GOLD CUP

Avery has been taking piano lessons since September and she had her first recital/competition yesterday. As you can see from the photo, taken right before she played, she was a little nervous :) She did a beautiful job and will learn from this great experience.

A NEW NEPHEW

Chase Michael was born to Darrin & Jill on Monday, February 25. We had the privilege to keep Aidan (2 years) overnight while they went to the hospital. Jill and Chase are healthy and well. Thank you, God, for another precious baby in our family!

Pictures above are Avery & Ella with baby Chase, and Ella and Aidan, playing the piano at our house.

COUSINS CAMP-IN

The Tillis cousins love to be together! Ranging in age from 6-16 (oh my, is Jake driving??) they are special friends. We gathered together in Rochester on Feb. 18-19, minus Lori, who was sick (we missed you!). We celebrated February and March birthdays and the kids made a VERY special birthday book for Maria, signed by everyone in the family (even those who couldn't be here!) It was too rainy to go snow-tubing and too wet to play outside. So they had a "camp-in" in the family room. It was a blast!

For more photos of the Tillis cousin camp-in, see our Kodak Gallery at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=j3d0owr.1chx45qf&x=0&h=1&y=-qe6ydk

CRUISIN' TO COZUMEL

Eric and I celebrated our 10th anniversary (March 20) a month early with a 4-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. We left Rochester (icy weather) on February 6 and spent our first night in Boca Raton, FL with Maria's good friends from Cornell, Tammy & Sumaya and their families. It was so much fun to catch up with them. On Feb. 7 we drove down the coast from Boca to Fort Lauderdale, stopping for some beach time at Deerfield Beach. We boarded our ship -- Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas that afternoon and headed out for a wonderful adventure. Everything on the ship was perfect (that's a big statement coming from a very picky hotelie!) We loved it all! Our favorite activity was taking a catamaran excursion in Cozumel, snorkeling on the reef and relaxing on a beautiful white sand beach. We also enjoyed every activity on the ship -- ice skating, roller blading, mini golf, rock climbing, swimming, hot tubs, shows and more! We enjoyed time with new friends at dinner and made many special memories. We arrived back in Rochester on February 11 (more icy weather) to find a very tired Mom W. and two happy kids. We are so thankful that God provided us with this special trip!

To see more photos, visit our Kodak Gallery at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=j3d0owr.68oa0viv&x=0&h=1&y=-k149p2

SICK KIDS

What a week! Ella has had a fever since last Wednesday (4 days now!) and Avery is now joining her in sickness. I forgot what it is like to be home with them all day, every day -- definitely fun in some ways but I appreciate the breaks that I usually get even more! Eric and I are scheduled to leave on our cruise in three days and we are praying that they will get well so that Mom W. doesn't have a full week of sick-care. In the photos they are watching a Redbox movie with glassy eyes and small smiles.

KINDERGARTEN STAR

Last week was a special event in Ella's elementary years. It was her turn to be "Kindergarten Star" and the week was full of special memories for her. On Monday, she brought in a poster of her life -- captioned pictures that included her family, grandparents, cousins, special trips, favorite toys and fun events from her life. Each day she brought in a show & tell (Mr. Bear, Webinz, Littlest Pet Shop digital pet). She also was asked to complete a personal information sheet which she shared with her class. Some information she shared included:

• "My favorite thing to eat is noodles & butter"
• "My favorite place to go is my cousins' house"
• My favorite kind of animal is dolphins"
• "When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian"

On Friday, Eric, Avery, Grandma Susan and I went in to share some fun things with her class. Ella asked Eric to do a science experiment (an activity that they love to do together). So Eric and Ella made a "vortex generator" out of a soda bottle and a tupperware lid and demonstrated a vortex by blowing out a candle from a distance. Avery conducted a "melt race" with ice cubes. And we were each asked many questions by Ella's kindergarten friends (e.g. "What is your favorite wild animal?"; "What is your favorite shape?" etc.)

