ZOO

A few days after Christmas we went to the L.A. zoo. We had a great time. The only problem was there weren't enough strollers for all the kids who wanted to ride which were all of them even the 6 & 7 year old!! Lazy kids:)! Carter's favorite animal was "the ostrich even if it had a bad smell." Jillian's favorite animal was the Komodo dragon. Bennett's favorite thing at the zoo was driving the car stroller. The weather was really nice so a lot of the animals were out and active. It was a good day.

X-mas morning

We had a great Christmas. We were blessed with lots of gifts and lots of fun. The kids got what they asked for, a doll for Jill & a remote control monster truck for Carter. They got Dr. Suess books form Daddy which is a tradition they love. They did not get a rocking horse, that is Asher's rock rock as he calls it that Jill is riding. Jillian made me a candle holder at school. Like I said we had lots of fun and everyone was still healthy at this point so we were grateful for that.

Christmas casualties, Conan with a really bad flu, Mckel with the flu & bronchitis, Jillian with various ailments at various times including fever, vomiting etc... Quinn with phenomena, Bennett with croup & the same ear infection he had already been given 2 courses of antibiotics for, Carter with a cough requiring his breathing treatments. I think that is it but there may have been more.

X-mas Eve

We went down to California for Christmas. It was nice to see family & friends. We arrived on the afternoon of the 23rd and got to decorate cookies and even have a surprise visit from Santa. The kids were very excited. Christmas eve the kids opened Jammie's and had a photo shoot. The top row of pictures show Carter really getting into it. All I said was "hey Carter let me see you in your Jammie's" & look what I got!!! Jill got in on the action then Tennyson & Asher felt the need to pose also! We got a few pictures of all the Parke grand kids and a few of our 3 kids. They did really well but when things started to get a little crazy Bennett wanted out! Bottom left is Jillian at FHE on Christmas eve. The kids put together a sticker page while the Christmas story is read. Bottom right is how Jillian got really into the Christmas spirit & spruced up the bathroom. Very nice and festive, not terribly practical!!! Some of us prefer a little more privacy.