Dani's Orange

In May, we planted an orange for Dani. One day, we saw an orange growing on the tree. We were so excited and took a picture of it. It was so fun to watch this orange grow. We took a few pictures to document it's growth. When it was ripe, Dani picked it and peeled it. She unfortunately left it in the fridge and someone else ate it. Here are the pictures of Dani's first orange.

Benson Trip

My family went to Benson to visit my sister. Most years, Debbie and her family come up to visit a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was great to go down especially after Christmas. My family really likes to go down to Benson. We heard that it's was snowing the day before, but it was not sticking to the ground. We were so excited and we prepared for the cold. When we arrived, there was frost on everything and we were freezing. The cold didn't bother the kids, they still played outside constantly. There is a lot of open space near Debbie's house, so there is room to play and enjoy the outdoor toys. Debbie is a wonderful host and cook. Thanks!

Josh found enough frost to make a snowball.

Dani in front of the trampline covered in frost.

Britt and Dani jumping on the trampoline and breaking up the frost.

Jim took Emmy for a quad ride.

Josh drove Angela and Emmy on the go-cart.

Dani and Brittany traded off on driving the go-cart.

There was a bounce house and Emmy loved jumping in it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Pace family had a very Merry Christmas.

It was the best one that we have had all year long.

Ha ha!

• On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma Pace's house to exchange presents. Grandma provided a wonderful meal for us and then we visited with family. Grandpa read us a good Christmas story and the the grandkids put on a spontaneous talent show. It was a fun evening. We headed on home for some of our own family traditions. We opened up Grandma and Grandpa's gifts. The suspense was really killing them. Then, they opened up their special gift - pj's and a book. The girls got some cute light-up socks that Angela thought was the cutest ever. Christmas Eve was truly special and I'll never forget this particular night.

• On Christmas Day, the family got up and opened the presents. Grandma and Grandpa Wall came over to see kids open their gifts. It's a fun tradition that they started a few years ago. It was great fun to have them over. Our family got a Wii this Christmas. We've had a ball watching each other play. We played for a couple of hours and headed over to my parent's house to spend the day. I love spending time with my family on Christmas Day. It gives us a chance to play games, and just talk.

Christmas Pic at my parent's house.

Christmas Sunday

Here are some pictures of the kids the Sunday before Christmas. They really looked so cute.

Pace Christmas Party

We had our Annual Pace Christmas Party. It's so fun to get together and hang out. We started the night with yummy dinner. After dinner, we played Bingo, made crafts, and frosted cookies. We had a lot of fun. We ended the evening off with Grandpa passing out stuffed puppies. He had two large bags full of the puppies. Angela was first to get hers and she couldn't have been happier. Emily was very patient and waited her turn. When Grandpa finished his first bag, Emily looked inside it wondering where her puppy was. It was so cute to watch. She was the second last to receive her puppy, she exercised great patience. When Grandpa called her name, she was thrilled and jumped up and collected her puppy. It was a great party and we had an enjoyable time. We missed the Utah Paces. It's always funner when all the family is together.

Josh and his cousins play Bingo. The game was a hit with the kids.

Angela is making an ornament to put on our tree.

Dani made the cute Santa hat.

Emmy and Grandma with their puppies.

The kids with their puppies.

How many times should one see Santa?

Angela and Emily have seen Santa 4 times this season. We didn't plan on seeing so many Santas, but they were everywhere this year. Both of my girls loved to sit on Santa's lap, even Emily who is a little shy around strangers. The girls were so excited for Santa to make his final visit at the Pace home.

• The first visit to Santa is always the best. This visit was captured by the news media who were there to film information about an Eagle Scout Project. A scout in our ward was holding a month long event to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house. On the first night, Santa and the media came for a visit. They filmed Emily sitting on Santa's lap, it was so sweet to watch her on TV.

  
• The second visit to Santa was at the Ward Christmas party. It's so fun to see how the room is decorated. Santa arrives 1 hour before the party starts, so you better come early to see him. Angela loves to see Santa and her personality always show through.
  


