Trimming the Tree

We have always went into the mountains and chopped down a real tree.  This year, by the time Justin called to get a permit, they were all sold out.

We have a small treee that we put up in the family room and were trying to convince the boys that it would be just fine. With the baby coming this month we really wanted to keep everything Christmas pretty simple.

They were not happy about this new arrangement and were trying to not be sad.

I later got a phone call from Mammy and Papa and they said they were not going to use their tree this year and asked if we would like to use it.  Ummm, how very sweet and convenient for us and I'm not sure that I bought that excuse.  The limits they go for their grand kids is so extremely nice.

A bit later Justin and the boys were at their house loading up their tree to bring to our living room.

After a few decorations, and small simple touches, the tree was finished and the boys could not be any happier.

I love that all the gifts under the tree are from the boys and wrapped by the boys.  They did some "making", shopping, and wrapping during Thanksgiving break just to be ready for December!

The Nutcracker

Grainy picture? Yes, but oh so worth remembering this moment!

This was mom's first time going to see the Nutcracker.  It was (as Gram would say), magnificent- ha! We were able to soak up the gorgeous set and the most graceful little dancers.  I'm pretty sure this will be on the bucket list every year from here on out.

It was put on by the Belleston Academy.  They are in our ward so we knew lots of the dancers including Sabrina who is in our Young Womens.  She was amazing and got to play one of the lead roles.

Sally Bennett was there with Sarah her daughter-in-law and Elaine Campbell was there with Katie, Elena, and Jenny.

 So fun to sit with them and kick off a very magical Christmas season with mom!

Thanksgiving 2015

Vacation mode was going strong and it started the second we woke up.  We flipped on the TV and turned it to the parade.

The ladies bustling around in the kitchen and the guys relaxing on the couch commenting on how good it was smelling.

We gathered up our assignments and headed over to Mike and Debs for a feast.

We ate and ate.  The kids played and we all visited.  So fun to bask in the conversations that rippled from room to room. Deb had her house decorated for Christmastime and the glow of all the lights made it so relaxing.

A few of us gals went to a couple of stores later that night to get some shopping done. Mammy insisted I get in the electric wheelchair at Walmart.  I wasn't the best driver and it seemed to be out of juice.  I bumped a few things once or twice. We were laughing so hard I think we both took turns wetting our pants.

{Makenzie girl due May} {Deb boy due Feb} {Char boy due Feb} {Alisa boy due Dec}

Puzzlers

I thought it would be fun to get a new puzzle and work on it all week while the kids were out of school for Thanksgiving break.

Nathan went with me while Kendall was a piano lessons and we picked out a 300 piece puzzle.  We all sat around the table the first night and after 30 minutes, it was done!  I thought it would be more challenging for them.

The next day we went to Deseret Book and got a 1,000 piece puzzle of the Nativity.  It was so hard that we never finished it before we needed our table back.

I think next time we will go for a 500 piece unless we have more time.

Autumn Sunrise

I woke up this morning to an orange glowy light streaming into my bedroom.  It was a thick and beautiful as it penetrated my light curtains.

I could tell that it was going to be an exceptional sunrise and it had a calm and peaceful feeling attached to it.

When I walked over to my window and pulled back the curtain, my speculation was dead right.

I froze and gazed at the beautiful colors and soft light for several minutes.  I watched as the birds flew into the field behind the house and listened to the soft hum of the cars out and about on Wadsworth.

I heard the garage door open and Justin was home from his morning workout.  I asked him to go into the backyard and take a picture.  He was able to capture a bit of the sunrise before it melted away.

Fall Leaves...

 A very favorite pastime is playing in the leaves.  

The crunch, the feel, and the smell of leaves says fall like nothing else can.

Tanna

We had Tanna over for a lasagna dinner and a family history FHE.

She knows her stuff.

We were able to find several of Justin's relatives to do temple work for in such a short amount of time.  We learned so much and she was great with the boys.  They played games and when they got the right answers she had prizes for them.

By the end of the lesson, the boys could actually find names for the temple.  Such a great thing to learn and now we can do this on Sundays.

Halloween Piano Recital

One of my favorite traditions is Sister Shaw's Halloween costume Piano recitals!

This year was Kendall's first recital and he played a duet with her, "Halloween Song." He loved how it sounded so much better when she added her part- haha!

Nathan played,"Pumpkin Boogie." He said he messed up but you couldn't tell because he just kept playing.

It was fun seeing all the students, their costumes, and catching up with their families.

Halloween 2015

This year for Halloween I called Jen and said, "This is what I have, What do you have?" and after talking to her and the boys... The skeleton football players were born.

The best part is that Alverez was the name on the back of their jerseys so then they became the Alverez football brothers.

On the Night of Halloween, we were able to have Elder Scott form the 70 come to our stake.  Justin had meetings that day with him and so he took the boys trick-or-treating that night and let me go to the adult session with mom.

It was an uplifting night and we learned so many neat things from being taught by the spirit.

The boys got a TON of candy and spent the rest of the night sorting it into piles and trading with each other.  It made me smile because I remember doing that with Doug.

Trunk-or-Treat

Mammy came over after work and the boys and I got busy working on the trunk for the ward Trunk-or-Treat party.

It was fun transforming the clothes and masks into Justin's great-great grandparents that we dug up from the back yard- ha!  Grandma was even wearing my pajamas!

It looks like I have a helmet under my shirt!

 31 weeks pregnant with my little skeleton football players.