We had so much fun sledding with the Cannons in all our snow!





Gabby's got good aim! She hit me right in the mouth with a snowball on my way down. It was the grassiest snow I have ever tasted.


Two eskimo cousins


Happy Birthday Uncle Scott!


Mary dragging Joseph to another inn at the preschool nativity.


Hyrum playing little Joseph


One of our favorite Christmas traditions - sleeping under the Christmas tree! A memorable tradition from my childhood, that my kids now get to look forward to. We usually do this once before Christmas Eve and once after Christmas before we have to take down the tree.


Christmas Morn!

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Doug was really surprised to get an air compressor. And I was ecstatic to have surprised him - for once!




Hyrum's (and Dad's) new toy!



Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper with lots of fancy ribbon. But I haven't wrapped much yet this year.
2. Real tree or Artificial? All Natural baby! I love the way it makes my house smell. And going to get the tree is such an adventure for the family (review previous post)
3. When do you put up the tree? First week of December.
4. When do you take the tree down? The day after New Years day.
5. Do you like Egg Nog? Oh yes! I have been making a recipe I got as a gift from a friend for three years now and love it! Mmmm...Thanks Jackson Family.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I had an American Girl doll, Kirsten, that I bought with my own money for my birthday (February). Everything was so expensive (for a 3rd grader) I never bought anything else that year. My mom bought a pattern set they used to sell and made me a set of clothes and painted a cute little trunk to store them all in. I adored those clothes.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad, although Doug found something hysterical for him this year!
8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself...just kidding. I love to buy stuff for the kids.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a small one my mom got me from Germany. And a ceramic statue of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus that Doug's mom gave us. I love them both.


10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but we'll see this year!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Fabric. Don't ask.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Definitely "It's a wonderful Life." We watch it every year, and a few years ago got to spend a night downtown and see the play. It was really great!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October. Otherwise, I go overboard.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? If I had, I would definitely TELL!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? snowball cookies and orange cream cheese chocolate chippers. But I have a new favorite maple bar cookie from my sis! MMMMMM
Here are some pictures from our baking day!




16. Lights on the tree? White. I would love them to blink, but can never figure that out.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Away in a Manger. It has always been my dad's favorite, and I can't sing it without crying
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yep
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open two presents on Christmas Eve. The grandkids all draw names and exchange their gifts. Then we always get our kids pjs. That's a tradition passed down from my family. All the rest on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crankies! Especially at the post office.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I am pretty eclectic. I don't have a favorite. But I have some special things from my grandmas that I really love.
I love the hummell my Grandma gave to me when I was pregnant with Gabriella

This is a lladro Christmas bell that came from my Grandmother. She collected them, each has a different winter or Christmas scene and each granddaughter received one when she passed last year.



24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Ham and potatoes and pie
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A CPA.

This is the 3rd year we have driven up to longview to hunt for a Christmas tree. I love driving up together and listening to Christmas music as a family the whole way there.


This is the one!


Helping Dad cut it down



My dad and brothers joke that Hyrum doesn't talk to people, especially men. So this was totally unexpected for him to talk to Santa. And you saw it here...he actually hugged him!


Gabriella wants a "singing blue bird to sing her to sleep at night." ?????????



A visit to the barn to feed the animals...look close those are Santa's reindeer behind the fence!


Decorating our perfect Christmas tree! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I am keeping myself busy making these adorable winter hats in adult and children's sizes. Check out my etsy shop to see the serious cuteness!

Yay! LaurieAnn can walk, but she only does it under specific conditions. She is very timid, and gets knocked down a lot but the other kids, so she mostly walks around when they're asleep. I love her jibberish in the movie. She sounds like a Sim character. What is that? It is a video game my younger brother and I got addicted to one summer. Hmmm...I think we may have to break that out while he's here this weekend.



My green eyed girl. Looks like a haircut might be coming soon Callie!

