ALVA LIFE

I know you are all wondering, "what exactly do the Alva's do to celebrate Christmas?" Well, we are slowly finding that out ourselves each year and want to share a few new traditions with you...

First, I must admit, I have been slacking and have never taken my kids to go and sit on Santa's lap at the mall. OK, so the lines are always long, the mall is always crowded, and you always have to pay an arm and a leg to get one photo that never turns out as you had hoped. Now, that being said, yes they have seen Santa at church parties and we are very lucky to have our own Santa in the family, Matt's step dad, Ron (we love you Ron and will always think you are the best Santa). However, this year our neighbors let us in on a secret and told us to go with them to Bass Pro Shop and see Santa. #1, there is no long line. #2, he looks real and #3 Its free! So off we went. The kids loved it, and so did we!


They even had "real Reindeer" (at least on the outside ;) )
We also got to celebrate by going to Katelynn's preschool party. She sang all the Christmas songs and even made us sing them with her all the way home.
My mom convinced me to make an advent calendar. It has been one of the most favorite things for the kids. Every morning when they wake up, it is the first thing they ask for. Thanks Grandma!
Our ward had such a fun Christmas party this year. We all dressed up like people from Christ's time. Even Katelynn wanted to be the donkey (imagine that). (we only wished we had Dad's purple robe ;) ha, ha)
We also make Christmas cookies and decorated them. Even Brennon got into it!
We put up a fake tree this year, but still had a blast decorating it. Katelynn really got into it and was so proud of her work. It is now in between two couches to be blocked off from Brennon...

Make a Smilebox greeting

This Thanksgiving we got to go home to Virginia to see my family. It was so much fun and just great to get away and have a break from school. The kids had a blast and did not want to leave.

Here is Katelynn with her cousins who played together all weekend.
Anyone who knows me well knows I am a big Virginia Tech football fan. We decided to get tickets and go to the game while we were there. I made everyone dress up in VT clothes for the big day...
Even Brennon was a cute little hokie fan!
At the game the stadium was packed even though it was only 30 degrees outside. We won and it was so fun to be part of the crowd. VT stadium is known to be one of the loudest stadiums in the country because of their fans.


Of course the highlight of the trip for the kids was the horses. Even Brennon enjoyed riding and wasn't scared this year.
Katelynn wanted to ride every second of every day. She became confident enough to ride Suzy all by herself and she thought she was so cool.


Thanks to American Airlines we had to lug most of our luggage onto the plane. Note to self, next time fly an airline where you can check your bags! (At least the kids were good).
Grandma and Grandpa were amazing with the kids. They became fast buddies and wanted their attention the whole time. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it a great memory for all of us!

I went to see twilight with some friends a the day it came out. We had fun and it was so fun to have a girls night out. We are hoping for a series. Wish I could have joined the Chicago group to see it too. Hope you guys had fun. :)

Quick update....

All in the Alva household are now free from sickness. (Knock on wood)

Hope fully we can keep this up through Thanksgiving and our trip to VA.

Ok, so here is a recap of our week:

Day 1:
Katelynn fever, Brennon fever, Katelynn throw up, Brennon throw up

Day 2:
Katelynn coughing, Brennon diarrhea, Matt sick

Day 3:
Katelynn ear infection, Brennon coughing

Day 4:
Brennon throw up...... to be continued.......

Result: Two cranky kids, one cranky husband, and a very tired wife.
I love fall, but I hate all the sicknesses it brings, please go away!

Katelynn is now at the age where she has to choose her costume. Drum roll please...... I bet you will never guess that she chose to ride a horse as a cowgirl. She had so much fun and of course had sound effects to go with it. I guess I had fun dressing her up the last few years in my favorites.... I thought it would be fun to see her in her costumes each year...

7 Months.... The ladybug
1 Year... Pink Poodle

2 Years... Fairy
3 Years... Elephant (I think she chose this one too)


4 Years... Cowgirl
Brennon was an Alligator this year. We found this adorable costume and I had to get it. I love how the head comes out the front and the tail comes out the back. Check out our slide show of other halloween pictures

We have been going on a lot of walks lately with the beautiful fall weather. Brennon has taken on the stroller habit and it may not be too manly, but it keeps him happy (and at least it's blue). It reminds me of Katelynn at his age and the countless neighborhood walks we went on with her stroller.
The kids have been having fun together and keeping each other entertained while I am in school.
I have been practicing hair styles on Katelynn and wanted her to have a braided crown. It actually turned out pretty cute and stayed all through church.

Time out has been the corner for both of our kids, but sometimes they just like to play in them.

Today we headed out to a pumpkin patch and had fun seeing all the animals, taking a hayride and looking at pumpkins.

Brennon made friends with another pumpkin patch visitor. Doesn't this remind you of Katelynn at his age.... no fear and loving animals?
Dad and Brennon enjoying walking around
Katelynn loved all the Disney characters they had.


I bet you can't guess what her favorite animal there was?
Mom and Brennon having fun..

The whole family. Brennon was ready to go if you can't tell.