Gingerbread House Displays

Apparently, each year there is a display of Gingerbread Houses at the Rio Grande station at the Gateway. It is sponsored by Ivory Homes and the proceeds go to United Way. So Saturday we headed there to see the houses. Some of them were really amazing. Santa was also there, but my kids had already had their pictures taken with Santa and had no interest in getting pictures with him again. (Gabby is terrified of him.)


This was one of my favorites!









Afterward, we had dinner at Gourmandise, and Michelle surprised us all by deciding to order an Asian chicken salad...which she loved! She is definitely growing up way too fast.

The Cat is out of the Bag

Yesterday I took the kids with me to buy Alfredo's gift. When Alfredo got home from work last night, our darling 3 year old Gabby said, "Look, Daddy, this is your gift." Then she proceeded to announce, "It's a laptop." Both Alfredo and I busted out laughing, which made her cry... she hadn't meant to do anything funny or wrong.

Christmas Letter 2011

Mailed almost all of my Christmas cards today! Have about 6 more presents to wrap and a few more neighbor gifts to deliver. I'm almost ready for Christmas to come!

Here is this year's edition of the Panameno Christmas letter:


December 2011

Dear friends and family,
Merry Christmas! We give thanks at this time of year for our many blessings…good health, freedom, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and our dear friends and family.
Among the highlights of our year were two trips: one to Oregon and one to Disneyland. In Oregon, we were able to see Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River, go to rose gardens, and see fireworks in Spokane, among other activities. It was beautiful. This was the girls’ first trip to Disneyland, and they loved it! Michelle and Ella loved seeing all the characters and we enjoyed a fun breakfast with Minnie and many of her friends. Gabby was a little scared of them. Michelle loved all the scary rides: Space Mountain, California Screamin’ and Tower of Terror. Ella liked Matterhorn, Autopia and Little Mermaid. Gabby loved Little Mermaid and especially Winnie-the-Pooh. It was a great trip!
Gabby is 3 now. Her curly, curly hair and deep brown eyes draw compliments on a regular basis. She has always been very verbal, and her stories, singing and dancing make us laugh daily. She loves Polly Pockets, Disney princesses and animals, especially our dog Chester.
Ella is 6 and in first grade. She and Michelle recently completed memorizing the 13 Articles of Faith, quite an accomplishment. She loves school and loves to read, in English and Spanish. She is learning to play the piano. She has a sweet and sensitive heart.
Michelle is 8 and was baptized in June. She is in third grade. She is learning to play the piano and the violin. She and Ella are also in a dance group at school, Ballet Folklorico, that performs Mexican and South American dances. She is growing up so quickly.
Jenny is teaching second grade again and loves it! She is teaching the Sunbeams (3 and 4 year olds) at church. She also reads a lot and blogs (www.panamenos.blogspot.com).
Alfredo was able to change positions within his company. He is learning new skills as a salesperson in the Kalmar division of Utility Trailer. He enjoys his job. He has also done some remodeling in our home this year… knocking out part of a wall, removing the carpet and putting in laminate in the living room. It looks so nice.
We are so blessed and wish you a Merry Christmas! We give thanks for the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ and wish you a Happy New Year!
Love, The Panamenos

Gingerbread Houses

The holiday season is upon us...and now that I'm on break, I'm trying to (once again) catch up on my blogging. We've had a fun season so far, including making gingerbread houses as a family. Michelle and Alfredo worked together to create one. I built Ella's but she decorated it almost entirely on her own, and I helped Gabby. It was fun to listen to Christmas music and work together.


Have I ever mentioned how much I adore and love this little girl's expressions? She makes the funniest faces!!

Assembly

On Friday, December 2, the girls had a Student of the Month Assembly at their school. Ella was chosen as student of the month for her class by her teachers, Miss Finerfrock and Maestra Mary Lou. Also, Michelle and Ella's dance group Ballet Folklorico was performing at the assembly. So I took a half day off work so that I could attend the assembly.

The assembly started with the fourth graders performing. It was beautiful. One class stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance in Navajo (their teacher is Navajo). Then the dual immersion class stood and recited it in Spanish. Then the third class and the audience said the pledge in English. It brought tears to my eyes hearing it in these other languages. Then they sang, "We are the Children of Many Colors" which is a song that I love. They did a beautiful job and had a nice slide show playing on a screen behind them as they sang.

Then the Ballet Folklorico performed. Ella was in the first dance. Unfortunately, while I was in the first row, she was on the other side of the stage so I didn't get any good photos of her.



Michelle was in the second dance. They both did a great job.




Then they announced the students of the month, including sweet Ella. So proud of her!

Lights at Temple Square

Last Saturday, our friends Jeremy and Stacie and their kids came and had dinner with us and we all went to Temple Square to see the lights. It is so beautiful and peaceful there (albeit cold!) and was fun to have this experience with our family and theirs. I love this time of year!!!





After walking around for a bit, we went into the visitors center to see the Christus and to warm up a bit. There were a lot of other people there, and we were up there for at least 5-10 minutes and they hadn't played the narration of Christ speaking.
As we were walking back down, the narration started. Gabby cried so hard because she wanted to go hear "Jesus talk to me"...but with the crowd, there was no way to get back up the ramp in time. We'll have to make another visit to Temple Square after Christmas so she can hear Jesus talk to her.

The Mouses

We've been horrified because we had a family of mice in our backyard that found a way into our house. It's been awful getting rid of them, but I think we finally have. Cross my fingers!

But the cute part of this story is that when Gabby found out, she was thrilled. She tells us several times a day now not to hurt her mouses. "The mouses are my friends," she tells us. That utterly grosses me out, to be honest, and we are hurting (read: KILLING) "her mouses". But this little girl just loves animals and I wanted to remember this in years to come.