Christmas 2009

We had lots of fun getting ready for Christmas. We decorated the house, put up the tree and put lights on our little pine trees outside. We also made caramel popcorn and took it to our friends and neighbors.

On Christmas Eve, we had a family Christmas program. Jackie played songs on the piano. After that, we used the figurines from our nativity to show Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem, and the shepherds and wise men coming. Next year we need to get a more kid-proof nativity scene, since Nathan liked to play with the figurines.

Christmas Day was fun. Nathan woke us up at about 8:00 a.m., singing "Jingle Bells". This was too early since we had been up late the night before wrapping presents, and following Jackie's Peruvian tradition of drinking hot chocolate and eating panettone (like a fruitcake) at midnight.

Jackie loved her presents, including the picture she is holding of a partridge to go with the pear tree Dave bought for her previously and planted in the back yard. She also got a karaoke machine, and she and Nathan can sing duets.


Dave got lots or presents, including a Dilbert calendar, several pairs of new shoes, and a Christmas tie that plays "Jingle Bells" when squeezed.

Nathan really got into the spirit of opening presents. His method of present opening is to tear off small pieces of wrapping paper at a time, creating "confetti". He got some new trains and train tracks, and once he had opened those, he started playing right there under the tree.

Also, Dave and Nathan got emails from Santa at the North Pole. You can see the messages here: Dave Nathan.

Then, later on Christmas Day we all went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a delicious Christmas dinner and a BIG game of Phase 10. Jackie won that game, but Grandpa is anxious for a rematch!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

More from Nathan

Hi all! We have been terrible about keeping the blog updated, so we are going to upload some photos and videos from the past few months.

First, Nathan has known the alphabet since he was a little over two years old. Here he is saying it. Nathan has an interesting way of pronouncing the letter "W".

More to come...

The Great Flood

Today we had torrential rains and hail. And our brand new planter box, as Mom suggested in her comment, did indeed turn into a swimming pool. It has rained for 9 of the 11 days in June, and the ground is soaked. There is at least a foot of water under our in-ground trampoline. Also, there was what looked like a river running in our street.

Jackie took Nathan to the gym today, and when they were done, the rain, hail, thunder and lightning were so bad that they were trapped inside the gym and couldn't get to their car. So, Jackie bought Nathan lunch at the gym restaurant.

Hail in June? Must be that global warming!

Our Planter Box

We just finished putting in a planter box in our back yard, and we will soon be planting our vegetable garden. It was a lot of work, but we're happy with the results.

First, we rented a sod cutter from Home Depot and took out a section of our lawn 16 feet by 6 feet. Then we ordered our planter box from a vinyl fence company. We got the idea for this from our neighbor across the street who just put in a planter box of their own that they got from this company. As you can see, when it came there was some assembly required.

Luckily, assembling it wasn't that hard. The fence company had pre-cut the holes, and we put everything together with screws.

Next, Dave dug six holes with a post hole digger and put the legs of the planter box into the holes. This will keep it in place so it doesn't move or bulge with the weight of the dirt. Then we laid down a wire mesh fence material on the bottom of the planter box to keep the gophers out. (Unfortunately, we have those critters in our yard!) After that we laid down landscaping cloth to keep weeds out.

We ordered a big pile of topsoil from Wasatch Shadows nursery that had all the nutrients already mixed in. They dumped it on our driveway, and then we hauled it from there to the planter box in a garden cart.

Finally, our planter box is finished and ready for us to plant our vegetable garden.

Welcome to Dave, Jackie and Nathan's Blog

Hi everyone!

We have finally joined the rest of the family with our blog. Here we will chronicle our family's doings and fun activities.

Enjoy!