Our yearly headache

Every fall we go and take our family pictures for our Christmas cards. I wish I could say it was souly for posterity's sake, but it would be a lie. I like a current picture for our yearly cards....vain indeed. It is a nightmare to get everyone ironed, matching (sort of) and looking picture ready and keeping them that way.....If we're lucky we usually get a couple that make the final cut to the Christmas card. Here are some decent ones pre crop and edit.

My personal favorite....my kids in a nut shell.

Nice death grips we have on them.....we'll be sure to edit any evidence of child abuse before we send these out.


We don't really count Soren's blankie bear as one of the family...but we might have to start considering it.

The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we went to have our yearly pumpkin patch excursion. This year we tried a new spot we had heard about. Calling this place a pumpkin patch is extremely modest. It's more like a Pumpkin Bonanza. There's about 5 fields of pumpkins, blow up slides, face painting, corn and hay mazes, farm animals, yummy fall food......you get the idea. Besides the wind yesterday, it was a great time. The kids loved picking their own pumpkins. It was hilarious to watch them try and carry the pumpkins themselves!

An attempt at a picture in the wind...not so easy.

Soren dared Niles to jump off the "BIG" haystack....Dad is a stud.

Soren with his pumpkin.

Lovey and her pic from the patch.

The cutest scarecrow and pumpkin.

Twink's baby shower

Last weekend I spent in Utah with my sister's and mom for Twink's baby shower. It was a lot of fun....I needed a week of going to bed early to recover! We stayed up late, ate at all our favorite places (some a couple of times), slept in, shopped, ate some more and had Twink's baby shower. It was a great weekend. We can't wait for cute baby Kirra to arrive!

All of us at the shower.

me, baby Grace and Britt

the sisters

The paparazzi a.k.a. Brittany, I had to get a shot of her in action. Thanks for taking alot of the pics Britt!

Lunch with everyone at Zuppas.

Mom resting from shopping and her feet from her very cute shoes with Chance and Katie.

The window washer, who would've gotten quite a show had he dropped in on us about 5 minutes earlier.

Magleby's Fresh. A trip to Provo would be incomplete without a stop here for breakfast.

The fair weather sport

Soren started soccer this season and has loved it. We have loved watching all the 4 year olds learn how to play the sport. I think he's starting to get it. Soren quote "soccer is when you steal the ball and then kick it into the goal." end quote. This past game two weekends ago was freezing. The boys faired well with the weather and still had a blast. My parents, brother Chance and his girlfriend Katie, were great supporters through the rain and cold. It was miserable and fun all at the same time, if that's possible.

The fan club; Mimi, Lovey and Papa.

Soren and Mason taking a break from all the glory.

the girls trying to stay dry.

Lovey and my friend Heather (Mason's mom) getting drenched.

Soren in action.

the leggy gymnast

London is so excited for her big future as a gymnast. I don't have the heart to tell her it might be short lived.......there aren't too many 5'11" gymnasts out there. Height aside, she loves it. "Gymnastics day" (thursday) can never come soon enough. It is a joy to watch her learn her new "tricks", as she calls all the moves she's learning.
Lovey running towards the camera..such a shy girl.

Lovey and her friend Tyler.

The latest new "trick".

Littleton Historical Museum

Earlier this week, we went with a group of friends to the Littleton Historical Museum. It was great! The LHM is a settlement from the 1890's right in the heart of Littleton. The people that work there dress up in the fashions of the day(we actually asked if they really lived there because it was so realistic...only 8-5pm was the response), they grow everything right on the farm....vegetables, chicken, pigs(which we found by the smell), you name it. The kids got to pet the animals and walk through the farm house, the barn, schoolhouse, blacksmiths, etc. It was beautiful and so much fun. The kids loved it. I would definitely suggest it to anyone who hasn't gone.

Lovey and Tyler at the blacksmith's.

Soren with the horse..I could not bribe Lovey with anything to get her near the animal.

The kids going up the stairs to "the bedroom" of the farm house....can you imagine one room for the whole crew?!

Me and the kids at the lake.

Niles "the avid runner"

Niles may now join the ranks of 20% of those U.S. citizens who have completed a marathon! This weekend he ran the St. George marathon, in pouring rain, wind and cold. Originally, I was upset that I didn't get in this year, not so much Saturday morning! He said quote, " I think I can now call myself an avid runner," end quote. I think so......so proud of him. It is such a great accomplishment. Great job Honey!

Niles running in at the finish line.

Niles and I after the race.