December 2012

     

Trying for a good picture for the Christmas card. 

The WINNER!

The kids did such a good job in the ward Nativity.  Josh played a wise man, Carly was Mary, and Jack did a stellar job as a cow.  :)  Carly was so funny.  When she went to put baby Jesus in the manger, she pulled the doll out of her sleeve and tossed him in. 

We love having Santa make house calls for us.  Brother Traynor has always been so good to our family. 

Daddy went to Josh's class for the holiday party. He built a great gingerbread house.   

We went to a Christmas party at a ward member's home.  We sang carols and played the bells. 

Jarod was very busy as the Elders Quorum President.  We had many opportunities to serve the Bakersfield 5th ward.  Jarodito was so cute helping to clean the building. 

Jon Morris found a free basketball hoop for us! The kids had a ball playing in the backyard. 

Before Christmas we had a sleepover in front of the fire.

The kids made a great gingerbread house. 

On Christmas morning the kids found zucchini in their stockings!

Christmas was such a great day...that lasted two days.  We went to get the kids' bikes from Daddy's storage unit, but the facility closed early on Christmas Eve. 

On New Year's Eve we tried to send the Chinese Lanterns we got in SF, into the sky. One went successfully into the sky.  One was a dud, and the other came crashing back down at us in a flaming ball of fire.  

Silly string and streamer fun

December was filled with mixed emotions.  We had gotten notice from Jarod's employer that a massive layoff was coming.  On December 20th we heard that Jarod's division was letting go of 60% of their employees, including Jarod. We spent Christmas alone as a family. We didn't tell the kids the news, and we enjoyed our time together as a family.  Jarod quickly set about seeking new employment.  Shortly after getting the news about Jarod's layoff, our renters informed us that they'd be moving at the end of January.  It was a big blow to our morale.  After what seemed like an eternity, but what was only 6 weeks, Jarod was re-hired by Pfizer in a different division.  We were excited by this new opportunity, and set about readying ourselves for a move to Tennessee. What seemed like the end of the world to us turned out to be such a blessing.  His new job was a promotion, a pay increase, and more fulfilling than the previous one.