Megan got to spend the night at her aunt Missy house on Thursday night. On Friday she did her Christmas shopping for mom & dad with Missy and Alan. Then she went to see Santa. She had a lot of fun with them.

On Saturday Megan & I got to have breakfast With Santa at the high school. It was a lot of fun. The high school kids came around and asked you what you wanted to drink and then brought you some food. We had to stand in line to see Santa for almost 30min, and then paid for one of there pics and just like her daddy always does she blinked. I was not happy!! But she got to tell Santa what was on her wish list and that she was a good girl all year.

The Christmas Tree is up

What a great day to get a tree. Sister Hamblin and Sister Bryner were on their first tree expedition. They each took a turn cutting it through. Thank goodness for Rebecca loanin us their truck. I put the lights on the tree and the sisters put on the decorations. They thought some of the old ornaments were unique.

Art is Promoted to Drill Seargent

We talked to Arthur today as we were out shopping in Madison. They had been to the Wallmart in GA to get some deals. AJ (as Sonny calls him, is short for Art Jr) has been promoted to Drill Sgt. It is a huge responsibility but will be more money. He will do it for at least 18 months, but it will keep him from going back to Iraq for several years. We are proud of AJ and grateful for his great example of service. Sonny and the baby are progressing well. Marlee has had a hard time sucking but finally has started taking to the bottle. I just found out that Sonny's sister's husband is also stationed down at Ft. Benning so we are happy Sonny doesn't have to be all alone without her family. Sonny was another year older on Thanksgiving day. Happy Birthday.

I Survived Black Friday

Mary met Rebecca and I at the Wis. Dell's Kohl's at 3:45 AM. We were one of the first 25 through the door. I was amazed at how crazy it was but the sales were terrific. We then went to Wallmart whose sales started at 5 AM. Back in the electronics area was insanely crazy as people began to argue over items. I went to get a coat for my Angel Tree person so it wasn't as bad. I did have a chance to visit with a couple of ladies. Saw Catrina down there. She was shopping the sales too. (Betsy Boggs said at the Old Navy Store in Tanger Mall that they opened the door at Midnight. They had some MP3 player or something that if you bought $20 worth of merchandise, you got it free. So many people tried to shove in, that the girl opening the door was trampled and got her arm busted. All the players were gone in 15 minutes. On the way home at the end, you couldn't see a parking place at the mall that wasn't taken.) We went on to East Town Mall and ended the day at Olive Garden as promised. It was a pleasant day being with the girls and was good exercise. I walked over 10,000 steps today.

Old Thrasher House Burned

The bottom picture is when the fireman were at the house that is across the street from us. You can see where the fire burned on the side in the upper right hand part of the side. The back picture shows that the back porch, kitchen and part of the living room is gone. Apparently it started up again today some, but the fire department was there to extinguish the flames. Justin came over tonight and we asked him what caused the fire. He said an empty Glade Plug in Air Freshner. It seems that when they run out of liquid, they turn into a fuse. With electricity still going into it one spark and it is a fire waiting to happen. They had cardboard boxes all around it. It was enough fuel to burn down 1/2 the house.

Ashley's doings

Ashley is in Show Choir and they will be performing down in Lodi on the 6th. They traveled clear to LaCrosse to find her a black dress that was fitted at the waist but could flow on the bottom. She will be in 4 routines and is excited. Ashley is doing a great job as Student Council President. She is a WEB leader (Where Everybody Belongs). She got through 8 rounds of the Geography Bee. So she is smart as we all suspected. She will soon be starting basketball.

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day it was. Amanda brought up the kids and we all enjoyed holding the newest. Jerry and Eva came and we found out Jerry's dad has been in the hospital for 10 days. Ashley preformed a sax selection of Christmas music. She is certainly improving each time we here her. The girls chose the names for present exchange and we ate turkey and the works. Today was Sonny's birthday so we called and sang to her. We were glad to have the Horrers join us for the day. We played games and decided to watch White Christmas. Then a terrible thing happened, the house across the street started on fire. The young couple, Pierce's have spent the last 2 years remodeling the old Thrasher House. Robin was home alone when it happened. She stepped out of the shower and the house was filling with smoke. The kids were by the grandparents thank goodness. It is a terrible thing to see flames coming out and not be able to do a thing about it. I hope they had insurance.

Amanda sent baby pics

basketball court, skating rink or bowling alley?

Oh the possibilities, but.....

I think we'll keep it a basement! We think they are doing a good job so far. Cement can be a little tricky, but if you dont do it right it can ruin the whole house and foundation.

I refuse to put another generation of little girls through baldness. Her bangs may be short, and the top may be spikey, but at least she wont be called "bald eagle" as, I believe, Tony B. coined for us as a nick-name.

Just so dang cute, eh?

So the day has come Mary and I have finally convinced Moma to go to "Black Friday" with us. So you might want to talk with her before we go because she might be craze by the time we get home. (Or she will start talking to everyone she sees and we will never make it any place:-) We will be hitting Walmart first then we are going to the East town Mall in Madison and any place that has any good deals. Then after we have all are great deals and are hungry the Olive Garden:-) It's good to be us.

