Christmas lights

I love Christmas lights,  they just look so beautiful against a snowy back ground. This year we decided to take in some of the best that Salt Lake had to offer. We started by braving the bitter cold and headed to downtown Salt Lake.

A nice security man offered to snap this family picture of us!

The kids were happy to see all the candy windows at Macy's, I think the exact words were "wow, cool"

We took a moment to warm up at Deseret Book. They liked the machine that you could launch parachutes in and would have done that for the next few hours, if we had let them.

We did make them brave the cold though, mean parents that we are.

They didn't seem to mind too much though.

The lights really were gorgeous, we loved them.

We were even happy to have Kate and Aaron join us, even if it was too cold. 

 We also hit zoo lights this year something the kids were super excited to see again. 

Though not as cold as our visit to Temple Square it was still plenty cold so we huddled liked penguins to keep warm. 

The kids loved the lights and kept ewing and aweing over everything. It was a ton of fun to see their reactions.

Matty was very happy that he was the first on the rhino statue this time. That meant he got the top.

Then the other kids piled on, I don't think I can ever pass this statue without one of them saying "can we take a picture?"

James decided that it would be more fun to have a snow fight during our visit.

All in all a great time checking out the lights...even if it was a bit cold. 

Christmas is coming

December seems to be flying by and here were are single digits away from Christmas. How did that happen. Most of our Christmas activities are planned for later this week so there will be more pictures then but here is what we have been doing so far....

Hanging out with Poppa and being silly...

Looking the the "forest" of Smith's for the perfect Christmas tree. ..

Went to the ward party where the boys had a good time stick pulling...

And we saw Santa Claus! Matty loved him...

James...did not...

And we also loved the time with cousins at the Bradley Family party! 

And the fun keeps coming!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Week

When I was a little girl I loved Thanksgiving. Not just Thanksgiving but I loved Thanksgiving Eve where we would go over to my Nan's and have a sleep over with games and treats. The next morning we would wake up and watch the parade (much to my brothers' chagrin) and then have a great big breakfast. We would head over to the local school and have a Turkey Bowl with our cousins, and it was a good year when no one was injured or ended up at the ER. Then we would have the meal with the furniture swept out of Nan's living room and replaced with tables and chairs we had picked up from the church. This was the one meal that I got brussel sprouts each year, so it was my favorite.

As the years went on I dropped the Turkey Bowl and stayed to help Nan cook. I learned how to make her Jell-O, a Thanksgiving favorite, and her mother's stuffing. I also developed a dislike for turkey so stopped eating that but I still loaded up on the brussel sprouts. Then Nan decided not to host Thanksgiving anymore so each of my aunts and uncles started to host their own. 

There are several traditions that we still have though and they all start on Thanksgiving Eve. This year we hosted part of the festivities. All the family came over for dinner and a game night while the kids enjoyed a movie and their first ever cousin sleep over. We had 8/9 cousins for the sleep over, the missing one wasn't potty trained and that is the one rule that Aunt Timmy has about sleep overs.  

It was so fun to see them all together again. We were so happy that Boston and Ezzie got to be with us. There wasn't much sleeping, we turned off the movies about midnight, but I'm not sure what time they actually went to sleep.

The next morning we got up and had a huge breakfast and then most hung out in the pajamas for a while. The adults flipped through ads, took naps, and watched the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who all while the kids played dress up and wizard school.

That night we went over to Grammy and Poppa's and had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Then for the first time ever the four sisters went shopping. Two of us had never been out with the crowds. The kids thought this was great because it meant some of them got an additional sleep over. 

I had fun shopping, more than I thought I would. It was fun finding places to shop at two in the morning and we were all shocked to find that Old Navy had the longest lines. I must admit I was sad when we found out Smiths was closed and our shopping trip had to end.

After about five hours of sleep I got up and we took the kids out shopping. They walked the aisles of Target finding the items they wanted for Christmas. We also looked around for some new ornaments for the Christmas tree. 

Speaking of trees, Matty loved the "forest" at Smiths. 

