O' Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving night we decorated our Christmas tree. The girls loved helping me decorate it, the boys...not so much. Tyler hung a few ornaments and then lost interest(hence no picture) and Zach just wanted to wreck all the girls hard work, especially Kennady's because she clustered all of her ornaments on the very bottom.

Happy Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving. Jake's mom and dad were able to come and spend a few days with us for Thanksgiving this year. It was fun to be able to put my new kitchen to work with preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. All weekend I couldn't stop counting my blessings! I am so blessed and thankful for everything the Lord has given me in my life.

I helped the kids make these oreo turkeys

Let the feast begin!

Absolutely no baby food for Zach. Grandma hooked him up with his first mashed potatoes and gravy. Yummy!! He loved them. I love this picture of Jake's mom because that is exactly what I catch myself doing every time I feed him.

Happy Birthday Jake!

Jake's birthday was on a Sunday this year so I invited a couple of our friends from our ward over for a little birthday dinner. Come to find out that our friend was also having his birthday the next day so it was fun to celebrate together.

Jeff and Jake blowing out the candles(they each had a cheesecake)

My little helpers

Tyler, Brooke and Kennady have been good little helpers. They love helping me take care of Zach, which has been so great. It has been so fun watching them interact with him and love him.

Puppies

Polly had her puppies in October. She had 7 puppies, 4 male and 3 females. Today we found the remaining two puppies homes. It has been fun having them but also a lot of work. The kids are sad to see them go but glad that they all went to good homes. In fact, two of them went to Jake's mom and dad and one went to Jake's sister, Cherish so we will be able to those puppies once in a while.

Polly the day before she had her puppies

Yellowstone National Park

Danny and Cassie were able to come and spend a week with us in October. During their stay we were able to spend a day at Yellowstone. It was fun to be able to go visit again especially because Danny and Cassie had never been there before.

Hunting Season

Tyler and Jake were able to go deer hunting together for the first time. After a couple of attempts they got this 4X3 buck. A couple of weeks later Jake and his brother Danny were also able to go hunting together for an elk. After a lot of work and hours hiking they were successful and got a cow elk. I can't prove they got an elk with a picture but come look at our freezer full of elk and deer jerky.

Tyler turns Ten!

For Tyler's birthday he invited several of his friends to go bowling. He and his friends had a lot of fun. We are so blessed to have Tyler as a part of our family. We love you Tyler!

Zach

These pictures were taken when Zachary was 4 months old

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School Starts

After getting back from our summer vacation we packed up and left my sister with some much needed peace and quiet. We were able to find a temporary 2 bedroom/1 bath rental in Afton about three weeks before the kids started school. Tyler started 4th grade with Mr. Whitney at Osmond Elementary, Brooke started 2nd grade with Mr. Hathaway at Afton Elementary and Kennady started preschool with Ms. Bagwell at The Busy Bears Preschool right down the road from our rental. We were all excited to be back in Afton and starting the school year.

Kennady walking to preschool. She was so excited.

Summer Vacation:Part 3 (Oceanside)

The kids were so excited when we were driving from Yosemite to Oceanside. It was their first time going to the ocean and they were so excited to spend time on the beach with all of their cousins. The week in Oceanside went by so fast. During our stay we were able to go to Sea World and Disneyland, neither of which me or the kids had ever been too.

Here are some pictures of us at Disneyland

Kennady was thrilled to meet Minnie Mouse. (She has been Minnie two Halloween's in a row)

Here are some pictures of us at Sea World

Jake and Tyler went for a little deep sea fishing while

Kennady, Brooke, Zach and I hung out at the hotel.

Here is a picture of the resort we stayed at from the boat that Jake and Tyler went fishing on.

Here are the views from our hotel balcony

Here are some pics of us playing on the beach