Christmas Day Sledding!

Since our day started this morning about 4:00 am, the kids all crashed this afternoon for a much needed nap. So after waking up, we decided to go to the "graveyard," as Olivia told Grandma Tolman, for some sledding. There is actually a sledding hill out behind the local cemetary that we just learned about and we wanted to try out. It was so much fun. It has finally warmed up enough to go outside with getting frostbite. And with the snow storms we have had over the past week, the conditions were perfect. Here are a couple of the shots of the activity. Now I hope the kids will get a GREAT night sleep to make up for last night.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Chirstmas everyone! Here are a couple pics from our festivities over the last couple days. After the traditional acting out of the Nativy story from the scriptures, the kids opened their Chirstmas Eve gifts. It amazes me that even thought the kids all KNOW they are getting the traditional "Christmas jammies," they are still SOOO excited to open them every year. I guess it is just the overall excitement that the long awaited day is almost here.

Emmie also went through her personal treasures to give us all gifts of her own on Christmas Eve, along with the personal coupons she made at Activity Days with random expiration dates of June 26th and so forth. We had a pretty good laugh over that. Very thoughtful and generous of her.

We enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve dinner so we could just graze on leftovers on Christmas day.

And finally a bunch of tired kids after all the gifts were opened. I think they all had a really good day. Thanks to everyone for your generosity to them in the gifts you sent.

Merry Christmas!

Our 2008 Christmas Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Christmas greetings from Des Moines, Iowa. We are so glad you came to visit us on our family blog. I will never claim to be the most computer savvy person you will ever meet (quite far from it actually), but I have discovered this year that posting things on a blog is a great way to stay connected with family and friends across the country more than once a year. So while we will continue to send traditional Christmas cards every year (there is something magical about getting mail the old fashioned way), welcome to our virtual home, and we hope you feel welcome to drop in often.

Like most of you, our 2008 has been full and fulfilling. Here is the brief update of our family members.

Josh—The big event for Josh in 2008 was turning 12 years old. It is hard for me to believe that he has already reached this milestone in his life. We welcomed our grandparents to Des Moines for his Priesthood ordination in July. And in October he and Kris traveled to Utah to attend his first Priesthood session of conference. It was a great experience to get to attend with Dad, both grandpas and a couple uncles in the conference center. It’s really fun to watch him grow up.

He attended his first week-long scout camp this summer and is well on his way to earning his Eagle Scout award in the Boy Scout program. He has also been busy playing trumpet and piano in band. He opted to join two extra curricular jazz bands this year, one playing each instrument. It has been a good experience for him, but requires him to be at the school four out of five mornings a week at 7:00 am. I guess it is good training for early morning seminary in a couple years, but I have to say we all really look forward to Wednesdays when we get to sleep in a little longer.

Emmie—Emmie is taking fourth grade in stride. In addition to working hard on her school work, she has spent some time participating on student council this year. She really likes being involved in activities like these. Emmie has a creative streak and has shown an interest in writing this year. I hope she keeps it up. She decided to try gymnastics this year. So with that, piano lessons and Activities Days at church, her schedule is almost as busy as Josh’s.

Olivia—Kris says that Olivia is my little mini-me. Not sure what that means, but it is fun to watch her grow up. She has discovered that she likes school, which is a very good thing. Olivia does well at anything she decides she likes. But watch out if she hasn’t made up her mind. So we are glad that reading and other subjects have become good things in her eyes. She has also taken up gymnastics this year. And, though I have not been as consistent as I should, I have started teaching her piano myself this year. We will see how long it lasts before I give up and sign her up with her siblings. She seems to enjoy what she has learned so far.

Jack—This is Jack’s last year of preschool. He really likes going to preschool, but can’t wait for the real action to start—Kindergarten. We have been talking non-stop this year about when he finally gets to go to school with the big kids. I have mixed feelings about it, but mostly I am excited for him to make that transition. It will be a new world for both of us. It has been good for us to hang out together this year, but he gets bored and I know he will love the challenge of all-day school. And it will open up a whole new world for me as well, being the first time I will be home alone all day by myself in 13 years (I already have big plans for filling my time). Jack took up soccer this year and had a blast with it. He is looking forward to repeating the experience soon.

