To Aunt Barbara :)

Christmas Greetings From Our Home to Yours

What a wonderful time of the year, when we're able to reconnect with friends and family and spend some quiet time with those closest to us. We wish each of our friends and all of our family a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2010 holds in store many wonderful things. Happy New Year!

The year in the Freeman home has been relatively quiet, though there are highlights. Most recent is that Emily is now outgrowing both her Occupational and Physical Therapists. She has made such progress and is doing so well that she's actually scored above where her OT can continue to see her at all. And our last visit with our beloved PT, Wendy, has left us down to just a monthly visit. That's from a bi-monthly, which was down from weekly sessions.

Emily is amazing and such a special kid. It hit me Sunday, as Kurt was holding her in church, just how much she brings to our family and just how much, like each of our children, we would miss her if she wasn't with us. I don't mean by dying, I mean by not having had her in the first place. She was not only our surprise pregnancy but out surprise daughter when we thought we were having a son. What a wonderful thing surprises are sometimes!

Nathan is almost three now and the year has brought an explosion of language and understanding. We've gone from just a couple of two-word phrases to him standing next to me as I type, telling me all about the eraser in the shape of a computer he found that Melissa got from school. And now how when babies are stinky, the mommies change them. When they cry. Wouldn't it be fun to crawl into his little mind and see how things work in there!

He's been consistent in asking for "firetrucks" for Christmas. Everything related to firefighters is top-notch in his eyes, which of course couldn't make daddy more pleased. We may have a two generation family of firefighters someday. That would be a privilege. His passion has made it easy to decide what his birthday theme is going to be!

While Nathan is certainly ALL BOY, we didn't know drama in our house until he came. Just keepin' it real here.

Melissa is now 9 and three-quarters (SO much more than 9 1/2 and she would want me to say that). She's in the fifth grade and loves every day she gets to go to school. She sings in the school choir and was just selected to participate in the Elementary Honor Choir. She has a great ear and a strong tone, and loves LOVES to sing! She is also in the Gifted and Talented (G/T) program at school and the advanced Math and Reading classes. She has just recently started to have to study some, which is a little bit of an adjustment, but one that she has taken on pretty well for the most part. Right now Caesar's English is a big thorn in her side, but she'll get there.

**Nathan, back at my side as I write, is wondering if we can have chocolate chips for dinner? And is thinking that he doesn't smell very good and could I check? could I? could I? could I?

Kathryn is just a few days away from being 12. She's a middle-schooler in sixth grade and just the other day we got a phone call from the Vice-Principal, who called to tell us what a good kid Kathryn is and that she works hard and should she ever need anything to please let him know. That's not a call we expect to receive and her eyes were wide when we told her the VP had called (we teased her a little before telling her the reason for his call ~ was there anything she wanted to let us know about??? lol. ).

Kathryn also loves school and is in advanced Language Arts and Math. Her favorite class is Math, and as her science has incorporated some Physics, she has taken to that better than her dad or I ever did. She's planning to switch from music class to band class after Christmas break at the invitation of her teachers, who learned she can read music already and felt she needed more than just regular music. She has something like a 136% in Music class right now. She does every scrap of extra credit the teacher gives.

Kathryn finished great soccer seasons in both the spring and the fall. She got new coaches in the fall that we hope will be with us for a while. We were lucky to get to see her participate in her school's talent show recently and watched her woo the crowd with her performance. She sang the song, "Fireflies" and was blurry on stage as I watched...

Elizabeth is at the High School as a Freshman this year and was so excited to get OUT of Middle School (coincidentally, about as excited as Kathryn was to get IN to that same MS....). She loves having an Introduction to Agriculture class and Select Choir as her electives. Intro to Ag is a prereq to the Equine Science class she wants to take next year.

**Nathan, fresh pant-ed and eating his breakfast, is wondering why none of his sisters are out of bed yet. and could I please get him some more Raisin Bran??

Elizabeth was selected to sing in the Treasure Valley Honor Choir earlier this fall and had an incredible experience. She also attended Girls Camp (a church camp) in the summer and has been busy babysitting as often as people want her, sometimes securing three jobs on a Saturday. She's just been hired to fill a more permanent babysitting position and is busy now every week.

