Private Karate Lesson

Mom missed getting Cat to the 3:30 p.m. karate class today. We had some errands to run and ran out of time. But, Ms. Sonia was so kind as to give Cat a private lesson since nobody showed up to the 4:15 p.m. class. She worked on her kicks and the first four moves of her new form. Thank you, Ms. Sonia! You are the best!

Christmas

We had a fun Christmas. Gary & Dianne came over Christmas morning to open presents then we went to their house for Christmas dinner and more presents. Danny, unfortunately, had to go to work. We had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Christ. Here are a few pics of our day.

LeAnn's Heart

Finally, LeAnn's heart is going to be fixed. She has a scheduled surgery date of January 13th. The surgery will take place in the Los Angeles Kaiser. The doctor doing the procedure is the ONLY on at Kaiser who does it.

LeAnn met with him on Christmas Eve and he said that this is something that should have been fixed when the narrowing in her aorta was found. On the upside, having it fixed at 34 vs 8 means only one time of going in to place the stent. If it had been done at eight, then she would have had to go in as her body grew to have the stent opened as she grew.

We are anxiously awaiting the procedure to be done and the anticipated results. This will mean more blood going to her lower extremities which means she should be able to work out for longer periods of time.

Here is a picture of her heart and the coarct.

Fewkes Family Christmas Party

On Saturday we had our annual family Christmas dinner at Kara & Gary's in Yucaipa. It was fun. The kids had a good time playing outside. We had a yummy dinner with the best fudge ever and then Rockband came out. We had fun chatting with each other.

Ward Christmas Party

Last night we had our Ward Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun. They called it a Family Home Evening Christmas. We sang songs, had dinner (ham, potatoes, veggies, cake and rolls), and one of the families did a nativity play for us. There was also a video presentation put together by one of the families. It was too funny. We had a really good time.The Primary Children sang a couple of songs.

I managed to get one of them on video on my cell phone. It's not the best quality, but it works. LOL

The kids danced around during the Christmas Caroling. They had a good time. This wore Cat out. She fell asleep very quickly after her bath.

Santa came to visit and Cat told him she wants a Pogo Stick for Christmas. We looked at them at Toys R Us and they are for kids 8 and older. She is just going to have to wait 4 more years.

Cat's Orange Belt Testing

I thought I'd share a few pics from Cat's belt testing this evening. We are very proud of her. She did an excellent job of following Ms. Sonia (one of her instructors) through both parts of her testing.

Here Cat is starting her test.
Cat talking to Mr. Jungles about things she needs to work on at home.

Getting her new belt.

A very proud Grandma and Cat.
Cat and Ms. Sonia, her instructor. We love Ms. Sonia!

If Today Was Your Last Day

Nickelback's new album, Dark Horse, has an awesome song on it. The title of the song is the same as the title of today's blog. I thought I'd share the lyrics to this song. It's something to think about...

My best friend gave me, the best advice
He said each day’s a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you had
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts cause there’s no second try
So live it like you’ll never live it twice
Don’t take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you had

Would you call old friends you never see
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies
Would you find that one your dreamin of
Swear up and down to God above
That you’d finally fall in love
If today was your last day
If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart
You know it’s never too late
To shoot for the stars regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
Cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you had

Would you call old friends you never see
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies
Would you find that one your dreamin of
Swear up and down to God above
That you’d finally fall in love
If today was your last day

The Historic Mission Inn

Last night Jeff, Aiden, Gary, Catarina and I went to the Historic Mission Inn in downtown Riverside. There were a lot of things going on around the Mission Inn. Santa was even there taking pictures, but the line was too long so we didn't stop. Santa's Elves were hard at work preparing for Christmas Eve.

Aiden and Catarina had the best seats in the house...

We had a good time walking around and looking at the lights. It was absolutely beautiful.