To finish off her week, Ella was allowed to bring home a giant Pooh bear. Pooh came everywhere with us, including HighSchool Musical on Ice and to Syracuse for an overnight with the Spicer cousins.

It was definitely a week to remember for our precious little 5 year old!

YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MY BABY

"You'll Always Be My Baby" is the perfect daddy-daughter song. Last night at bedtime I caught Eric and Ella dancing in the kitchen as Sara Evans crooned on the radio. As you can see by their joyful smiles, she truly is his baby!

BEANBAGS

The most requested Christmas gift this year? Beanbags! So at the last minute, we re-thought the gift list and on Christmas day Avery & Ella were delighted with one pink and one purple beanbag chair. I must admit, Eric and I have enjoyed them many times after the girls have gone to bed! So comfortable for reading and resting, and I love the removable covers!

SPA DAY

While Mom & Dad were attending a wedding, Avery & Ella got to stay with Aunt Coleen, Uncle Jerry, Sammie & Ty. So much fun! Cousin Sam brought out all of her spa supplies. The girls were pampered with manicures, pedicures and fancy hair-do's -- complete with glitter! Cousin Sammie has agreed to attend Avery's spa birthday party and provide the same delightful services!

SPECIAL TIMES WITH OLD FRIENDS

This past weekend was both joyful and sad. We attended the wedding of Maria's close high school friend, Liz. She married the man of her dreams and she looked beautiful! The reception was wonderful -- the funniest toasts ever and an amazing band. It was so fun to catch up with Robin & Andre, Tim & Amanda, Jackie & Chet, Darcie & Denise. We had a ball.

Upon arriving at my sister, Coleen's house,we got the news that Maria's close friend, Christine's, dad had passed away. I spent many days and nights with Christine (aka T.T.) and her family throughout my high school years. It was bittersweet to visit their home and spend time with their family -- Bud was a kind and gentle man and he will be missed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Whew! My blog is caught up for 2007 and now we are on to 2008! We brought an extra kid home from the Tillis celebration this weekend. Kelli spent New Year's Eve and Day with us and the girls had a ball. In Kelli's words, they played "Littlest Pet Shop [slash] Polly Pockets [slash] Ello" for two days straight! Eric expressed his gratefulness that our family room doesn't always look like that when he gets home from work (picture a tornado of tiny toys). We are still finding 1/4 inch Polly Pocket shoes around . . .

The three girls and Eric built our first snowman of 2008. There wasn't much snow, but it was good packing!

A TILLIS CHRISTMAS

Christmas celebrations were wrapped up this past weekend in Vestal with the Tillis family. Mom & Dad postponed their trip to Florida so that we could all gather together for some family fun. With 9 cousins (ranging in age from 5-15), who are like best friends, it was a wonderful time together. Highlights included karaoke and dance moves on the Wii, someone ran over "Rudolph" in front of Coleen & Jerry's house, and not enough food (yeah, right!). We missed Grandma Hall being with us.

For more photos of the Tillis Christmas 2007, see our "Christmas Photos 2007" link in the left column.

CELEBRATING CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY

Christmas Day is always a special day at our house. Our good friends, the Dundores, came over mid-day to celebrate Jesus' birthday with a party. Avery recited the Christmas story from Luke 2, we sang Christmas carols (accompanied by Maria on the piano), and we enjoyed a special birthday cake in honor of our Savior. My favorite memory of the morning was all of the kids singing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna' let it shine . . . Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine" while they held their glowsticks high.

Thank You, Jesus, for coming to this dark world to save us from our own sin. Thank You, that You were born to die for us, taking the penalty of our sin upon yourself so that we can be pure and righteous in God's eyes. Thank you that it is by Your grace we have been saved -- that we don't have to be "good enough". Thank You that by our faith in Christ alone, You have assured us an eternal home in heaven. Come soon, Lord Jesus!

