Christmas Lights

It has become a tradition for us to go see the lights in Salt Lake the week after Thanksgiving. We like the warmer weather and smaller crowds.  It's also a great way for us to focus on the true reason for Christmas.  The kids get to pick out toys that we take to the Road Home shelter.  It's such a great experience and the boys love it.  It's nice to then go to Temple Square with our little family to see the nativities.

The stroller crew

The orange tree

We got a new camera and Kevin was experimenting with the settings. 

 I thought he did a great job with this picture.

Decorating the Tree

Thanksgiving weekend has always been time to put up the tree.  The boys were excited and were very particular about the placement of each ornament. 

Andrew was especially interested in the whole process.  He thought the lights were great and couldn't get enough of the ornaments.  He was able to put several non-breakable ones on the tree and continued to re-position them throughout the day.  

We also got an early Christmas present from our Mills cousins that we were informed to open right away.  Weren't we surprised to find not only a Lego advent calendar, but a Star Wars one to boot? The boys can't wait to find out which day will reveal "Santa Maul." 

Thanksgiving

We tend to have bad luck with our Thanksgiving feasts the past couple of years.  Last year we were supposed to have family come over to our house for dinner.  I had everything all ready to go but got sick with the stomach flu the night before.  We weren't immune this year.  This time the boys had a stomach bug, so our actual Thanksgiving dinner looked something like this:

Pancakes anyone?

Luckily, we were able to have our dinner the next day.  It tasted even better because we had to wait!    And while the boys liked the turkey and all the fixings, their favorite was pie of course!  I'm not a big pie maker to begin with and this year posed a special challenge with our gluten-free requirements.  The apple and pumpkin pies were pretty good, but the picky eaters really enjoyed the chocolate cream.  :)  

Our sickness reminded us of everything we are grateful for.  I love this time of year and the focus on family and blessings!

The royal knights

Our house is ALL boys ALL the time.  Very rarely do we get a break from the wrestling, fart jokes, real farts, pee all over the toilet, guns blasting, Lego-building, car racing, sports competitions, and so forth.  Ryan typically can't walk past the "pink" aisle in the grocery store without dry heaving.  But don't get me wrong.  It is a lot of fun and I have to honestly say I love to play with them and watch their minds at work.  Although few in number, we do manage to have moments infused with more subtle sensibilities.  Case in point - the Sofia the First movie on Disney Channel.  The boys specifically requested to watch it.  Specifically. I knew we were on to something here, so I had to make sure I had evidence for the future.

All eyes glued to the TV.

I had some sort of satisfaction knowing they were interested in something girly.  But wait - it gets better.  Imagine my excitement when I hear this coming from Matthew the next day.

"Hurry Ryan.  It is time for us to get dressed for the Royal Ball."

Loved it!

Two Wheels

We have been working for some time with Ryan to help him ride his bike without the training wheels.  Ryan has always been one to wait until he is good and ready before doing something, so we just had to wait until he decided it was time.  And of course one day he announced, "I am going to ride my bike today."  And so it was.  Way to go Ryan!

Matthew's Baptism

What a special day!  As we got ready this morning I kept thinking about how quickly this time has come.  I can't believe my oldest child is old enough to get baptized.  I am so proud of Matthew and his choice to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He has been reading the Book of Mormon every night and we've had some good talks about it.  He has such a pure knowledge of gospel principles and I admire his thirst for knowledge.

Here is my handsome boy right before we left. 



All of our handsome boys. 

At the church right before the baptism.

The baptism service itself was wonderful.  The Spirit was so strong and I was reminded of how much Heavenly Father loves my little boys.  I only hope I can be a good mother to them.

Halloween

We were a little late in getting our pumpkins ready for this year, so we carved them shortly before Halloween.  As always, the kids had fun designing the faces but left most of the gut-scooping fun to us.  I think that's the best part!

The boys have a Halloween parade at school every year where they get to walk around the school in their costumes to show their classmates and parents.  I took the younger boys over to watch and while Zachary was excited at first his patience obviously started to run a little low.  Smile, you should young Yoda!

Andrew wasn't too impressed with having to wait in the stroller either.

But at last the parade began and we were able to see our boys!  Ryan decided to be a Jedi for the third year in a row.  I tried to suggest he try something else, but he had his mind made up.  I have to admit that he makes a mighty cute Jedi.  Am I allowed to say that about my little Padawan?

Matthew decided to go as international soccer star Cristian Ronaldo who plays for Real Madrid.  He even made sure to get the spiky mohawk to complete the look.  He didn't notice me at first and I kept saying his name so I could get him to turn and take his picture, but he was so focused on the parade that he didn't hear me.  Finally I yelled out "Ronaldo!" and he immediately turned around and gave me a big grin.  

Getting ready for Trick-or-Treating!  The boys could hardly contain their excitement and would only hold still long enough for me to grab a quick picture.  It was on to the candy collecting! Of course they made a haul and we had to go through it to portion out the parental tax.  Ryan commented that he already couldn't wait until next year!