Sunday, December 02, 2012

Christmas Tree!

Decorating the Christmas tree is always a favorite family tradition.

The excited chatter of the boys as we open their ornaments and tell them about each one
How the boys carefully search for the right spot to hang each and every ornament
The soft Christmas music that bring back  childhood memories
Watching Jeff lift each of our kids to reach the top branches
The sweet peace that fills our home
And the love that fills my heart to overflowing.

The night is always perfect, and this night was no exception:











I love this magical time of year.

Friday, November 30, 2012

November's Everyday Moments

November passed quickly due to all of our visitors. We absolutely LOVED having people come visit. It was made especially sweet since we are in our new home and have so much space to share.  
(Anyone is welcome, anytime..please come see us!)

In between the cleaning and getting things ready, I tried to do some fun projects with the kids. And also to just enjoy the sweet, simple moments with them.  It was definitely a fun month!

Noteworthy:  my first bun. Yup- ever.  I was excited:


Callen- snuggle time after his bath. Oh this boy melts my  heart:



The boys are in love with him too.  Tave tells me every day how much he loves Callen and that he is the 'cutest baby we've ever had': 

 He loves to jump in his jumper:

One of the activities the boys loooove to help with is baking. 
I've tried baking with them more often since it's a great boredom buster and we get a yummy treat out of it. win/win:


I let them do most of the work, so our cookies are usually pretty funky shapes after they are rolled in the cinnamon! It just makes them taste extra delicious!

I love that these boys love to bake:

"mom, take my picture while 'm dumping this in" you got it, buddy!

Tave-man, ready to get cookin!

Ryder's favorite job: 

He insisted on wearing my apron:

mmmmm....

Another thing we've been working on a lot more is ART.  I want to encourage the boys to use their creativity in expressing themselves.  Allowing them to do hands on projects where they get messy, dirty, and experiment with colors, paints, crayons, and a variety of mediums is something that I think is extremely important. I have a goal of doing some kind of art every day and then doing more in-depth art projects once a week with a lesson on an artist.  I have yet to do the lesson part, but, well, we're all a work in progress, right?!  

Here's our watercolor with salts and glue (project idea found here)

West & Tave worked on one canvas:

and Ryder & I did the other:

He picked all the colors and I just filled in where he wanted:


The boys were on their own with theirs. 

I looooove how they turned out. But more importantly, the boys LOVE it. 
And they think it is so cool that we have them hanging in our house:


And just a few cute moments.  
We find Ryder sleeping in the funniest positions. Sometimes he's halfway off the bed even. So funny:


And the Tave-man saying "Have a great day, friends!"

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Giving Thanks

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving!!
Jeff's parents have made it a tradition to come visit us for the Holiday and we LOVE that they do.
We have so much fun with them and the kids just absolutely adore their grandparents.  
This year, Jonathan & Rachel came with them, which made it extra fun!

We had a fun week of celebrating with a trip to the zoo, play time at the mall, lots of yummy food, restaurants, and plenty of fun.  
Here are the highlights from the actual Thanksgiving day:


The food:

Desserts:


The guests:

(ignore our art wall, it's a work in progress with the kids)

The cute kiddos:




Watching the game while the ladies took the kids to the movies:

Callen's first Thanksgiving.  
I am so thankful to have this little guy in our lives:


He met Uncle Johnny & Aunt Rachel for the first time:

Mckenon came down from BYU-I. The kids LOVE to wrestle with him:

The kiddos got to open their Christmas pjs that night:

The pjs were a hit:


Mckenon, Shar, Trav, Kapria, & Mila

The sibs:

Grandma & Rachel read the boys their bedtime stories.  The kids sure love guests at our house!

So sweet:

We are so grateful for the wonderful family we are blessed with.
We truly have so much to be thankful for.