• The third visit to Santa was at the Orthodontist party. Every year, our orthodontist shows a snow party complete with a visit from Santa. I was so excited to go that I left my memory stick at home. I was fun to watch the kids play without documenting every step with the camera. The kids participated in the huge snowball fight, jumped in bouncy house, ate muffins, and drank hot chocolate. We went in the office to visit Santa and I was pleasantly surprised that they were taking pics of the kids with Santa. Hey, I loved that!
• The fourth visit to Santa was after my kids participated in a family movie night, at their Aunt's apartment. Santa was visiting her apartment complex, so after the movie the younger kids headed over to see Santa. I didn't go with them for this visit, but I am very grateful for my niece who took great pictures. This is such a great picture of Santa and Angela.

Dance Recital & The Nutcracker

Dani had her dance recital a couple of weeks ago. I love to go the recitals and watch the kids dance. It's so fun to see the different personalities of the dancers while they perform. Dani has been taking tap classes for a few years and really enjoys it. She has class on Thursday night and when she comes home, she shows us what she learned. She loves to dances on the hard floor, so we can see and hear her feet move. I love to watch her tap and we are very proud of her.

Dani and I went to see the Nutcracker this year put on by Campbell's Dance Studio. It was the first time that Dani and I have ever seen the ballet. We've heard the music, seen the movies, and now it was time to see the ballet. Since Dani dances at Campbell's, she recognized a lot of the performers which added to the ballet. It was a wonderful evening to spend with Dani and maybe will make it a tradition. It might be fun to bring Angela and Emily when they are a little older.

Band Concert

Josh and Dani had their band concert the same night. It's so awesome that my children are involved in music. It's great that the school has band and orchestra at the elementary school level. My kids look forward to the two days of school that they have band.

Dani switched from playing bells to playing the drums. She really loves playing the drums and being in the band. It's so fun to watch her play and I'm so proud of her.

Josh played the clarinet and did such a great job. He informed me after the concert that he wants to play the bass clarinet. He attended the local Junior High concert and is really wants to continue playing next year. I'm so thrilled and heard the good things about the program.

School Projects

Josh made an Egyptian mask a couple of months ago. I helped Josh and some of his classmates put on their masks. They covered their whole face, except their nostrils with plaster. It was amazing to watch the kids. They were so brave to have their complete face covered for 5 minutes while the plaster dried. I know that I would have had a hard time with the process. The 6th graders displayed their art work in the library for the whole school to see. Here is Josh's final project.

Dani participated in the 5th grade Economics Bazaar this year. Dani made cinnamon and applesauce ornaments and decorated them with glitter glue. Dani and I spent two weeks making these ornaments and the house smelled so good. That was my favorite part. She had so much fun making them and selling them. She had a friend who helped her decorate and sell the ornaments. The money raised at the Bazaar will pay for their end of the year party at Amazing Jake's.

Lowell Flight Center

Dani has been on some great field trips since she has been in school. One of the best field trips was to the Lowell Flight Center. The students put in a lot of preparation before they could go on this field trip. While they were there, they used a computer simulator to take off in an airplane, make a turn while in the air, and land the airplane on the ground. Dani went on four flights, we are proud to say that she landed once. It was so nervous watching her that I had to stop and watch some other students. She flew in an airplane and a helicopter. It was such a neat experience and is available for Mesa Public School students in the 5th grade.

Family Pictures

We went to Freestone Park to get our family pictures taken. I think everyone else had the same idea because the park was packed. My sister used my camera and took some pictures of the family. They turned out really cute and I totally love them. I tried to order the pictures for Christmas Cards and realized that the image was too small. My camera was set to take pictures on an email setting. I was so sad that we couldn't use those pictures on print, but can use them on the computer.

A week later, my sister met us again at Freestone to take our family pictures again. I took picture of my sister's family at the same time. We used two cameras in case we had some problems. With two cameras, we were able to get some great shots of both families. My little ones weren't has cooperative as the first trip, but it worked out great.