Cousins...Mabey??

Maryanne, Debra, Glenn, Catherine, Jenny, and me

So, my cousin Jenny turned 40 and decided she didn't want to spend her birthday in Utah. So, her and some of her siblings decided to take a trip. They first went to Dallas to pick up Debra and then head down to San Antonio to stop by Glenn's house. It was great to see them all! We went down to the riverwalk and looked at the lights and saw the Alamo. It was so much fun. Thanks guys for stopping by! Happy Birthday Jenny! ps...I am not slumping down, they are all TALL!

Naughty Elf

Magic the Elf hiding in the bread basket.

He made a Fort for himself out of my baking sheets.

The Tea Party with the stuffed animals.


He colored some pictures for the kids.

Scattered the mail.

So, we have an Elf that has come to live with us until Santa picks him up on Christmas Eve. His name is Magic. He is watching the kids to make sure they are behaving and picking up their toys. He is very mischievous and gets into trouble. He also takes toys and laundry and other things that are not put away. He only is alive at night and gets into things then. He has scattered mail...my Christmas letters, scattered books, undecorated the tree, gotten into flour and baking pans, had tea parties with dolls, decorated the house in weird ways, and other things. He is definitely helping us get ready for Christmas. We hope he reports well to Santa:) Thanks... Amanda!

Seaworld Christmas

Cami and Katelyn...after candycanes!

It is snowing!!! Wait...it is just bubbles:(

Jack...Am I tall enough?

We took the kiddos the other night to see Shamu and listen to the Christmas music. We had the our friends, the Christensen's, kiddos with us. We had a blast!

Chirstmas Decor and Kids

The kids

Jack

Katelyn

The Chirstmas Tree

Jordan

Jack and his new ornament that Grandma Ruth gave him.

The front of our house.

Katelyn

So, once again we squeezed our 9 ft Christmas Tree in a 8 ft room! The kids were so excited to decorate. Jack had the most fun decorating it. We have a cluster of his ornaments at the bottom of the tree.

The Beach

We decided to go to the beach on Wed. before Thanksgiving. The kids love to go play in the sand. Brandon and Jack built a sandcastle. The water was really cold, but we still had a great time.

Our trip to California

Jordan

The Little Redwood Forest!

We are ready to go!

Jack in the plane.

Katelyn and Jack watching for our plane.

So these are pictures of the plane ride out to California. Jack was so scared to get on the plane. He shook the whole time the plane took off. We took 3 planes and one bus to get out there. Plus, 2 hrs waiting in the USO. But we made it safe and the kids were great!

The other pictures are from a hike my dad took us on. My dad loves to hike. The one hike he had planned was closed so we took another hike in this park that burnt down last year. It was pretty much burnt trees, weeds, and dirt. When we curved around the back we saw that the patch of Redwoods survived the fire! We had a great time.

Thanksgiving

My parents with their grandchildren

Jackson

My sister Emily and her hubby Johnny

The Girls

My Brother Bryan and his family

The Boys

My Family

All the grandchildren

Our Family

We were so grateful we were able to go to California to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. We were also able to see my cute pregnant sister and her hubby, my brother and his wife and 3 kids came out from Utah. It was great to be together. We also were able to celebrate Jordan's

6th Birthday, which landed on Thanksgiving this year. We love you Jordan!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!

Mommy loves....he isn't thrilled!

Jack turned 3 on Sept. 7th. We sure love him. He has become quite the toddler. Some how we made it through the rough and tough, mad and never happy stage. Now we are able to communicate with him much better and he is a lot happier. He is so excited for Halloween. They have "Jack the Jack-o-latern" at Seaworld and Jack thinks that is great. He goes around mimicking him by say, "JACK is BACK!" He is all potty trained...which we are finally out of diapers after 10 years! Yes, that helps the budget. Jack is into anything that has to do with sports and pirates. Happy Birthday, little guy! We love you!

First Day of School YIPEE!

Okay...I started this post a LONG time of go, but the computer was freezing on me and I didn't get it through. But better late than never, right?? First Day of School...Mom is in Heaven! JK. I do love my kids, but I was ready for school to start. It was a big year this year. I have 3 out of the 4 going to all day school. Jordan is 5 yrs. old and in Kindergarten. Katelyn is 8 yrs. old and is in 3rd grade. And Abby is in 6th grade (middle school) and is 11 yrs. old. The two younger kiddos are going to Murin Elem. and Abby is attending a charter school called Harmony Science Acedemy. They all have been real excited and have enjoyed the first couple of days. Let's see how long that last....