Park Day

I tried to get a cute picture of everyone, but no luck!

Ethan chasing Eli.

Emma running as fast as she could!

My three boys. I love them!

Emma tackling Ethan.

Another silly picture...

Ethan and Andrew hanging.

Eli and Andrew

Swings

Eli the monkey.

Emma on the slide.

The boys had today off from school and we were bored of being home, so we decided to pack a lunch and find a park. We love finding new parks to explore. We found a pretty good one, only about 20 minutes from here. So, not too far.

The weather was perfect and we had a fantastic time. I just love this weather!

Out for a Walk

Emma, Ethan and Maisy

Andrew and Scratch

Ethan is the best big brother. He was pushing Emma in "hyper speed" as he called it. She loved it!

Eli in the wash

On a walk.

Eli's prized treasure that he found at the cow pond.

Almost there....

The boys had a half day of school today and the weather was perfect for a walk. We are working on getting the dogs to walk with a leash. Working, being the key word. They are not really catching on. Scratch is doing a little better than Maisy, but they still need lots of practice. We spent about two hours wandering around the desert.

We went down to the wash, then to the cow pond.

My kids favorite thing to do on walks is to look for "treasures". Basically junk that has been dumped or floated down the wash. We once found a bowling ball on our walk that Ethan proudly carried the whole way home. That was probably our best find. Today Eli found some sort of sprinkler system hose and was determined he needed to bring it with us. I told him if he could carry it home himself, he was welcome to do it. I did not think he would make it a mile and a half dragging this thing, but sure enough...he did! Now that we have it here, I'm not sure what he will do with it. I can't wait to see the look on Jeremy's face when he sees what we drug home :)

New Year's Eve

Scratch and Maisy, getting snuggly together :)

Our annual New Year's Eve fondue for dessert. Yum!

Ethan and Andrew with some fireworks.

Ethan

Andrew

Eli was too cold, so he watched from the van. Although I am not sure it was much warmer in there!

Me and Emma, staying warm.

A freezing group of excited kiddos.

Smoke bombs.

The smoke bombs were a hit!

So glad it rained a few days before so we had some nice ice puddles to play in.

Andrew with a big chunk of ice.

Emma with some ice.

I can't believe another year has come and gone again. Where does the time go? I feel like the older I get, it just slips away... I am happy to say that for the most part it has been a good year for us. Some challenges and trials have come our way, but I am grateful for them. They have made us stronger as a family and have resulted in blessings that we never dreamed of. The Lord does know what He is doing!

We spent New Year's Eve together. The day was really cold. I don't think it ever got over 40 degrees. For here, that is cold and yes, we are wimps. (especially me!) We splurged and got some fireworks while we were at the store this week. It's the first time they have been legal to buy here, so it was fun for us. Apparently it makes me the BEST mom ever! Who knew that all I had to do was buy some fireworks and I am suddenly so cool???

We made pizza and hot wings for dinner and watched Despicable Me. Very funny movie. Then we bundled up and went out for the fireworks. It was only 29 degrees when we did them. Much too cold if you ask me. I felt frozen solid by the time we were done! The kids had a blast and we even have a few left for a warmer night :)

We thawed out and made some New Year's eve fondue. It's quite a production, so we only do it a few times a year. It's always a big hit though. We played a few Wii games, then called it a night at 10:00. Yes, I am a party pooper this year, but there was not enough days for my kids to recover their sleep before school starts again. I did not want to go back Monday morning with exhausted kids! We still had a great time and lots of fun! We are looking forward to seeing what the new year brings to us.

Merry Christmas!

Here is the gang with out two new family members!

Emma loves changing baby diapers!

Eli and the Buzz wings. Thanks Grandma!

Jeremy and his Mountain Dew shirt. His favorite :)

Ethan and Andrew got some flag football equipment.

Emma loves the girl and her pink collar.

Andrew and our girl puppy.

Ethan

Andrew

Eli Fishing.

Emma taking her turn at the "fishing pond". This is a favorite Christmas Eve activity of all the grand kids.

Ethan played Jingle Bells and Up on the Housetop at our Christmas Eve get together.

It's hard to believe Christmas has already come and gone. We had a fun filled December. Our favorite Christmas tradition is doing the 12 days of Christmas to a different family each year. We leave a present at their door each night and a poem that goes along with the song. We love being sneaky and try our best not to get caught! The kids have a blast and it's always so fun to reveal ourselves at the last day!

Our first week off of school was busy. We spent lots of time baking and making treats, finishing Christmas projects, watching Christmas movies and seeing Christmas lights. On Christmas Eve, we headed to Gram's house for our Mexico food feast. We had a fun night with Jeremy's family.

Christmas day was very exciting this year. Santa brought us two new puppies! This is our first real pet (other than fish and the stray cats we feed) Everyone was so excited! We spent an hour playing with them before we even got to the rest of the presents. I love seeing how happy the kids are. We were hoping to have a little more time to think of names, but it looks like Scratch and Maisy have stuck! We had a great day with our family and enjoyed staying home and relaxing together. What an amazing Christmas we had this year.

Christmas Concert

Eli with his reindeer shirt.

Ethan and Cole.

The Christmas concert at school this year as a Western theme. It was put together really well. Ethan is in his first year of band. He is playing the trumpet. I am really impressed at how good he is doing. He was so excited to be in a trio that played together. His teacher asked him to play a solo, but he was too scared, so he settled with a trio. It really makes me feel like I should get him some serious music lessons. He is really picking up on it fast. I wish he came from a more musically talented family! Andrew sang at the concert, but he was all the way in the back. I could not see anything other than his hair, so I did not get a picture of him.

The kindergartners were not in the concert, but they sang at the PTA meeting in the evening. Eli made his own reindeer shirt for the occasion. He has been singing songs all week, getting ready. When it came time to sing, he stood there with his hands in his pockets, barely moving his lips! He is still pretty shy, but at least he had a good time!

Bell Ringing

Here is the gang, ready to go.

It took a bit of coaxing to get Eli out of the car with his antlers, but he did end up being a good sport :)

I think Emma rang the bell the most out of anyone. She was so excited!

Emma was all ready to go this morning. Complete with reindeer antlers and her glasses from Mrs. Watson.

We had a great morning ringing bells for the Salvation Army. We are trying to focus our December more on service and helping others. This was a great opportunity for the kids to learn about helping those less fortunate.

We started out the morning at Dunkin Donuts with donuts and hot chocolate! Then we headed to the post office. Thankfully it was much warmer this year, but in the shade it was still a bit chilly. We were very impressed with everyone's kindness and generosity. We got just about everyone to smile and say Merry Christmas to us! We even had one guy bring us his entire box of change for the last year! He let the kids put it in the kettle for him. They were so excited to fill it all the way up. It is a great reminder that the Christmas season is not just for presents, but for helping others. We want to keep in mind that the Savior would have us love others and do what we can to help them. We are thankful we had this opportunity to serve together as a family. It was a great morning!