Day Ninety Eight - Mon 5th of Dec

Ward had 2 of his exams today. One at 8am and then the other at 3:30pm. I normally help at Leah's school but couldn't today. I picked Ward up after his first exam and we went to Kmart. Kmart over here is a bit more basic than our Kmarts in Australia. I was looking for a cheap star for on top of our tree.

In the afternoon I took Leah and 3 of her friends to bowling for her birthday party. I wasn't sure how Lucy was going to go but she ended up behaving. Leah had a great time and the 3 friends she chose were so well mannered and alot of fun. Leah invited Shane, Joe and Sophia. I know Leah will miss them when we go home.

Day Ninety Seven - Sun 4th of Dec

My beautiful girls ready for church. Ward just told me it was only 1 degree outside while we were sitting in church today.

Lucy is there and now she isn't.

Little Miss Attitude.

We went for our Sunday afternoon walk. You can see how different it is on our trails now. It is very sparse. It was so cold walking. We always forget to take our mittens. My nose always freezes. I do like the cold though.

Lucy loves walking with 'Sis' (that is what Lucy calls Leah)

Lucy has to try and do whatever Leah does.

We decorated our tree when we got home. We made sure we bought our Christmas stockings from home that I made last year. I LOVE having a mantel to hang them on.

Decorating the tree.

Lucy with the decorations. The Harveys sent us some money for Christmas that we put towards some decorations. We got some Santa baubles and bells for the tree. Also a blue snowflake glass bauble for me and a WWU snowman for Ward. I also got Leah a nativity ornament made out of olive tree wood.

I love our real tree. It feels so nice and the branches are so soft and it smells so good too.

Day Ninety Six - Sat 3rd of Dec

Today was the day of the 5km run. Leah seemed nervous but excited. It was a cold morning and luckily it wasn't raining. We had to be there at 8:45am to register and then the run was to start at 9:30am.

My gorgeous runner.

Leah with her coaches and fellow Girls on the Run - girls.

Leah telling me to stop taking photos.

Looking a bit cold.

Leah with her team.

Lucy losing it. She wanted to get out and be with Sis. (what she calls Leah)

The girls and the coaches.

Looking a bit nervous.

Waiting to start.

Can you spot Leah.

Leah with her running buddy Charlotte. Charlotte was one of her coaches and also was a member of our church. She is such a good role model for Leah, so positive.
I was cheering Leah on and couldn't cheer anymore cause I started to cry. I was so proud of her. She completed the 5 kms in about half an hour.

Racing toward the finish line.

Charlotte and Leah.

Leah with her medal.

After her run we went to a few Holiday craft fairs and then in the afternoon we went to a Christmas Tree farm to cut our own Christmas Tree.

After looking and looking we found our perfect tree that we all agreed on. We all fell in love with her.

Daddy getting ready to cut.

Our tree.

Our beautiful tree. It takes a bit of work getting it into the stand.

When Ward was screwing in the trunk of the tree we found this huge nest. It was so creepy. I was waiting for something to jump out like in the movie 'National Lampoons Christmas Vacation' with Chevy Chase.
Ward was so freaked out. He vaccuumed it out. Luckily nothing was in there. It was pretty funny.