Kris—As always, Kris has kept busy with work, church and family. He is still serving as the stake young men’s president, which is challenging and rewarding all wrapped up in one. They had another successful youth conference this year, along with a few other good activities. But he is already in full swing on prep for next year’s events. His work, as you can imagine, has been a bit of a rollercoaster this year. The financial sector has been hard hit. Thankfully, Wells Fargo has come out OK in the end, but he is fully involved in the transition required with the Wachovia buy out. So times have been busy for him at work. In this crazy economy, we are just grateful to be so taken care of professionally.

Tiffany—My life has taken on a new aspect this year. I have gone back to work (if you can call doing some work on my home computer going back to work). It was actually an opportunity that kind of fell in my lap and I am taking advantage of it for a little while to see if it will work out. I am the office administrator for the community choir I sing with here in Des Moines, the Des Moines Choral Society. I still loving singing with the choir, but now I am more involved in the behind-the-scenes operations of it as well. We just had our second concert of the season this past Saturday and it was great to be involved with it. Now we have a bit of a break in preparation for our spring concert in April where we will be performing Mac Wilberg’s Requiem, which I am really excited about.

It seems like music has become the theme of my life this year. Along with my work with the community choir, I was called as the choir director in our ward and the Primary pianist. While I haven’t ever officially directed a choir, that one hasn’t been so bad. The Primary calling, on the other hand, struck terror into my heart when I first received it. For those of you who remember, I have been a closet piano player all my life, never brave enough to actually play in front of people. So when I told my mom that I had been called, she said, “Really!!??!!” But after a couple month of practice, and some forgiving (or oblivious) kids, it has actually become one of my favorite callings ever. I have never worked in the Primary (an organization in our church for kids age 3-12) before, so for 6 months I was able to be in there with all four of my kids—before Josh moved on. That was a delight. But the best part is that I get to sit in the corner and witness all the funny things that go in Primary each week without any of the stress of being in charge. The chorister and I joke that we are like the two old men hecklers on the Muppets. We sit over behind the piano (hidden, of course) and chuckle at all the funny things the kids say each week—like the little boy who yelled out “my dad says bad words all the time” when the lesson was on using proper language. But we also get to witness many of the sweet things the kids say too. We are often amazed at the strength of the youth these days. They really know things.

With all the crazy economic ups and downs this year, we are very thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who has watched over our family and taken care of us. We hope that you have enjoyed the same protection as you turn to Him in faith. At this Christmas season, may the love of the Savior fill your hearts and minds and may you look forward to a new year with hope and peace.

All our love,
Kris, Tiffany, Josh, Emmie, Olivia and Jackson Tolman

PS. We would love to keep in touch with you. If you have a blog, send me your address and let me know if I can add it to my list of friends (to the right). I really love this way of keeping connected to all the good friends we have made over the years.

Piano Recital

Last night the kids had a piano recital. Here are the performances. Enjoy.

Happy Feasting!

I have always loved Thanksgiving. It has always seemed like a big group holiday to me. So since we aren't close enough to family to gather with them, I like to have others, in our same situation, join us. This year we had a crowd of 21 people in our home for the feasting. JD and Lori Phippen brought their five kids, Vickie and Jeff Morrison brought their four kids, the ward missionaries brought, well, their big appetites, and we, with our four kids, rounded out the group. Of course, with the crazy kitchen before the meal, I forgot to get pictures of the "before" and all the yummy food (we had enough for about 50, I think--and that was just the 14 pound turkey I cooked and the 19 pounder Vickie added to the mix just for the leftovers). But I did get a couple of the "after" with all the kids downstairs playing various forms of entertainment. Everyone arrived around 1:00 and left around 7:30. It was a fun hang out day. And in the absence of family that we all have back in Utah/Idaho, we made a pretty good family ourselves.

Happy Halloween

Here are the trick-or-treaters getting ready to head out on a beautiful night before Halloween Beggar's Night extravaganza. The weather was so mild that they wore themselves out walking all over the neigborhood before coming home to check out their loot.

Carving Pumpkins!

We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year for family night. As our kids get older, this activity becomes easier as they like to work on their creations themselves. Josh's was kind of hard to see in the picture, but he did a great job. He created a graveyard scene with trees blowing in the wind and everything. It was pretty cool.

And if you are wondering about Jack's eye, he fell into the toybox while wrestling with Kris and got a pretty good shiner and cut. It is just now getting better. Ah, the joys of being a boy!

