Naughty or Nice?

 

The answer to that question changes from minute to minute around our house!
It's extremely fun to enjoy this Christmas through the eyes of our children, especially with Allison so enamoured with Santa and the whole holiday season! She jumped right up on his lap and without pause said, "Santa.. for Christmas I want a baby bunk bed for my dolls." No fear. Total faith. Such joy! The boys were there too, but evaded the photo. Do they really have to grow up so fast?
We are grateful at this Christmas season for our abundance of blessings, especially our Savior Jesus Christ. We make many efforts to remember and celebrate Him this season. We are thankful for our dear friends and family and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love to you all!

Christmas Sunday

 

Just a sweet picture of my family after church.

Card Tower

Ryan saw a picture on his cousin's blog, where he built a card tower. He thought was pretty cool and was inspired to try himself. He spent the ENTIRE day trying this over and over again. It think we need to call his cousin to see if there are any secret tips he can give him. This is as far as he got, but he was soooo proud!!

Ice Skating

For scouts this week, Blake & Ryan's pack went ice skating. None of my boys have ever been before. I thought it would be tough to have them all there, needing me to hold them up but boy was I wrong! Shame on me for having no faith! Once they hit the ice they took off!! I was so impressed. They had a blast and I had fun watching them. I also got to skate a little and try to remember some of my old moves from lessons I took about 28 years ago. (wow.. I'm getting old!)

 

Skate Park

Our little city of Moorpark just built an AMAZING outdoor skate park. They expanded on a city park, and added a basketball court, big kid play set, and skate park, complete with empty swimming pool for the skaters! We went to the grand opening ceremonies and were among the first to try it out. Ryan loved it. (I'm still trying to figure out where $2 million came from for this project when we had to lay off school teachers this year and the kids teachers are asking me to bring in pencils and copy paper). Anyway, I guess we'll use it since it's there. It really is pretty cool.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving Day, my entire family came to our house for dinner. It was so fun for me to host and prepare the meal. My family has never come for the holidays before. I enjoyed having them all there. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

As a family tradition, we always take a group photo of all the girls and all the boys in attendance at that years' feast. Here's the shot for 2009:




And the guys:


Cousins having fun:




The day after Thanksgiving, we headed out to the desert for some riding fun, along with a family from Jason's work, and a family from Blake & Ryan's school.
We had a great spot to ride and ride! The kids all had a blast!


Ryan, Conner & Blake:




Mom & Alli: this was fun because the dog would just follow us all over the place. She sure got her exercise this weekend!!


Conner, Blake & Ryan:


Darren:


Alli keeping Holly company while it rained outside:


Playing board games in the evening before bed. When the sun went down, it sure got COLD!! We bunkered down til the morning sun came out. Even the dog wouldn't go outside. Yikes!


Jason found an old mine shaft, so we all rode over to check it out. We didn't go in very far. It was a big freaky, but also pretty cool.


Yikes!

Alli's Preschool

I love Allison's preschool. It's Mommy-n-Me, so I stay with her while we're there. It gives us a great opportunity to play together, with no other distractions. All my boys have been in this same class with Miss Chris when they were 3. I'm so glad to share this experience with Alli as well. Here are some recent activities:


Alli was "helper" for the day. This means helping at snack time, circle time, etc. She loved being center of attention! Big surprise, I know.




Thanksgiving Feast:
The kids made their placemats, vests and turkey hats the week prior.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween can't begin until you've done the traditional pumpkin carving, yes? Here is ours, done the day before Halloween.



On Halloween, the kids were excited to don their costumes and get ready for their fun night! I love the anticipation all day. It's so fun to watch the kids!
Darren chose to be a gangster, Blake an Anaheim Angels fan, Ryan a rock star, and Alli was a geisha girl. The dress is gorgeous, but the wig didn't quite work out. Later we put face makeup on her which looked funny. It didn't end up being the best costume ever, but she sure had fun so nothing else really matters!


Once dressed up, we went to Chipotle where we met up with many of our friends for free dinners, and then headed off to the Hanshaw's for trick-or-treating and then homemade apple fritters. They were as good as last year and I'm excited for Rachelle's new tradition. It was fun to gather with good friends after the candy gathering was done, and visit and enjoy the evening. The bigger kids all gathered together upstairs for a massive trade and swap of candies. Everyone made out!

Halloween Party

Well, it's that time of year again... time to think of a costume to wear to the Pinneo's annual party. Actually, I thought of this idea last year while coming home from the Pinneo's party. It was easy to do, with the good people of my local In-n-Out donating the hats, safety pins and name tags. I put together the rest by sewing aprons and putting our names on the tags. We stopped at In-n-Out on our way and picked up some burgers & fries to share. It was such a fun night as always! Thanks again Pinneos!!!!


Here are the great costume ideas from the others:


The Sloans and Overholts joined up together for an award winning rendition of ROLLER DERBY gals & their referees. It was simply hysterical! They rolled into the middle of the party, blowing whistles, raising a ruckus! It was just great!



The Gredings were in a ballet, Weymouths were H1N1 and her doctor, Middlebrooks were Burger KING and Dairy QUEEN, Garretts, the other Gredings were Crocodile Hunter & crocodile, and our Elders were Men in Black.



The Liddells were Dora & Diego, Adams were "Paper or Plastic?", Pinneos were a wicked queen & her medeival knight, Wrights were Marilyn & Elvis, Altoms were in the Air Force, and Omers as Peanuts characters.


Zeediks were Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball, Wildes were Sherlock Holmes & Watson, Fenns were Cleopatra & ninja, Egglestons were Medusa and her hubby she turned to stone, Fenskes were a sheik & Indian princess, and the Murrays were Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, complete with changeable pieces. So clever!



McKees were a witch & politician, Meyers a devil & not sure, Mandy's sister posed with Kevin Guthrie a.k.a. Indiana Jones, more Gredings as Peanuts characters and Mandy's brother (I think) was Bob's Big Boy with his waitress wife.

Pack Night

For Pack Night this month, the den had the Reptile Family. Ryan was brave enough to hold these two snakes.... ick!

Happy Birthday Darren!

Darren turned 12, which means one more year til my baby is officially a teenager! YIKES!!
Poor Darren didn't get to open any presents this year until the day AFTER his birthday when Dad could be home from work. What torture! It was worth the wait though. He was so excited to get the additional gear he needed to be ready for an airsoft war at Jericho. Here he is decked out in his new camos, tactical vest, helmet, face mask,etc.

And here was his I-pod cake.




The following week, he and his friend Adam went to Jericho, an airsoft place where they get put on teams and play games or rounds for as long as you want to be there. This kid was in HEAVEN! It was like a dream come true for him. For mom, not so much!





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Nana & Papa, Grammy & Bob came over the next weekend to celebrate with Darren and be there for the most important part of turning 12, receiving the Aaronic Priesthood! He now is in Young Mens and passes the sacrament. I am so proud of Darren and the young man he has become!

Pumpkin Patch

Alli went on her annual preschool trip to the Pumpkin Patch. This year her teacher is Miss Chris. She loved the tractor ride, feeding all the animals, playing on the playground, and especially picking her own pumpkin! She played with her friend Gracie and had a great time.



What a silly girl!