It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Saturday was a busy day....we spent most of the day decking the halls, and the tree, and the roof, and the bedrooms, and, well....you get the idea!! :) I LOVE looking around at all the Christmas decorations, I love sitting by the Christmas tree & chatting with Matt at night after the kids are in bed, I love listening to Christmas music. All things Christmas are good!! So, I thought I'd share what we have adorning our house. :)

My kitchen table centerpiece (I think I need a red plate or something to layer between the charger & the glass, what do you think?):


Santa praying to baby Jesus....we've had this since our first Christmas and it means more to me each year. While I was putting it out, Parker asked about it....gave me the chance to ask Parker what part of Christmas was more important; Santa or Jesus.

New this year is this red "subway" sign. My friend, Kelly, was making this in her ward for a fabulous Friday RS activity, and I jumped in and asked her to order the stuff for me. I thought it turned out cute! I love my sparkly tree too!

These Nutcrackers were sent to us from Matt's mom....I think they bring back memories for Matt! :)

Now, onto our tree...this is just a sampling of my favorite ornaments.
I love this star...I think the star is my favorite Christmas symbol, and I love the "Believe" on it!

Can't forget about Duke!

We have a letter for each member in our family (here's one of the 3 A's)....

This ornament was sent to me from a friend a few years back....it's so unique & I love it. Every time I put it on the tree I think about her!

These boys were my super helpers setting up the tree. We worked hard all day while Daddy & Annie hung the lights outside.

What the finished product looks like!! Our star is missing, though....currently we are trying to decide if we stick with a new star (since our old one was slowly dying) or if we go with something new, such as an angel. Any advice?

Merry Christmas!! Hope your season is merry & bright!

u-swirl

We have a new favorite "treat" place in our family....it's called u-swirl and my kids think they are extra special when they get to go in and make their own concoction of yogurty-goodness! Today they are out of school, and they have been extra good with Matt being out of town too, so we made a stop on our way back from errands!

Five happy kids is a hard thing to beat!! :)

Tae Kwon Do

With soccer season over, it's Parker's turn to try something new. Tae Kwon Do was his activity of choice. Over at the elementary school, they have had a mini class going on for the last month, which Parker participated in....after "graduation" we realized how much Parker was enjoying it, so we signed him up officially. Last night was his first class, did awesome & had SO much fun!

Here's some pictures before heading to class....he's posing a few of the stances that he was taught in the mini class!

I'm thinking he's really going to enjoy this!! :)

Costume Pics!

We were super rushed getting out the door to go trick-or-treating at the park usually go too, so I don't have many individual shots....but here they are, anyway!!

Usual group shot! Matt was an awesome red-neck again (we added tattoo sleeves this year...look closely at his arms), Abbie wore a poodle skirt, Annie as a bumble bee, 2 ninjas (Parker & Connor), and Allie was an adorable bunny (so cute!...and she learned to say "bun-nee" that night too!)....

Here's a better picture of Abbie from a few days before (it was pretty chilly Halloween night, so the costumes had to be improvised a bit...)
The red-neck & bunny!!...

Bumble Bee Annie...

Three trick-or-treaters going trick-or-treating.....(ninja masks were removed so they could see better)...

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!!

Carving Pumpkins

(I'm gonna first say FINALLY!!....I've been trying to upload pictures for 3 days and it FINALLY worked....so, it's not my slacker-ness, it's blogger's fault!)

Anyway, our week before Halloween was hectic, to say the least. So, we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until Sunday afternoon, but it proved to be the perfect time. We came home from church (ended at 2pm), had some quick lunch, and got Allie down for a nap. With Allie being asleep, we didn't have to worry about her "help" with the mess! In the (almost) 14 years we've been married, we've come down with a good system! :) I help clean out the pumpkins & while Matt does the carving....works perfectly!

Connor & Matt, working on C-man's pumpkin first....

Next came Parker's....he drew a picture of the face he wanted on his pumpkin, so Matt would know what to carve....

Annie as she is counting pumpkin seeds....we each estimated how many were in one of the pumpkins (Matt won & my guess was WAY off...LOL)....

Abbie counting seeds too (she's looking so grown up to me here!)....

Can't resist including a quick picture of me & Matt (I sure love this guy!!)...

And, here is the finished product!! I think they turned out awesome, if I say so myself!!

Our Newest Soccer Player!

Connor has been SO anxious to start playing soccer like Abbie & Annie....and, Saturday he finally had his first game!! Here's his "before game" poses:

And, playing in the game....he's #3. He scored 2 goals & had a lot of fun, I think!! (I'm glad I was able to snap a picture though...soccer tends to mean "bunch ball" when it is 4 yr. olds playing...LOL!)

Here's to another fun soccer season!!!

To Our Cooley Cousins...

....who live in Georgia & thought the Bulldogs had a chance!!

Enough said!! :)

First Day of School Pictures!

It's that time again...The First Day of School. I had four VERY excited kids & one little lady that I think enjoyed having her mama to herself for a couple of hours!! I love that we have a fantastic summer, but by the time the end of August comes around, we are all ready to head back to school, too!!

It's occasions like this, that I realize how quickly my kids are growing up, especially when I compare to last year (which I still vividly remember). But, there's no stopping that...so I just gotta enjoy it!!

Abbie (11 yrs. old), first day of 6th grade (aka: middle school):

And, I couldn't resist taking this picture from our front yard...that is seriously how close the bus stop is...love it!

Annie (9 yrs. old), first day of 4th grade:
Parker (6 yrs. old), first day of 1st grade:

And, Connor (4 yrs. old), first day of Preschool (2nd year):

Of course, couldn't resist including a picture of this cute girl!! This picture was taken last week, while we were at a park with one of those dome jungle gyms. Allie, seriously, has no fear & climbed to the top all by herself. (I took this picture, while I was standing straight up and pointing the camera up at her!)

Anyway....here's to another fantastic school year!!! I know all four of them will have a fun year with lots of learning!!!

St. George Vacation - St. George LDS Temple

On our final day in St. George, we took the kids to see the LDS Temple. We took time to go through the visitors center, watch a short film about the divine & eternal nature of families (it was a tear-jerker!) and walk around the outside of the temple! It was a fantastic morning!

Couldn't pass up a quiet moment of the kids sitting in front of the Christus....

This is my favorite picture of the day (and one of the rare family photos we were able to catch during the entire trip!)....nothing says Forever Family like getting a picture in front of the temple!!


And a few shots of just the temple that I snapped as we were leaving...the last one is my favorite (I love the brilliant white of the temple against the blue, blue sky)!

Don't pass up to visit this amazing site when you're in St. George!! It's beautiful!!