Christmas Joys

 One of the best Christmases ever.

 

 

Pop with almost all his grand kids- just missing Grayson.

Basketball Player

I had a hard time imagining cheerleaders, but basketball was easy!  Loving that Grace picked one of my sports and I love watching her learn.  It's her 1st time ever playing so she is behind the others in skill, but her attitude is nothing but excellent and she loves every minute of it.

Christmas Card Pictures

 At least the outtakes are funny, right?

This was the money shot.

Grace's Christmas Party

Grace has struggled to make friends since we moved here- to the point that she was being bullied at school even.  In an effort to help her, we let her invite whomever she wanted to a Christmas party- complete with white elephant gift exchange, caroling, chocolate fountain, games, endless treats, and prizes.  By the end of the night she was getting tons of compliments and hugs from her new group of friends.  Such a relief to Kaylon and me after watching her struggle for so long!

Christmas Decorations

I LOVE decorating my new pretty house!

Look Who Got His Braces Off!

Isn't he handsome?

Arizona Trip

 Kaylon gets to travel quite a bit with his job now, so I decided to equal out the time with a solo trip to Arizona to see my family. 

It was great to let loose with no responsibilities and see some of my favorite people in the world.  I'm grateful for a husband who encourages me to get out and relax sometimes.

Funny Faces

I love how each kid has their own funny face that they pull out at weird times.  This is Luca's:

Our First Live Christmas Tree!

We decided to go for it this year and get a live Christmas tree. We had a blast cutting it down in the snow, although we were worried about our van making it up the hill to the tree farm!  The smell is amazing and Kaylon created a pretty ingenious set up for watering it.

More pictures to follow when decorated!

Thomas Kinkade-esque

Again, I will never tire of this view...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Might not be the best idea to "try" to throw a snowball at your wife (and miss) when you don't have shoes or a coat on, and she has power over the door lock. Just saying...

I'm Dreaming of A White Thanksgiving...

At least the pie is looking good...

Old Age at 5

"I move (pick up my toys) in slow motion because I am so old." -Moira, 5 years old

First Dusting of Snow!

 Just enough for a 2-hour delay!

Magic of Growing Up

I've already seen it happen 4 times with the girls, but it's still magical to watch your child choose to walk instead of crawl.

Allergy Testing (Again)

It was Luca's turn to get the needle treatment at the allergist today, and sadly came up with some crummy results.  No wonder the boy's skin is a mess- he's allergic to eggs, peanuts, and milk.  Lots of changes coming to his diet, but hopefully it will mean less scratching and general miserableness.

Cheerleaders!

Ok, I have to admit, I never expected to have cheerleaders for daughters.  Not that there is anything wrong with cheer-leading- Totally on the cheer-leading is a real sport side- I have lots of friends who cheer, so don't get me wrong... I just expected them to go into my sports.  But I decided a long time ago that I would let them find their own ways, so when I offered basketball or cheer, and two chose cheer, I totally supported them.  And they're so cute, how could I be disappointed?

We Have Steps!

Where has the time gone?

Happy Halloween!

This is such a great neighborhood to trick or treat in!  We went around with 2 other neighborhood families and had a wonderful time! The trick is avoid the hike up the hill by having dad drive you to the top of the neighborhood and then walk down :)  Some of the houses don't see a lot of trick or treaters so they hand out giant candy bars or handfuls of candy.  The kids had a blast!

We had a Frozen theme this year- Olaf, Sven, Elsa, and Anna, with Sadie Kane (from the Kane Chronicles) in the back.

 Cutest Olaf ever!

Too cute, right?

Fall Fun

 We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch today-we found a new one north of us in Pennsylvania. They had a great set up with vendors, food, hay ride, pumpkin catapults, corn maze, and petting zoo.  Plus it was a beautiful day!

 The face paint is very indicative of their personalities.

When we got home we continued our fun with some leaf piles.

 

Can you find Violet?

More Playground Fun!