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the pumpkin patch. Well, technically it is a tree farm and nursery. But every year they offer a pumpkin patch and other family activities. For the $10 family pass (which is very reasonable compared to many pumpkin patches in the midwest who have discovered a money making machine in offering their farms for fall festivities to the city folk), the kids were able to do some bouncy toys, rope a "calf," visit a small petting zoo, play frisbee golf and ride behind a wagon to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. I say "pick out" because the pumpkins have already been picked and the vines have been cleared away for our convenience. It is a little stark choosing a pumpkin from a dirt field, but I guess the kids don't really know the difference, so it's all good. (Incidentally, we had planted some pumpkins in our own garden this year, but unfortunately, the squash bugs got first dibs and the pumpkins didn't make it. We'll do better next year and maybe have our own pumpkin patch to choose from.)

Anyway, the activity went the way most family outings go. We had some fun times with some whining and complaining mixed in. With the balmy 77 degrees, we heard a lot of "I'm hot"s and Emmie had a small breakdown when the wind kept sending her frisbee in the wrong direction during golf. She flat out refused to join the kids for a picture at the end of the course because she was so mad. But we did find some good pumpkins that will add a festive fall look to our front porch until we carve them up.

And with the line for cider topping 20 minutes, we opted to leave without a treat and hit the donut store on the way home. All in all, we had a good time and we will look forward to our visit again next year.

4-Year-Old Soccer

You gotta love 4-year-old soccer. Magnet ball is probably a better descriptor. We love to watch Jack enjoy his first experience with an organized sport.

Sometimes he is fully engaged in the game, going after the ball and staying with the pack of kids.

Sometimes he's a little distracted with the happenings on the sidelines.

Sometimes he leaves the game, right in the middle of the action, to get his shoe tied.

And sometimes the action just doesn't cut it and the only thing to do is turn a cartwheel out in the middle of the field.

Ah, to be 4 again and enjoy a little soccer.

Emmie Runs the Race

This week Emmie participated in her first ever cross country track meet. For the very reasonable entry fee of $3, Emmie, and about a zillion other third, fourth and fifth grade girls, ran the mile at a track meet. She was very proud of her time, 10:04, which beat her personal best by 33 seconds. She placed 87th, which she was very proud of because, in her words, "There were lots of girls at least a quarter of a mile behind her." Well, maybe not quite that far, but she did really well. It was fun to cheer her on and see her work hard to finish strong.

The Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a favorite time of year at our house. . . especially because Grandma Hiltbrand always makes personalized costumes for the kids. The costumes just arrived this morning, via Dad from his trip with Josh to general conference over the weekend. And the kids were excited to try them on this morning to see how they fit. Truly, you would have thought it was Christmas morning at our house the way they tore up the stairs when we said they could try them on.

Here is how they look. We have Queen Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia, a hippy girl and Robin Hood. They are all very excited for the prospect of trick-or-treating this year. and poor Josh is too old to join in. We will have to think of something fun for him to do in the mean time.

Recess

Today Jack and I went to eat lunch with Olivia at school. (Of course, Emmie never asks us to come. Fourth graders are way too cool for that.) But Olivia also talked us in to joining her for recess. The kids had a lot of fun playing around. Jack blended right in with the big kids. You couldn't even tell he didn't really belong. He only commented once that he didn't like playing there because he didn't know anyone.

I took a little video of the kids crossing the monkey bars. You would have thought Jack was born crossing monkey bars. I just noticed this skill yesterday at the park, but he acts like he has been doing it forever.

I got such a kick out of Olivia throughout recess. A little boy from her class (the one in the brown shirt on the video) latched on to her at the beginning of recess and didn't leave her side the entire time. I asked the recess monitor, who is a friend of mine, if that is usually the case. She got a smile on her face and said, "Yeah, Olivia doesn't play with the girls much. She just plays with the boys." It made me think of someone else I know pretty well who preferred the company of boys. :)

The Infamous School Pictures Arrive

With every new school year comes the well-loved and much anticipated school pictures. This year we did better than some years. But it is always a gamble on these. You can see what you think.

First Day of School

Back to school is always so fun. The kids always enjoy coloring their signs with their grades listed. This year it is Josh--7th, Emmie--4th, Olivia--2nd and Jack--Pre-K. Next year they will all be in school all day. What a switch.