::Santa::

We made our annual visit to see Santa up in Mantua last night.  It was so cold!  It think the temperature was somewhere around 16 degrees.  We had Matt stand in line while we all waited in the car (poor Matt!!).  So, just as in years past, it was a bit of a rush to sit on his lap and tell him what we want so we can make sure we're not holding up the line, and during the rush, we didn't get our group picture!  I'm so sad about it!  I can't even talk about it, I'm so sad!

Anyway, the kids were pretty good with Santa.  Chloe told him she wants an iPod, Portie told him he wants and Angry Birds game and a Mario, Bubb told him the same as Port and also a computer and a big Denali and a lego set (he cried a bit-he wouldn't sit on his lap), and Avie just sort of stared-but she didn't cry.  Then it was on to get some hot chocolate and a doughnut and chat with some family in Grandpa Halling's (which is now Aunt Lynette's) house.


 
And that was our Monday night.

::school pictures & a hurricane::

The kids actually got their school pictures back probably a month ago, but I kept forgetting to post them. So here they are. I thought they turned out way cute!



In other news...
We had a hurricane in Utah last night. Well, we had the winds at least. Our highest wind gust was reported at 102 mph (equiv. to a Cat 2 hurricane) in Centerville (about 40-ish minutes South of us). It's been big news around here. Usually though, in Utah if your barn burns down, it's breaking news and they interrupt regular programming and all, but this is actually a big story. Schools are closed, some 50,000 homes and businesses are without power, bad traffic, accidents, etc. All the news stations are all over it- and so eager for a big story which can get a little morbid because it seems they want to report more than is there to report on. The one channel I had on this morning (I'm kind of a news nerd-just ask Sarah) the studio reporter asked the field reporter if any injuries or deaths had been reported to which the field reporter said (kind of excitedly) "not as of now, but that doesn't mean that there won't be..." I don't know. It sounded to me like "there's still hope, there might be some injuries and deaths, cross your fingers!!" That aside, I took some pictures from ksl.com Pretty amazing! I can't believe the huge trees that were completely uprooted! There were other photos of some fences blown over, trampolines blown over, etc. I just couldn't believe the trees! Look at the sizes of those things! Ripped right out of the ground!

We weren't really affected. It was windy, but no damage done-our trashcan blew over and a wreath blew off our one of our lights on our garage, but that's it. It was mostly from Salt Lake Northward to about Ogden-ish (which is about 20 mintues South of us). Our trampoline didn't move and we didn't lose any power. Thank goodness!

::fhe::

We had a quick little family home evening tonight. I meant to do it earlier in the week, but, man! the weeks just get away from me sometimes! So we just heard a quick little story about Squanto and the first Thanksgiving and how we can live in the spirit of Thanksgiving. Then we talked about things we're thankful for. The usual family, our house, cookies, clothes, parents, friends, etc were all mentioned, then Bubb threw toilets into the mix.

We laughed.

I'm thankful for toilets too.

We made turkey hand cookies and decorated them.   It was pretty fun.  Most of our fingers broke off though.

 

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow 

:)

::class party::

Yesterday was Port's Thanksgiving class party.  I volunteered to help (Grandma Snowman watched Bubb and Avie-thanks soo much!!).  I had to come up with a craft.  Usually crafts aren't my bag-I guess I maybe should have called Auntie Sarah for some help:), but I found a little turkey hat idea that looked fun.  They turned out pretty cute, and the kids LOVED it!!

I did most of the prep work (cutting gluing and all that) ahead of time so all they really had to do was put him together.  One of Port's little friends had his hat on and said he was the turkey and another boy said "let's shoot him."   It was kinda funny.  That's totally something my boys would say!

The kids had a game, a couple of crafts, a story and a snack, and that was it.  It was a cute little party.  Glad I got to go.  I think I signed up to help with the Christmas one too.  Any ideas??

In other news...

We're going to do a second attempt at our family pictures today.  We tried last Thursday, but it was SO overcast and dark that we only got a few shots.  No individuals or anything fun.  Pretty much just a Christmas card photo-which is good, but nothing for my wall.  So we're trying again today (the weather is  supposed to be fantastic-60 for the high!!), and nobody is excited about it; so that oughtta be fun.