She is a teenage girl ~ loving to be with her friends and to have a "social life". She decided that she was ready for a cell phone a couple of months ago and pays for it herself. I must admit that it's nice to have her just a text away.

**Kathryn is up and just got an earful from Nathan, watching "Super Why", who told her that this is HIS show, not HER show. oy vey!

Elizabeth has been active with the FFA group at school, loves Seminary and is a great big sister and help to her dad and I.

I have been thinking about my theme for the new year (that I've established every year since 2001), and what I've accomplished in 2009 and what resolutions will get carried over (maybe for the umpteenth time) again. While my scrapbooks aren't caught up completely, I have moved forward with them. Fitness is a priority in the new year as the "I just had a baby" or even "I had two babies in two years" no longer feels like a reasonable excuse since Emily is almost 16 months old. sigh.

I have started helping with Melissa's choir at school, accompanying them some and also taking small groups to work on sections of music. I love getting to teach the 16-17 year old girls at church. They are an amazing group of young women, facing the challenges in their lives with a lot of grace and dignity. I'm grateful that my lessons each week are often full of things that I learn from, and that I hope I can pass on as I teach.

I discovered couponing about halfway through the year and love all that that has meant to our family and the chance to really flex my organizing muscles. I have also started my own blog, His Daughter First. I recently had my first post published, which was fun.

Kurt and I went on an AMAZING cruise to Alaska in August. The trip was in honor of his parents' 40th wedding anniversary (though we were on the boat for their 41st). We also used it to celebrate our 15th anniversary, and had an incredible time. We are cruisers for life and look forward to trips to Mexico and Hawaii over the next few years.

Kurt is getting close to his third anniversary with the Boise Fire Department. He considers himself lucky enough to have the best job on the planet and loves going to work every week. He certified to drive this year and gets to "swing up" to driver (from his normal position as hoseman) sometimes. He also just helped the department get through their state EMS inspection and is now evaluating the medical supplies each rig carries and working on a system to make those bags more efficient and better able to meet the needs of the medical personnel who use them.

Kurt started teaching this year at Guardian College, a school that teaches EMT and Paramedic courses. As the school earned its accreditation to offer college credit, Kurt had to certify as a State Instructor. He finished that certification, which will also benefit him at BFD as he teaches courses to the guys there.

**while "Dinosaur Train" is now occupying Nathan, Emily's up and back to bed already as it didn't quite seem like she was really ready to be up. The big girls are up and having breakfast. Things are kinda quiet....what's up with that?

We paused just the other day for an attempt at a family picture. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of good ones, even without a real person behind the camera to keep every one's attention. Below are the results.

Our children: Kathryn, Nathan, Elizabeth, Melissa and Emily

Our Family, December 2009

As the year comes to a close, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a spectacular 2010!

With Love From,

The Kurt Freeman Family

Kurt & Maryhelen

Elizabeth, Kathryn, Melissa, Nathan and Emily

xoxo

A Thrifty Gift

Taking into account the grief my friend Sarah got for her amazingly awesome Thrifty Christmas Gift, I can be grateful this is a MUCH less-read blog. I still wanted to share the fun gift we are giving this Christmas, taking advantage of the surplus of Barbeque Sauce we have from our awesome deal this summer. Maybe it will inspire someone!

*please know that if you haven't gotten one yet, it doesn't mean you won't...though if you leave a comment I'll be sure one makes it to you!

I knew I wanted to utilize some of our 50+ bottles, but I wasn't sure how to do it at first.... who thinks about BBQ in December??

It came to me in the shower ~ the perfect solution.

I am excited to share just exactly how BBQ works in December:

I attached the tag to the bottle with some pretty ribbon and voila:

I printed some more labels in a festive font to send our personal greeting:

I'm excited to share these with more people than I would have been able to share things with had I not had them.

How wonderful is THE reason for the season!

