Christmas with the Family

We made a last minute decision to drive to Utah and spend the holidays with our family. It was definitely worth the 8 hour drive, we had a BLAST!!! It was so nice to do all of the traditional Christmas things, like visiting temple square to see the lights and the BIG Christmas party's. It was wonderful to see family that we don't often get the chance to see. Over all a wonderful time!

Me and the kids just before bed on Christmas Eve. Can you tell how tired we all are? It was a busy day.

Mom and Dad came out to Pleasant Grove to celebrate with us. Our group was SO big this year that we outgrew the house and had to move the party to the church.

Talmage is showing of his cuteness! What a charmer!

This is what we woke up to on Christmas Morning. No, We don't go overboard at all at Christmas time! It was such a fun day! There is a special magic on Christmas morning with little kids! What a wonderful time of the year, it's so magical!

SNOW!

Now that we are settled in and the temperatures have risen out of the teens I can let the kids go out and play in the snow! They were quite excited to get out into the snow and build a snowman but unfortunately the snow was too dry to make a good snowman so they had to content themselves with snow angels this time.

Talmage LOVES to throw snowballs, especially at me. The unfortunate part is that he's actually a pretty good shot I have to admit that if you looked into our back yard on this particular day you would have seen me, in all my pregnant glory, running away from 3 children with snowballs in their hands. Sometimes I really need Eric to be home more...Olivia's snow angel.
Ellen's snow angel.

O Christmas Tree

This is the tree that I found on Craigslist for $10! I thought it was too good a deal to pass up so I got it and thought it would be a fun surprise for Eric when he got home if I had it all decorated SOOOO I spent ALL day trying to decorate this 8 foot tree with the assistance of 2, not so helpful, helpers. The real problem was that the tree kept on falling over on me and I felt like I had the wrestle the silly thing all day long, (not an easy thing to do when you are 8 months pregnant). This is the tree pre-lights and decorations, when I still thought it was a great idea to finish it on my own. Our Disneyland ornament to commemorate our year of fun at the happiest place on Earth.

Our cute little Olivia Bug showing off for the camera, she was so pleased with herself for helping me decorate the tree!

Ellen found her dress up and had to wear it while decorating the tree.

Ellen's New School

Ellen started at her new school on the 7th of December! She was super excited to get back to school, and her teacher, Mrs. Martin, is really nice! She's in a really good school where they use a lot of technology and they have some really fun programs. So far she loves her class and has already made some friends!

Moving Day

We moved into our new house in Denver on December third. It just happened to be the coldest and snowiest weekend of the season... Just what you want on the day you move into a house.

This is our new house in all of its snowy glory!

Our moving truck slowly moving through the snowy parking lot.

The Great Leaf Rake

Snow was in the forecast and lots of leaves were on the ground, a perfect recipe for raking leaves! The only down side was that while the kids were enthusiastic about the project they weren't as helpful as they were cute while playing in the leaves. That left me (thirty weeks pregnant)to basically rake all of the leaves, multiple times because as soon as I would rake a large pile of leaves Talmage would run through it and the girls would lay down and make leaf angels. Ellen and Olivia making leaf angels.
Talmage enjoying the leaves, he thought that raking the leaves into piles was a great idea because then he could jump into the pile and throw giant armfuls into the air. (very helpful)

Olivia was too cute! She had a wonderful time playing and helping to fill big bags with leaves.

I can't tell you how cute Talmage was out in the leaves! His complete happiness at being outside playing and "working" in the yard was contagious. His favorite thing to say was, "My turn, help mama rake leaves. I helping mama?"

Ellen really was a big help. She was a great help with putting giant armfuls of leaves into the leaf bags. She also we a big help with running in to get more bags when we ran out. The best part was that she never got tired of it! She was a fantastic help the whole time. And it's a good thing because there was no way I could have bagged all of those leaves alone (at this point in my pregnancy bending down to the ground isn't the easiest task in the world).
All in all it was a wonderful fall afternoon!

Fall in Utah

We made it back to Utah and we're all kind of dealing with the transition from the warm humid air of California to the cold dry air of Utah. We all have colds, and dry skin, but we're enjoying the beautiful reds, oranges, and Yellows of fall here. The kids love to go outside and play in the leaves! Ellen and Olivia have been collecting leaves constantly, it's getting a little overwhelming, there are just not that many crafts that I can have them do with leaves. All three of my little ones laying in the leaves. This would have been a better picture if the sun wasn't right in their eyes. Talmage is just happy to be outside in the fresh air! He loves to through piles of leaves into the air. The girls love to throw leaves too. They are super excited to help Papa rake up the leaves like they did last year. We have great pictures of Monga covered in a pile of leaves. I don't know that the kids really help with the yard clean up process but it sure dose make for some great picture opportunities.