School Again

I attended school with Art on the 17th and 18th at UW-Stout. I enjoyed most of it and learned alot. My least favorite was the morning of the 2nd day. That is his _ _ _ therapy class and I felt evey uncomfortable with it. The younger students it doesn't seem to bother at all to discuss it. I know it is necessary but I felt really ucky during that three hours. For the rest of the time it was fun to watch the students role play trying to decided how they would handle situations. One teacher named Bea discussed the Native American culture. That is her specialty and she is well versed in it. She used to live in Colorado with her husband and lived with the Souther Utes. One teacher discussed the book they had read on an African Sharmin. That was interesting. Can't say I believe it, but it's interesting. The last class was on Diagnosis with the DSM book. That is like the bible of Therapy where it has the code for the different problems that people have so it can be submitted to the Insurance companies and tell the therapist what type of treatment will help the patient the most.
On Monday nights about 1/2 of the class meets at Nate and Christy's home, eat and study the DSM. It was fun watching them all interact. There are very smart kids in Art's class. The are about 15 that make up the core of the group that will work together on their masters degrees.

The Martinez Baby is here

We are glad to have Jonatan Javier Martinez join the family. He was born 11-17-08 at 12:05 AM. He was 19 inches and weighed 7 pounds 6 inches. Mom and son are doing well.

Pics of Marlee and Family

We were thrilled to get pictures of Marlee and the family. She looks a lot like Sonny.

The Youngest Foster Clan

Well I just thought I'd update you all on how Adrian and I are doing. We've been super busy lately. Adrian started wrestling practice up again and he loves it. It's hard on our schedule, but it's worth it. For those of you who may not know, he is now the head coach, so that's always exciting. His first duel is this Wednesday at my high school, so I'll see some of it before I head off to dress rehearsal (yay).
This weekend our first play of the year opens, The Mousetrap. It's a murder mystery. My students have worked incredibly hard and are going to do awesome. I'm excited. Then in December, we'll put on our Shakespeare play, As You Like It. Yeah, it's pretty busy for us until Christmas.
Over Thanksgiving break, we're moving to a new apartment. It's bigger and has 2 bedrooms! Yay! We're very excited, especially since Sarah is going to help (that's more of a reminder so you don't forget:)). Our new address will be 358 W 400 S #2. We will be living in a triplex. We really liked it when we toured it. Plus we have a washer and dryer! Yay! That's definitely something we'll need when the baby comes.
In Mackenzie news, she's kicking all the time, and now Adrian can feel it, which he loves. He talks to her all the time. To celebrate when we found out we're having a girl, we went and bought some cute outfits, and of course, some of them say things like I Love Daddy and Daddy's Little Girl. Yay, she's not going to be spoiled....Anyway, we're doing great, grateful it hasn't started snowing yet. We love you all!
Here's a picture of me yesterday. I've gained about 20-25 pounds all together.....

Congratulations Amanda and David

So I got a text this morning at 12:30 a.m. (as I'm sure most of you did) from Eva announcing that Amanda had her baby at 12:05 this morning. 7 lb. 6 oz. and 19 in. Welcome to the family Jonatan Javier! So how many birthdays do we have in November now?

One New Baby Is Here

We were thrilled to learn that on November 14th at 10:10 AM, Sonny gave birth to our 14th grandchild. Marlee Ariana Foster was 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 22 inches long. They live in Columbus, GA as Arthur is a Staff Sgt. in the Army.

Sarah Headed Home

I took Sarah, Ria, and Coi down to the Milwaukee Airport today. We had a nice visit with Eva and Amanda as we went through Baraboo. Sarah is going home to no sewer and no phone line coming in. In tearing out the old parts of their home, Richard accidentally got too close to the sewer and the phone line was under the sidewalk. When Sarah called to day, they thought they would stay at his parents rental place in Holden. It will be a challenge for them.

Babies are getting bigger

Arthur called Rebecca and he said Sonny will be induced this Friday, Nov. 14th. Marley, the name for their new little girl, is already almost 10 pounds.

Amanda is having small contractions already and Jonatan is due Nov. 18th.

Adrian and Brittany called and were able to see the ulta sound of their little girl, Mackenzie Blair. Brittany is feeling better most of the time.

This will be 16 grandchildren in all. We love each and every one of them.

Daddy had a birthday

We celebrated Daddy's birthday on Saturday while Sarah was here. The kids liked the silly pose the best. It was sort of funny that 3 people gave daddy gift cards from Kwit Trip for gas, and all three had the same front. Mary and Rebecca both made the same card for a grandpa. We enjoyed the pizza and Mary made her nummy sugar free cake I can eat.

The New Blog underway

Sarah has finally helped me put this blog together. This is set up so everyone in the family can add pictures and comments. I am no longer sending out a newsletter but would still like us to stay connected. You should have received an invitation to participate. I look forward to hearing about all that you do.