Gingerbread Houses

Merry Christmas!

Playing Hookie

Jared and Anna have been working on some goals and as a reward in accomplishing their goals they each picked out a movie they wanted to see. Jared's goal was practicing the piano everyday without complaining. He really wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie so it made for the perfect incentive(bribe). We surprised him one school day afternoon and picked him up and went to the movie theater. He could not have been more excited. He is such a great kid!

Anna has been working on her own little list and her incentive/bribe was to go see Tangled. She loved the date we had and the movie.

Not sure how I feel about the whole bribery thing even though it produced results, but I loved spending one on one time with the kids.

let the winter begin

Annual Temple Tailgate

The last few years we have met up at the Washington D.C. Temple to view the lights and have some Hot cocoa and treats with some friends. The lights were beautiful this year.

We met up with Kevin's best bud, Jeremy, for just a bit in the Visitors Center. Next time we hope to see the rest of his family.

One of the fun things about going to the temple is that you never know who you might run into. These two lovely young ladies were two of my Young Women back in Virginia. They are both in College now and were on a Temple trip with some people from Buena Vista. It is great to see how the "kids" you teach grow up into wonderful young adults.

Always a great time!

Which one is your favorite

They were taken with just a point and shoot camera by my hand, but we ended up with some good ones.

Jared 9 years old

Anna 6 Years old

Audrey 19 Months

Campfire

The other day we went out on some friends property for a little family campfire. After a few wrong turns and many attempts at starting a fire our foil dinners were cooking and we were huddled up warm by the fire.

We also took out Jared's new BB gun and had a little target practice.

And of course a campfire wouldn't be a campfire with out some smores.

Nothing like some outdoor fun family time.

Jared's Birthday

We had a family Birthday for Jared on the 29th and a friend Birthday party on the 1st. Jared loved all his presents from Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunts, and Uncles. He has already put things to use especially his Pocket knife from Aunt Allison and Uncle Tyler. (He passed off his Cub Scout knife skills the next day)

Jared hasn't had a friend Birthday party since he was 3 so we thought it was about time. He wanted to go bowling with a few friends so we headed out for pizza and some duck bowling. I think everyone had a nice time.

Jared is such a super great kid. Everyone who knows him tells us he is so nice, respectful, and kind. At the moment he loves Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Legos. He enjoys riding his bike around the neighborhood by himself (YIKES!), reading, soccer, and school. We love him so much!

Trick or Treat

Our ward had a fun Halloween party on Saturday. There were games, food, and karaoke. Unfortunately our batteries died and ended up not getting one picture of everyone in their costumes. Audrey was a dinosaur, Jared was a wizard, and Anna was a rock star.

Not sure what to think of Karaoke.

"Candy! I want Candy!"

Getting off the hayride.
My mom made this costume for me when I was a little girl and it has been passed down to the grandkids. Apparently I was terrified of the tail. Audrey loved it.

Halloween night we ended up staying in and having a little family party. We carved pumpkins, made candied apples (which are really gross by the way), watching Halloween shows, and playing games.

Jared hard at work.

"Eww gross!"

Helping out with the gross stuff.

The edible pumpkin.

Pure sweetness!

Happy Halloween!

School Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Anna had a school field trip to a nearby farm. They got to go on a tractor ride, play on some homemade toys, visit some baby animals, and pick their own pumpkins to take home. She had a blast.

Waiting for the fun to begin.

Sliding down the homemade trough slide.

She loved the little calf

The goat...not so much.

Anna's pumpkin. This pumpkin is so classic Anna. Apparently she picked the biggest pumpkin in the patch and rolled it across the grass to the bus. All the other kids had manageable sized pumpkins they all carried themselves and took back to their classrooms. Not Anna's pumpkin. Her pumpkin had to wait in the office till the end of school and then be carried by a teacher out to the car since it was too big for Anna to carry. Classic Anna!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Uh...What cupcake?