Jingle Bell Rock

Zach solo

Mason solo

Mason & Zach performed in their Winter C0ncert for the Joyful Noise - the children's chorus they belong to. Their absolute favorite song to perform was Jingle Bell Rock, cuz they get to rock out! But each of the boys had a small solo in one of the songs they sang. They both did a great job - Aaron and I were so proud of them. Both grandparents and some aunties and uncles got to be there to see them perform as well. I also have two little neices - Isabell and Celia - who are in the choir as well. Mason and Zach love to sing and love music in general. It has been fun to watch them learn and grow in their abilities with singing through this choir. The director is a friend on ours - Wendi Olsen - and she does a great job and loves what she does. That really shows in what she can get these kids to do. Mason and Zach: YOU ROCK! We love you!

Ice Skating

Zach & his buddy Matthew

Zach took a field trip this week to Brentwood where they have an outdoor ice skating rink, and I got to go with him! Zach has only been ice skating a few times, so he was a bit nervous. First, he just clung to the walls. But as he got braver, he ventured to the center of the rink where there was a Christmas tree. He took quite a few spills along the way, but always came up with a super huge smile on his face! It turned out to be a beautiful day too! After several days of rain and drizzle, the sun came out and was even warm! It was a fun day with Zachy!

Let's Go To The Movies...

Arie went to see her first movie...NEW MOON! My mom and her friend Debi wanted to see the pic so Arie and I accompanied them. Besides, Arie wanted to see what all this fuss was about over Jacob's abs! Her final analysis was that she has much cuter abs than Jacob's! I think she may have been Team Jacob had not the morphing of Paul to werewolf been loud and scary for her! Anyway, she did really well and sat quietly through almost all of it! We had so much fun having a girls day-out!

GOOD MORNING!

Arie is now 4 months old! She has been sleeping through the night, continually, for a little over a month! By sleeping through the night I mean going down around 8:30 p.m. and waking up around 9:00 a.m. I KNOW! I am really lucky - but I figure I am due. Since I am still trying to get Zach to sleep through the night (and he's 7!) I should have one that can do it all on her own! I just love going in each morning and uncovering Arie and watching her flip over and then offer up the most huge smile when she see's me! I just makes my heart melt. Looking at that face each morning, it's hard not to fall in love with her all over again! It's those little, precious moments that make me realize how blessed I am to be a mom. I have to believe that this little one was meant to come to our home, and that I was meant to be her mom! Believe me, it is a blessing for which I don't take lightly!

Let It Snow

So we woke up Monday morning to a chilly start. It had started raining Sunday night when we went to bed, but we were unprepared for what awaited us Monday morning! IT SNOWED! Now for those of you back East, this may not be a big deal. But here in sunny Cali - it was a HUGE deal - they almost closed school! No, not really. But when Aaron took the kids to school, he drove up to Black Diamond Mines where the kids got out and threw snowballs and played in the snow. They were late for school, but so excited to have played in the snow so close to home!I took some pics of Mount Diablo and the closer hills to our home. Also is a pic of the home across the street with snow and frost on their lawn! It sure didn't last long down where we live - but it's been fun to continue to see snow on Mt. Diablo!

My Favorite Time

Arie is the first baby that I've been able to be home with for this long; my Mom took care of my boys as I had to return to teaching! But I am loving my time with Arie. She is so much fun to play with and talk to, but mostly to cuddle with! My favorite time of day is nap time - because I get to sit in the rocking chair, and put her to sleep to her favorite lullaby music! I cherish this time! At times, being a mom is so draining - but when I slow down and savour the little moments, I realize that being a mom is what I've always, really, wanted to be! Arie is our last, so I am really cherishing all the "baby" moments I get to have with her! Life goes so fast - sometimes I wish it would just slow down enough so that I could really take it all in.

ARIE ROLLS OVER!

