Christmas!

We had our first Christmas at home this year! It was so fun being home - although I love being with family too! But we enjoyed having our good friend, Chuck, over for Christmas Eve dinner and the Nativity. He gave Brenly a beautiful doll house, which he had made himself! It was so good to have him with us. Christmas morning was so exciting, and it was fun to see the excitement! Grandma, Grandpa, Stacie, and Brian came later that day as well!

Brian and Logan sporting their USC gear!

Adam and Logan got some fun lego pirate ships!

Brenly was excited about her princess dress and accessories!

Waiting for the "go" to see what Santa brought!

Our Nativity cast with our good friend Chuck!

Christmas Early!

We felt like we had 3 Christmas'! We celebrated with Greg's family, then my Mom, Kip, and Carey came before Christmas bearing fun gifts, and then Christmas itself! What a fun year!

One of our Christmas' with Grandma and Grandpa!

Kip gave me such a thoughtful gift! He had taken one of the old windows from the farm and sandblasted different pictures from the farm onto each of the window panes! Definitely something I will treasure!

Brenly was thrilled with this beautiful Christmas dress!

Fun memories!

Logan was so cute! Carey had one of those hats that have the little flaps for your ears. Well, Logan wanted his hat to look just like Carey's - so with a little paper and tape - Wa La! He had flaps for his ears too!

We enjoyed exchanging gifts with cousins and siblings with Greg's family too! I got some nice new dishrags - much needed - from Kara!

Adam and Logan trying out their new stilts from Liz and Carter

Liz made Brenly a cute blanket for her babies!

From Mow to Snow

We hadn't really had any snow, so Adam decided he wanted to mow the lawn! I guess the younger the better- so we let him! He loved it. Thankfully we did get some snow though to play in for the Christmas season!Adam and Brenly enjoying the snow!

Our young mower!

O Christmas Tree

It was exciting to get the Christmas tree up and decorated! Maybe one of these years we will get ambitious and cut our own down, but for now we are perfectly content with driving 5 minutes down the road and being done in another 5 minutes with our selection!

Seasonal Fun

The Christmas season is always so much fun - I think the best part is just seeing the excitement in the eyes of children. Everything is wonderful and magical to them! It is just so fun to be together and share in some fun memories!Logan is always such a good helper - he loves to help Lincoln especially. Sometimes some camera time may distract from the real objective though!

One day, Logan just decided he was going to turn into Santa. He had just gotten a Santa hat, which he was really excited about, but needed a beard to go with it, so he got a paper towel, and with some scissor magic (and tape) he created Santa!

I love this picture of Lincoln snuggling up to Brenly!

Post-Feast Activities!

It always feels good to get outside and do something active after a big meal. The kids never seem to have a problem with that though. Grandma and Grandpa's yard is like paradise, even when the pool is closed for the season. They had some fun basketball games, and enjoyed jumping on the trampoline!We are always amazed with Brenly - she loves to jump - and jump high!

3 little peas in a pod - Kate, Brenly, and Emma

Adam looks like a real homie baskettball player

Dunk!

Thanksgiving

No matter what time of year it is, it's always fun to get together with family. That is definitely one thing I am so grateful for - we are so blessed to have such a great family - on both sides! This year, it was our year to be with Greg's family. It was fun to be all together - and the kids always love being with their cousins.

Mylee, Savannah, and Lincoln - obviously it was too hard to wait for Thanksgiving dinner!

So grateful for this wonderful family

The Pilgrim and Indian table!

Feelin' Chinese

One night Brenly and Logan got dressed up in their China pjs, and Adam put on his Beijing shirt, so we thought we should snap some shots for Aunt Lindsey! It's funny how putting on different clothes can turn on another character!

Lincoln wanted to be part of the fun too!

Logan and Adam in their China gear

China buddies!

Halloween

Halloween is always fun. the kids were excited to dress up and go to our ward Halloween party. We did a little trick or treating in the church. We went from room to room where different families had decorated the rooms. What creativity! Then after trick or treating was done, we went into the gym where there were more carnival games, refreshments, and a spook alley (which we avoided) After the party we went trick or treating to a few close friends, then called it good! Knight Adam

Dragon Logan

Doggie Lincoln - he really fit the part - we was sucking and chewing on everything - especially the strings on my sweater!

Beautiful bunny Brenly

Adam and I went after the donut eating contestI wish this picture would have turned out better - one of the families (Gulls) had their daughter's head appear as though it was on a platter, and you had to get your candy from the platter! A little scary for the kids, but it looked awesome!

Here was another creative way to get candy! You lifted the lid to the pot, and out came a hand holding your candy!

Halloween Crew!