Natalie on her New Bike

Natalie wanted to ride her bike even though it wasn't very nice outside.

Natalie still rides with her head down, but is starting to look up more and smile at the camera for me. She's not very fast yet, but getting better every time she rides.

Jumping Monkeys

Natalie jumps on Bailey's new trampoline.

I was afraid that she would bite her tongue.

Bailey jumps on her new trampoline.

Taylor jumps on Bailey's new trampoline.

Where did Taylor go?

Guitar Heros

Mallory loves Guitar Hero.

I like it a lot too.

Natalie loves Bailey's guitar.

Isn't she cute?

Natalie gives her Daddy a hug.

Christmas is Here!!!

Natalie saw her new bike and got very excited.

Bailey saw her new trampoline.

Mallory was very awake.

Rachel was not.

Natalie's new bike.

Bailey got window paints.

Joseph got a new penguin webkin.

Taylor got DreamLife.

Rachel got a new jacket.

Mallory got Guitar Hero III.

Christmas Eve

Before Santa

After Santa

Natalie

Taylor, Natalie & Rachel

Natalie, Rachel, Joseph, Mallory, Bailey & Taylor

Christmas Eve with Daddy

Joe wanted to take his picture with all the kids near the tree.

Natalie

Bailey

Joseph

Taylor

Rachel

Mallory

Karen & Joe

Freckles Sleeps

I found Freckles asleep on the back of the sofa this morning.

Looks like I disturbed his beauty sleep.

Big stretch.

Rachel's Latest School Project

Rachel's latest school project involves taking care of a computerized baby for the weekend. She cries when she is hungry, needs her diaper changed or needs to be burped. Rachel has a coded bracelet she has to sync with the baby before attending to her needs. The baby bottle & diapers that came with the baby have computer chips to register when the baby is fed and changed.

The baby records if her head is not supported too.

Natalie really likes the baby.

Rachel has named her Destiny.

Mallory and Rachel wore this sleeper when they were little.

The baby has to be feed.

Natalie wanted a turn to feed the baby so Mallory helped.

Bailey's turn.

The project is working, by about 9:00pm Friday night, Rachel had declared that she never wanted any babies of her own. Lucky for Rachel, the baby only woke up once in the night to eat and get changed. When the baby wouldn't go back to sleep in her carrier, Rachel slept the rest of the night in bed with the baby. WTG Rachel!!!

New Black Belt Uniform

Joseph got his new black belt uniform this week.

Also a very cool engraved belt.

He shows off some cool kicks.

Very Cool

Joseph & Bailey

Black Belt Ceremony

Last day to wear his Jr. Black Belt.
Joseph was very sweaty at the end of the test session.

Joseph gets his 1st degree Black Belt.

It is a very nice embroidered belt.

He also got a framed copy of his Black Belt certificate.

Ferrum College

Mallory and I visited two colleges on Saturday.
Ferrum College and Virginia Tech.

I didn't get any pictures at Virginia Tech because I didn't have a memory card in my camera and only had room for about 20 pictures. Mallory though that Tech was waaaay too big.
We drove 5 1/2 hours on Friday night to Ferrum College in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The campus is small and beautiful.

The President of Ferrum College lives in Stratton House.
We wanted to thank her for keeping the house in good shape until Mallory can move in when she starts there in the fall. Ha ha ha!!!

Mallory also got a chance to play volleyball with some of the girls on the Ferrum volleyball team. The coach was very impressed with Mallory's skills and would like her to return in the fall to "tryout" for the team. They are in desperate need of a middle blocker/hitter which is the position Mallory plays most often.

The school is Division III so they cannot offer her any money to play, but Mallory is just not tall enough to play at most schools that can offer money. She is excited at the possibility of being able to play in college at all.

Off the Beaten Path

On the way home from the mountains, Mallory and I stopped to see the Natural Bridge. What we found out when we got there, was that it cost $12 each to take a tour of the bridge.

Looks nice, doesn't it. I scanned in a 37 cent postcard rather than spend $24.

On our way back to the Interstate, we came across this sign.
We had to stop and check it out.

This sign was at the top of the hill.

There was a full sized replica of Stonehenge made out of big foam blocks.

MVP

Mallory and Rachel attended the high school fall sports banquet.
Mallory was surprised when her coach selected her as MVP.

Doesn't they look nice.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Small Groups

Stratton Gang

Our Busy Day

Saturday was a very busy day for us. It started at 8:30am with Bailey's Tae Kwon Do belt test for her red advanced belt. I dropped her and Joseph off for the beginning of the test session which is always the lower belts and one part of the ceremony that I've seen a dozen times. I took this opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping since I had no other kids with me. In the afternoon, we attended the annual Down Syndrome holiday party where much fun was had by all. After we got home from there, we readied the house for a going away party for Mallory's boyfriend, Ryan. Lots of their friends came over for a fun filled night of Wii and S'mores.

Bailey earns Red Advanced Belt

Bailey earned her Red Advanced belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Here she waits for her turn to get her new belt.

Bailey gets her new belt.

Bailey didn't want to turn around for this picture.

This will be Bailey's last belt as she doesn't want to take Tae Kwon Do anymore.

Joseph will test for his 1st degree black belt next week.

Sunny Day

Everyone was hanging out in our very sunny kitchen.
Natalie and Mallory.

Rachel was chilling on the counter.

Taylor too.

Natalie loves to pose for the camera.

Santa Pictures

Annual picture with Santa
Natalie, Mallory, Rachel, Ryan
Bailey, Santa, Joseph, Taylor

Bailey got to talk to Santa by herself.
Natalie wouldn't go near him on her own.

This teenager really wanted his picture taken with Santa, but he was too shy to go up by himself so Mallory went with him. After that, he was very taken by Mallory and introduced her to all of his friends at the party.

Games

There was a game where the kids had to toss bean bags into a board with little holes.

Bailey and Joseph took many, many turns each.

Natalie decided it was easier to hit the hole if you got closer to it.

Hoola Hoops

There were hoola hoops at the party, Rachel is quite good.

So is Joseph.

Bailey won the hoola hoop contest.

Natalie could barely reach both sides of the hoop at the same time.

Joseph was trying to help Natalie.

Face Painting

Bailey got her face painted with a giant butterfly.

Taylor got a snowman.

Rachel got a gingerbread man.

Performances

Rachel and Natalie sing Kareoke.

A local kids group was there singing some songs.

Natalie joined right in at the end of the line.

Lots of Dancing

Ryan wouldn't slow dance with Mallory so she danced with a very reluctant Joseph.

Rachel danced with Natalie.

Natalie had to pose once she saw I was taking her picture.

Natalie hadn't seen me yet.

Here comes the I saw you taking my picture pose.