Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree.

Hunter's Tree farm. We found this farm a few years ago and loved the service. We had so much fun this year. It was a bit chilly but we had a great time. The boys had fallen asleep on the way up and it reflects in the first few photos. We stopped to first visit with Santa because we knew he was only visiting for a short time. In fact the kids were some of his last visitors. There is an old red tractor that we took Parker's picture on two years ago. He has grown up a bit. Now we have two more kids since that time. Lincoln was really tired and wanted Willie to hold him constantly. Henry was asleep for most of the time. Once we saw Santa and took pictures on the tractor we went searching for our Christmas tree.
Lincoln finally woke up and started having some fun. The boys found sticks and rocks to play with. They had a lot of fun. Parker liked finding the trees.
We found our perfect 7 1/2 foot Christmas Tree. Willie did the honors of cutting the tree.

While we waited for the tree to be wrapped up and placed on our car we took a hay ride around the farm and participated in a few fun activities.


One activity was riding a horse. This was Parker's first time riding a horse and he did a great job. Lincoln didn't get to ride and he seemed content to play with the dog that was near-by. Parker was the last.

Another activity was making ornaments with some wood that had been cut from the trees. Parker liked putting the stickers on the wood.
We had fun picking out our Christmas tree. I love getting ready for the Christmas season. This year we get to work on new traditions. I love the spirit of Christmas. I love that we get to have more reminders of our Savior. Yeah for the Christmas season.

Our Visitors.

We were blessed to have Willie's mom, Joan and his sister Anna come to visit. They made it just in time for my birthday then had to go home the day after Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed having them come to stay with us. I don't know who had the best time but I think we all reaped the rewards.
Anna and the boys had so much fun together. I can't believe all the energy she has for them. It was sad that when she returned home she was sick. Sorry Anna. Parker and Lincoln loved to show Anna all of their cool tricks. They would repeat funny things over and over again. Here they are resting after jumping from the bed into the LoveSac.
Anna did get some time with Henry too. This only happened when Joan would give Henry up to get ready. I'm just kidding. Anna got more time than that.
We visited Stone Mountain one day when Willie was able to come. We didn't get to see too much because of their Christmas festivities. We did get to see the train though and that was the coolest thing for the boys.
Here is the one family shot that we got. Funny that I didn't get in for the family shot. Next time we'll have to do better. This was in front of the Stone Mountain carving.
I love this picture because of how cute Parker and Grandma Joan are. Parker really loved having his Grandma close by.
I think that Willie and Anna look a lot alike. I know that Willie loves his sister very much and he definitely gets a kick out of her character. She knows how to make us laugh. Thanks Anna for providing some great memories.The playground is a place that the boys love. We know that Grandma loves to see the boys in their own environment so today was a great day. I loved it too because I could spend one on one time with Henry while the boys played with Grandma and Anna.

Grandma was in charge of Bear. She had to make sure he was having fun too.
Who won? My guess is Anna only because her legs are longer.
Lincoln enjoyed doing 'dog.' He loves the swings.
After all of the fun times we all needed to have some R and R. Lincoln was so sweet falling asleep with Anna.Henry and I were snuggled up in one of his new blankets. Terrah and Jake sent this blanket and we love it. Okay I love it because it covers the both of us up and it's super cute. Thanks guys.One of the most memorable moments was when Lincoln one day out of the blue said, "I lof you, granma." Melt your heart. What a cute boy. He really loves Grandma. I was grateful for the time off from Henry. Joan was an excellent guest who was always so willing to take Henry whenever I needed a break. Thanks Joan for hanging out with Henry.

The boys were jumping on the couch one evening and for some reason it became really funny to say "it's not a joke, it's a jump." Here are the few action shots we got of the boys while showing off to Anna. She loved it and so did we.

Here is our family photo. Parker and Lincoln do a really great job of holding Henry. We are grateful to have had our guests come to stay for over a week! We wish it could have been longer.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving.

Today was our last day with our visitors. I am grateful that we could have Joan and Anna visit with us this last week. I learned so much from Joan on how to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. I should use shortening or butter when I am rolling out my rolls then they won't get too much flour in them. I also learned how to prepare the turkey for cooking; take the yucky stuff out, put butter on, throw in an onion, and add some salt and pepper. Sadly at this point in the dinner preparations I had to go feed Henry. Anna made some delicious pies that we had to eat later. Dinner was around 5:00 so we were too full to enjoy all the pie.
We invited some friends from Willie's work. They are Chinese and hadn't had a traditional American meal before. We are glad we could get to know them a little better and share in our Utah American traditional Thanksgiving feast.
We don't really have pictures from Thanksgiving I wish I had thought to take some. The turkey looked amazing and it was. The potatoes and gravy are my favorites. Anyway some of the things I am thankful for this season are; my husband, my boys, my family, my Savior, our home, our car, our education, our memories, my health and so much more. As always the list can go on and on and it becomes more grand every day. I am grateful for the season to be thankful. I also love the season to share what I am thankful for, Christmas.