Hooray for Fall!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was a BLAST this year! The kids were all old enough to be really into it this year! The girls were both witches, and Talmage was the cutest pirate ever! We had the ward Trunk or Treat on Saturday and it was so much fun to see all of our friends in costume. It was my first Trunk Or Treat and I was super impressed, I couldn't believe what great decorations some people had for their trunks! The kids got TONS of candy and it wasn't even Halloween night yet. They even had a Halloween cartoon playing outside on a bed sheet, all the kids settled in to watch while they munched on their recently acquired candy. This is a picture of all the kids at the trunk or treat party watching the movie from the grass. Ellen and Olivia are the witches up front and Talmage is the pirate standing by the tree. Talmage, trying on he costume for the first time. He loves to dress up as a pirate (or maybe he's just glad to have something other that the girl's princess dresses to dress up in for a change). The kids all ready to go out on Halloween night. I love that we didn't have to put coats on top of their costumes. We drove over to the Port Streets to do our trick-or-treating this year. It is where most of our ward lives and it's very family friendly. Mom was with us and it was so much fun to watch the kids scamper from house to house eagerly saying their trick-or-treat's before the doors were even opened, and then having to be reminded to sat thank you after the candy, (way more than was necessary) was placed in their bags at each house. Mom and I sipped hot cocoa and enjoyed the beautiful evening (our last evening in Orange County). We only lasted about 2 blocks of homes but by the time we were done Talmage was dragging is bag behind him and slurring his "Trick or treat, smell my feet" saying.

The Shake Shack

On our walk along the trail at Crystal Cove we stopped at the Shake Shack. It's this ridiculously priced burger and shake diner that has the best location ever! You can get a crazy expensive shake and some fries and sit down t enjoy the waves crashing against the shore below. It makes the price of the food seem reasonable-ish. The kids love to be free of the stroller more than they love the food or , sadly, the view. While we were sitting here enjoying the view we saw some dolphins out in the water. And Paulette saw some whales, but sadly I never got a good view of them. Mom and I enjoying the beautiful views!

A Walk at Crystal Cove

Another one of our favorite things to do...Walk the trait at Crystal Cove. It's a beautiful walk on a very nice path and this time we were able to meet Scott and Paulette and walk with them. We had perfect weather again and at the end of our walk we treated ourselves to shakes at the Shake Shack.Mom was wonderful and pushed the stroller almost the entire walk. Olivia and Talmage were very good and they both stayed in the stroller most of the time. We were walking too fast for their little legs to keep up with. Seriously one of the most beautiful places EVER! I miss it already! And some of the best people ever, Scott and Paulette, we miss you already and we hope that you know how loved you are!

Our Last Walk Around Balboa Island

One of our favorite things to do when my mom comes into town! we love to look at the homes and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of Balboa Island. The homes were decorated for Halloween and and it was lots of fun to see the giant spiders, and witches, and ghosts climbing these gorgeous homes. Mom and I ate a picnic lunch of Cafe Rio while we watched the kids play in the sand. The weather was just about perfect and the kids had a great time finding shells while mom and I were able to eat in peace. There is one spot hat we always look for crabs and Olivia is especially good at finding them. This is a picture of mom sitting with the kids while looking for crabs in the rocks. Olivia and Tadge on the beach looking for shells. Olivia has Tadge in a headlock...I mean hug. Olivia in her special crab-hunting spot showing off her balancing skills.

On our way back to the car we had to stop and play at the beach again. The point being to get as sandy as possible before getting into the car. What will it be like to not have sand all over the car? I guess we will find out soon enough. :o(

Our Last Disneyland Day

So sad to think that we won't be going to Disneyland multiple times a month! We went out with a bang hitting all of our favorite rides with our favorite Disneyland companion... Monga! We got one last picture of me and the kids in front of the beautiful Mickey flowers done up beautifully for Halloween. Talmage was thrilled to ride the golden zephyr twice! He loves to "swing fast"! It was the perfect day at Disneyland, crowds were light and the weather was perfect! Now, how cute is this picture? Olivia and Talmage both needed a dink at the same time and the result was priceless! One last visit to the world of color! We got there early and snagged places right up front. It was fantastic and Olivia slept through it again. Maybe when we get back to Disneyland in a couple of years she will be able to stay up late enough to watch the show. So long for now Disneyland, we'll be back soon!

A Disneyland Birthday!

I can't think of a happier place to celebrate a birthday than at the happiest place on earth! So when I had to choose what to do on my birthday it was kind of a no brainier. Eric didn't have to work this Saturday so we got to go the Disneyland all together! What a wonderful time we had! The only thing that wasn't perfect was that Disneyland happened to be quite busy 2 Saturdays before Halloween. We let the kids dress up for Disneyland today. The girls were princesses and Tadge was a Pirate.
We happened to be at the right place at the right time and had a front and center view of the flag ceremony. It was a lot of fun to hear the band and see them honor all the military personnel. Eric took the girls on Grizzly River Rapids, they got a little wet!

We found a great place to watch the Soundsational Parade. It was one of those magical Disney moments with the kids! They LOVE the parade!What a wonderful man I married! I'm so lucky to be blessed with someone who loves and takes care of us so well! Thank you Love, for a wonderful birthday!Buggy on one of her favorite rides, the swinging Ferris wheel. The kids and I on the swinging Ferris wheel.I even got a Disney birthday Button. I have never had so many complete strangers wish me happy birthday. What a fun day with my wonderful family!