A few things I learned last weekend

*I could have 6 children if...
a. I had a bigger car
b. I had a bigger house
c. Mark never had to go to work

*Caleb LOVES his second cousin Samantha

*I'm pretty lousy at doing little girl's hair (heck, I can hardly do my own!)

*Singing jingle bells at the dinner table is A LOT of fun (even the babies got into it)!

Move over Thanksgiving...it's time for Christmas

I know I probably offended some people by the title of my post, because Thanksgiving is often times over looked because of the rush of the Christmas season, but honestly, I can't help it....I love Christmas!!! I never really appreciated Thanksgiving as a child, and as an adult not much has changed. Sure I love eating until I can't button my pants, spending time with family and friends, oh, and thinking about the Pilgrims and Indians and counting my blessings, but Christmas is just so much prettier!! I mean look at all the lights....they are everywhere and breath taking. Okay, so I'm only half joking.....but before I go on, I guess I should probably write about our Thanksgiving. We really did have a great time with family. We spend the day at my parents house, had a fabulous dinner, played some games, slept at my brother and sister in-laws house so we could wake up at 4:45am to hit some black Friday sales. I always wonder why in the world we subject ourselves to such torture, but it actually is pretty fun and we do get some good deals. Friday night we had a GNO by first eating at Zuppa's (very tasty), and then going to New Moon. I'm not a die hard Twilight fan, but I really enjoyed the movie. It's also fun just hanging out with many of the girls in my life, and I definitely deserve some girl time!!! ;)

So that was Thanksgiving, now on to Christmas! Mark and I did go a little over board this year, but it's just that since about September every little thing I buy for my kids I save for Christmas (any clothes they are in need of , shoes, even shampoo!). Mark purchased something very big for the boys this year that he is really excited about (more excited than me), but I won't disclose it just yet (in case my 7 year old happens to read this), and it really does deserve a blog post of it's own, for many reasons. Actually we have two big presents that each deserve their own blog post. Now, before I start to sound too materialistic (probably too late), but there is a reason why I do my shopping so early. Get all the shopping done in November and then for the entire month of December we can focus on the true meaning of Christmas, by teaching our children about the the birth of the Savior, and how it is so much more blessed to give than to receive. My siblings decided not to give each other gifts this year, but donate to toys for tots or another organization of our choice. My little family did this last year, and my kids still talk about how we gave the transformer toys away. I also love giving neighbor gifts. I know some people despise that, but it is something I look forward too. I have fabulous neighbors! My house is already decorated and I have been listening to Christmas music for at least a month already. Our kids have their chocolate advent calenders and their red and green paper chains to count down the days until Christmas! We have already watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas and The Grinch! Now I just need to start making some yummy Christmas treats!!!

Happy Halloween

Caleb and I waiting for Andrews preschool class

Andrew's preschool class giving me a "trick" before I give them a treat

The spooky skeleton after preschool trunk or treating

My sweet little Caleb


James before school

Luke...I am your father...

Quack, quack

James' first junior Grizz basketball game was on Halloween

Trick or treating at Lee's Market Place and posing for a picture with "Big Blue"

After trunk or treating at our church, we came home and found this deer in our yard

It was so close to us, and not afraid at all.

The boys thought it was pretty cool

We were so thankful for the warm weather. It was a gorgeous day. Some other highlights of the day include, the Whittier Carnival, carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds, eating our yummy Halloween dinner, trick or treating around the neighborhood, and then counting up all the candy while watching a spooky Halloween movie!

The Pumpkin Walk

The pumpkin walk is a Cache Valley favorite (at least it is for me). This year the theme was commercials. Many people/companies/classrooms around the valley choose a TV commercial and design pumpkins surrounding that theme/commercial and put together their display. This year it was super crowded, but we were lucky we went early. My favorites were the Micheal Jackson Pepsi, and the Keebler Elves. Unfortunately I didn't get pics of either of those, but here are some of the kids favorites (star wars, m & m's, fruit of the loom, rice krispies....)!!

This picture is actually from last year....the Yoda line was a little too long this year

I LOVE this time of year! The leaves changing colors and falling off the trees, the colder weather, and of course....HALLOWEEN!! It's always been one of my favorite holidays. Andrew is going to be a skeleton, James is going to be Darth Vader, and Caleb will be a duck. Andrew had his preschool trunk or treating today, and James gets to dress up for school tomorrow (something his school hasn't done for quite a few years). Then on Halloween we have trunk or treating at our church, then we will have our traditional dinner of eye ball chili, frog eye salad and orange jello (a big thanks to my mom for starting this tradition when I was little), and then the boys will go trick or treating around our neighborhood.