Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was great this year! Lots of yummy food and family time. It is so nice to be close to family during the holidays. The kids love playing with their cousins and I love that they are entertained. 2013 has been an interesting year...a bit of a roller-coaster, but we are healthy and happy. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Hammond's Candy Factory

Grandpa and Grandma wanted to take the kids to Hammond's Candy Factory. It was a lot of fun to see how they make the candy canes and other yummy treats. We of course had to buy some treats at the end. Dan and I tried a bacon and potato chip chocolate bar. Dan and I didn't care for it. The missionaries enjoyed it. The boys loved their candy cane lollipops shaped like a Christmas tree.

Baby Katherine

We have been having a lot of fun spending time with Scott, Gabby and their new baby, Katherine. Gabby's Mom and Grandma have been in town and we have enjoyed seeing them as well. Dan has been practicing his photographing skills by taking pictures for them. These are some of my favorites (these are for you Aunt Carol!).

Parker's turns 5!

Parker turned 5 this month. He says November has been the best month ever! We celebrated his birthday at Grandpa and Grandma's house with family. I bought a Lego mini-figure and Lego block mold online. The chocolate Lego mini-figures were really cute on the cupcakes. Parker's obsession with Legos was apparent while opening his gifts. He got 5 new Lego sets among other gifts. All of the sets have been built and played with everyday since his birthday. He has also been making some pretty cool creations of his own. Parker looks forward to Ethan and Michael taking their afternoon nap so he can play with Legos and hates it when the wake up and he puts them away. Here are a few pictures and a few more facts about our Parker:

• He is reading chapter books.
• He is loving preschool.
• He has really opened up these past few months and is really enjoying making new friends.
• He is very particular about what clothes he wears. He favors a few t-shirts (Little Tykes soccer shirt and 2 tie-dyed shirts from Colorado Health Foundation) and soft cotton pants. 
• He loves to learn about science: doing science projects, reading books from the library and watching Popular Mechanics for Kids on Amazon. 
• He is still a very picky eater.
• He loves the snow much to his Dad's delight and says he can't wait to learn how to ski.
• You know he is enjoying something when he starts jumping up and down or running around.
• He loves his brothers. It is so cute to watch him with the baby and often tries to protect him from Ethan.

Kristin's Wedding

I am going out of order, but had to include Kristin's wedding on the blog. It was perfect and we were so happy to be there. We love Fred and Kristin and the kids! We have really enjoyed spending time with them while being here in Colorado.

Robertsons come to visit!

Britta, Braxton and Adalee came to visit the day after Halloween. We had so much fun with them. We wish we could see them more often! The night that they got here Dan and Braxton went to the Denver Nuggets opening game for Braxton's birthday. Dan got a hoodie pillow at the game. Pretty random but supposedly very comfortable. The next day we went into Denver and ate lunch at Casa Bonita. It is quite the interesting place. Gross mexican food, cliff divers, a gun fight, an arcade, a big gorilla...who wouldn't want to be apart of that?!? Then we went to the 16th street mall and walked around. There is a cool new park along the mall where you give your ID and you can borrow things to play putt-putt golf, ping pong, ladder ball, etc. It was fun and free! Sunday we just hung out and celebrated Braxton's birthday. Monday before they left we went to the free day at the zoo. We were sad to see them leave but happy to have them come visit. We are looking forward to little Taysom joining their family next month and can't wait to meet him in March!

the hoodie pillow

Casa Bonita

the Robertsons

putt-putt golf downtown

ping pong

Us

one of many failed attempts to get a picture of the kids

Halloween

We didn't take many pictures, but the kids did go trick-or-treating. We took them down Grandpa and Grandma's street and then to a few other houses in their neighborhood. Costumes get passed down in our family. Michael was a bear, Ethan Buzz, and Parker an Army Solider. Big thanks to Ella and Brain for providing the official custom Army uniform...it looked awesome. The kids also had fun playing in the pile of leaves outside of Grandpa and Grandma's house. Dan and I enjoyed eating the candy and the caramel apple from Woody and Sharon!

Fire Station, Birthday Party and Trunk or Treat

Last Saturday we were pretty busy. Parker was excited and said it was going to be the best day ever! We started the morning with a trip to a local fire station. For fire safety month they had an open house with a pancake breakfast. We ate yummy pancakes, toured the station, the kids got to get in the fire truck and got to train to be a fire fighter. Grandpa and Grandma met us there. Then in the afternoon we had a birthday party to celebrate Uncle Scott, Uncle Fred and Grandma's birthdays. After the birthday party everyone came to our ward trunk or treat and chili cook-off. It was fun to have the family there with us. Parker and Ethan loved having some cousins there to trunk or treat with them. Kristin and Fred won an award for their trunk decorations and we won an award for our chili. Now we are enjoying eating the kids candy.