For the first Seven Christmases that Darin and I shared together, I was religious about sending out a Christmas letter/card to our friends and family. Well, the past two years hasn't been that way, but I still wanted to give those of you who occasionally read this blog and update on our family and a Christmas greeting. I know it is much more exciting to get a card in the mail, but for several reasons the Ralphs family will not be doing that this year. Last year we sent out about 20 cards to our closest family members, but this year we will not be sending out anything. I haven't been in the mood to send cards out with some current stresses that are going on in our lives plus postage is getting more and more expensive these days. Maybe next year I will feel more festive and send cards out. We are doing Christmas very low key this year and that is okay. We only put our tree and stockings up this year, no outside decorations. I haven't done any holiday baking, no teacher's gifts, and no Christmas cards, but I still have the spirit of Christmas in my heart, so I am not a bah-hum bug, just want to take things easy. So anyway after that long intro here is an update on our family members and below is our virtual Christmas card for all of our blog readers (all two of you).
Emily & Elizabeth have really matured this year, don't get me wrong they still have the quirks of 3 year-olds, but I can really tell how their language skills and comprehension about life has grown. They keep us on our toes and bring a lot of excitement to our family. They have enjoyed doing dance this year and they need it to have an outlet to burn some of their energy out. They are in constant cardio mode, just like their big sister. This fall they started attending a music class, that I absolutely love. The program is called Let's Play Music and it teaches them so much through fun and play and they don't even know they are learning. We have also been doing pre-school at home with a few other children and they love the concentrated learning time and interaction with the other kids. It is fun to watch the twins personalities develop and change and although they are twins, their personalities are quite different from each other.
Elizabeth is a bit more reserved initially and likes for Emily to go first on most things. She is by no means shy or un-opinionated though. We definitely know where she stands on most issues and she has a hard time controlling her temper sometimes. She is very sensitive to the mood of others and will react accordingly, if someone is upset she can sense it and has a very compassionate heart.Elizabeth is very bright and her fine motor skills are pretty developed for her age. She loves puzzles and writing things and has an artistic brain. She has the attention span for a craft well beyond other children her age. She loves to snuggle and cuddle and I love to give her that one-on-one attention when everyone else is sleeping at night.
Emily on the other hand is very outgoing. There is not a person in the world that isn't her friend. Emily loves to give hugs, be held, and sit in mommy and daddy's lap. She is daring and likes to try new things. Because her twin sister usually lets her go first on most things, Emily has a hard time letting others go first and share the lime light. Emily adores Abigail and follows her around like her little shadow and will usually play whatever Abi wants to play just to spend time with her. This summer Emily learned to swim a little bit and float on her back. Emily loves baby dolls and stuffed animals. She makes her bed every day and outlines the entire bed with her favorite stuffed animals and dolls. Emily loves the color pink and anything that sparkles, has feathers, or screams GIRL.
Abigail has grown leaps and bounds this year. She hasn't really grown physically, she is in the same size clothes today as she was on January 1st, but she has grow in all other areas of her life. When we moved back to Idaho at the beginning of the year, Abigail was really struggling academically and with her behavior. We worked really hard every day for about four months and her grades improved and so did her behavior. We did a food experiment and we discovered that all three of our children, especially Abigail, are negatively affected by sugar. We really have to limit the amount of sugar in the girls diet and it improves their behavior drastically. Abigail is loving school now and has an excellent second grade teacher. She has caught up to the rest of the class and is even ahead of the pack in some subject areas. Abigail has shown much more responsibility this year. She is able to do several chores around the house and really helps out with her sisters. This summer Abigail improved her swimming ability and I at least have the confidence now that if she fell in a pool, she could swim and get her self out with out panicking. This fall, She joined a competitive dance team and loves it. Dance is such a wonderful thing for these girls. Not only does dance allow them to exercise in a fun way, it allows them to be healthy, gain self-confidence, teaches them patience, persistence, and discipline. It looks like we will be a dancing family for many years to come. Abigail has really improved at playing the piano and practices nearly every day and loves it. She is in a little singing class that I teach on Thursdays with a cute group of little girls. I hope she always remains confident when performing and doesn't allow nerves to take over as I have as an adult. Abigail has lost four teeth this year, which is a really big deal for her because of her fear of blood. Right now she has her two-front teeth missing and she can truly sing the song, "All I want for Christmas is My two front teeth."
Misty is enjoying being a wife and mother to the busy Ralphs family. I LOVE the home we live in and the area. I think south-east Idaho is a pretty good place to raise a family and I am overall pretty happy. In April, I started teaching piano and voice lessons out of my home. I peaked at 18 students, but a few lost interest or were not the right fit for my teaching method or personality, so I am down to 14 students now, which is just fine with me. I am also doing a pre-school out of my home that the twins participate in. It is half-day pre-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I have a cute little class of 8 students. The twins love it, which is my main motivation and keeps me going. This fall I also started singing with the Camerata Singers and I am really looking forward to singing with them next semester doing the Mahler Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand). We will be doing it with three combined choirs and three combined orchestras in Helena Montana. There will be about 750 performers. I am stoked! My calling in church is the primary accompanist. Luckily, I have a very patient primary chorister to work with. I am learning how to accompany now and it is a new experience. Maybe by this time next year, I will be pretty decent at it. My struggle in life is trying to maintain balance. It is a constant battle I feel like I am fighting, but I will win! It is hard to balance work, home, and church responsibilities, and have time for myself.