The Living Christmas Tree

We had our parents over for a special Christmas dinner on the 7th. It was so fun to break out the Christmas dishes and set a pretty table.

complete with place cards

and a centerpiece

After dinner we took everyone to a production of The Living Christmas Tree. This year's show was called "Making Room for the Treasure" and emphasized the true meaning of the season. It was so well done, and we had fun seeing people we know in the show ~ Liz's choir teacher (who directed the entire production), the reading and math coach from Melissa's school, and my good friend's old flame (wink!). Young and old participate in the production.
The children do a terrific job!

This is only the third year people in the choir don't actually fill in the body of the tree (thus the name ~ the LIVING Christmas Tree). The construction has gotten too old to hold people and now that lights have been added to the entire tree, it's also too hot to stand in anymore.
But the tree is impressive, filled with people or not.


After the show we gathered by the Church's fountain for a group picture. We would have loved to have had Nathan and Emily join us, but after bringing them last year we decided leaving them home was a better choice. A special thanks to Kathryn's friend Madeline for taking great care of them that night.

We are so grateful for good parents. Good parents who we grew up with

and good parents we've met throughout our lives.

14/14

We've had a 14 year old and a 14 month old in the house this month.

Obviously, it hasn't happened before.....not likely to happen again!

She Talks!

Emily surprised us today with her first real two word combination. It's a good one!!

She Sings!

Elizabeth's first choir concert of her High School career was last night. She was chosen to sing a solo and did such a terrific job! I hope that someday I'll be able to clearly see her sing, because as it is, there are always tears in my eyes!

The blur I guess could be your opportunity to see as I do ~ though I do apologize. The camera just didn't want to focus on the most important thing we were taping (of course!). Thanks to Melissa for her fine videoing skills. And to Emily, who made it possible for Melissa to be the one doing the videoing.

Liz looked so pretty in her choir dress. Not that a gunny sack wouldn't look good on this girl!

The concert consisted of the six high school choirs. It was fun to see what might be in Liz's future, should she choose to pursue singing further. That said, she has just turned in her first audition tape for All-State Choir. We'll keep you posted!

She Walks!

Bring It On, October!

While I am in shock that October is here already (where did September go? August and the entire summer for that matter...), so much good has come and is coming, that I can't help but think

"Bring It On"!

We've enjoyed a FABULOUS weekend in UT, our first trip there since the blessing of our adorable niece, Olivia. That was two years ago!

(Elizabeth Grace and Olivia Grace)

We were so sure that moving back would make it so much easier to visit everyone we'd been forced to see only every-great-once-in-a-while....not quite what reality has brought!

Nevertheless, if going not-so-often means the trips are as great as this one was, then I think we'll take it.

I'm anxious to hear more details about Elizabeth's trip. She traveled down with us, but met up with our YM and YW, who got to experience the very best of the Salt Lake area. She even got to attend the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference, which she described as

"better than awesome".

What I do know so far is that she took pictures while she was at Temple Square. Pictures like this one:

I am planning to enlarge this and get it hanging on the wall ASAP. **update: an 11x14 is now being processed at Costco. Frame is ready here at home. Can't wait!

Our trip was not just to have a fabulous time. We (ha! I say that like I did anything but look out the sliding door at Kurt working....) got to help BIL David rebuild their deck. Here he is, getting it all put together:

The end result looked AMAZING!! Good job Dave, Kurt and Brad!
We were continually spoiled by the Orton's all weekend. Sure hope to return the favor sometime!

We got to listen and watch General Conference from the comforts of the Orton's home. While I know that every conference is wonderful, and the latest one is always the very best, I think this one outdid itself as far as how perfect and timelythe messages were.

Go HERE to listen/watch any part for yourself.

I was especially impressed by Elder Holland's address Sunday afternoon. He is not one to pull any punches and often addresses those who have vehemently disagreed or tried to discredit any given aspect of the Restored Gospel. His words were punctuated with power ~ each and every one of them. I knew, because of how I felt while I listened, that he spoke truth. I also knew that he felt strongly about each word he spoke, and that each word was carefully chosen.

