Sunday, December 12, 2010

A New Tradition


Macy had a friend in the local Nutcracker so I took the girls to see her perform! I was a little worried they wouldn't be able to sit through the entire performane but I was COMPLETELY wrong! Karlee did not MOVE, let alone breathe, while she watched and Macy literally cried when we left because she didn't want it to be over! They were mesmerized! I hope to make this a tradition with my girls every year!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Polar Express


We caught the Polar Express train in Hood River today. It was so much fun! I don't know who was more excited...me or the kids. The weather was HORRIBLE getting there! Sheets and sheets of rain poured down but turned to snow once we reached the higher elevation. It made for an even more exciting train ride. It was just like the Polar Express movie! They played all the great music from the soundtrack, served hot chocolate and cookies and took us all the way to the North Pole to see Santa's warehouse. Macy DID NOT believe we were at the North Pole because the ride wasn't long enough. We tried to convince her otherwise.

The kids holding their tickets. All of the children were encouraged to wear their pajamas...which we did!

Waiting for the train ride to begin

Karlee sipping on hot chocolate!

Macy loving every second

Nicholas glued to the window

The conductor came through and punched our tickets. The kids loved that!

While we were at the North Pole, we picked up Santa who came through each car and hugged and greeted all of the children. This Santa was AWESOME and so sweet! Check out his beard...it's real!

Macy getting hugs

Look how excited I am to see Santa!

Nicholas....not so much!

Santa gave out silver bells to all the kids to help them remember to always BELIEVE.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Turkey Day

We ate ourselves sick this Thanksgiving day! We had GREAT food and a whole lot of it! We decided not to travel this Thanksgiving holiday but spend it at home with some of our dearest friends. Thanks Mary and Kory and the whole family for having us over and letting us spend the day with you. We count you among our greatest blessings.

All the beautiful people

One cute kid

Gorgeous sisters

Mary & Girls

One cute couple

Beautiful Molly

Cute Oliver

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Snow Day In Oregon



Yesterday, we woke up to SNOW in Oregon!!! Not that much, but enough for school to be cancelled. (These Oregonians would never cut it in Utah!) The kids were outside by 8 AM stomping around in their rain boots. It was the best we could do. Mark came home at lunch time and helped the kids build a snowman!!! My friend, Jamie, gave us a snowman kit years ago and this was the first time we've been able to use it! "Frosty," as we named him, turned out pretty cute. He just needs a hat! Macy asked why we skipped Thanksgiving and went right to Christmas? She thought it only snowed at Christmas time. I wouldn't mind it if stuck around until then! It definitely has put us in the mood!

Look at those rosy cheeks!

Stomping around!

Nicholas did not like the snow sticking to his gloves.

Our snow gear!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Halloween Night 2010

The kids all dressed up on Halloween. Notice Macy's leg....so girlie! :-)

Karlee was a "Pink Princess" and wouldn't consider anything else.

Macy was Merliah from the Barbie & a Mermaid Tale movie.

Nicholas was a "doggy" & a cute one at that!


We had a little get together for dinner before heading out for some lite trick-or-treating. The spread was delicious including some fun halloween treats and of course the chili! It turned out to be such a nice evening. We went through over 150 pieces of candy and had to turn off the porch light! Even then, the trick-or-treaters were STILL ringing the door bell! Our neighborhood is awesome to trick-or-treat in! I don't know how else to describe it other than "magical" with all the lights, the haunted house on the corner and cute goblins running around! I think Halloween is becoming my favorite holiday!

The Halloween spread!

Nicholas laying out his candy so he can count it all! He scored! When the kids score...Mom scores too!

Trunk-or-Treating



Saturday night was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat in the church parking lot! It was awesome! The kids got LOADS of candy & fast. Afterward, they had a carnival inside put on by the young men & young women groups. The kids loved it! There was a bean bag toss, musical chairs, a fishing pond, face painting, a witch's hat toss, a donut eating contest and even a haunted maze (which Mark's group was in charge of). It turned out pretty scary!


Here is Macy playing musical chairs. She made it into the top 3 but dropped out because it came down to her and the big kids and she just got scared. I was so proud of her though!

Karlee and Nicholas getting their faces painted. A rainbow for Karlee and a paw print for Nicholas.


A family in our ward just had boy/girl twins (#6 and #7). Isn't this the cutest thing you've EVER seen? The grandmother made these outfits! I was dying over them!


Pumpkin Carving



Friday was a gorgeous day to get out and carve pumpkins. The kids were in to it for about 5 minutes so Mark and I got to spend some quality time together finishing them up. Our pumpkins turned out pretty cute thanks to the Perfect Pumpkin tool kit! They make it so easy these days!


Karlee wearing her princess dress which she has been wearing EVERYDAY for the past 2 months. Luckily it was still in one piece for Halloween night!

Our pumpkins all a glow!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Pumpkin Patch Time!



We made our way up Hwy 99 to the Airlie Hills Harvest Festival & Pumpkin Patch today. It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon and I have to say, this farm was AWESOME!!! The BEST pumpkin patch we've ever been too! It was in such a beautiful setting and there was so much to do. There was a hay maze, trike racing, a corn maze, a wheat box, farm animals, a fun tractor ride, GIANT pumpkins and the coolest thing ever...a huge tube slide that the kids could not get enough of (and the parents ;-)). I think we spent a good 3 hours at the farm. We can't wait until next year...and might even sneak back next week.

Mark in on the action! Giant tube slides are for grown-ups too!

Adorable!

Tractor ride out to pick our pumpkins.

Someone else on our tractor ride found these pumpkins! I was so jealous! Aren't they beautiful?

Looking for that perfect pumpkin.

We could not get the kids out of the wheat box. This was the only place Karlee wanted to be.

Wheat everywhere!

One bumpy potato sack ride!

Such a beautiful baby calf!

One crazy looking turkey!

Some of my favorite shots!





"Look, Mom. It's as big as me."