Overheard

Darwin was bathing McKay for church, and McKay was quite resistant to the idea of his hair being washed.

Darwin: You need to get your hair washed for church.

McKay: I'm not going to church! I am going to the opposite of church!

That sounds fairly bad...but never fear! Once his hair was washed, McKay was back to saying, "Jesus says, 'It's almost partytime!'"

Merry Christmas!

Awwwww, my angels.

The Christmas Party of Joy!!

Woo! It IS Christmas!!

The kids LOVE Harris' Christmas party. It really marks the final countdown to Christmas. We have the best time and love a night where the kids can really just be comfortable and have fun!

We were a little late due to a snow plow issue (it blocked us in our driveway...), but we caught the tail end of the singing.

Mmmmm, treats.

x2!!

The old gang is back together!! (Seriously, Michael LOVES this time--in fact, he didn't even rush off to get in line for Santa immediately. He hung back and played with his buds. LOVE that!)

Harris!! He fits right in, no?

McKay loved seeing old friends.

This is McKay's best buddy. She also does a great job of getting him where he needs to be. Before Sarah found him, he was in and out of the Santa line about 25 times. But she got him all straightened out.

Wooo! Santa!! I know him! I KNOW him!!

Hannah thought this was pretty much awesome.

Awwwwwwww. I love all of the friends they have.

Hannah visits Santa. (I am not sure why I only resized the black and white...but I am too lazy to go back and change it. Santa's wearing red, if that helps you visualize it.)

Michael shares his deepest wish...Clue Secrets and Spies.

Garrett was a little star-struck over Santa.

Ella was quite unsure.

Yeah...not gonna sit on his lap. She was not sure about the present he gave her, but she totally wanted his beard...if he was gonna share...

McKay left towards the end and took a little tour of his old stomping grounds in Harris' room.

He knew were everything was!

Christmas can officially come now. We've been to THE party!

Overheard

While we were at the Ward Christmas party, McKay was drawn to the stage. Well, specifically opening and closing the curtain of the stage. He has ALWAYS been intriqued by this.

We were trying to keep him at the table, eating dinner. Our sweet neighbor, Jenny, was also there, assisting us. She kept McKay very entertained, asking him about his beloved alphabet ball, but occationally, McKay would make a dart for the stage, only to be restrained.

On one of these attempts, McKay turned to Jenny and said very sweetly, "Money is no object...."

Heee.

Rock ON!

So the boys have been participating in an awesome program sponsored by 'Splore. They organize activities for children with special needs. We signed up for two of their rock climbing classes. The kids have learned rapelling, bouldering, etc. I love watching them do so well, and they both REALLY do well.

It is also a little surprising to see one's children hanging from 40+ feet...;)

Overheard

While we ate dinner, Garrett opined that "Bad guys don't get to eat ham or turkey. They can only eat goo. And they turn into goo. And fall into traps."

Wow, that is certainly a persuasive argument against being a bad guy.

Uh...oops?

So I have totally neglected my blog.

Oops.

But let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

1) Late October-most of November was the time of the plague in the abode of Rehart. It was one thing after another. Sore throats. Fluishness. Vomiting. High fevers of unexplained origins. So, we stayed home. A lot. I think I bought one tank of gas for the minivan in about a month. The house was not destroyed utterly in the end, so I count that time as a success in our family history.

2) Ella was potty trained. She pretty much rocks. I didn't really do anything to teach her, she just saw all the praise Garrett got when he used the potty (he's been trained awhile, but he still likes to proclaim about his successes), and she decided that she could totally do it. She was right.

3) I have been a maniac. Preschool shoots, a wedding, and a meeeellllllion family shoots later...I am ready for a break. But I will smile as I receive Christmas cards, as many of them will feature photos that I took. ;) I still have a couple family shoots and 2 weddings on the books. I think a few weeks off would be good though. I am starting to feel burned out from literally shooting at least twice a week (and 5 times over Thanksgiving week.) I've been editing an average of 100 pics a day for a bit. I'm getting darn fast though.

4) The house is decorated for Christmas and pictures will be forthcoming. It is hilariously cute to see Ella in amazement at the tree full of little "toys." Garrett also has lots of ideas about Santa Claus. Oh and Michael and McKay came up with the 13th and 14th verses of the 12 Days of Christmas. Michael thinks 13 should be 13 Chocolate Turkeys. And McKay thinks 14 needs to be 14 Disney Videos. Works for me.

5) I also have a bunch of photos of the boys rock climbing at the climbing wall in SLC. They are doing a cool class for kids with autism. It's been great. I will post them in a bit. (I am on the wrong computer, my external hard drive is hooked up to my other computer.)

I think that is it for the moment. I also have trouble sleeping (I have for about 6 months), so I am now totally caught up on the TV show House. Any input on what show I ought to catch up on next in my extra night time hours while I edit? I like the background noise.