Christmas Pic's

We enjoyed a lot of Christmas time fun this year.....there were so many pictures it was hard to choose just a few.....

Kids Christmas Eve with Christmas pillowcases thanks Grandma Mary.

Reading the Polar Express Christmas Eve.

Ashley got a digital camera! Yahoo!

Lindsey crashed out after all the Christmas excitement.

Maggey had her Christmas dreams come true. She raked in the Littlest Pet Shop, here they all are loaded onto her belt loops...

All the kids ready for bed on Christmas Eve. Thanks Grandma Mary for the pj's!

Nathan as a wise man in the Nativity at Grandma JaNae's.

I had to include this picture of Grandpa Ross... If anyone is wondering where Bartley got his sense of humor,this picture alone should be the answer.

Ashley, Lindsey, Nathan and the other Nicholes cousins, played the bells for us at Grandma JaNae's house Christmas Eve. Every year the kids do a musical number for the adults. Thanks Aunt Colleen for putting this together!
We had ton's of snow on Christmas Morning!!! We actually have had a lot of snow in the last few weeks. Our neighbors have a four wheeler with a plow, and they plowed out the street in front of our driveway, and made a HUGE pile of snow. Good thing too, cause Santa brought Maggey a brand new sled! Maggey and Abbey had their own personal sledding hill right in our front yard. They played outside for hours and hours. :)

Abbey sang "I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas" at the annual elementary "Christmas Sing". Abbey is on the back row 3rd from the left. Isn't she so cute!

Thank You

This is Bartley.
I was raising money for an audio system for my classroom. It was fully funded today. I am not sure how long it will take to get to my classroom, but know that I am very excited. I get to see how much the district will charge me to install it in my classroom.
Thanks Juli for all that you contributed.
Happy Holidays.

Bartley

Merry Christmas from the Nicholes

This year we are trying out something new….posting our Christmas letter on our blog instead of printing it out. Let us know what you think!

As we look back on the past year, we can only see how truly blessed we are to have such great family and friends who support us through everything. We can’t express our thank you’s enough to all of you. I know some of you don’t think you have done much, but your prayers and words of encouragement have sustained us, and we appreciate it so much.

Just a few updates;

Abbey is in second grade. She has had a great year. She was diagnosed with significant hearing loss in her right ear. We were able to get her a PINK hearing aid, and much to our surprise she loves wearing it. She has lots of friends, and is overall such a funny kid. She has been sleeping in one of our Santa hats, so she “can have only Christmas dreams.” She brings so much humor and joy to our family!

Maggey is in third grade. She is getting so tall and mature. She has skipped one whole clothing size going from an eight to a 12 since school started! She enjoys arts and crafts, everything from construction paper and scissors to string and beads. She played soccer this year and accomplished her goal of scoring a goal in a game. She has started reading “chapter books” and is really enjoying Little House on the Prairie Series. Her teachers say that she knows everything about their class, and if they have to leave for a few minutes, they leave her in charge!

Nathan is in sixth grade. He too has had a growth spurt and is almost as tall as his mom. He continues to love baseball, but lately has been playing football with his friends. He has really been interested in reading, staying up way too late cause he just can’t put the book down. He attending a “Priesthood Preview” recently and is excited to be a deacon in June. He is quite the lip syncer(sp?) and cracks us up with his dance moves.

Ashley is in 8th grade. She continues to amaze us with her talents. She is very smart and has pulled excellent grades. She is in the choir at school and we enjoy watching her practice and practice and be so prepared for her performances. Her choir did a benefit concert that raised over $3,000 for a family in need. Ashley also cut over 10 inches of her hair off to donate to Locks of Love this summer. She has been increasing her sewing skills, and sewed a really cute bag for all of her friends this year for Christmas. Ashley has reached her ultimate goal finally, she is about 1 inch taller than Lindsey!

Lindsey is in 10th grade. She turned sixteen on her birthday in September. She has her driving permit and is anxious to have her license. She went on her first date, and had a great time. She continues to be part of the Band and loves every minute of it. She was able to travel to Indianapolis to participate with the band in a national completion. They placed 14th out of 94 bands. She is already working hard to earn money for next years band season.

Bartley continues to teach 5th grade at Greenwood Elementary. He really enjoys 5th grade. He is the 1st councilor in the Bishopric, and he really likes being in the "know", for the most part. He finished a bedroom in the basement for Lindsey and Ashley this summer. He was able to take Nathan to an All-star baseball tournament in Rexburg, ID. They has a great time, just the two guys.

As for myself I keep very busy with my kids, job, and calling. I continue to manage Maple Village, and love my calling as Young Women President. These things combined keep me so busy that I don’t really have time for anything else.


We wish you love and joy at this special time of year.

My Young Women are soooo Amazing..............

We have had an amazing tradition here in our ward. For the past few years the Young Women under the direction of the Bishop have "adopted" a family for Christmas. This year has been no exception.

I asked them on Sunday if they wanted us as their Leaders to forgo the gifts we had budgeted for them, and "adopt" a family instead. They unanimously voted to help this family for Christmas.

I am so proud of them!

We went shopping this week for our family, and it was just so awesome to be standing there, while the girls were trying their best to make this Christmas special for this family. The Bishop has asked that we keep this totally anonymous, so the girls don't even know who these gifts will go to. I thought that maybe they would be a little down on the whole idea of shopping for someone that they don't even know, but I was sooooo wrong. They considered every last detail, down to ribbon and bows!

If any of my Young Women read this, all I can say is you have made this Christmas one that I will never forget. Thanks for your good example! Don't forget how much I love you!

Lindsey and Shane Part 2

Lindsey just received the copy of her "Official" dance pictures. Lindsey was just so excited she had to share!