Caroling at the Nursing Home

 My friend Audra (the lady standing in the red sweater below) is the one who put together Darcy's preschool group and schedule. She pretty much runs the show, and she does such an amazing job. I love that she added caroling to a local nursery home to our list of things to do. I wish I was better at this kind of thing. Sadly I always feel really awkward in this sort of situation, not knowing what to say or how to act exactly, so I am so glad someone else pushed me to do it and to take my kids to have this experience too.

There were a few little old ladies there that loved the kids SO much and very so excited to see them. They wanted to hold the kids on their laps, and have conversations with all of them. Darcy was a little apprehensive at first too, but by the end she was happy enough to talk to the people there and she especially loved singing the carols.

 They gave the kids cookies and juice when they were done singing. Here is Ezra with Jackson.

Darcy with Marley, Riley, and Thomas. They were excited because they were all wearing red, white, and black at that table.

Preschool Nativity

 Last night we got to go to a Christmas party with Darcy's preschool group and the families. The kids acted out a little Nativity while the host of the party read the story. Darcy was Mary. I had assumed all along that I had to have something somewhere around the house that we could use for a Mary costume, but I didn't actually look until about an hour and a half before the party started. We ended up having nothing already assembled, so I found some old scraps of fabric and an old blue pillow case and whipped together a costume. I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that costume so last minute, and I was so relieved that we had the stuff to put one together at all.

 We had an issue for a moment when Darcy couldn't get the baby Jesus out from under her dress and everyone was watching. I was relieved that she managed to recover after I helped her get it out though.

 After the Nativity the kids sang Christmas carols.

 Darcy loves to sing Christmas songs, and has had fun practicing.

Mary and Joseph (and Joseph's dad in the background.) :)

Christmas Tree and Lights

 I don't know if I can emphasize enough how much I LOVE the excitement of Christmas with little kids! It is so much fun seeing it all through their eyes. We decided that this year we would stay home for Christmas night and morning for the first time. It was hard to make that decision, but now that we have we are really excited about it. Drew has been trying to convince me to stay home for Christmas for a long time, and I have been trying to convince him to put Christmas lights on the house. He told me that he would put lights on the house if we decided to stay home. So we both got our wish. Poor Drew though, ended up putting lights on the house in the most awful weather. I could barely handle to step outside for a few seconds to take a picture, and he spent a couple hours out there.

 What a guy!!! We love our lights! Don't let that clear blue sky fool you.

 I love these pictures of my kids by the tree. Darcy has especially been excited about the tree. 

 Ezra is especially excited about the lights on the tree. If we ever unplug the lights when Ezra is around he is quick to remedy the situation.

 

Darcy really thought we needed candy canes so we went and got some, but I ended up taking a nap before hanging them. When I came out of my room Darcy had taken care of it herself. She had broken and/or eaten about half of them, but she was pretty proud of herself.

Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving was certainly not the usual this year. Luckily we had some good days surrounding it, but Thanksgiving day Drew, Ezra, and I were so sick with the flu. There were lots of people at my parents house this year, and almost all of us got to experience that fun bug. All of my siblings came home this year, plus some others, and I loved being all together. I only wish we had had a happier time together. The illness put a damper on our fun. The up side was that most of us lost weight this Thanksgiving!

 Nick brought his fiance Alyssa. She and Darcy both have brown and pink cowboy boots, and Darcy was excited to be "matchy-matchy."

 Before the flu hit us we went over to the Gallacci's to press cider again this year. My Aunt Karen and her family were there to join us. This is her son, my cousin Cruz.

 Luke was there to start the process, but about an hour or so into it he was the first to get hit with the bug so he didn't get to enjoy the whole event.

 The guys figuring things out.

 Luke and my Aunt Karen's husband Cortino.

 The Gallacci's have a couple dogs that made my kids nervous (like all animals do) so they spent some time on Drew's lap for safety and eventually ended up inside.

 Some of the ladies taking a little break.

 Trying to push the wheelbarrow.

 Ezra had a little sample of about 50 of these apples. 

 The apples went through the press a little better if they were smaller so the guys got creative chopping them up.

 Ezra and Matthew tasting the juice.

 My dad picked Ezra up to let him throw an apple in the press and Ezra was so fascinated. He wanted more and more. My dad picked him up so many times to let him throw apples in. I tried it for a little while but it killed my back. I have no idea how my dad did that so many times.