So happy Holidays from ours. We hope that you had a great Thanksgiving weekend and got a bit more sleep than we did!

Happy Halloween

I debated all month how to do this post. Should I post about each Halloween activity individually or should I wait and just have a picture heavy post at the end of the month. I decided to go with the picture heavy post and that may have been the right decision, who knows. 

So we kicked off the Halloween season with a party at Grandma's. We loved her Halloween party and were so happy she was home this year to throw it, we have missed it the last two years while she was in Germany.  The kids were excited to put on their costumes a few weeks early. The girls even treated us to an epic battle of ninja verse pirate. Still not sure what girl won. 

All year long I look for fun Halloween food to do. This year we went easier than we have in past years. We did a carrot pumpkin patch....oh and I realized I need at least one Halloween serving tray.

And Frankenstein pudding cups. The first time we did these we did vanilla pudding dyed green. The second time we did pistachio. Anyway it was fun and Eve loved decorating the cups.

Grandma lead the Halloween parade around the house. And the kids seemed to thing it was fabulous.

The second party was at Grammy's. It was a bit smaller but still lots of fun. Matty loved the mummy hotdogs and loved the attention he got from his older cousins.  Oh and the big bag of M&Ms he got sure didn't hurt.

The week of Halloween was a busy one. We did our pumpkin carving. Christian and Matty decided to draw their pumpkins this year and Matty was content to carry it around forever. Just a moment here to talk about my awesome husband. When the boys decided that they were going to be minions this year he decided to be Gru. The man shaved his head for this, talk about committed to making his kids' halloween fabulous. I am so happy that I married him and so grateful for what a wonderful father he is.

Laine is really into moustaches this year, so of course her pumpkin had to have one.

James' needed to be as toothless as he is.

And Eve's was beautifully designed, also with a moustache.

Finally it was time for the neighborhood party. It was at this party that Christian made his first appearance as Gru complete with minions and freeze ray.

The kids loved the neighborhood party. It had a delicious chili bar, a parade, a spook alley, and a trunk or treat. I gave out more candy at the trunk or treat then I did on Halloween.  The kids loved going around to the cars and getting candy, then they even donated some of it to Primary Children's.

Finally we made it to the big day. matty had been preparing for this day all month. Everything was spooky with ghosts or witches.  He also watched every Disney Halloween special possible and made many references of going to treak or treat mountain.

We went to the kid's Halloween parade, where you go and sit for an hour to watch twenty minutes of a parade, reminds me a bit like Disneyland. Matty spent the time playing.

He really did love Halloween and it was fun to watch him. He wore the witch hat quite a bit so he could be spooky.

After school we went trick or treating to all of the grandparents. The kids loved it and I think the grandparents loved it too.

Finally it was time for the big night. After a dinner of eyeball hamburgers we put on the costumes one last time and got ready for trick or treating. Laine was determined to spend the whole night trick or treating, "for the good of the family" she claimed. She may have a point since we have a community treat basket where all the kids candy goes. 

So we had Laine, the super ninja.

James, the head minion. 

Matty, the cute little minion.

And Eve, the swashbuckling pirate. 

All accompanied by Daddy Gru. 

They were off on an adventure while mom stayed home to hand out candy to the few trick or treaters we got. 

So from our little spooks to your Happy Halloween.

She's nine!

The day before Halloween we celebrate a very special day, we celebrate Eve's birthday!!!  

Eve is hilarious, you can tickle her from across the room. She loves to draw and is becoming a quite a talented artist and piano player. She loves to play with her littlest brother and takes extra good care of him. She is a pretty happy polite girl who is always quick to laugh and smile. She has such a sweet little spirit, she is caring, and everyone who talks with her is quick to comment on how kind she is. She thanks her teachers each day for what they have taught her and she loves to give hugs.

This year because of a Halloween party we celebrated the birthday on Eve's birthday eve, she always giggles when you tell her that. 

She invited over both set of grandparents for some cake and presents. 

Eve is an artist. And she got art supplies and books for her birthday. She has never been happier.

On her birthday she got the breakfast pizza that she asked for and a a few more gifts...she was super happy.