halloween

another successful halloween down. ellie had a difficult time deciding between being a witch or a pirate (she's been to a lot of pirate birthday parties lately). abby showed her love for her favorite disney princess (i keep trying to give plugs for belle). the boys were the dynamic duo. i have limited knowledge on comic book heroes, so todd had to inform me that superman & batman actually have worked together in fighting crime. luckily he was with me when i bought the fabric for their capes, too. who knew there would be so many shades of blue and i needed to get it just right.

 ellie loved being able to pick out the fabrics & have her favorite color.

she also loves to show her witch's cackle.

 when my mom asked for ideas for abby's birthday, i suggested she make a cinderella dress. this has nothing to do with the fact that i did not want to sew this for halloween. no, not at all.

 i used my favorite bibs to design the boys' capes. just extended them at the shoulder and lengthened them. i was under the gun getting these done, so thankfully, my mom spent an afternoon at our house and we sewed, sewed, sewed!

these two are wonderful best friends

pumpkin patch

it was time for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. corn mazes, tractor ride, and picking out the perfect pumpkins.

fall

 ellie's first day of preschool.

she goes with all her best friends and LOVES it.

 fancy nancy dress up

 these guys are CRAZY in the bathtub!

i never knew it was funny to nearly drown yourself, try to climb out, and dump cups full of water onto the floor.

 music time

 the kids love mornings that begin with their breakfast drink.

 ellie's all about me poster.

she put that she wants to be a runner when she grows up, favorite color is purple, favorite foods are chocolate chip pancakes & strawberries, loves all books (that's true), wrote down everyone in her class as her friends, and drew a picture of max (her someday dog).

 grandpa showing ben the dynamics of flight.

  ellie got her very own library card.

 ben demonstrating brotherly love. however, jake refuses to push ben in the car. classic baby of the family!

 the girls showing off their morning reads.

the witches at gardner village. we unknowingly went on "witches night out," where everyone dresses up as a witch. it was really a fun night, we will be sure to be more prepared next year.

photo collage

in an attempt to get our blog up to date, i'm including the loose photos from the month of december. enjoy!

 we could not have survived after the birth of the twins without nona's help with EVERYTHING!

 the girls cannot get enough of holding their brothers.

 abby begging to see the photo before it is even taken. the story of our photo-life.

(ps- i love jake's smile here. it is almost like he enjoys his sister's agony.)

 snow sculpture with daddy.

 of course, it's more fun sitting on top of it.

 abby wasn't so sure of this at first, but warmed up to the idea.

 with nona and papa at the grand america's Christmas window display.

 aw, to be young and in love....

 hi boys!

 benji conquered lifting his head first (however jake was the first to master rolling).

 in the playroom.

 the boys waiting for dad to put the girls to bed.

(disclaimer: i only did this for a couple of minutes to surprise todd and take a photo. our babies do not watch t.v.)

 ben was fussing one evening, so i put him in the carrier while i prepared dinner. i forgot about my sous chef until i smelt the aroma of the onions i was cutting! i quickly moved him to fresh air and took him out of the baby bjorn. whoops! no worries, no harm done.

 seriously, how cute are these guys?!!!

 a little utah pride for their dad.

 such a cute daddy!

arms are full and he is loving every minute.

roly poly the polar bear

ellie had her dance performance in december. her class danced to the song "roly poly the polar bear." she was so excited for the great unknown of her first recital. both sets of grandparents were there to share in all the excitement. we recorded it (however, i can't seem to post it and don't have time to figure out what i'm doing wrong) and now abby wants to watch it all the time. abby has the dance down and ellie's costume has made it into abby's dress-up rotation. we are so proud with how well ellie did!!!

dance

we thought with the twins coming, ellie needed an opportunity to do something "big kid." since we didn't put her in preschool this year, we decided to have her take a dance & tumbling class. there are about 10- 12 other little girls her age and ellie has really loved going.

 of course, i forgot to take photos during the dance portion, but at least i did get a couple snapshots!

there are these sweet sisters (twins!) in our neighborhood who are in the competitive dance group at the same dance company. they came over one afternoon to show ellie and abby the different dance terms (well, actually it was to show me since before 4 months ago i had never heard the terms arabesque, plie, chasse, or pirouette before.) ellie and abby had such a FUN time dancing with kaitlyn and kylee. thanks girls!!!