I found this cute chair at a garage sale for cheap. Spray paint, $4 fabric and a staple gun took it up a notch for sure.









Now I have something cute at the end of my hall!

There was Angel. Vampire and soulmate to Buffy Summers (oh yes, the slayer).



How many of you remember this pre-twilight series?

A cute couple to welcome in the spirit of Thanksgiving! Aren't they adorable?


One of our family traditions. The kids enjoy adding "thankful feathers" to our Thankful Turkey throughout the month. Pretty soon he will be nice and fluffy for Thanksgiving!

I thought this was so funny. We have this old mat that Doug's mom made 25 (or more) years ago. Its the cutest little town with a gas station, school, houses, a church, shopping center and even a lake! The kids love racing throughout the town and picking out which houses their cars live in. Today they had a parade complete with fire trucks and horses.






I bought these boots for Hyrum over a year ago. He has worn them almost everyday, and fights us every Sunday when he can't wear them to church. They are both cracked all the way around and have holes in the soles. I decided it was time to invest in some new rain boots.

A worthy replacement! "Car Movie" boots make him so happy!

We had the best October and Halloween this year! Gabriella and Hyrum really loved getting dressed up and trotting around the neighborhood once they understood candy was involved.

Gabriella couldn't decide until the last minute what to be. "At our first party I am going to be a cheerleader, then at our next party I'll be...." She finally settled on a fairy princess.


Hyrum wanted to be buzzlightyear. Yeah, we had a hard time with that one, so he settled for Woody. I love his oversized hat and his mustache.


LaurieAnn makes the cutest little bug. I cannot take ANY credit for this costume. My friend Ericka made one for her daugher and I wanted one so bad I kept thinking about it all day. She had offered me all her stuff. Doug finally said, go get everything and make it. This was 8pm Oct 30th. Ericka is the queen when it comes to sewing stuff and she was so sweet to cut everything out for me, so I whipped the cape out in 20 minutes. The tutu took a little longer but it turned out so darling. And when you took her cape off, she reminded me of Renesmee (all you twilight fans) with her black and red tutu!


Nobody would pose for the kid photo. I got a crier and a booger picker! AHHH!

Conversations you never imagine yourself having before you are a mom, but actually have daily when you are a mom.

Response to a brown smudge on the toilet lid.

Rebecca: What is that?
Gabby: I dunno.
R: Did you do it?
G: mmmmmm....no.
R: Who did that?
G: Not me.
R: Is it poop?
G: I dunno.
(silence)
R: I think it is poop.
G: Maybe it's poop.
R: Are you sure you didn't do that?
G: (silence)
R: Are you sure you didn't do that?
G: It wasn't me...I promise.
R: IS. THAT. POOP?
G: I. DONT. KNOW.
R: Smell and see if it is poop.
G: I don't want to. You.
R: I don't want to either.
G: I think it was LaurieAnn. (who wears a diaper)
R: Maybe, but I don't think so.


While bending down to get something to clean up the mess. I found my brown eyeliner pencil. Colored all the way down. It WAS LaurieAnn.

I LOVE everything about Halloween including carving pumpkins. It is my chance to be artsy and create something fun. Gabby did a great job scooping and separating her seeds from the pulp so we could bake the seeds later. She chose a "happy" pumpkin. Hyrum wanted nothing to do with the project and rode his bike around the garage while we worked. He wanted a "scary" pumpkin. And I did a silly for Lulu.



Afterwards, we enjoyed some hot wassail....a fall favorite.

1 gallon apple cider
1 can (6 oz) orange juice concentrate
1 can (6 oz) lemonade concentrate
1 cup brown sugar
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp nutmeg
12 whole cloves
4-6 tsp allspice or 12 whole allspice if you have it
1 tsp zest of one orange
3-5 orange slices

Mix and serve hot with whip cream and caramel sauce on top! Yummy!

Here are some photos from our trip to the pumpkin patch with Gabriella's preschool class.