yellow ribbon event for family members of military leaving for service.  Chris is leaving for Afghanistan on January 16th so we said our goodbyes this day.  We are so proud of you and wish you a safe return!

Presents!! We had dinner and a great visit at LaDena's house.

Socks and blankets...

 The big girls all got their names drawn by Chris' kids so their gifts matched!  They loved it, so snuggly!

Family photo with all of us