Snow, Christmas and More Snow!!!

We have had alot of snow this year! We are not used to it, but for now it is fun! We had a great Christmas this year. We stayed with Verns family this year and although we were missing some family, we still had a good time. The kids do the nativity every year and it always turns out cute. I love watching the kids act out the nativity sceene. There is always a special spirit in the room. I am sure that those who were actually there felt that same spirit only way stonger. It is such a fun tradition for our family.
My dad made a corral for the kids this year. He added a swing and a teeter totter so that it would be fun for the girls too. They all love it! Vern built a few things for them too. It is always fun to see the things he creates. We have been blessed in so many ways this year and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us!
I had so many pictures, so I did a slide show. So go get yourslef something to snack on cause it's going to be a while!!

Oh the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL!!

This is the first big snow storm of the season. It has been snowing all day and it is not supposed to quit for a few more days! All I know is I am freezing! It is fun though, especially because it gets me in the Christmas spirit. All I want to do is stay in the house and bake all sorts of things. It also makes me want to sit by the fire and read a good book or watch a movie. I am too scared to drive in it...............what can I say, I'm from the desert and the icy roads scare me to death! It took me a while to pick the kids up and get the mail, because I didn't want to slide off the road. But I made it back and I was proud of myself !:) We thought it would be fun to take some pictures outside.

Daniel and Leah have watched Alvin and the chipmunks a little too much......thats why they are doing the piece sign, because they do that in the movie.

Isabelle thought the snow was fun until she fell in it and her hands got cold, now shes not sure.

Daniel and MaCoy had fun jumping on the tramp all covered in snow.

Another attempt at trying to get a picture of them all smiling. One day right?!

A Gingerbread House

Every year we make a gingerbread house. The kids really enjoy it. Isabelle was more interested in eating the candy than decorating. I think it turned out cute.

Here is Isabelle with a bag of candy that she was tyring to escape with:)

Tis the season!

Last night we got our tree up and some other decorations. I love getting it all out and seeing how excited the kids get over it. I finally got to put up my village and of course the kids think it is so fun to play with. I love this time of year! I love the smells, the music, the spirit in the air, and just teaching our kids about Christs birth. It is just such a great time of year!! This is our tree after the kids did it all by themselves.................

and this is after we tryed to fix it. Come on it does look a little better:)

This is my little village. I want to add more to it each year.

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at my parents house. We had a great time and it was so fun to be together with the family. The kids always love to go down there. They can just run and play. We missed some of our family this year, but we still had a good time. We had lots of food, tons of pies, and lots of kids:) I love spending the Holidays with family! Look at all these cute girls!!

They found the Lego and were having fun.

I think mom could use more room.......a bigger house??

P*E*B*B*L*E*S

Josh was no longer able to keep his dog Pebbles, so he gave her to us. The kids love her. Isabelle and Daniel wanted to see her first thing this morning, so they look like orphans, but I thought they were cute feeding her one piece of dog food at a time.

Isabelle loves to sit in the sink while I am doing dishes and "help." We get water all over the place, but she enjoys it and hey maybe she'll love to do the dishes when she gets older too;) Today Gracie's class did a little play about Thanksgiving. The parts that I saw, when I wasn't chasing Daniel and Isabelle, were really cute. I had Vern video tape it so I'll have to watch it later. They all looked so cute!

Like I said I chased them most of the time. They were heading out side to play on the swings. Daniel realized when he opened the door, that it was pretty cold out!

This is the whole class making funny faces......it brings back so many memories of me when I was that young.

~Home made gifts~

I think some of the best gifts are home made. A few years ago Vern made this barbie house for our girls for Christmas. They have loved it! This year he has a few more ideas that we will share with you when he gets them done. I love that Vern can do some of these things! It sure makes Christmas alot more fun! We should have cleared away the junk decorated it a little better before taking a picture... oh well!

Time Flies!

I was looking through some old pictures and I came across these ones of Vern and the kids. It seems like yesterday that they were sitting on the fence with their dad. I can't believe how fast they grow up! They look like little orphan children, but I think they are still so cute! (I'm biased though;) Hanna had come over and so she took some pictures for fun. I love my little family!

Bragging rights........

I want to brag for just a minute about how amazingly talented my husband is! My mom needed a new table, so she came up with an idea and asked Vern to create it. He has never built a table before and this is what he came up with. The picture does it no justice, in real life it is sooo beautiful! He is just so talented! I am always amazed at the things he is able to create. I wish some of that would rub off on me! Anyway I just wanted to take the time to say what an awesome person he is. I am so lucky to have him in my life!

Kittys and Bunnys and Ghosts Oh My!! Oh, and a hill billy

This year we went to my mom and dads for Halloween. It was really fun! We got together and made lots of fun treats and we took the kids to the church for trunk or treat. We ended up eating way too much junk, but hey whats Halloween with out all the treats? Stetsy made a brain out of melon, the eyeballs, and the fun cupcakes. Then we made monster toes and Carmel apples. Rachel and Bailey had the house all decorated with cobwebs and things, it was way cute! I have not been home for along time and I had a great time! It made me want to spend more time down there. Thanks mom and dad for a good time! I thought this one was fun of him.

Here they are all ready for candy!! Gracie was a hill billy, Leah was a cat, Daniel a ghost and Isa was a bunny.

These two had way too much fun together!

They got to wear their costumes to school.

HaLLowEEn

Since Halloween is coming, I thought I would share some pictures of last years Halloween. Hannah was visiting from Canada. The kids had alot of fun trick or treating together. I love these pictures!! It is so fun to look back! Isabelle was being fussy, so Ammon was holding her. Then we threw Josh in there to keep the other sad ones some what happy........what good helpers we had! I love this one of them!Don't you think the are so cute???

These are our pumpkins this year. Vern just created faces. I think they tuned out cute.

Who's kids are these any way??

Digging out the seeds and goo.

Happy ~Late~ Birthday Leah and Daniel!

We had a little belated birthday party for Leah and Daniel today. They have been so good to wait! Some or our family was able to come and have cake with us. I can't believe how fast they are growing! Leah is so full of energy and she keeps us laughing all the time. Daniel is such a BOY! He loves any thing to do with cars, trains , tools, or his dad. We are so blessed to have them in our family! This first one is of Leah....she lost her first tooth! I love this one of them blowing out the candles, because Royden is helping them.......so cute!

The birthday kids.

In case you are wondering, this is an inch worm.

I thought the train turned out cute. Daniel thought we should make it run!