Cousins

After church on Sunday, Alicia and Ben invited us all over for dinner. Grammie really wanted a picture with all the grandkids. There was some serious bribing with homemade brownies going on to get everyone to cooperate.

Ice Skating

Our kids had never been ice skating before, so we thought it would be fun to give it a try. They all loved it! They had these cute "walkers" for Drew to use his first few times around.
Then he was able to go around with our friends Joe and Marissa Bradley helping him.

And finally he could do it by himself! He was so proud!

Volunteering at the Salvation Army

Last Saturday we went with a group of people from our church to volunteer at the Salvation Army. On this particular day, they were putting together food baskets. I was really happy that Grant and Brady were able to have the opportunity to do this. They sat on huge piles of canned goods and dropped them in baskets as other volunteers pushed two baskets at a time by on grocery carts. We worked for about 2 1/2 hours and filled almost 3000 baskets. It was definitely a sense of accomplishment to see all the finished baskets.

Thanks for Giving Run

On Thanksgiving weekend, we signed up for the "Thanks for Giving Run". Grant and Brady were running the 1 mile fun run with their friends Jared and Faith, and Drew decided he wanted to do it also. I was afraid he wouldn't quite make it, so I ran the 1 mile with him instead of the 5k. I thought I might have to carry him part of the way. It turns out that he didn't need my help at all. He finished the race all by himself. My baby is growing up! Drew, Grant, Brady and Jared getting ready to race

After the race Drew was pretty excited about the medal and the free pizza.

Great Wolf Lodge

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, Steph and I took all 7 of our kids to Dallas to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. It was so much fun to hang out with the Wixoms and play in the giant water park. The boys loved the freedom of roaming the hotel with their friends playing magi quest. It was an awesome couple of days, and I can't wait for our next adventure together. If we can take 7 kids to a water park by ourselves, I'm pretty sure we can do anything!

Soccer

It's been a long time since I've posted...

I haven't been very good lately at posting on my blog. Between building a house, homeschooling, and trying to keep my sanity, there just hasn't been any time. Plus, my camera battery is dead and I can't find my charger anywhere. (although I'm sure it will turn up when we move) I've taken a few pics on my phone here and there, but I haven't been the obsessive paparazzi that I normally am with my kids. They've probably enjoyed the break from me constantly taking their picture.

The good news is that our house is almost done and we should be moving in about 3 more weeks. As long as we're in for Christmas, I'll be happy!

Drew has started playing legos non stop just like his big brothers. This is a transformer robot that he came up with.
We went to the Children's Museum on Friday with the Riddochs. This Obama/Bear costume that Grant came up with cracked me up. However, just thinking about how many other germy kids have had that mask on their face makes me sick!

Next week my dad will begin serving as the President of the Oklahoma City Temple for our church. He and my mom moved into a house in Oklahoma City on Thursday, and it feels really strange to be living in their other house without them. We are going to miss them so much, but we are really thankful for their amazing example. To learn more about temples and what my parents will be doing for the next several years, click here.

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! It's such a fun holiday. Friday we went to a Halloween party in the afternoon with our homeschool friends followed by trunk-or-treat in the church parking lot that night. Then, on Saturday, we went trick-or-treating in the Johnstons' neighborhood. I think there were 9 families that went around the neighborhood together. The weather was great, the kids were happy, and it was fun to hang out with our friends.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year one of our favorite traditions is going to the pumpkin patch. This year we picked one of the only sunny warm days in October and had a wonderful day! We went with our friends the Riddochs and the Greers.

What We've Been up to...

Nick and I took the older boys and their friend Joe to see "Star Wars in Concert" at the BOK Center this week. They had a full symphony playing all the music from the 6 Star Wars Movies while a huge screen showed highlights from the movies. There were lots of other special effects, and the entire thing was narrated by Anthony Daniels (aka C3PO). We also got to look at some pretty cool Star Wars memorabilia.
My mom had a Halloween party for all the family this week. It was fun to see all the cute cousins in their costumes, play some games, and eat lots of yummy food. Grant, Brady and Drew made this veggie skeleton for the party.

Camping at Greenleaf State Park

Last weekend was fall break, and we took a short camping trip to Greenleaf State Park. Well, maybe we're stretching the definition of "camping" a little since we stayed in a cabin with heat, running water, and satellite tv. (since when do state park cabins have flat screen tv's?) It still had all the fun elements of camping like sitting around a fire roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, going on nature walks, seeing wild animals, and fishing. What it didn't have was all of us freezing to death in a tent when it was 40 degrees outside and tossing and turning all night because you're sleeping on the hard ground. Trust me, I may never tent camp again!

One of the most amazing things at Greenleaf were the deer that would come right up to us. They would even eat right out of the kids' hands.

The best part of our weekend was just getting to spend time with some really great friends!