Also...

Avie is the hungriest Moo!  She eats a huge bowl of baby cereal (enough to mix with 4 oz of formula) plus a whole jar of baby food and a couple of crackers for breakfast.

::he's three::

Cooper turned 3 last Thursday!!!

It snuck up on us (well me) this year. Maybe because of Chloe's baptism and family party being in November-it kind of threw me off, and suddenly it was mid November and Cooper's birthday-which is a week before Thanksgiving, which means Thanksgiving is a week away(2 days away by now). Wow.

Anyway, here's my 3 year old, being sung to on his birthday.

We took him to dinner. McDonald's. His fave. Then some cupcakes. The Lion King ones-he picked. We sang happy birthday (with a few add ins), blew out candles, and opened a couple of presents.

We gave him a Chuck the Truck tumble tower (he LOVES Chuck) and also a Luigi shirt that matches Port's Mario shirt.  It's kind of WAY too big for him, but he loves it 'cause it goes with Port's, and it's kinda cute :)

(Avie helped unwrap)

They played for a bit, and then we called it a night.



So on Sunday, we had the big family party (Matt's side & my side).  Even Papa Guitar was here for the party.  We're so glad everyone could come.  We're so glad for family who love us and our kids so much.

Usually the kids' parties have a theme that coincides with whatever they're into at the time (i.e. Barbie, Buzz, Mario, etc).  Cooper was a little bit of a different story.  I had been asking him what kind of party he was going to have for a good month or so, and he kept giving me different answers (Diego, trucks, cars, Buzz, Luigi, sharks,-and usually whatever he was doing at the moment was what kind of party he wanted).  So he said Luigi, and that's what we went with.  The invitations ended up being Luigi, but nothing else really did.  There were Luigi plates, Cookie Monster napkins, Diego cups, a deer cake, and a few tractor decorations.  

Very Cooper.

He was SUPER excited to open his presents.  He was SO cute about it!  I wish I would've videoed!  Oh well, next time.

His deer cake.  We went to the store to order a Luigi cake (give them a picture to print on the cake) and he saw a deer one sitting on the shelf.  "I want a dee-uh one"  So we got a deer one.  Then we were in the store with our deer cake in the cart, and we stopped because a Barbie tote thing to store your Barbies in caught Chloe's eye.  Bubb tried to stand up in the cart (he was sitting in the front where little kids are supposed to sit) and I told him not to stand up.  So we were looking at the Barbie stuff, and next thing I knew, I was helping Bubba up off of his deer cake.  He had stood up in the cart and fallen over the back of the little seat and right onto his cake.  I guess I should admit that I was really mad about it.  Matt was too.  We might have made him stand in the corner for it (for the not listening when I told him not to stand up part of the whole deal).  But now, I just can't help but laugh.  Only Bubba would sit on his cake.  It was a little smushed, but not too bad and it still tasted good. 

Happy Birthday, Bubb!!  

I can't believe you're 3!!  You're cute, loud, rough, crazy, silly, funny, weird, sweet, smart, and we love you so so much!!

::grand opening::

As I'm sure we all know, H&M and Crate & Barrel came to Utah! Of course we had to go check them out! We didn't go for the opening day (on 11-11-11), but we went the next day. Grandma Kitty met us there. We took her to lunch @ Cheesecake before we went into the mall.




It was crazy busy. As we expected. We had to wait  half hour/45 minutes to even get into H&M. Once we were in it was kinda fun. I sort of felt like I was on the clock...like I only had a few minutes to shop 'cause I knew there were people waiting. We found some clothes. Chloe got a sweater, the little boys got matching Mario shirts, I got a black blazer (I've been looking for one) and a sweater, and Avie and Matt didn't get anything (haha-how rude!). Then we went to a few more stores. They had a few stores open this week, but they weren't as big of a deal. H&M stole their thunder. Chloe was a pretty good sport. We shopped for probably around 6 hours. I wore heels. So dumb. They were cute though.