 The little kids got their fill of movies while the adults cooked, played games, and suffered through sickness. Ezra and Matthew eventually got sick too, but somehow Darcy managed to be one of the few to avoid it.

Nick and Jase had a chance to get to know each other a little better.

Drew's Moab Trip

Drew got to go to Moab again this year, and he had so much fun. They had a group of twelve guys. Drew was pretty concerned on their way down, because it was supposed to be snowy and wet the whole time they were there, but they ended up having a really good time anyway. It did end up snowing, so they drove west until they found somewhere where there was no snow. A place called Salina. That is where Drew had the most fun.

The kids and I somehow survived without him, although I was suffering a bit from lack of sleep by the time her got back. I seriously can not sleep when Drew is gone. We were all so excited to have him back when he got home, but happy he had so much fun!

Halloween 2013

I'm trying to have a better attitude about Halloween. It really is not my favorite holiday, and it seems like the last few years I have had really miserable kids for the few days surrounding Halloween. I work to chose and put together cute costumes and then they end up crying and upset when they are supposed to get dressed in those costumes for yet another event. This year was no exception until the last few hours.

Tuesday morning Darcy had preschool and dressed up for that. Then that night was our ward Halloween carnival and trunk-or-treat. Wednesday she had dance and she was supposed to dress up for that. Then Thursday was Halloween and we had trick-or-treating here in our neighborhood, but we also wanted to take our kids to see their grandparents all dressed up in their costumes. Tuesday morning was fine except for a little argument about tucking Darcy's shirt in. Ezra was even begging to get dressed up too when he saw Darcy in her costume. Tuesday night Darcy was pretty cooperative, but Ezra was cranky and seemed freaked out at the carnival. Both kids enjoyed trunk-or-treating enough but were too cold, and Ezra cut out early. Wednesday we were having such a rough morning and Darcy only made it through part of her dance class, but she was so emotional and couldn't stop crying. We went home early. Poor girl. Thursday I was frustrated because of the Halloween saddness, so I let the kids which too much TV, which always makes me feel bad.

As I stewed over the Halloween issue, I finally discovered the real problem was ME! I was forgetting to make this holiday (that is most definitely supposed to be for the kids) about the kids. I was choosing the costumes I thought would be cute, and making the kids wear them just how I wanted them to wear them, including lots of annoying accessories. I was even making them dress up when they didn't really want to. I also think their schedule was a little too crammed with all this stuff they didn't really care about doing. So by Thursday evening I decided to let Darcy choose. She decided she didn't want to wear her chaps (These chaps were originally my grandpa's, then my dad's, then when they were worn out, my dad cut them down and made them into chaps for my brother when he was little. We all wore them when we were little. I love the sentimentality of them, and it was harder than it should have been for me to let them go.) I was hoping we could just skip trick-or-treating here and get to Mattawa sooner. She wanted to trick-or-treat here, and the main thing she wanted to do was hand out candy to trick-or-treater's who came to our door herself. It did put us behind a little, but it made her happy and it was worth it. I also told Darcy she gets to choose her costume for next year, and she is pretty excited about it. Why didn't I come up with this stuff before?! I really had no idea how much of a Halloween control freak I was. Now if we could just somehow take the tons of candy out of the holiday! :)

 Ezra loved the pumpkin carving! He was really into scraping out the guts.

 Darcy thought Drew and Ezra should make a happy face, and she and I should make a scary face.

 Cutest cowgirl ever!

 Darcy had been having her picture taken first, and when Ezra came out to join her she instructed him to put his foot up on the fence like hers. He was so obedient.

 I should have taken a close-up of their belt buckles. My dad made their belts and belt buckles for us, and they were so cute! Now they each have their own brand for their future careers as ranchers.

 Way...too...cute.

 The way Ezra said "trick-or-treat" was just about the cutest thing I've ever heard. He also stole some hearts with his polite "thank you" after getting his candy at each door.

 Our first stop in Mattawa was at Grandma Jo's!

 This was our trick-or-treating crew. Ashley is already taller than me, but adding those five inch heals made me feel like a child. Haley always comes up with the best costumes for her family. They were the Despicable Me gang, and they looked hilarious.

 My dad said he had a picture of his Uncle Owen with his hat cocked to the side like this, so I had to get this shot of Ezra.