One Month Old

Our dear Henry is one month old today, Thanksgiving day. The time has gone by so quickly. Henry loves to look around. His eyes are so beautiful and bright with the light of Christ. I think that Henry's eyes will be like Willie's which I love. Henry must think that something is behind him because he pushes his head back to look around. He always has his head leaning back. When Henry is asleep he will smile and show is cute dimple. I'm glad that he got the dimple. I asked Willie what he has enjoyed about Henry and he said three things; 'that he burps easily, his wide-eyed look, and the way he coos when he is calming down after crying "oooohhh." I like that Henry is developing a sleeping schedule. He is running on a 12 hour schedule.Henry's brothers love him very much. We love the way Lincoln says Henry, 'haanry' the 'n' is almost silent. Parker loves to hold Henry and tell him what is happening. We have loved having our little dude in our family. We look forward to seeing him develop a greater love and friendship for his brothers.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Do As I'm Doing.

It's good that Parker doesn't get too upset that Lincoln is watching everything he does. Lincoln has recently been saying and sometimes doing all that Parker is doing. I have seen them jumping on the couch together. I love watching Lincoln watch Parker. Lincoln's vocabulary is increasing every day because he listens and says what Parker says. I love seeing Lincoln following in Parker's footsteps (most of the time).I enjoyed watching the boys recently run around in a circle chasing each other then Parker catching up to Lincoln and tackling him. They were having too much fun. I would have grabbed the camera but when I do that the moment has past.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Love One Another.

blub blub.

One week pictures.

Henry was a week old with these pictures. His bears name is Henry Jr. Erika and Brady have a tradition of giving a build-a-bear bear to their nieces and nephews. We have a tradition of taking the boy's pictures with the bear or frog (Lincoln's). Parker really loves his brother. Lincoln loves him too, but he was napping during the photo shoot.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sleepy Smiles.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Halloween.

We had fun this Halloween. My parents were with us and I was feeling well enough to head out to our Ward Trunk-or-Treat. Parker told me for weeks that he wanted to be a puppy for Halloween. We granted him his wish. We even let Lincoln be a puppy too.
I didn't get the pictures I had hoped for, but my mind was a little distracted with Henry. We didn't even get Henry dressed up, but that's okay he was asleep and hidden the whole time. I found great joy when Parker and Lincoln's best friends came dressed up as cats. Cats and Dogs, you've got to love it.
The boys didn't make it too far into the house before they had to find out what was in their buckets. They were very excited for all the treats they received. Parker's favorite treat is M&M's. Lincoln enjoys chocolate candy bars.Willie cut out the pumpkins this year. He did a Mike repeat (our engagement involved Mike). Then we did one with shapes so we could test Parker on the shapes he knew. Then the last one could have looked a little like Mickey if we had added ears and removed the tooth.The boys didn't last long with the cutting of pumpkins. They didn't really enjoy the guts of the pumpkin.


I love the Halloween time of year. Colder weather and yummy treats are always enjoyed. I love the fall.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Visitors.

We were very blessed to have a couple of visitors after Henry was born. My Mom and Dad came to visit. The boys (and Willie and I) loved having them come. Their time was short but we tried to take in every moment with them. Mom and Dad thanks for coming to visit with us. You helped us out so much. Thanks for cleaning, cooking, and most especially giving the older boys some much needed attention.
The boys were able to visit a few playgrounds while my parents were here. It's good that neither party became tired of 'dog' or underdog.


The boys love to make tunnels for each other. This particular night they REALLY had fun building tunnels for Grandpa and Grandma.

Parker picked up on Grandpa's humor pretty quick and he loved to get Grandpa to tease him more. Quality time was spent with the boys reading books, watching Grandpa be funny and playing a lot.
Another day at the playground. We spent at least four hours here one day. It was so beautiful and I could relax on the nice swinging bench. When the boys became bored Grandpa or Grandma would take the kids to the playground or down by the lake.


I asked my mom what one of her favorite moments was from the trip. This was the moment she picked.


Brain exercises. Doing a puzzle with Grandpa.
My Mom and Dad did get to spend time with Henry too. Henry was asleep or eating most of the time.

Once again, thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad. We loved having you here.