Photo Post

[songofjoy02]

Levi got the "Rookie of the Year" award at the store where he is a courtesy clerk. They presented this framed document to him on Tuesday at the store's Christmas party.:-D He had suspected that this might happen, so he made sure that he was at the party and dressed very nicely.


Christie turned 22 on Thursday night, so we celebrated with German chocolate cake. She was pleasantly surprised at work earlier in the day--because her supervisor got a cake and because her husband had arranged to have flowers delivered to her on her birthday.



Taking a closer look at the cake...


Cutting the cake...[the pictures get larger here because I've reached my monthly limit on Xanga and I'm too lazy to resize everything]


Note what Levi is doing...must all boys do that?


Rebekah (my 6 y.o. sister)


My mom's expression in this picture really reminds me of her mom. She was feeding Gabriel (almost four), who wasn't very thrilled with the rice and broccoli that had accompanied his chicken.


Gabriel got tired of eating, so he decided to try to rub his head and pat his stomach at the same time, with the same results as he always gets: a fit of laughter due to his inability to perform such a feat.:-D


My mom tried to help him, which he thought was even funnier.


He gives it several tries every time he thinks of it.


Don't worry...Rebekah's teeth were borrowed for the occasion.;-)


It's the look he gives me when I say something that he thinks is stupid.


Talking to her husband...who is now in a land where there are signs for iguana crossings, where the temperature is about 80 degrees, and where he has to stay on-base at all times...


What do you get for the man who has pretty much everything he wants and can afford, when I can't afford anything like it, much less greater? Well, I know my dad likes all these things...so that is what I gave him for his birthday on Friday (today).:-)


Here my dad is exclaiming that he didn't realize that my 9 y.o. brother (David) had already lost several teeth. My mom was in the background, putting candles on the cake.


David (left) was a little funny--he said that the only tooth he had "lost" was one that he swallowed. Apparently, he still knows where his other teeth are--even the ones that have come out of his mouth.


Before dinner, Barnabas (11) prayed to thank the Lord for the chicken cacciatore and that we were having cheesecake for dessert and that dad was turning...48? Barnabas turned to me, so I said, "49." And Barnabas resumed his prayer with a giggle, changing the 48 to 49. But my mom used only thirteen candles--four of one color and nine of another.:-) She's quite resourceful that way.


Cutting the cheesecake...any guesses on who might be a daddy's girl?;-)


Oops...a not-so-candid shot of my dad...


Benjamin


As if being Rookie of the Year wasn't enough, Levi's week also included something that he has long anticipated: the receipt of his PSAT scores, which is basically what he sees as the prediction of whether or not his future will be successful. You can look at the following picture to see his score closer up and draw your own conclusions on the subject. You might say that Levi is happy...


If you aren't familiar with the PSAT, the highest possible score is 240. If you have questions on scoring, you'll have to check with someone who knows, but anyway...Levi was one question short of a perfect score. Although he missed two questions, one was not considered in the scoring. His score last year was a 215, so he is pleased with his improvement.