Christmas Cookies!

My mom and I have a tradition of cookie and candy making at Christmas time.
And now, that tradition includes the kids. We had so much fun and made a huge mess!

Notice that Emma has more frosting on her face than on her cookie!
That's my girl!

Winter is Finally Here!

Yes, you read the thermometer correctly...7 degrees!!

This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning.
It wasn't a ton of snow, but we were just excited to get this much!

The kids were so excited!
They had a hard time waiting until after church to play in it.

I had to post both of these pics of all 5 kids because the 1st one is so cute,
but Emma wasn't looking.
In the 2nd one, she was saying "kitty" as she watched a cat walk by...
it was so cute!!

Christmas Tree Hunting!

On Monday night, we went hunting for a tree to go in our basement family room.
It was snowing up the canyon and the kids were thrilled!
(We haven't really gotten any snow yet this year)
The bigger kids were so cute and helpful with Emma and Hannah.
It was a little slippery in some places,
so they held their hands and made sure they didn't fall down.

And while my hunk of a man was busy cutting down the tree...

the kids were participating in this productive activity...

Hey, somebody has to teach Emma how to catch snowflakes on her tongue!!

Here we are decorating!

Emma loves decorating, undecorating...she's not picky, as long as she's involved!
(thanks to Mikaela for the shot of my backside!)

And here's the finished product!!!
I know what you're thinking...that it strongly resembles something you would see
on a Charlie Brown Christmas special.
But it started to get very cold up the canyon,
so we just cut down the best thing we could find!
We like it!
And here's a tip...if you get a tree with VERY sharp needles,
your 3 year old and your 18 month old are less likely to take the ornaments off!
Go figure.

She's Got Moves!

Go, Emma! It's your birthday!

Go, Emma! It's your birthday!

(for those of you not familiar with that chant,
it's not really Emma's birthday...)

i saw it.........

....and.....I LOVED IT!!!!!!!

I have read other people's blogs about the movie and there are lots of different opinions...

I didn't think it was corny or cheesy. I loved the dialogue...I laughed more than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong. The book is a thousand times better! There were plenty of things that I had wished were in the movie that weren't. But then it would have been a 4 hour movie! I just loved seeing it brought to life on the big screen. I am soooo glad I got to see it! Thanks to my awesome sisters-in-law and mother-in-law for making it such a fun girls' night!

Boys Will Be Boys

Here are a couple of red turkeys for ya!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

For Those Who Are Wondering...

Many of you have asked who did our pictures...here is his blog:

http://CortneyBoicePhotography.blogspot.com

We were very impressed! If you live in Utah and need pics done, he's the guy!

6 Years in the Making!

We finally got our family pictures taken!!
Our family portrait that is hangning above our fireplace contains
3 children...a 5 year old connor, a 3 year old Mikaela and a 5 month old Aubrie!!
And Matt and I look so young in it, I often wonder
who that cute family is hanging on our wall!
Our awesome photographer took at least 1 million pics,
so bear with me as I post the best ones
(of which there are many!...except the ones that have me in them!)

This is Matt's entire family...we actually doubled in size
since our last group photo!!

And these are the cute grandkids!

Too Much Time on my Hands!!

Apparently my house isn't dirty enough
to get me out of the computer chair...

OK - that's not true. My house is dirty enough,
I just don't wanna clean!

Anyway, I had some fun on picnik.com today
and here are the fruits of my not so necessary labors!

don't you just love that face?!

My Little Sweeper!

What would I do without her?
I guess I wouldn't have anything to post about!
Emma saw me sweeping the kitchen floor and decided I needed her help.
So she went into the laundry room where we keep the brooms and got her own.
I think she's a genious child.
Whoever thought a paint brush could be used as a broom?!
What a great little helper!

Connor

I thought Connor could use a little face time on the blog,
so here are some pics of him getting his Arrow of Light in Boy Scouts.
Way to go, Connor!! We are so proud of you!!

And, Hallelujah!
He finally let me cut his hair!
He has been growing it out for a while, so he could wear it
like all those boys on Disney channel, etc.
Matt and I weren't very fond of it.
I wasn't willing to blow dry it or flat iron it, so it was just shaggy all the time!
I would often remind him lovingly that I know how to cut hair
and would be happy to cut it for him when he was ready.
They are getting school pictures taken tomorrow and
I used this as an opportunity to ambush him.
I said, "I will have this picture of you forever! Can we please cut your hair
and then you can grow it out again if you want?"
Well, on Sunday he asked me to cut it before church.
I couldn't grab the scissors fast enough!
We're thrilled to see his handsome face again!
(and I'm sure he'd love to hear from all of you how much better he looks...)

BEFORE

AFTER!

More Halloween!

Connor and Mikaela had
BIGGER and BETTER things to do
on Halloween night than to stay and pose for pics.
There was candy to be gotten, for heaven's sake,
and they weren't wasting any time!
So...we have pictures of the 3 youngest and that's it!
The school took pictures, so when I get those, I'll post Connor and Mikaela.
Until then, introducing...

The One and Only...

HANNAH MONTANA and CINDERELLA

and...

TENDERHEART BEAR!

PUMPKINS!!

We finally carved our pumpkins last night.
The kids' jobs was to draw faces and clean out their pumpkin guts.
Matt's job was to carve. And my job was to
wash the seeds for toasting...yuck!
I love pumpkin seeds, but I hate pumpkin guts!

Cute girls!!

Silly boys!!

Emma even got in on the festivities!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Tagged!

Ok - this is a fun and easy one!

1. go to your pictures

2. upload the 4th picture from the 4th folder

3. Post.

4. Tag 4 friends!

This is Hannah when she had more hair
(she recently gave herself a haircut!)
and Emma when she had less hair!

I tag anyone who wants to play along. But if you need a personal invitation...Tiffany, Kristi, Andee, and Gayla!