Thanksgiving

Spencer enjoying his favorite part of the meal...GRAMMAS ROLLS!!! They're famous in this town:)

Spencer and Alyssa

Kyle enjoying his favorite part of dinner...also gramma'a rolls!! So yummy...she always makes a few batches so we have enough for a couple days:)

Thanksgiving morning is probably my favorite morning out of the whole year. It's so relaxing just to be home and not have to be in any hurry. I recorded the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...Spencer loves watching it and we missed it last year(that did not go over well). Tyler spent the morning hanging Christmas lights on our house. He had a little help from the boys, but they mostly just rode their bikes around and played outside. It took him a couple hours to get the house done and it looks great! That afternoon, we had Thanksgiving Dinner at my cousin's house. There was so much yummy food, but just like always I filled my plate and was only able to eat about half. I do that every year. Spencer and Kyle spent the day playing with their cousins and everyone got along pretty good.
I am so thankful for my family and that we got to spend this day together. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

First Grade Potlatch

Spencer, Cole, Lily, Chloe and Mckenna.(The first four eat lunch together everyday...they're such good buddies).Spencer getting ready to load up his plate

Spencer and Jacob

Lily and Spencer(Lily's mom went to high school with me and is also pregnant! Her due date is 2 days after mine. We're so excited(so are Spencer and Lily).

What a cutie pie!

The week of Thanksgiving the three first grade classes held their annual Potlatch. Each first grade family is asked to bring in one item to contribute to the meal(cheese, fruit, veggies, etc.). November was Native American month. The classes learned all about the Native Americans and their cultures. Each child made a vest and headband to wear to the Potlatch. Earlier in the month they each picked out an Indian name for themselves. Spencer's name was "Squirming Cheetah". We thought this was fitting because he usually never sits still and he's also very quick. Spencer loved that I came to join him and his friends that day.

Halloween

Halloween was so fun this year. The boys wanted to be the "Sorcerer Mickey" and "Pluto". I found and ordered Kyle's Pluto costume on line. That was easy. Spencer wanted to be the "Sorcerer Mickey" last year, but we never had any luck finding the costume. He asked again this year so I was determined this time. I looked and looked and again couldn't find it in stock anywhere. I asked my mom to sew him a sorcerer robe and she was a trooper and did it for him. We already had the hat from Disneyland and found a brown belt to tie around his waist just like Mickey has in Fantasia. The costume turned out great and Spencer loved it! Kyle loved his too and wore it around the house a few times prior to Halloween night. They were both so cute. I actually ordered a costume and dressed up as Minnie Mouse with them. We trick-or-treated 3 different times that week and now have way too much candy! Halloween night we met all my family at my grandparents house and went out together...all 14 kids!! They had a blast together. What a fun night! We hope you all had a great Halloween too.

CAN'T WAIT!!!

Twilight Trailer

Halloween Cookies

I think Spencer snuck a little piece of dough...good stuff!

I love this kid's profile!!!

All these boys love making cookies. We make sugar cookies for just about every holiday, big or small. My sisters and I each make 1 batch of dough and let the kids have at it. They all love rolling out the dough the most I think. After the cookies bake and cool, they each get frosting and sprinkles to decorate with. The bigger boys do a pretty good job and the little guys...well...they're usually the only ones brave enough to eat their own cookies. So cute!!

Pumpkin Carving

A few days before Halloween, we got all the 8 boys together to carve pumpkins. They all had a blast. It was a pretty messy activity but well worth it. Each jack-o-lantern turned out so good. Each boy was very happy with theirs. Spencer's was Goofystein(Goofy frankenstein) and Kyle's was Pluto holding a pumpkin in his mouth. Such fun, creative and some scary faces and designs.

Lincoln School Carnival

Kyle going for a pony ride

Spencer was convinced he had the best horse

The highlight of Kyle's night...he won the "cookie walk" and got to pick out his own package of cookies! Spencer won the "cookie walk" later on but I wasn't with him at the time, that's why there's no picture.

Alyssa rock climbing

Coming Down!

Spencer getting ready...he was so excited!

First Climb

Spencer on his way down after his second climb.

This was Lincoln's annual fall carnival. There were so many fun booths and games that night. The boys played pretty much everything and won some fun stuff. We also got balloons, popcorn, cotton candy and finished off with pizza and brownies. What a fun night!

Punkin Patch

One Saturday afternoon in October, I loaded the boys in the car and the three of us went to the pumpkin patch. The boys had so much fun picking from all the different pumpkins

Some of them were so big!


Spencer and Kyle thought this pumpkin face was pretty cool.

They each fed the goats

This goat tried jumping the fence as soon as he saw Spencer coming. He must have been starving.

There were so many fun picture spots.
Someone was doing face painting but the boys preferred the painting on their hands. Spencer chose a ghost and Kyle wanted a yellow pumpkin.

Spencer and I pushed the pumpkins back to the car.
After we were done hunting for our pumpkins, I let the boys play on the toys for a little while.

Spencer's favorite was the maize. We all went through a couple times together.
Kyle on the tire swing

We had such a fun day together. I love these cute little kiddos!
During the week a couple days later, my nephews Jeremy and Dylan went to the same pumpkin patch for their Kindergarten field trip. Kyle and I rode over with my sister Holly and my other nephew Ryan. This time we got to take a tractor ride to the actual patch. Here's Jeremy showing me the pumpkin he picked.

Kyle and Ryan.After Dylan and Jeremy got on the bus to ride back to school. Both my sister's and I stayed for a while to let the three little guys (Kyle, Ryan and Landon) play on the toys. Kyle and I shopped at their little market and bought some marion berry syrup, toasted pecan syrup and boysenberry jam. Yummy!

Our Birthday

I know it's been a while since I've updated this. We've been really busy around here. This is my grandpa and I on our birthday last month. Every year since I was a little girl, we've gotten a picture together. I have always loved sharing a birthday with him. He's always made me feel extra special on our day. We celebrate by having a big fried chicken dinner with our family each year (which was always prepared by my sweet grandma...but since her passing my mom has taken on this large task). It's such a fun tradition that is filled with many happy memories for me.