Aren't they Cute?

Since we are going to be driving the day after Christmas, I put the kids in their clothes a week early. HEre's some pics. My camera if having problems, so they are not the greatest pics. And Kaitlyn is the worst picture taker ever. Unless you catch her when she doesn't know you are taking a pic, you only get cheesy smiles. But they are cute anyway. (Also, as a side note: Kaitlyn HATES dresses. She refuses to wear them .She says all dresses itch. She LOVES skirts however, and often wears one everyday of school except PE days. So I was glad that there was some Christmas skirts out this year).

Houses and Stables

A couple of weekends ago for FHE we made gingerbread houses. The kids loved it. It's actually the first year we've done it all as a family. We still have our big one to make with Wendy and the girls, so we just did graham crackers ones for FHE. Observe and marvel the craftsmanship. It will blow you away! First is Matt's mine:

Kaitlyn's:

Aaron's:

On friday it was Matt's Nativity performance for his preschool .He was playing the coveted part of Joseph with his BFF Katie as Mary. I blame the shoddy pics on Aaron who was in charge of camera work. Here is Joseph getting ready for his part. Isn't he adorable?

Here is Joseph telling Mary it will be alright.

Here they are scoping out the inns in Jerusalem. I love that they are holding hands.

And last is of Matt's whole class singing their songs.

Here is some videos of Matt's class singing. See if you can pick out my musically inclined son's voice (that would be the monotone loud one) :)

See if you can notice those slippery jingle bells:

That Wonderful Time of Year

First, We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Rays. It was so much fun. Mark made the best turkey (seriously, probably the best I've ever had!). We had delicious food and then played Wii and euker. Sadly Aaron and I lost to Mark and Karen's vastly superiour playing skills. All in all it was a blast.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving (between football games) Aaron and I hung up lights. We like to get new lights each year, so this year we upgraded the ones that go around the roof to the bigger lights, then took the little ones and decorated the big pine tree by the side of our house. Three hours later we were done. What do you think? This Saturday we braved the bitter wind to pick out our Christmas tree. After much debate, we finally decided on one. The kids were pretty sure it was going to roll off the van, and for a couple of minutes, Aaron and I thought so too, but alas, we made it home before it fell off. We then set to decorating. I tried to give in this year and just let the kids do it. So it's not very symmetrical, and the picture makes it look like it's leaning as well, but oh well. And the good news is that so far Ramseys hasn't eaten any ornaments. We'll see what happens when we put presents underneath. . .

It's Christmas Time!

Matt looked outside a little after church and shouted "It's Christmas Time!!" So we had to explain to him that even though it is snowing in Vancouver, it's not Christmas time yet. It's not even Thanksgiving! Kaitlyn is just banking on the fact that if it keeps up, school will be canceled tomorrow. Ramseys is not quite sure about the snow, especially since Kaitlyn kept pelting him with snow balls, but he'll get used to it fast. What a crazy day!

Trick-or -Treat

Yesterday was our Halloween celebration. We started the day with going to the zoo. They have a scavenger hunt through the zoo and the kids get stamps on their map. When they are done they get a goodie bag. The kids thought it was great, but seeing as how it was pouring rain the whole time, Aaron and I weren't sure it was worth it. We then headed to Kaitlyn's soccer game where she got to play in a huge mud pit. She was covered from head to toe in mud, and she loved every minute of it. Then it was home for bath and into costumes. We headed to the ward Halloween party, which was great as usual. At least the kids got some trick-or-treating in at the party and they aren't even disappointed about not getting to go house to house. The pics are not that great since I forgot the flash on my camera, so in case you can't tell, Kaitlyn is a ballerina and Matt is a vampire.

Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins. Here's the before: Here's the during :

And yes, I had to stand on a chair to clean out Aaron's.

Here is Kaitlyn's:

Here is mine:

Here is Matt's:

And here is Aaron's. I must admit, it's pretty cool. It took him like 2 1/2 hours to carve it. Silly guys :)

Bizi Farm Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again. We made the annual trip to Bizi Farms with Matt's preschool class. He had a blast with all of his friends. Here is him and Katie.

This is his teacher Ms. Carolyn and both of her preschool classes.

Here they are with their pumpkins.

We went to Bizi farms again the next day since Kaitlyn didn't get to go. This time we went as a family and with a bunch of friends. It was such a beautiful day. It was sunny and warm. The only downfall was that it was PACKED with people. We took Ramseys with us and he had a blast. Here are some hi-lights.

Top of the pyramid.

The corn pit.

They have a pumpkin launcher. So here is all of us giving it a try. None of us made it in the bucket however.

We picked out some great pumpkins. I'll post those after we carve them for FHE.

New Decor

I've been wanting to redecorate Kaitlyn's room for a while now. I tried to find some pics of her old room so you could see it, but I couldn't. When we bought the house we painted it with purple and white stripes. I wanted something a little older for her. So I finally did it. I think it came together well. There is a pink and white polka dot bedspread that I will be getting soon, and I really want a white dresser for her (we'll see if I can convince Aaron) and when we put new carpet in the house she'll have white baseboards, but at least it's a start. Aaron drew the flowers on the wall and I painted them. All in all, I think it is a much more grown up room :)

ignore the mess on the dresser. Kaitlyn is not the world's neatest girl :) Takes after her mom I suppose.

A Trip to the ER

Last night while playing at Annie's house, Kaitlyn, being the graceful, light on her feet girl that we love, tripped and fell into the edge of a cabinet. At first I didn't see anything, because she was holding her forehead, but then the blood started to fall down her hair. So alas, a 3 hour trip to the emergency room later, and she is sporting 3 fabulous staples in her head. The best part is that today is picture day at school and we can't even wash her hair for 24 hours.

P.S. I've had a couple of people ask, and surprisingly I did not freak out when it happened. I think I handled it quite well. Of course, this was her third time splitting her head open, and Matt broke his leg when he was 1, so all in all, I think I'm getting quite good at handling these situations.