This morning, December 2nd, Arie and I were playing on the floor, having "tummy time" as my brother-in-law likes to call it! As we were playing, Arie rolls from her tummy to her back! Thinking it must be a fluke, I rolled her onto her tummy and a few minutes later she rolls onto her back! I was thrilled! I had to get some photos of her "rolling" - too fun! Our little girl turned 4 months yesterday -and is such a happy little girl! We love our Arie! (ps - these pics are in the wrong order because I forgot that they download in a different order than you put them in...sorry!)

A Hole in the Head

So my neice, Chloe, is 16 years old and she has never had her ears pierced. She's wanted to, but been too nervous to do so. So, we all talked her into doing it on our shopping day after Thanksgiving! She was nervous and had to hold Amie's hand, but SHE DID IT! And she looks sooo cute, too!

Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was a small affair, since it was the off-year for the Krey's and my parents played up in Park City! So, we went to Gramma's and Popi's and had turkey and all the goodies! YUM! But the real fun came on Friday, when, as per tradition, all the Krey girls go hit the stores for some Christmas shopping. We started at 8:00 a.m. and I got home around 12:15 a.m.! But it is so much fun! Aaron took the boys to his parents house and the men watch all the kids! I've decided that I just don't want to know what goes on there when I'm gone - then I can enjoy myself. This year Arie joined me, and we had fun! She mostly hung out with cousin Kaite-her favorite place to sleep! Although I didn't get any pics of the craziness of Black Friday, I did take pics at lunch that day. So here is the entire Krey family, out shopping for the day!

Joyful Noise

Zach and Mason have joined a local children's chorus. The director is a good friend, Wendi Olsen. The boys were reluctant at first, since there weren't many boys. But it has been so fun and such a good experience for them! They have given two performances, and have had many requests to perform over the holidays!

BUBBLES

Arie's newest talent is to blow bubbles. She's begun this in the last few weeks. She really gets going, and the boys just crack up at how big the bubbles get, and how wet and drooly her chin can get.

Arie is 3 months!

So, our little girl is growing up so fast! She is now 3 months old, and we are having so much fun with her! Of course, now I know why I didn't have a girl earlier on...we would've gone bankrupt! It's just too fun to go shopping for a girl! And, she is now my living Barbie doll - I love to play dress up with her! Besides dress-up, she's a great sleeper. She now goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. and sleeps until 8:30 or so in the morning! She's awesome! Plus, as you can see in the pictures, she is the worlds strongest 3 month old! She can stand (supported) on her own, and she's been holding her own head up since they laid her on my tummy right after birth! (I told those docs she was ready to come out!) She smiles and "talks" all the time - we love our little Arie!

Halloween

For Halloween - I promise we are all dressed up - I would never wear orange and red together (no matter what anyone says) and Aaron swears he's never, EVER worn an orange ascot in his life! So, we were the Scooby-Doo gang: Aaron=Fred, Layne=Velma, Arie=Daphne, Mason=Shaggy (Scooby not pictured: he gets too excited with all the kids around!) Oh, yeah! And Zach was Blade. NICE! It was fun. The Scooby gang was Mason's idea - he figured now that we have two girls in the family, we could actually pull it off! For those of you who don't know, Mason's nickname since he was a baby has been Scooby. So, this fit perfectly! I even made a fun ghost cake - complete with glowing eyes!

COUSINS

Our entire reason for going back to D.C. was see the newest cousin be blessed: Colby Sanders. Colby is one and half months younger than Arie. Our last day we spent with Colby, so we took some pics of the two newest cousins together!

Washington D.C.

So, after a few requests, I am posting more of our trip to D.C. - Air & Space Museum, Spy Museum, Museum of Natural History, all the memorials and monuments; we even found a covered bridge used in the Civil War in Gettysburg! Again, a big THANK YOU to Linz and Cam for letting us use "The Beast"! And, we couldn't have gotten anywhere without the ever-popular Tom-Tom, who spoke to us in the voice of Austin Powers the whole time - Groovy, Yeah!