Josh's Christmas Program

The whole crew!

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Merry Christmas!

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Getting so big!

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Waiting for it to start...

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Gotta love a good cookie!

The PRIMROSE Christmas Party

was the first weekend of December!

This was such a fun event to plan, and even more to go to!

I love being in the city and it was beautiful being along the river at night!

This will be the second time that PRIMROSE has had the opportunity to host a Christmas party to thank all the people that make us who we are. Just the fact that we are still around in this economy is testiment to the AMAZING people that work with us! It was a great night of great food, great fun (amazing band) and great fellowship with wonderful people!

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Thanks grandma for hanging with the kids so we could have a weekend away!

The last Sunday in Nov??

Before you email and tell me that something is wrong with my blog...

they must be out of order...

or maybe you're catching up from this summer...

just wait!

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When the weather is almost 70 degrees on a Sunday,

we can't pass up a day at the zoo!

That's right, this was the last sunday in Nov!!!

So we packed our lunches and filled our water bottles

and headed to the Zoo!!

We LOVE being Zoo Members!

(thanks again grandma and grandpa!...best birthday gifts ever!)

Not even phased by the shark right next to them!

The "Boxes"

I normally have a 5 image rule for my posts,

to save my time and my sanity while i "sit" and wait for them to upload.

This is an exception!

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My December posts wouldn't be complete without a post about the "boxes" as they have been named this year. (last year we called them "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"...also the name of anything related to Mickey Mouse since Ellie's first experience of them is the show...)

We have the joy of living 4 walking blocks from this house!

And, now that the tree in the back yard fell down, we can see it from our kitchen table.

Pure joy for Ellie!

and since it's on the way home from mom and dads, we get to drive by all the time!!

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Weather permitting, we walk by for the first time of the season.

They turn the lights on after thanksgiving and they leave them on until the Ephiphany (12 days after Christmas)!

We call it the boxes because along the sidewalk, there are boxes similar to dog houses with glass fronts. Inside are different scenes.
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Josh with the toy shop

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Ellie with Tigger and Pooh

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Ellie with Minnie and Mickey...
This was her favorite this year and everytime we drove by she would say:

"why does Goofy like to cut candy canes?"

(he is behind her in this photo)

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Ellie with Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy

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Matt Checking out the Reindeer stables

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One without the flash...

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Checking his list...

and, can you see the tv in the bottom right hand corner?

it's a live feed! "He sees you when..."

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All the boxes in a row...

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Ellie spots the boxes for the first time...

we knew it was going to be a big deal!

Christmas Parade

Who loves Zelienople!? I do!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the Zelie parade!

So, since it was so nice, we walked into town and got a great spot to watch the parade from! THanks to Adam who had dropped our chairs off earlier to save a spot!

When the kids know how to keep their own hands warm, we'll be able to go down earlier!!

the funny part was on hte way home...

Matt was waving to all trucks that went by us on hte road!!

haha

Here come Santa Clause, Here comes Santa Clause

Right down Main Street!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a lazy day!

We enjoyed spending the day with my parents and Adam's family all together!

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The following night, the entire Bernini-Martin clan got together!

What a fun time!

Then, that night, we had our Christmas movie night...

gotta find those pictures...

ZIPPCO Art Show

Josh's preschool Art Show was just before Thanksgiving!

Here is his stuffed leaf:

His splatter art, Just like George's:

Santa's Sleigh pulled by Rudolf:

The music room, filled with the take home projects:

Josh made a set of drums out of 4 oatmeal containers and then painted them!:

The All About Me project:

At this rate...

...I will post November the first of the new year!

haha...i will really try to get November done because I would

love to share December

with you as it happens!

We have so many fun things planned!

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Until then,

Here is my final picture of the day.

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This is the road my parents live on.

I drive it everyday...well, practically.

If you look, you can see the rows of corn on the right and the road curves off and down to the left.