How fortunate (blessed! lucky!) we are to live during a time when there is a living Prophet on the earth. A Prophet just like Moses and Abraham were prophets in biblical times. A time when Apostles minister and act as Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ. Apostles just like Peter, James and John of the New Testament. The authority is the same, and has been restored to us now. Hooray!!
The things we heard in Conference have caused an increased desire for personal reflection and like all conferences, lessons, sacrament talks, experiences and personal study, is providing motivation to examine and improve. What a blessing the process of life is for us all ~ that we can become and discover who we really are and why we are here little by little.
Onward and Upward!

One of the fun things we did in addition to watching and listening to General Conference was to decorate the delicious cookies and cupcakes Kurt's sister Wendy made. Ah-mayze-ing!! Nathan was sure impressed:

(he smiled ON PURPOSE and without prompting, which feels like a big step in the right direction for this family of cheesy grinners.) :D

I got to help buy the food for the youth for the weekend. As we shopped, I couldn't help but think of the 17 young men we were buying for. 17 hungry TEENAGE boys (as well as the 30-ish Young Women and bunch of leaders....69 people in all!).
I think we did pretty well.

(that's my friend Liz K behind all our purchases)

So much good to come in October.

Can't wait for Elizabeth to share her experiences.

Stay Tuned!

xoxo

Emily's First Birthday

Emily is a year old. Already. In big ways I'm happy that we're a year in ~ having two as close together as we did was really really hard there at first. I realize we don't hold any records for babies being born close together, but for us, this is as close as we've gotten and with my extended recovery, there were a lot of challenges at the beginning. These days we're healthy and a year for a 2-ish year old brings a lot of maturity and more understanding to how things work in the world. All good things!

At the same time of course we're sentimental to the time that's gone by, not wishing away too quickly.

When you get to bring home this:
of course there is a specialness to having a new little life at home!

Today she looks like this:
There is so much that is wonderful about being one. Personality starts emerging (she laughs spontaneously and shakes her head no with fervor), language develops (her new word ~ we are SO proud ~ is p-o-o-p), and mobility increases (she is climbing stairs, crawling long distances and cruising the furniture).

We celebrated Emily's birthday with the traditional night-before picture, to celebrate saying good-bye to being 11-months old:

Family and some friends came over that night to help us celebrate. A last minute catastrophic failure of the crown-shaped cake meant a quick run to CostCo... and while it was sad to not have things go just as we'd planned/hoped, we chose to be grateful for things working out alright in the end.

We interrupted Emily's PT to take a picture next to clock on the minute ~ 10:33am ~ she was born. Another tradition!

Later, the table was set and ready to party!

We now have to question the sanity of parents who put FIRE in front of any (and every) one year old...what are any of us thinking?

Thankfully, she was fine ~ the wax from the candle ended up on her fingers, but she didn't get burned.

She was back shortly to enjoy her cake: That's a happy birthday girl!
After doing as much damage to her dive-in cake as she could, she got whisked away to the tub. The smiles continue!

Then it was time for presents! For just a little thing, she sure was spoiled!

A cute and instantly loved Care Bears Penguin from the Mitchell's

Big bucks from Grandma and Grandpa Freeman

A talking purse from Grandma and Grandpa Evans

Outfits from Chris and Jennie

Overall, a good day!

We love you, Emily Dear, and are so glad to have you with us in our family!

Summer Comes To A Close

We've awakened to a crispy-fallness in the air, so posting about summer activities has seemed to take on a new urgency. Today is the day!!

First on my mind today is that in August Melissa got to have lunch with the Mayor of Nampa, Tom Dale.

Melissa was one of two kids chosen ~ the only one from Caldwell. She got to talk with the Mayor about school and her favorite class (Reading). His Assistant, Adam, was also nice.

They had lunch at the 2nd Street Diner. Melissa ordered a grilled cheese. It came with a pickle that she was happy to save and bring home to her dad.

Melissa came home from her cousin's birthday party in August saying that it was "THE BEST PARTY EVER!!". Aunt Jennie knows how to throw a party!! They got to have a fashion show ~ complete with make-up and hair-do's. We're STILL finding glitter in Melissa's hair! :)

Here's Missa with her cousin and another friend.

The City sponsors an event every couple of years where they rent the Zoo and serve dinner to all the city employees. This year we got to see the Zoo's new Africa exhibit, complete with Lions and Zebra and Giraffe's.

