Pictures by the Christmas Tree

Why I'm happy:

We are going to visit our family this Christmas! Where I know my Mom has her house beautifully decorated, with possibly a Christmas tree in every room. With Holiday treats made and ready for her children and grandchildren!

Why I'm sad:

We aren't going to wake up around our Christmas tree in our own home. We had quite a few fiasco's getting the tree up and decorated, so it seems sad that it won't fulfill its Christmas duty in towering over all the Christmas presents on Christmas morning.

My Compromise:

Take pictures in front of it, so that we can remember the things we did here for this Christmas season

Mike's Holiday Work Party

(Warning:Ugly belly shot)

.

The Nutcracker

Riley and I got to go to the ballet together! We loved it! It was so fun to just have that time alone with her. She chose that red sweater because it had sparkles in it, and that makes it look fancy. And my Chloe got to take a picture with me too

The girls Christmas Dresses

I'm lovin' sweater dresses this year! I loved these cute black ones that had both their sizes. Mike took these pics. Don't tell him...but I would have really loved a whole body shot, so you could actually see the whole "ensemble" I'll be OK. I love the stocking on the tree (even thought it doesn't "go", again - I'll be OK) Riley put it there for Santa, little does she know that there is a much bigger one waiting for her. These pictures were fun to look at because of Chloe, she was laughing in each of them, this was the only one with her eyes open.

See you next year, dear Christmas Tree!

Playing in the Leaves

We FINALLLY got to play in the leaves...and its December. Where we live, fall doesn't really hit until about December. So here we are having a blast collecting, piling, gathering, jumping, kicking, running, laughing and giggling outside in the leaves

Rileys Scripture for Church

She didn't have it memorized for the actual day, but she has been saying it every day since! When we have our scripture study in the morning, she always has to say her scripture too. In case you can't hear, she is saying:
"Therefore, O ye that embark in service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, mind, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day"
We love hearing her say it!

The Temple Lights

Our Christmas tradition has been going to the Oakland Temple to see the beautiful Christmas lights and display. We meet up with my sister Traci and her kids, along with some other good friends. First we hit up the Macaroni Grill (which I have been craving like crazy since I've been prego) then we head over to the Temple. It was so cold this year! We didn't stay for long, but the kids just love running around outside and seeing the displays in the visitors center. This year we ended it with a "tailgate treat party" - we had caramels and peanut butter cup brownies. Next year we're gonna need some Hot Chocolate, if it is that cold again!

We always feel such a peaceful happiness while we are there, I love it.

Riley at 4 1/2

We had a fun soccer season this year! Riley loved being able to meet new friends, and learn how to play better. Her favorite thing was that she learned to kick the ball in the air! She was a little disappointed that she didn't score a goal this season, but there are future years! We asked her if she wanted to play again next year, and she says "Of Course I do! Why wouldn't I?"

Here are a few pictures of her season

Another thing, besides Soccer that Riley has been spending her time on is writing. She asks me how to spell everything! And goes to write it down. We've been finding little papers all over, with her "signature" on it. She always writes - Riley Mom Dad. I think it is precious, and as a former teacher, it makes me proud to see that she is interested in spelling and writing! Keep up the good work little lady!

Chloe at 2 1/2

This girl is full of feisty energy! She used to be so quiet and mellow, well that has left! We love her to pieces, as crazy as she can be, she can also be so loving and cuddly and sweet. She has been singing songs all the time, which is funny, because she rarely gets the words right...but we love to hear her try. I caught her trying to decide which shoe she should wear that day - Here she is:

This is also a funny picture, we gave her a chicken leg, and she's been a picky eater lately, so we loved that she attacked this food like she did!

Our little sweetie!

Our Halloween!

Here is this years Halloween. I've not had time/energy to post. Just know that we had F-U-N!

Pictures from our church party:

Do you see this guy?? That's our Big Daddy! Everyone thought the Tattoo's were real. Hardly anybody recognized him. Thanks to his cool costume, we won funniest costumes.

And here's a belly shot of this "White Trash Rocker Dude's" knocked up wife

We invited our friends over a few days before to decorate some Halloween cookies. I'm still finding sprinkles a week later.

Happy Halloween!

Its Official!

Baby #3 is on the way!




And we are thrilled to say that - ITS A BOY!

The Pumpkin Patch

Traci and the kids came to visit last weekend. It was really fun. Traci brought the girls some matching Halloween T-shirts. They got to see Riley play at her soccer game, the kids played out back with the tree swing. (I went out there today, and there were a bunch of huge sticks on the ground, I asked Riley about them and she says "Conner was up in the tree and we were playing a game called 'don't let Conner hit you with the stick' - you gotta love 15 year olds!)

We tried out the a new BBQ restaurant here, that was really good! Then, we headed off the the pumpkin patch, I wish we got there earlier, a lot of things were closed, but we had fun for the time we were there. We always wish our family could stay longer, but is was great while they were here!

This girl has discovered the potty!!

Chloe surprised me last week, by basically potty training herself. She just started taking her diaper off and going! I didn't have any hopes of potty training at this point, seeing that Riley was well past 3 yrs old, before she potty trained. It took me a few days to trust her in panties throughout the day, but she is now officially done with diapers! I'm so excited for her, and she is so thrilled about her princess panties, and of course her potty treats!

Go Chloe!!