Shaw Family Happenings: Christmas time is near!!!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! We are officially out of school for Christmas vacation - yahoo! The girls had a fun and eventful week at school......on Thursday they got to wear their pajamas to school for a special "Polar Express" day. All of the first graders at our school got to hear Mrs. Kaufman (wife of Mr. Kaufman - who our school is named after) read The Polar Express. Then, each student received a special gift from the North Pole......a bell from Santa's sleigh just like in the book/movie......and the best part was the bell was still cold from being at the North Pole. I happened to walk by as the girls received their bells and they were filled with so much joy! I will never forget that! Yesterday they had their Christmas party at school and their teacher took them caroling around the hallways. I ran out of my classroom to try and snap a few shots as they went by, but I think I embarrassed them more than anything. I just can't help myself! We love Mrs. Jarratt by the way.......she does the neatest things with her students and we couldn't be happier with her as the girl's teacher this year. I'm so glad I decided to put them both with her this year........she truly is wonderful!

Also, today we had the chance to meet up with one of Stephen's really good buddies from the Navy, Ken Stevens. He hadn't seen Ken in over 11 years, but they have managed to keep in touch. He and his family live in New Mexico and were passing through the Houston area today to leave out on a cruise tomorrow from Galveston. So, it was the perfect opportunity for us all to get together for lunch and meet each other's families. We had a great time getting to know each other and hearing some interesting Navy stories. I think one of the best ones that Ken told today was how he and Stephen were in a wreck once when Ken fell asleep at the wheel.....and amazingly neither one of them were injured. It's a wonder to me how Stephen ever lived to tell about some of the crazy things that happened to him while in the Navy. Here we all are at the restaurant after lunch today......