Here's a picture of our "pride" of beasts:

Emily is on the move these days, and loves to climb the stairs! She's cruising the furniture, and will let go sometimes if she's interested in something that takes both hands. Our homework is to get her walking while just holding one hand, and she's getting better at that. She isn't "stair certified" yet (meaning she doesn't know how to come back down on her own), but it won't be long...

Gratuitous cruise pic:

We made it to the last Tuesday home game for the Hawks, using the tickets the kids had earned through their summer reading program. The crowd was small, and the Hawks lost pretty miserably, but we had a good time singing and chanting with the rest of the fans.

The field from where we were sitting.

We bought five of these little hackey sacks (the money went to charity) and had the chance, after the game, to throw them out onto a bulls-eye laid on home plate. If one hit the bulls-eye, you had the chance to win half of all the money collected. The person closest to the bulls-eye got a $10 gift certificate to Wendy's restaurant.



We threw, but won not one thing. Oh well!








Emily decided one night not too long ago to DUMP her dinner on her head.... she thought she was pretty funny! (no judging on the Christmas bib ~ it was one of those days for laundry, and we were at the bottom of the drawer)

Kathryn reunited with her soccer team from last season to play in an indoor tournament in August. It was her first time playing indoors ~ the rules are interestingly different! (There are no out-of-bounds, for instance, unless the ball flies up into the net around the arena. You can also throw your arms around, as long as its the part between your shoulder and your elbow.)

Here are some shots of her warming up:

At the beginning of the summer our goal was to MAKE SURE we would all have really good answers for that "What did you do over the summer" question. I think we accomplished that. whew!

NOT About Cruising or Coupons!

We've been home for a little over a month, and I think are adjusting to real life again. Though it's really hard to go out to eat and then have to PAY for your meal when it's through.... we went for seafood recently and realized just how much all we ate on the cruise would have cost if we'd have been paying. yikes!

sorry ~ I know I said this post WASN'T about our cruise....

and, I'm in the middle of a debate with Albertson's Corporate office over a serious coupon issue. More on that to come when it is resolved and they are shown the error or their ways! (this is how sure I'm right about this. Please keep in mind how much I HATE confrontation!)

apologies again for mentioning something I already said was not part of this post...

There have been some wonderful things to take our minds off the cruise (or lack of cruise) these past couple of weeks. I thought I'd share a few.

First off ~ this is what happens when you're two and you're trying to figure out how this getting dressed thing works.... sometimes things don't go on as easily as when someone bigger helps you... the important thing is to remember to SMILE.

My friend had a mother/daughter crop for moms and daughters ages 10 and up. Liz and Kathryn got to come! We had a great time and, between handfulls of M&M's, actually got a few pages done.

Elizabeth attended her FIRST STAKE DANCE on August 16th. She was so excited and came home talking about "Jeremy". She said she didn't think a first dance could have gone any better. Here's to many more to come!

The girls are back in school already. How the summer flew by! We have three at three schools this year ~ Elizabeth is a Freshman at the High School, Kathryn a 6th grader at the Middle School, and Melissa a 5th grader at the Elementary School. Just for grins we did the math to see when we'd be in that "all of our kids are in school all day" club, and it will be when Melissa is a Sophomore! That will be when Emily starts first grade. So, a ways to go yet. But I had a year of an empty house between the time Melissa started first grade to when Nathan was born, so I guess I know what we have to look forward to! I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse...

We discovered on one of our trips out to the church orchard that we (ok, I) had no idea where the end of Ustick was. Maybe it went on forever! So one night when the peaches weren't quite ready for picking, we decided to find out where the road ends. And we found out it does end, but sort of in a curve right into Fish.... now we know!

We want to see where the other end takes us. Having mentioned that to someone though, it was spoiled and we heard it ends at Curtis in Boise. Well, I guess we still have to prove that for ourselves, right??

We are harvesting cucumbers and canning applesauce and peaches. We are running to soccer practice and mutual. Choir starts next week.

The weather is feeling very fall-ish and we are starting to talk about Halloween costumes. And Christmas presents.

Emily has turned one and Kurt has turned...well, a few more than one!

HAPPY EVERYTHING!!