December 2013

 December was such a busy and crazy month!  Our elf, Candy Cane made his debut on Thanksgiving and stayed until Christmas Eve.  He created all kinds of mischief and left special gifts along the way.  He will be missed until we see him again next Holiday season! 
We've found that Christmas isn't complete unless we make a gingerbread house.  Here's us making ours!

 Isaak started playing junior jazz in the middle of December.  He's doing really great and has made a few baskets during practices.... pretty good for a 5 yr old!

 Lila had two dance performances in December.  The first was for the Festival of Trees and then another a week later at the middle school.  She's taking with Performance Academy and loves it. 

 Here we are at the Festival of Trees!

 We went to a fancy dinner for Serenity Excavating.  Our friend owns the company and they did our back yard a year ago.  Santa was at the dinner and we got to meet him!

 Lila getting ready for her 2nd recital with Rusty!

 Daddy always gets her flowers!

 The Woodford family Christmas party was at our house this year.  32 people!!  I made sweet pulled pork salads that turned out so yummy.  It was actually the best Christmas party I can remember.  I had a strict "no talent show" rule and instead we played some games in a big group (werewolf and signs) and it was a lot of fun!

See our island?? Shaun just put the bead board on there and we painted it together, doesn't it look great?! 

 I love this shot of my Dad!

One day in December Isaak was doing his homework which involved cutting some paper when he decided to cut a chunk of his hair!  He refused to let me buzz it to even it out and here's his new "do".

Cute Rusty!

The day after the Woodford Christmas party Spencer and Jaqueline got married!  It was a really special day and I'll always remember being there with Shaun and my family.  It was a special day for me to remember.

 

Here's the cute kids at the reception!

 The Monday before Christmas I had my parents come over for dinner and we exchanged gifts that night. 

 The kids love their books!

 Here's our annual family calendar!

 On Christmas Eve, the kids got to open their gift from Mom and Dad.  Pajamas!!

 After that the Cantwell's came over and the kids got to exchange gifts.

Here's what our living room looked like when Santa came.  He still has to eat his cookies and give the reindeer the carrots!

Our stockings!

Here's the kids before they went down to the living room.  I got up at 5:00 because I was so excited, got all ready and finally had to go back to bed and wait for these crazy sleepyheads to wake up!

Stockings first!

Isaak wanted to go out and try out his new scooter!

Arianna got a new scooter, too!

Awww, buddies!

After we opened gifts, all the circle kids came over to see our loot and play for a bit before family!

Grandma Jo and Grandpa Ric's first!
New boots!!

Next Grandma Patsy and Grandpa Jay's!

I LOVE my new target!! It's fun to beat up!

 

November 2013

 November kicked off with Shaun taking both kids camping at the sand dunes on a boys only trip, so I went on a girl's trip with Kirsten to Vegas!  My trip was pretty laid back, we went swimming at the pool, slept in, and walked around the strip for a few hours.  Nice mommy break! 
The kids and Shaun had a great time.  They went riding in the Rzr and got to play with their good friend, Jet!

 Here we are on a family night making our annual apple turkeys!  Aren't they cute?!

 I love the big legs on Isaak's!

 Cute fall clothes!  Lila was not excited to go to school that day. 

 Isaak got a black eye this month!  He was playing kissing tag with the neighbor kids and ran right into the open tailgate of the truck.  Poor guy.  Speaking of kissing tag, a little girl named Stella in Isaak's class told him that she has a big crush on him.  Then she kissed him right on the cheek! 

 Raking leaves one lazy day.

 I put up the Christmas decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Lila's favorite spot is laying underneath the Christmas tree.  Funny girl!

 Here's Isaak at his school Thanksgiving feast.  The kid sitting next to him is Landon.  He has been in Isaak's preschool class for the last two years and now they're in the same kindergarten class. 

 Here's Lila at her Thanksgiving feast and program.  The boy sitting next to her is Grant Richardson.  He is Isaak's best friend, Cameron's little brother.  Lila and Grant aren't in the same class because she's a year older, but they joined classes for the program.  I wish I could post videos from her program, but the computer says they're too long. :(

 On Thanksgiving day we went to Patsy's in the morning and to my family's in the afternoon.  It had been 4 yrs since I've been to my parent's on Thanksgiving!! This is my favorite photo of the day.  :)

 On Thanksgiving day, our special elf from the North Pole, Candy Cane,  made his first appearance.  He brought us donuts for breakfast and we've spotted him all over the house  since then!  I'll be sure and post some pictures of him in Decembers post. 
Here's some special Christmas pancakes we made the day after Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays!!