Darin loves being back in Idaho. Idaho fits his personality perfectly and he feels that he in his element. He is enjoying living in the city, but not feeling rushed. Our city has a slow-pace feel to it, which Darin loves. Lines aren't ever very long, traffic is never crazy, and it just makes life a little sweeter and whenever Darin feels the itch to be out in the country, he can drive 20 minutes in any direction and voila, he is out in the middle of nowhere. Darin started out the year working for Direct Communications. He was driving all over the place and gas was costing a fortune, so he decided to try something new this summer. He studied and trained and obtained his Class A CDL drivers license and landed a job in Pennsylvania. The job in PA paid well, when he was working, but it was too hard on the family for him to be gone for 3 weeks and then home for 3 weeks. Around Thanksgiving he landed a seasonal job working for a local trucking company and seems to really like it. Who knows what the future holds for Darin and his employment situation? We just have to put our faith in Heavenly Father and do the best we can to live righteously and hope and pray that things work out. Darin's calling is teaching Elder's quorum once a month, pretty cush if you ask me. He continues to keep busy in his spare time doing little projects around the house. We are so glad he is so handy.
Well if you are still reading this, congratulations! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Last night Heather and Shane came over for Christmas dinner and gifts. They got Darin these John Deere suspenders and he LOVES them. All, I can say is "Oh Deere!"
Emily got Rapunzel / Tangled Hair, and it is as long as she is tall. She loves it.
We had a very competitive game of Go Fish!
Darin and Shane played Legos with the girls.
Because Christmas was on a Sunday, we had to get ready for church for a 1 hour church service right after we opened gifts. The girls got dressed and played with their new stuff while mom and dad got ready to go.
Abigail enjoyed drawing on this easel that Grand Nan and Papa sent.
On Christmas morning the girls woke up at 6:55 which is pretty good considering that is their usual time any day. Darin got an Atari Flashback 3 game console.
Abigail got a Barbie guitar from Emily.
Elizabeth was very quiet amongst the squealing of Abigail and Emily, checking out what Santa had brought.
Look at that sweet happy face.
We have a family tradition of getting new Christmas pajamas and looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. This year we were just going to go pick out our favorite pajamas that we already had and drive around town, but Grand Nan and Pajama gram came through for us and we had matching pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve. They are so comfortable and soft.
On the 23rd we baked cut out sugar cookies and frosted them and took them to the families that I visit teach and of course saved some for ourselves and Santa.
Abigail did a ballet, tap, and jazz number in the recital. I only got pictures of her in her ballet and tap costumes. I will have the opportunity to get more pictures of Abigail in her jazz costume next year because they will be taking their jazz dance to competition.
The twins did a tap dance to Frosty the Snowman and I must say that it was pretty darn cute.
My three little tap dancers.
For Abigail's ballet dance she was a doll and did very well. She was front and center for most of this dance, I am so proud of her progress.
Elizabeth is pretty funny about dance. She tells me that she loves it, but she won't let you catch her having a good time.
Abigail is a bit of a late bloomer and has finally lost her two front teeth! They have been loose since the beginning of the school year, but has been too afraid to let me pull them. When Grand Nan came, she couldn't stand looking at Abigail's ridiculously crooked teeth for one more minute and somehow convinced Abi to let her pull them. Abigail has a serious phobia of all things DENTAL so this was a major accomplishment for her. Abigail raked in a total of $7 over the weekend for both teeth and then learned about tithing on Sunday at our family tithing settlement with the bishop. What a cute 7 year old I have!
Abigail sleeps on the top bunk in the bunk bed set. This is the corner above her bed.
Elizabeth's bed. 
They have plenty of space to hang things on the wall by the door. Hats & Jackets go well here and thanks to the Mitchell family we have these cute flowers to hang things on.
We were so busy that I didn't get many pictures of Harrison. I love this little/big brother of mine. Good luck Elder Stocker!
15 of my students participated in the Christmas Recital this year. I had it at the Piano Gallery, a local music store and the recital room was packed. Unfortunately this is the only picture that I got of Abigail. She is singing with her class. I think the students did well and I feel so blessed that I have enough students to do a recital.
It is our family tradition to put up our Christmas decorations on Black Friday. I am not in to fighting crowds for a sale. I think I may start participating in Cyber Monday next year though, that is my kind of shopping. We put up our tree and decorated it with ornaments, mostly homemade or not breakable and then the girls made popcorn and cranberry garland. After a long day Emily tuckered out and fell asleep in the Santa sack that we leave by the tree on Christmas Eve, hoping Santa will fill it with gifts.
Abigail's desk
