Christmas Train

My dad knows a man that runs a little train around his neighborhood. We did this a year or 2 ago as well so this post might look familiar. But, the kids are older so we needed more pictures.

Gavin was my lap rider this year. Actually he stood the whole time and we tried to keep our balance in the tiny seat. Gavin really liked it this year!

The first half of the trip is "The Polar Express". His yard is decorated with things from the movie and you listen to the music from the movie. Then you get off at the North Pole.

Inside the North Pole you get to visit with Santa. Too bad it's blurry because it's very hard to get Liam to visit with Santa anymore. I got him to go up with Trevan.

Santa's workshop is so cute and has a little train.

Gavin wants NOTHING to do with Santa. This is the closest we could get him to the big guy. He's barely touching the candy cane with the tips of his fingers.

Does Liam kind of look like a burglar?

Then we sent back outside to catch the train back.

On the way back they play Christmas music and have beautiful pictures of Christ's life.

Once you are back at the station there are cards to sign for missionaries and donation boxes for a local charity. This family runs this for free every year. It's very hard to get a spot because they fill up quickly. What a great time and a wonderful family for working so hard to make it fun for others.

Just some shots of the family hanging out after the train.

Liam seriously hates getting his picture taken. And I seriously hate how he won't smile for a picture!

The Polar Express half of the ride.

The Life of Christ half of the ride.

What do you get when you give a BYU student a free ticket to see David Archuleta?

Answer:

A big plate of cinnamon rolls on a cute plate with a card telling how thankful they were delivered to your house at 10:20 at night. How nice was that?!?! They are good too - no raisins! (so we may have eaten half of them before this picture was taken)

Festival of Trees

This year I went with my sister Andrea to the Festival of Trees. I'm not sure if I've ever been there before. Maybe when I was little. It was so much fun. Maybe this needs to be a new tradition. The problem....crowds! Oh and I seriously have issues with lines and people that follow the natural flow of things. Hmmm. Next year I think I'll go on a weekday during the day and hope for a better view of the trees and gingerbread houses.

My awkward crouch blocking out Bella and taking my rightful place. Yes, I'm embarrassing. Gavin's a little too interested in his pretzel and won't look at the camera.

Too bad it isn't a DIET Coke tree.

Soooo many cute trees. But so many sad stories behind the trees. We made the mistake of reading one story. We were both about to literally start crying so we stopped reading them.

Christmas Concert at Temple Square

I love going to the Christmas Concert at Temple Square. Lately it's been hard to get tickets. This year was especially difficult because the guest singer was "DAVID ARCHULETA"!! No one in my family was able to get tickets and we were pretty sad. However, I have a friend (former teaching buddy) that came through. He and his wife are missionaries at the Conference Center and were able to pull some stings and get me some tickets.

The show was absolutely wonderful!! I loved it. I think it was my favorite Christmas concert so far.
David Archuleta really did a wonderful job. Even better than I expected.

We had great seats on the middle balcony. Front row! Although we did get in trouble for "leaning against the railing" OOPS!

Andrea, Grandma Sue, and Grandpa Rick got to come with Liam and me.

Oh look, it's little David Archuleta in a tux.

We were standing at the finale so I quietly got out my camera and took a quick video. Don't tell anyone.

Liam's a Star!

Liam is a Star! He earned his Star in Boy Scouts in November. He actually has only 2 more merit badges before he gets his Life badge - well, he needs his service hours and time to pass of course. But, he's really doing well and motivated to get it done. He has already signed up for his next scout pow wow in March so he'll be ready to move right along.

He really cleaned up with the merit badges this time. At the Court of Honor in November he got basketry, archery, rifle shooting, weather, swimming, family life, citizenship in the world, and electricity merit badges in addition to earning his Star.

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Lets give him a hand!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, visiting with family and eating of course.

It's been a rough year in our home, but this is a good time of year to remember all the things we do have to be thankful for. It's so easy to dwell on all the things that go wrong and all the things you don't have. But, all of the things that are really important we do have.

This year I'm thankful for:

1. Healthy & happy boys in my home!
2. A wonderful husband that is very good to me!
3. A very supportive and loving extended family!
4. The knowledge we have of the true gospel that keeps my focus on what is truly important in this life!

So, as we enter the Christmas season I am going to try very hard to be happy and enjoy this time of year. I'm going to try not to focus on what is missing, but what we have. Christmas isn't about what presents you can give or what presents you get. It's about celebrating the birth of Christ. Maybe this year it might be even easier to keep the focus in the right place.

Carving Pumpkins

What do we do every year on the Monday before Halloween? Carve pumpkins of course!

Jim gets to help Gavin. Gavin wanted a "cat" pumpkin and luckily Jim had the ability to make one. Liam on the other hand, has my lack of artistic ability so both of our pumpkins are "traditional", at least that is what we are calling them.