As I come around a 90 degree turn to see this image,

I always wondered why the corn didn't line the road, but instead seemed to go off to the right.

Following my road made the most sense for the corn. It seemed right.

Why wouldn't the farmer make it easy on himself and plant the corn along the road.

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But then one day, the Lord had a BIG message for me!

It's not always about me and my way.

While I curve to the left, the corn stays straight,

easy for the farmer to plant and easy for the farmer to sow.

(an aerial view would show the rows of corn being straight,

planted in perfect rows...that I couldn't see from my road)

and some times, my way, is not the only way

...just the way for me.

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Also goes to show me that I can be blind

(and perhaps stupid to some reading this post) in the routine of life.

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Here's to learning what's good for me and what's good for others

&

what's not good for me and what's not good for others.

Praise God he made us all different!

the Big Hole

was our goal

and we made it!

I had gone to the Grand Canyon before

but Adam had never been.

This was his first view of the hole!

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I remember why I took a whole roll of film

the first time I went...

You just can't capture it in one picture!

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This was the coolest thing...

you take the pipe and set it in one of the grooves

on the round disk.

Each groove is labeled and tells you what you're

looking TOWARDS in the canyon.

It was not a telescope...

so I was so excited that Adam got a

pair of camera binoculars from Ben as a groomsman gift

(also good for someone obsessed with the Pittsburgh Pirates)

and that we brought them!

It was so fun to see down into the canyon!

There is actually a village/town down there!

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proof i was actually there!

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After we entered the park,

we ran into some traffic.

What could be wrong up ahead?

Everyone was stopping to take a picture of the elk.

not the moose. the elk.

just hanging out on the side of the road...

eating.

We later read in a tour book that you should stay

at least 40 feet from the elk.

Sedona, AZ

We left Pheonix for the day and headed north toward the big hole!

Along the way, we stopped in Sedona!

What a beautiful town!

The Red Rocks were AWESOME!

Especially on a perfect day!

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The Chuch on the Rock

This place was amazing!

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This is the story posted on the wall outside the church!

for more info:

www.chapeloftheholycross.com

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I wish I could capture this church on film...

I tried lots of settings

and took lots of pictures.

none did any justice.

This miserable photo is of the beautiful altar.

The cross, the potium, the altar...it was all made from twigs/sticks!

the face of Jesus behind the altar in the middle of the circle on the wall

captured my attention and wouldn't let go! : )

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These were the seats/pews

and the stations of the cross along the side bench

made out of actual nails.

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This is the view out the back of the chuch.

and right above adam's head is

"mother and child"

i think we got a better picture with the camera binoculars...

if i could only figure out how to download them...

just when you thought...

october was over...

Over Halloween weekend, Adam and I snuck away to Arizona!

What an awesome resort in the middle of the desert!

and 84 Lumber, PRIMROSE's lumber supplier

was an awesome Host!

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The Lazy River

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The pool at the spa

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The farewall reception

*being that we were that far west,

we felt it a disservice if we didn't go sightseeing...

check out the next post...

Halloween

The kids just loved Halloween!

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Here is my little Police man playing legos before heading out.

and he is such a police man in his life...

making sure his friends and siblings are always doing what they are suppose to

and making sure I (or his teacher) knows if they aren't

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Grandpa taking them out trick-or-treating!

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Ellie was a Lancer Cheerleader!

Over Homecoming weekend I was at the university watching hte parade

and i ran into another little girl wearing an Edinboro Cheerleader outfit

so I asked her mom where she got the outfit

and she told me that we could have the one her daughter was wearing!

She was outgrowing it and she needed a new one anyway...

I told her she didn't have to do that but gave her my

contact info thinking it was a nice thought but I wouldn't hear from her.

a few days later she called me! and said,

"sorry i didn't call sooner, i wanted to make sure it was clean!"

How wonderful is that!?

She dropped it off at Grandma and Grandpa's

that afternoon!!!

& Matt was a lion... "roar!"