Merry Christmas from the Powell's.

Here is Jack's new picture - much better!

School Pictures 2012

Here are the children's school pictures. The lighting wasn't right and was the biggest problem for Jack. He is getting retakes. Lauren - Age 3

Jack - Kindergarten Age 5

Evan - 2nd Grade Age 7

Disney Cruise 2012

We had a wonderful gift given to us by my parents of a Disney Cruise with all the cousins.  It was a 7 day cruise to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.  It was a great trip and we love cruising with Disney!  Lets do it again next year!

Lauren is potty-trained

I didn't plan on potty training Lauren on vacation, but sometimes potty-trained girls get special privileges that diaper-wearing girls don't get.  She wanted to get a magic bracelet to wear, swim in the pool and play with the boys but couldn't do that wearing diapers.  She decided on her own that she wanted to use the toilet.  We purchased some underwear for her on the boat (I didn't bring any for her) and she was successful the entire trip with just a few accidents.  I am so proud of her for deciding to be a big girl!

Christmas 2011

We went to the Grand America Hotel again on December 23rd so that Dave could have a nice start to his birthday the next day. We did all the same things we did last year and had a great time - swimming, Trax, Temple Square, Little America Breakfast Buffet. It was all wonderful. We then went to the cabin for Dave's birthday dinner, opened a few presents and then came home for the first time to have Santa arrive here at our new house. It was a great Christmas day.

Oranges 2012

We can't resist oranges from Hemet California so we drove there over President's Day weekend. We stayed in Palmdale to be close to our friends whom we were going to visit as well. We drove all day Friday and started first thing on Saturday. Unfortunately, Lauren jumped off a small windowsill in the lobby of the hotel and split her chin open. (She split it open 6 weeks prior at the cabin and it was just starting to look better.) We raced to Palmdale's new hospital which Dave built with Layton Construction and got it glued back together. Despite that horrible delay, we raced to Hemet (a 2 hour drive) to pick oranges and grapefruit before they closed. We made it and had a wonderful time. 120 pounds later, we left satisfied. Here are some pictures from our trip.