Grandpa's Tree Decorating

Every year my parents have all of the grand kids over on a Sunday afternoon to decorate the tree for them. My kids love this because I decorate the tree at home so this way they have a tree on display, even if it is not at our house. This year my dad wanted a picture for his Christmas card with all of the grand kids on the stairs. This is just my picture of the kids (minus Talise).

And one of them acting all crazy...

yes, that is as crazy as Adam gets now a days. He is a serious guy. And Jason hates pictures, on account that they take his soul and everything.

Adam did participate in the decorating this year though.

It is always a fun evening for the kids to decorate and for the adults to eat :)

Candy Houses

To keep the kids busy one night we decided to do gingerbread houses. Within 3 min the boys had quit leaving it to be a Haley and Abi project. Whatever, boys are boring.

Haley made the one on the left. If you look closely there is blood dripping down the roof. Something about a snowman being squished to death. Really the red icing was too thin and dripped so we had to come up with a reason. I would like to think that it was a Zombie that attacked and the blood is all that is left from the people... moving on....

Abi's is on the right. She was very methodical and neat. All the same colors on each window and a grid pattern on the roof. That is my kind of house. Not that I am OCD at all...

Reindeer Romp

Haley started a program in October called Girls On The Run. It is a program for girls grades 3 to 5 that promotes good self esteem, health and wellness. The main part of the program was about setting good healthy goals and sticking to them. Haley's teacher at school ran the program at Channing. Haley loved it. The culmination of the program was a 5K run in Sugarhouse park on December 5th. It was completely freezing out (high of 20) while they were running and even though it was sunny most of the run was in the shade. I was going to run with her but since I am totally out of shape and lazy. Lewis was her running partner. They dressed up for the race and they looked great. Santa with his little elf. They finished in 46 min, which I think was pretty good considering the hills and cold that they had to deal with.

Thanksgiving

We started a family tradition about 4 years ago. We (I) decided that Thanksgiving is a hard holiday in a household of 4 children who are just like their mom picky eaters. I would make the whole spread and cook for two days just for them to eat turkey and pie. So we decided for my sanity to start going out for our big meal. It has been heaven ever since. We have been going to The Grand America in Salt Lake the past 2 years and we love it. This year we took my parents with us and we had a great time.

The girls happily get all dressed up in new dresses and the boys were button up shirts. This year Adam even put on pants! You might think that is funny but he wears shorts every single day unless he has to. In the past year he has worn pants twice. Once on Thanksgiving and once on Halloween but only because it was part of his costume.



We had a great time eating lunch. In the evening we all (including Adam) went to see Aurthur Christmas and have dinner at the movies. I LOVE our Thanksgiving tradition. It is just a day that we can be together and have fun without the fuss and mess. I am THANKFUL that my little family puts up with me and embraces my tradition :)

Hiking, Um Walking Around The Lake



We went up to Brighton and took the kids on a hike, well a walk around the lake. It was one of the last warm and sunny days that we had in November. There was snow on the ground and the lake was about half way frozen but if you stayed in the sun (easier said then done while you are on the far side of the lake) it was nice and warm.

Notice the stache on both Adam and Lewis. It was No Shave November after all.

Costumes and Parade

The kids got to wear their costumes to school on Friday. Everyone had great costumes this year. Adam was Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead, one of his favorite shows, Jason was the Sham"wow" guy, Haley was Hermione from Harry Potter, and Abi was a little ladybug. I got pictures of all of the kids (except for Adam) at the school's parade. 

Carving and Crying

The day after we got our pumpkins we had to carve them. Haley and Jason had a great time pretending to both eat and throw up the pumpkin guts.

Abi on the other hand had a hard day and could hardly function long enough to draw the face on her pumpkin. It all worked out and everyone got a pumpkin done. Adam's is a little different and not exactly carved, but it is done and dead all the same.

Picking Pumpkins

After school last week Lewis and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. The patch that we go to has tons of hay and corn stalks laid out to take pictures, a corn maze, and a ton of old tractors for the kids to climb on. The girls had a great time posing and the boys just picked out pumpkins. They also have a tractor takes you on a ride but we did not do that because we were starving and needed to leave and go to dinner.

Decorating Cakes

Abigail had a play date set up so I went to the store and got some decorating supplies. We decorated a ton of cupcakes. The girls had a great time and we got some yummy treats to eat!

Gardner Village

During UEA (a break from school) I took the kids to Gardner Village to see the witches and have some lunch. It was a very nice day with sunshine and warm temps. We ate sandwiches at the deli and walked around until we found the candy store. Each of the kids got one thing and we got a treat for Lewis too. Haley and Abi participated in the picture taking happily, Jason got in one or two and I think we managed to not get any of Adam at all.