To view more photos (taken by Susanna) from our Christmas Day celebration see our "Christmas Photos 2007" link in the left column.

A CONNOR-WEISENSEL CHRISTMAS

The Connor/Weisensel Christmas was a fun and multi-event celebration. On Christmas eve we all gathered at Mom & Gary's house, as traditional, to exchange gifts, play games and enjoy family time. After several rounds of "Apples to Apples" and too many cookies, the cousins exchanged gifts and received fun gifts and stockings from Grandpa & Grandma. The only sad note to the evening was the absence of (Great) Grandpa White, Jeanine and J.R. We missed their presence greatly!

On the 26th, the Connor boys and families joined together with Aunt Sheila and Uncle Emmet for more food and gifts. Again, we missed Jeanine, but this time it was Bailey who was under the weather.

To see a slideshow of photos from this first round of Christmas cheer, see our "Christmas Photos 2007" link in the left column.

A SNOW DAY!

The girls had their first snow day of the year -- no school due to the 14 inches of snow that we've received in the past 2 days! The fun part was that both Eric and I were also off work, so we enjoyed playing games --inside and out. Eric, Avery & Ella headed out to make a snow fort but found that it wasn't good packing snow (per Eric, the expert snow-fort-maker). So instead they made tracks throughout the backyard and had lots of laughs. Thank You, God, for giving us special surprises like today!

TWINS?

We have two redheads. The red hair is about the only thing they have in common. They are several inches different in height and if anyone looks beyond their hair they see that their faces are completely different (it is said that Ella looks just like Eric and Avery looks just like me). Nevertheless, I frequently get the question, "Are they twins?" Judging from the following photo of Kristy and me, maybe it runs in the family . . .

STARRY NIGHT

Last Friday we enjoyed a special Christmas show at North Baptist Christian School. It was an evening of singing, dancing, instrumentals, skits, poetry and artwork -- created by the students and produced by the amazing teachers and staff. Avery and her two friends, Maria C. and Serena, recited a fun poem titled "I Call First". We are so thankful for our wonderful school!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

With so many wonderful traditions from the Connor and Tillis families, it has been hard to decide which traditions to continue in our little family. Our main goal is to keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas. With that in mind, here are a few of our favorites . . .

1) Mom W. made us an ADVENT TREE CALENDAR, complete with felt ornaments to hang -- one per day, starting on Dec. 1. This calendar is identical to the original calendar that the Connor boys used in their home, every Christmas as children (thanks, Mom!). This year, Maria added to the tradition by writing devotions to go along with each ornament. Today we added the candle ornament. We read 2 Timothy 1:6 and talked about how God wants us to "fan into flame" the unique gifts that God has given each of us.

2) Our second tradition comes from the Tillis family. Throughout advent, our nativity sets are MISSING BABY JESUS! On Christmas day, the first thing we do is put baby Jesus in his manger. This makes precious memories for the girls year after year, and reminds us that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday.

3) And speaking of birthdays, our BIRTHDAY CAKE gets to stay out for the entire month, anticipating our celebration of Jesus' birthday on Christmas day. This special "cake" comes out 4 times per year in our house -- to celebrate each of our birthdays. After Eric's birthday (Dec. 1) we leave it out until Christmas. On Christmas day we will have a birthday party, complete with a real cake, streamers, etc. to rejoice in the birth of our Savior 2000+ years ago!

FIRST SNOW

Today, December 3, shows our first "real" snow of the season. Over a foot of snow is predicted by Wednesday! Eric is out of town today, so when Ella got home from school she announced that she was going to shovel the driveway :) As you can see by the photos, she has learned well from her father -- nice straight lines across the driveway and not a hint of ice or snow left! It is amazing how strong those genes are!!

PUSHING 40

Maria had a milestone in her aging this year -- her first pair of glasses! Actually, I think I had glasses in 7th grade just because I thought they would look cool. But this is the first time I've actually needed them. Just for reading but . . . could I really be getting old??