For my Mike, on our 5th Anniversary

Christmas Moments

There are so many things to do during Christmas, here are some pictures from this month



Riley had a Christmas party at her school. Above is pictures in their festive Christmas outfits, all ready for the Christmas party. They had a waffle breakfast. It was so cute! All the kids were excited to give their teachers presents, and do Christmas activities! It was also even more fun because Chloe and I got to stay today. Chloe loved it all!! The other preschool kids kept picking her up and giving her hugs, and she ate it all up!! Here's her class:

Here are Riley and Chloe (once again in front of the Christmas tree - I know) I couldn't let Sunday pass without getting some pictures of them in their holiday dresses. Red and black was the theme. Riley couldn't wait to wear her dress that her cousin gave her! Pretty Fancy!
P.S. Thank you GAP for making a childs "dry clean only" dress. whats that about?

The Beall Family

I love to see the temple I'm going there...today!! That's what we were singing all day Sunday.

Last, but not least. We got with some friends and headed up to the BEAUTIFUL Oakland Temple! The lights were quite amazing this year, its so nice to walk around and feel the wonderful spirit that is there. Our kids kept begging to go inside, I hope they keep begging when they get older. It is so much more beautiful inside!

We went through the visitors center which was CA-ROWDED!! Riley was excited to see the statue of Jesus, and immediately said that she wanted to hug him. Cute girl. We had a wonderful time, I'm so glad that we live close to a temple.

The kids playing on the steps

As I look at this picture,

I can't help but hope, that one day we'll see them in their white dresses on these same steps

"For the temple is a House of God a place of love and beauty,

I'll prepare myself while I am young, this is my sacred duty"

I hope they felt that same good feeling that I did while we were there.

I hope that by bringing our kids to the temple this night, that we are helping prepare them,

so that one day they can enter this sacred, wonderful place.

My favorite stocking stuffer

There is an appettite suppressant in the lip Gloss
I could lose 5 pounds! Genius.

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

Our Christmas Tree
I love it. I want the lights on ALL the time! I want to keep it up forever too. I'll need to talk to Mike about that.


Riley asked for a bike and a horse(a real one). Yes to just the bike, I think.
(So, we don't have a picture of Chloe on Santa's lap, because we were sure she would have freaked! But she was there and had a blast!)

Riley's exact words.

Our Thanksgiving

The weekend before Thanksgiving, my sister Traci and her kids came out to visit. This is Riley and Camryn, Riley was so excited she got to sleep in a sleeping bag!! We had a little Thanksgiving meal with them, and played it the massive piles of leaves in our backyard - It was fun!



This year we were invited to spend Thanksgiving with my brother Jon and his family. My parents came too (They had just moved out of their house in Northern Utah the day before, and are moving to St.George, UT near my brother....crazy weekend for them!)
My girls had a blast hanging out with their cousins, even though they were a little sick. It was a nice relaxing weekend full of yummy food, good movies, games, football, laughter, and relaxation!





This is at our actual Thanksgiving feast, Rolls were pretty much the only things my kids would eat, even though I put EVERYTHING on their plate! Maybe next year.




We left for home on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which was pretty much a nightmare! It normally takes us 9 - 10 hours getting back and forth from there to San Jose. We left at 9:30 am and didn't get home until 11:30 that night...add it up for a grand total of 14 1/2 hours!! It was pretty miserable. Sooo, never travel from Vegas to California the Sunday after Thanksgiving!