AS GOOD AS IT GOT!

We really tried to get a good family picture for our Christmas cards this year. And as most everybody knows, we try to do these things ourselves and save a little money. We had a nice color scheme going, had a great camera, and everybody was pretty jolly the night we attempted. It was going to be good! I could feel it!

Testing the lighting....it's so hard to get it right!

Alex is getting his game face on!

Lighting is better and we have one body....and a scary looking backdrop!

A few more willing participants......

More bodies but what is wrong with the lighting again?....fix the iso....or is it the apature, dad?!


Take 1......


Take 2......Sarah!


People are getting bored!


Mom is getting mad! The kids are getting "The Look!" What a meanie!



Now we've totally lost it! (arguing, killing, spacing, dancing.....) And where the heck is Dad in all of these?!!!!!!



Take 5,452. (just kidding! just felt like it!) Oh, hello Dad! Hey! This one is pretty good! Now we need Jake to open his eyes! Alright, alright, take a break everyone, we'll try one of just Mom and Dad......

Oh geez! I think we're done!

Our best shot.

My favorite shot!


After it was finally all over, we put on our jammies, drank some hot cocoa, watched a movie, and went to bed. And now you know why you did not receive a photo Christmas card from the Howell's this year!

Meet Max!

Max is the newest member of the Howell family. Although if you call him Max, I'm not sure he will answer. We have called him puppy for sooooooo long! It took us weeks to decide on a name for him. We were a serious house divided! The guys wanted Drake. (Named after a world-saving guy on some video game they like to play.) The twins wanted Teddy or Gizmo. The guys would have no "fruffy" names! Finally we watched "Tangled" again and loved Maximus----the way cool horse that makes the movie so great. And Max it was! We all agreed! Finally! But now we all are still trying to break our 2 month long habit of calling him "Puppy."

He is so fluffy! When we give him a bath he looks half his size! He is a Bichon-Poodle mix. Hypo-allergenic and non-shed! Perfect!

awwwwwwwwwww.......

Teenager number 2

Well, I know that I said I would post about Canada this time, but I needed you to celebrate my second teenagers birthday with me! On 9/9/11, Jacob Jeffrey Howell offically became the second teenager in the Howell family! Jake is such an amazing boy---oh, I mean teenager! It's been an exciting year for him. He entered 7th grade is a becoming quite a remarkable person. Jake has really improved his piano skills this year and can pound out some amazing tunes. Last Spring he got a standing ovation at his Middle School talent show after playing David Lanz's "Nights in White Satin." He thought that was so cool that he is already practicing a piece for this year (Hint: Pirates!) I never get tired of him playing the piano at all hours of the day----or night! It makes this mothers heart burst! He hit some sweet home runs this past summer in baseball and dominates on the soccer field. He has also recently started running cross country and is doing a great job. He is a natural athlete and works hard to do his best. He has boundless energy and keeps his family on their toes....(If ya know what I mean!) He has recently acquired a job mowing the neighbors lawn and looooooves having his own money. (So do his parents!) He is a good student and great brother, son, and friend. He strives to be kind and cares about others. Recently I had two people tell me how impressed they are with Jake and his kind demeanor. Now that's a compliment to be proud of! I'm so grateful Jacob is my son.

This is the one and only picture we got on his birthday. That's my Jake!



Jake running hard at his first Cross Country meet.



Tearing up the soccer field.

You're a pretty cool kid Jake! Oh yeah, not kid.....TEENAGER!

I love you!

Family Vacation 2011

Every year our family takes a week long trip out west to visit our family and friends. We usually go to a family reunion or two and have a great time. This year we decided to do things a little differently. Jeff took off two weeks and we hit the road! We had a week to spend just with our immediate family. And boy did we have a great adventure! By the end of our trip we had logged 5,000 miles on our beast van, driven through 8 states and two provinces in Canada. Besides 1 night in a 2- bed hotel, and 2 nights at a friends home, we spent the rest TENT CAMPING! With 7 kids! Yes, I am a saint! And we all survived. And we have some amazing memories to share!

FIRST STOP: GLACIER NATIONAL PARK


For some reason I did not get a very good photo of the mountains in Glacier. But the mountain peaks there are so amazing! I went on a few morning runs and felt as though I was running through paradise! It was fun to see people sitting peacefully by the lake with their canvas and paintbrushes or sketchbooks and charcoals, trying to capture the beauty of this piece of heaven on earth.


We built a lot of fires............I always seem to forget what a bunch of PYROMANIACS I have in my family! Look at all those hands stirring the fire!

We skipped a lot of rocks.....................



Collected a lot of rocks...........

Climbed trees..............(Mariah my monkey)


Saw some amazing trees.......

And hiked to the top of the world!

Hiking with 7 kids is always an adventure and this hike was quite remarkable. We did not quite reach the top because we ran out of drinking water, but most everybody had a great attitude and were bound and determined to find snow. We saw it --but never got high enough to touch it. Maybe next year!

