Christmas Tree 2011

Christmas has come and gone of course, but thought you guys might like to see our tree decorating. I went with different colors this year....brown and gold. It sure did look pretty against the green Christmas tree. Funny story to start with, we usually all go together to pick out our tree, but the house was a zoo and the boys needed to get out, so I sent David off to get the tree with the boys while I cleaned up a little. When they got back I was a little shocked at the size of the tree they picked out. When David and I got it up the stairsand into the living room the first thing we noticed what how tall it was. Its hard to tell from this picture, but the top of the tree is actually bent over because it is so tall. David clipped a bit off the top to make that work. Then when it was time to cut the twine off from around the tree we got another suprise. It was a VERY wide tree. The place we had picked out for it this year was not going to work, so we had to do a little arranging and had to push it pretty far inti the corner. If you looked at the back, the boughs were pushed so far against the wall it was crazy. But neccessary or it would have set in the middle of the living room. In the end, we decorated the tree the next day and had a great time. I enjoyed seeing the new decorations and the boys loved putting them all in the same little clump at the bottom of the tree. We don't have a picture of it all finished for some reason, but I hope you enjoy looking at these.

Thanksgiving was a day full of fun & food, just what it should be! As you can see David was handsome as always. It was so nice to have him home from work 4 days in a row.
Thomas had fun of course being home with Daddy! And no school, thats always good.

He and Sam LOVE drinking from these goblets. They are reserved for special dinners, so it is always a treat when they get to use them.

The boys also spent some time "raking" leaves in the backyard. But from what I saw, it was all play and no work!! But again, lots of fun.

Ben was my little helper in the kitchen this year. I gave him a plastic knife and he got busy chopping everthing. He enjoyed it and I enjoyed having him by my side!

We had no visitors this year so we kept things pretty low key, just nice and calm for our little family!

Halloween 2011

Things are being posted a little backward, Thomas was baptized after Halloween, but thats okay. I figured you would want to see anything and everything we have for the kids not matter the order. The night was a ton of fun. The boys loved choosing their costumes, even though they changed their minds about a 100 times! Me and my mom took the boys out door to door while David and my dad stayed home to hand the candy out. They set up a fire in the fire bowl to stay warm an just sat in the driveway greeting little ones.

Ben was a bit hesitant at first, but by the third door, he was just excited as his brothers and knew just what to do! Sam and he only lasted about 10 houses though and were ready to head home and eat their candy. So, Grandma Luke, Sam, and Ben came home to examine candy and dig in. I continued to take Thomas around to the rest of the houses. He had great time cause he" no longer had little brothers slowing him down!!" (That was his statement)
This cape was the only thing Ben would let us put on him, so he was SUPER BENNY!

Thomas and Sam both enjoyed being Vampire Skeletons. All in all it was a fun night. The best was that it was great weather. Usually we are knee deep in snow, but it was very mild that night and no snow!!! We'll keep our fingers crossed next year will be just as nice.

Thomas' Baptism

Thomas was baptized October 5, 2011. Our stake has set aside the first Saturday of every month for baptisms, so we shared the day with another boy in our ward. He and Thomas are good friends so it worked out great. The other mother and I wanted to keep things VERY simple and easy. When i was in the primary presidency a few years ago i was in charge of baptisms and learned a lot of what to do, and what not to do. Keeping things simple, was definately a must do. Which is usually always the answer, right? Anyway, we had a very wonderful program. The other little boy chose the items for the first half of the program and we chose the second half. Thomas asked his grandma Luke to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and chose We'll bring the world His truth for the closing song. Then his Grandpa Luke gave the closing prayer. Of course his dad baptized him and confirmed him. We were so blessed with such a outpouring of support from our ward family. We filled the entire relief society room, standing room only if anyone else showed up. We are so lucky to live here and be loved by so many! David was of course nervous about doing all the talking in front of all those people, but i reminded him that it was all people who love us and support us and could care less if he flubbed his words. He didn't mess up at all, so no worries there!

Like I said we kept things simple and chose not to feed everyone. Thomas got to choose were we would go eat for his special day. Of all places he chose Chuck-A-Rama. He loves that place, but i was suprised he did not choose Brick Oven. Well, i guess i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. It was a beautiful day full of special moments and feeling the Spirit. We are so proud of our baby and his good choices.

This beautiful young lady is in our ward and was so very sweet to come and play all the music for the boys baptism. She plays beautifuly and it was so wonderful and sweet while the boys were getting dressed. It kept everyone quiet and listening to the Spirit rather than chatting between each other.

We were also blessed to have our entire bishopric present for the baptism. They are such wonderful men. These are all the men that stood in for Thomas' confirmation.

Hope this gives you and idea of what a wonderful and blessed day we had!

Jenny

I'm baaack

So, i'm back. Year long time off, no biggie, just got bored, nothing to say. But with Nana & Papa in Russia, I thought this would be a nice way for them to see some of our daily lives. This first post though has to be all about my Sister Shoebox Swap. I had the best time doing this! It was my first time and i can't wait till the spring when we get to do it all over again. I had a ton of fun shopping for Kelsey and she sent me the most adorable stuff. She is one talented lady I must say! She made the cutest little cards, and potpouri that smells divine. And see that adorable little dolly on the right, she made it! Amazing huh!

And when I opened the box the delicious smell of these candles almost knocked me over, I would love to have that experience everyday!

This adorable banner is another beauty she sent me. She made it herself, again I repeat, she is so talented.

Thanks so very much to Monica for letting me participate this year...and to Kelsey for the lovely items that have all been treasured and loved. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

I'll be back soon to catch Nana & Papa up on things since they left.

Jenn