It's Christmastime!

This is a great time of year! Every year Christmas comes and goes so fast, and I don't have time to appreciate the holiday. But this year has been different. Yes, it is true I've been listening to Christmas music since before Thanksgiving. And I am loving the Christmas shows on T.V. Some of them were around when I was a kid, so it has been fun watching them again. And Kamryn is more into Christmas this year, which always makes it fun. So here are some pictures that show how we are getting in the Christmas spirit!

Sitting on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party! She loves Santa!!

Decorating our Christmas tree. (she spilled water on herself)

The lights at the temple.

In front of the gigantic Christmas tree at Disneyland!

For my work Christmas party, we went to a nice restaurant. They have carolers come to the tables and they are dressed like they are from "Charles Dickens". They sang "The First Noel". It was yummy!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great weekend. It started off with my birthday. We had a babysitter come over and Jeremy and I went out to a nice dinner without interruptions. Then I found out my neice was born on my birthday! Yea! Then we went home for yummy Turkey dinner! (we had it twice--at my house and then at Jeremy's house the next day). Jeremy's youngest brother won his football game, now it is the championship game next week. Melissa and I got pedicures. Those always feel nice. And Kamryn helped my mom decorate the Christmas tree. She had so much fun! We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Our little family


The picture is off-center, but the face was too funny! She liked the cranberry jello, I think it was just tart at first!

Birthday pics



Getting our pedicures

Helping Nana decorate the tree

Good times

This past weekend we had Erin, Keith, Jared and Melissa over. We had a good time staying up really late and playing Olympics. It's a game where everyone comes up with an event, and we all have to do it, and whoever won the most events wins the "gold" medal. One of the events was who can put the puzzles together the fastest. (Mormons have to find creative ways to have fun, what can I say?)






Melissa gettin' down!


The awards ceremony. . . 2nd place isn't too bad!

The kids were cuddling up and posing for an early morning picture!

A Kid-Free Night Out!!

If you look closely at the clock, you can see that it was 12:00!


This picture I took for my sister in-law Sarah, who lives in Hawaii!

I am lucky to have such a great husband and brother in-law that were willing to let Melissa and I enjoy a night out at Disneyland without the kids!! It was so much fun! We went to California Adventure first and rode a few rides there. Geez-the Tower of Terror is so scary! Then we went over to Disneyland and rode a bunch of rides there too! We actually were able to ride Finding Nemo, which wasn't really all that it is hyped up to be. We didn't have to wait longer than 1/2 hour for any of the rides. At midnight, when the park closes, we wanted to go over to Small World to take a picture, since it looks so pretty at night with all of the Christmas lights, and they let us on the ride! We were the last people on it! We closed the park down! It was a lot of fun, but I'm still trying to catch up on the sleep I lost! So thank you Jeremy and Jared!!!

Trick or Treat!!

So first off, we all know I'm not the best cook, but I wanted to make chili and corn bread for Halloween. The white chili I made was more like soup than chili, but it tasted good. Then as I was making the corn bread, I realized as I put the mixture in the pan to cook, that it seemed a little runny. Huh, that's funny. So I looked again at the recipe to make sure I didn't miss anything and I did. I forgot to put in the baking soda. No big deal, I'll just stir it in. Well, once they were cooked and ready to eat you could totally taste the baking soda! They were so gross! Who knew that it really does matter WHEN you add the ingredients! Anyway, I was hoping to hit the streets much earlier than we did. Halloween is a BIG deal around here. At least on two specific streets I know of, it is. So I really wanted Jared, Melissa, Carson and Brooklyn to see these cool houses. I guess I had high expectations, last year, we got to see both of these streets and all of the houses that are all decked out and the bazillion kids crowding the streets. Kamryn normally goes to bed at about 7:00, and we didn't get started until 6:45. So by the time we got to the first really decorated street, the kids were tired. (We hit up our street, and other houses along the way) Carson and Kamryn were so cute holding hands as they walked up to the houses. Melissa and I were 80's girls! The night was fun, don't get me wrong! And I got. . . uhh I mean Kamryn got a full size bag of M&M's! I never got a full size candy bar or anything before! Next year we'll just make sure to get out there earlier, and I'll follow all of the directions on the corn bread! (P.S. When will I ever realize that Halloween isn't for ME anymore?!)

Pumpkin carving family night

We carved our pumpkins for family night. Surprisingly, Kamryn liked digging out the seeds! Don't ask me why Jeremy made his pumpkin have a distorted face!

Visitors and Trunk or Treat

This past weekend we had some friends come to visit. Kamryn and Garrett had a good time together, and it was nice to visit with Aaron and Sarah. On Saturday night we all went to the trunk or treat party at our church. It was huge! They had a dinner, and then activities for the kids, including a bounce house and other games (which were a little too old for Kamryn) and then they got to go "trunk-or-treating" to all of the decorated trunks. It's just the start of the candy season! Doesn't she make a great Raggedy Ann?

My Pumpkin

It doesn't really feel like fall weather, but we decided to go get some pumpkins anyway. Can you guess which pumpkin is mine?
So of course my camera's batteries died just as Kamryn was really getting into the whole pumpkin picking process! So I didn't have very many pictures to choose from. So here is a picture of her last year at the pumpkin patch and this year!



She finally decided on a little pumpkin that is the perfect size for her! She looks happy!

Confessions

Okay-I have a confession! I am in love with these mint oreo cookies. They are just so addicting! The refreshing minty taste after each bite is indescribable! Too bad each cookie is around 70 calories with 3.5 grams of fat! Oh well! I can't stop. In fact, I think I'll have another. . .

Gymnastics

Today was Kamryn's first day at gymnastics. She learned how to do forward rolls and swing from the rings and bars. She even walked on the balance beam. At the end of class she got a blue star sticker on her hand! She has two friends, Penny and Talli in the class too. This is a picture of her and Talli. I think she's going to like gymnastics.

Eskimo Kisses

Kamryn has learned how to give Eskimo kisses, and she laughs and laughs when she does it! She loved the animals in the petting zoo. We had another great time at Disneyland with Nana!

Eeewwww!

So I went to the beach on Wednesday with some family, and as the kids were playing in the water, we noticed the waves were turning brown. So we made sure that the kids were not in the water. Immediatley we realized that it was oil. Gross! So as I am cleaning up to get ready to go home. . . this is what I stepped in! I wasn't even near the water! Needless to say, the tar squished between my toes, and didn't all come off until I got home! Just in case this ever happens to you--baby oil works wonders!