Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year. We have made a tradition of going out to eat on Christmas Eve and thanks to some Christmas money from family we got to go to Red's 395 Grill for RIBS! The girls love RIBS. We came home to open gifts from in-laws and then we attempted at acting out the Nativity. At about 8:30 we got a knock at the door and someone or I should say Christmas Angels left a generous gift on our doorstep. I don't feel like we deserve it but I know they were working through our Heavenly Father because only HE knows us and knows our needs, sometimes before we do. We are extrememly grateful to whomever that was and we plan on paying if forward in 2012.

Our sad little Nativity..Maggie was the donkey, Gracie was Mary, I was Joseph, Bryanna was the Shepherd and Abby was a wise-man, Derek was the narrator. It was our first time doing this and it was a little pathetic but the meaning was there right?

All the girls with our new jammies! A Christmas Eve tradition.

Christmas Morning!

Santa brought Abby a Barbie Scooter

Bryanna gets a Horse Riding Lesson!

Santa knew Gracie wanted an Easy Bake Oven this year.Derek made the doll beds and I made them quilts/pillows and matching jammies. It was a lot of work, but the girls absolutely LOVE it all!

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the 5 of us (plus Maggie) and to top it off we got to go to church Christmas morning and sing in the choir and hear the wonderful messages of Christ on this special day.

We are so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and who loves us so much he gave us His Son Jesus Christ to live and die for us, so that someday we can live with Him again. That is the greatest gift of all.

Santa Train

We live close to the Nevada Railroad Museum and every year they host the Santa Train ride. They run the steam train and 3 vintage train cars. Santa visits each train car while the train is going. He passes out candy canes and a "ho ho ho." It's a fun tradition we've been doing for a few years now.

Afterwards we got hot chocolate and I tortered the girls by taking their yearly pictures there.

Three of the cutest girls I know

When I posted this picture I thought it was a little creepy..like Santa is peeping in our window. Actually he stands on the side of the train cars to wave goodbye to everyone. And a cup of hot cocoa makes everything better. Looking forward to next year!

Music Concerts

Christmas Concert time! All the girls had their music concerts on Monday. They did fantastic! I've been hearing the songs at home for a long time so I was singing along with them the the performance. I'm grateful that we still have music in our schools and that my kids can learn to enjoy singing. Our teacher Mrs. Kuehner is awesome.

Bryanna was a weather girl for her performance

Gracie couldn't stop giggling:)

Thanksgiving

For the 2nd year in a row on Thanksgiving morning Bryanna went with Derek to hunt birds. I still can't believe my little girl likes to hunt!! It was a bit cold but they had a good time together and they remembered to bring me the Thanksgiving Day paper:)

These are the only pictures I have of Thanksgiving Day. It was just the 5 of us which we are used to now. Derek was in charge of the turdkey and he stuffed her with all kinds of fruits and vegis! It was delicious though. Gracie was so excited about getting the wishbone out because she had just learned about it at school. Abby was willing to go at it with her and Gracie ended up with the winning piece! We enjoyed our day together watching the Macy's parade and looking throught the black friday ads (even thought we didn't go shopping) and we went to the movies to see Puss in Boots. We are grateful for all we have and for the many blessings that our Heavenly Father has given to us.

4H Festivities

For 4H every year the girls participate in Christmas caroling at a local assisted living home. They enjoy singing the songs and the elderly are so happy the kids come to visit. It has been a 4H tradition for 11 years!

We also get the opportunity to be in the Carson Valley Festival of Lights Parade and so this was our first year doing that. I haven't gone in years past because I know that it is cold and thought the girls would be miserable, but this year we decided to go for it.. Daddy and Bryanna were participating in the Ducks Unlimited float also. While we waited for the parade to start we did okay with the cold but once it got dark and the float started going we were freezing!! I think it was 29 degrees. We had hand warmers and toe warmers, a blanket and we were still freezing our buns off. Needless to say the girls aren't looking forward to it next year and I'm secretly glad:) We did get to warm up afterwards with pizza and hot chocolate so that made it a little bit worth it. Derek, Bryanna and Maggie made it in the local newspaper from the parade. We trying to get a copy of it so we can post the picture!

Happy Halloween

Our cute trick-or-treaters

Aaaarrgh!

Aaaarrgghh, again!

rah, rah, rah!

silly!

The loot..

more loot...

and more!

It was a "sweet" Halloween. The girls went trick or treating in our neighborhood with Derek while I finished dinner and then after they came home to eat I took them out again. They got a ton of candy!! We are doing the one piece a day rule with the occasional sneak by daddy and mommy;)
I have to say I am relieved Halloween is over so we can move on to the rest of fall. The cool weather has definitely moved it's way in.

Nevada Day

Here in Nevada we celebrate our own day..NEVADA DAY! We went to the parade for the first time since we moved here with our friends. It was a cool morning but the sun was shining. The parade was very long though and we ended up leaving a bit early because we were ready for lunch. Happy Nevada Day!

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins is a daddy job at our house, so although he is not in the picture, he did all the helping. The girls drew the faces, scooped the guts, and cut out their own pumpkins with a little help from daddy's drill. I decided to paint polka dots on mine and Derek's pumpkins!

Trunk-or-Treat

Aaaarrggh!

Trunk-or-Treat is one of our favorite things every year. This year we invited a few of our friends to come with us. We had soup and salad for dinner and then headed out to the parking lot for the good stuff! It was a lot of fun. Halloween can be over now.

The P-Patch 2011

This is the second year we have enjoyed the Pumpkin Patch at Lattin Farms. It is in Fallon which is a little over and hour away from us, but I love going because it's a nice little family friendly farm. It's not over commercialized and not very expensive. You get to take a hay ride out to the fields and pick your pumpkin right off their vines. They also have some super yummy pumpkin cookies! The girls enjoy the cow train and seeing the goats, chickens and crazy huge Turkey this year. The pumpkin patch is my favorite thing about Fall/Halloween. I look forward to it every year and I think the girls would agree.

The famous cow train and Lattin Farms Sign

Thanksgiving Dinner!
The girls told Daddy to smile because he never smiles in pictures!
We got to pick our pumpkins right off the vines



This picture was a little awkward because the guy in the back would not get the hint to move, so Derek just took the picture anyway. I need to learn how to use Photoshop so I can delete them out!
The pumpkins were all in this grove of Sunflowers. It was so beautiful.