A few years ago I visited Glacier and counted it as the most beautiful place I had ever been. Well, now it is my second-most-beautiful-place! Because now I have been to Canada!

To be continued........

NEXT POST: WHITE SWAN LAKE, CANADA B.C. and BANFF, ALBERTA CANADA

The silence has been broken!

Wow! I cannot believe it has been 2 whole months since I have posted anything! It's good to be back! I have a lot of catching up to do!

Let's start with this cutie!

This is LEIRE. (LAY-DAY?!!)
I still cannot pronounce it quite properly!

Leire is our foreign exchange student from Spain. She stayed with us for a month last summer. We loved her so much that she came back!!! We enjoyed having her be a part of our family for another month this year. Although, I have decided that time passes way too quickly and her time with us seemed so short.

Leire is 15 and comes from a small village just north of Madrid, Spain. She loves dancing, traveling, singing and getting her picture taken. Okay, okay, the first two are true. The last two are not. She is a dancer and loves ballet especially. She also is quite a traveler. She has traveled more than most of us and has big plans to go to big places in the future. The singing and getting her picture taken are two things we like to tease her about. However, she does sing quite well in the shower! (her singing voice is great---she is just shy) She is also camera shy and hides whenever the camera comes out! But don't you think she is so cute?!!! She is an only child so living with our family of 8 is a big change for her, but she survived beautifully! She really bonded with the kids this year and they all adore her. She endured many things during her stay including our sarcasm, silliness, boxing fights, strange food, loooooong car drives, (5000 miles), quoting obnoxious movies, (Dumb and dumber), stinky feet, other stinky things (Jake and Alex!), stinky skunks in the campground, 2 weeks of tent camping, eating out of a soup can, helping with mounds of dishes, just to name a few. So she is a mighty survivor! And we love her for loving us despite all of our craziness!

We are hoping to see her again next year. But no matter what the future brings, we have made wonderful memories with a wonderful girl!

A New Family Photo

Well, we did it! We actually got a decent family picture taken. Actually, a couple of them! We are not the type of family who hires a professional photographer to arrange us perfectly and achieve the perfect shot! Oh No! We are go-for-it-and-do-it-ourself-ers! (can I write that?) This time we went to Governor Dodge State Park right here in Dodgeville. We found a great barn as a backdrop and prayed that the sun would shine long enough for us to get at least one good picture! Jeff set up the tripod, arranged us, set the timer, and ran to his spot! I'd say he got a pretty good shot! This one turned out best and I already have it hanging on our wall!




We really liked this one, too. The spacing is a little off but everyone still looks really great. I guess these days anything goes with photography and it doesn't matter if everybody is perfectly spaced with their best smile. I love how Nate tossed his flip flops off in this one. And how Jake and Alex took the exact same position---without even being told to do so. They look like a pair of bookends holding us all together! This is a fun, unique shot.


And a third shot. The spacing and lighting are really good in this one. We are really grateful Mo could be a part of our family picture this time.

All in all I would say we were pretty successful in achieving what we wanted! All by ourselves---no professionals needed! What do you think? Which photo is your favorite? We'd love to know!

MO

This past school year we have had an additional family member. Mo has been with us since last September. She is from Beijing, China. She is 17 years old and has been attending high school here in Dodgeville. She has been here on a foreign exchange program and now, we can't believe that her time with us is almost over!!!!!

It seems like just yesterday we picked her up at the Madison airport and she hopped in our big, honkin' white, 12 passenger van and became a part of our lives. She is a huge part of our family now and will leave a BIG hole when she leaves.

Mo has been such a positive, happy person and has added so much to our family. Just last night she and Alex gave us a rousing performance on their recorders! I will sure miss our conversations while she helps me make dinner. I will miss her playing her favorite song "Hey Jude" on the piano. I will miss seeing her and Nathan playing softball in the field together. I will miss her playing with the twins and doing their hair. I will miss her willingness to try almost anything---even cayenne pepper. I will miss the eggs she makes every morning for breakfast and I will miss her eggs and tomatoes she makes for dinner. I will miss eating potstickers with her. I will miss the kindness she always shows her roomate, Mariah . I will miss helping her with her homework. I will miss the way she can wholeheartedly laugh at herself when she makes a mistake. I will miss asking her a hundred questions about China and I will miss hearing all the answers she gives. I will miss her adventurous spirit and excitement about trying something new---like basketball, softball, jewelery making, scrapbooking, playing "Ticket to Ride", quilting, and all our strange American food. I will miss our long talks in Chinglish (half English, half Chinese--o.k., mostly English) and I will miss her beautiful smile and hearty laugh.

Mo has been such a great sport being a part of our busy, active family. She is an only child in China. But now has 6 siblings to call her own! It has not always been easy for her but her positive attitude and perserverence has been a great example to our family. She has even happily endured 3+ hours of church with us every week! What a champ! I admire her so much and am so grateful she came to us and trusted us to take care of her for this short amount of time. I will always treasure this time and I look forward to seeing what she does in the future. She is an amazing girl! The sky is the limit with this young one!

I Love you, Mo!