Getting them set on the porch.

Finished products.

Trevan's Annual Birthday at the Pumpkin Patch

Again this year we got to go to the pumpkin patch for my nephews birthday party.

It's fun hanging with the family!!

Gavin had more fun this year.

Nice shot from inside the slide.

Asher obviously thinks I'm crazy and doesn't love my picture taking.

I love Trey's cute hat!

Cute tractor swings!

Liam trying to pet the little horses.

Gavin found a "corn flag" during the corn maze.

And, we took a crazy hayride out to the pumpkin patch where we were let off to pick out pumpkins. We thought they were waiting for us so he hurried to grab pumpkins. We turned around and our ride had LEFT! We waited with all the kids (lots from Trev's party) in the dark until it came back. Then we got to take the very bumpy ride back. Liam found the perfect looking pumpkin! I seriously love Halloween!

Asher and Gavin were too short to reach the pedals so Gavin gave Asher a push. Cute boys!!

Vineyard Pumpkinland/Fall Break

It's fall break and we had nothing to do. Luckily my sister Andrea and her baby invited us to go to the pumpkin patch.

Gavin found a new furry friend and just LOVED to touch its cage (gross!).

Vineyard is a cheap way to get out of the house. A lot of little activities.

Gavin and baby horse having a seat.

Andrea, Trey, and Liam checking out some pumpkins.

Why this was Gavin's favorite spot, I'm not sure.

Liam is SUPER excited to be here and taking pictures.

Both of my kids are just too excited!

How Much Competition Is Too Much Competition?

This year Liam is playing on a coed recreation soccer team. It's been such a good experience. Last year he was on a competition league team and it was...not so fun. The coach was yelling at him to do things that Liam had no idea about. The coach was yelling/swearing at the refs. He was rarely played, partly because he joined a team that was already together and he was just a "sub". He didn't even know why we was having to go. Anyway, he had decided to drop soccer until his friend called to say they were joining a coed rec team. Liam was interested and signed up.

What a difference experience! This coach is so encouraging, the team members are encouraging. There are 17 year old boys on the team that have been in AAA leagues and are refs and incredible players there with girls that have no idea what they are doing. They help each other and nobody kills you if you miss a shot. It's actually FUN!

I had a conversation with a couple of friends about soccer. They were talking about their kids on competition teams and how they were screaming at the other team players and playing to the death. I told them about the league Liam is on and they were almost irritated at the idea. Why on earth would you play for fun and not to WIN? They almost seemed offended that score isn't recorded and placement isn't taken, like it's a waste of time.

So, I started to think about what I am teaching my kids with sports. Do I need to teach them to be more competitive? I realize there are times in life that it helps to have that attitude - selling yourself in an interview, getting ahead in school. But, learning to be sportsman like and having fun is good too. Do we really need to push them so hard in everything? Do we push them to do something to the point of making it not fun anymore? Do we encourage them to step on (or throw to the ground, literally) others to get ahead? Hmmm.....

For us, I think I like our new league. I like being nice. I like having fun. I like being able to have Liam play a lot and feel good about his contribution. I like building confidence without needing to crush others. I don't know. I guess it's just a sport. It's not life. But, to some screaming parents on the sidelines, you would think it's all that matters in the world.

Here is his fun little team.

Yep, they even let Liam try out being goalie (he's there with the yellow goalie shirt). Let's just say that the bigger and taller the player is, the better chance they have of covering that big goal. At least nobody got on him for missing a block.

Canning, Canning, Canning!

This year our garden really did well! We had watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, green beans, green & red peppers, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, pears, peaches, apples, apricots, grapes! It was crazy and it's still producing. We had to do something with it, so I started canning more than usual.

We have SO many tomatoes! The bushes just grew together and completely overtook their cages. I can hardly get in there to pick them.

Here is my very first batch from the vine. I love home-bottle tomatoes so much more than canned in the store. It takes time, but it's worth it.

So, my first batch didn't produce many bottles but that's OK.

I ended up doing a few kinds of jam, grape juice, tomato soup, canned peaches, and many bottles of diced tomatoes. I still have green ones on the vine waiting to be picked. I better hurry because it's getting cold out there.

Gavin's Trip to Jr High

OK, I love the CTE class!! Liam is now better at sewing than I am. The funny thing is that he really likes this class. They have learned to do laundry (and he did our laundry, thank you), sew, cook, take care of kids. It's great! He had to put together a child activity folder and they each had to bring a 3 or 4 year old to class one day. He was able to take Gavin. He said Gavin was the best behaved! What? You don't believe me?? It's true, he was good. He doesn't like to participate in groups so he sat quietly. Oh well. Gavin had a lot of fun.