we're getting pretty excited!!

our house is getting pretty full of the spirit of Christmas. samira had a great time at her preschool party where she and P got to meet and chat with santa. she sang songs, which she now sings around the house quite a bit! we also have a house guest that has been with us since early december and will leave just before christmas eve. his name is Christopher Pop-in-kins and he is an elf. he was sent to our house by santa on a special project to observe good behavior before santa brings presents to our house. sounds crazy that i'm writing this as though my three yr old might read it! Every night after the kids go to bed, kent finds a new, high hiding place for chris in the house and the second samira's eyes open in the morning she says, "can i go find christopher?" another great addition to our lives from the fujas!

on wednesday, samira and i went to auntie liz and uncle steven's to get involved in the cookie making fun. liz was great about letting samira help out. she unwrapped hershey's kisses and decorated gingerbread men! she had a great time.

kent is playing at an indoor water park again on christmas eve, and i am not complaining. mostly because he will be getting free passes and i know we will love going there as a family when he is available to be with us and not working.

samira knows how to use skype, which is a computer program that allows us to video chat with people around the world. she loves to call her sito and then monopolize the computer for hours while she sits and talks to her. i have a feeling we will own two macbooks at some point!

last weekend our neighbor girl, Chloe, turned 8 and she had her party at State Line Stables where all the kids were able to ride horses. i have to admit i really thought samira was going to be all talk! "i love horses!" one of those girls, but i soon found out that she really does love horses and she was not at all afraid of a horse 10 times her size. She looked graceful and natural while riding her horse and talked about him all the way home. it was easily the best birthday party we've been to!

Our home is back on the market. it was only off for a brief moment in time! we were considering some other options so we took it off the market but reconsidered and we are now more motivated than ever. i'm not even sure what that means but we keep saying, "make us an offer!"