(as the lady who took our photo said "3 generations of shoppers"  But I really I love the guy behind us-ha!)

(the line outside of H&M)

(Crate & Barrel Christmas tablescape.  I bet I see this on Mom's table at Christmas dinner)

And that was our Saturday. 

When we came out of the mall, it was snowing and starting to get dark. I was glad to get home to Matt and the other babies and our warm home. My feet were glad to be out of the shoes.


In other news... 
You know how I mentioned Bubb's uvula being attached to his tonsil? He told Matt this morning that his tonsil is stuck to his tonsil. I was telling Port that Bubb will probably need to get his tonsils out next year (we don't know for sure-he goes to the dr. next week), and all about how they do it and how Chloe had it done and all about the hospital and the whole nine. So he said he might need his out too. And I told him I didn't think he'd need to have his out, and he said "Mooom! Yes I do or I'll never get a loose tooth!" What?? So I had to explain through my laughter that tonsils and loose teeth are not related.
Also... 
I'm not feeling too hot. I have a cold. So does Avie. I felt it coming on yesterday morning. It always starts with a sore throat. We both have stuffy noses, coughs, sore throats (at least mine is) and headaches (at least I do). So all the kids and I stayed home from church today. Matt had to go to a meeting and teach a lesson. He laid Ava down for her nap, and gave strict instructions to the big kids that I was not to be bothered while he was gone for the hour and a half that it took for the meeting and lesson, and the kids needed to let me sleep 'cause I was sick. No sooner did the garage door go down than Ava started crying-it's tough to sleep when you're teeny and sick, and the big kids come up carrying Bubba who was dripping blood from his foot. He cut it downstairs on something. So we had little drops of blood on the carpet from downstairs all the way up to my room. So I fixed his toe, fixed Ava's nose and diaper, fed her, made lunch, and then Matt came home. 

There ain't no rest for the weary.

::she's mo-bile::

Our Avie-Mavie is mobile! She skipped the wounded(Chloe)/sneaky(Porter)/drunken(Bubb) soldier stage (like the other kids) all together and just went straight to crawling. She's been at it for a good week and a half and she's getting faster.

 
 

In other news...

Is it boys, or just my boys, or just Bubb?  They're ALWAYS hungry!   Always.  Bubb in particular.  As soon as the big kids leave for school, the "I'm huuuuuungry" cries begin.  He will have just eaten his cereal, all of his juice, the rest of Port's cereal, Port's juice, an apple, a second bowl of cereal, and half a banana.  The whining goes on for a good couple of hours or so-usually until Port gets home and I feed him lunch.  Then he stops.  This morning, I came out to the living room (where I left him with his trucks and Bubble Guppies) after a shower and found him helping himself to Amberlee's cookie dough (she bought it from  Port's school fundraiser).  He got into the fridge, opened it, peeled back the plastic, and sat at the counter with a spoon and had himself a little snack.  Ugh!  I swear!  Also, I'm pretty sure he's going to have to have his tonsils out.  He's a snorer, even during the day when he's awake.  Which is kind of funny.  I tell him to open his mouth and stick out his tongue so I can see his uvula (that hangy down ball in the back of his throat), and it's attached to one of his tonsils; so I'm a little worried about that.  He goes to the dr. next week for his 3 year (3 year!) check up.  We'll see what they say, I guess.  That'll be fun.  Bubb as a patient--oh man!

::Chloe's baptism::

"We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

~The Fourth Article of Faith

Chloe was baptized this last weekend!!

(the invitation)

I want to start off with a few photos from the little photo sesh we did back in October at the Salt Lake Temple. Some day, when I get a few hours, I'll update that ol' photo blog of mine, but until then, here a few faves of mine from that day...






Baptism Day!
We woke up to some new snow! A big cold front came through and dropped a couple of inches of snow on us. Most of it was gone by mid afternoon.  I don't know I just thought it'd be a fun thing to remember about her baptism day.


Her dress.
We got it about a month and a half ago. It's beautiful. Very Chloe. We went to this little girly boutique-y store. It had lots of mirrors and plenty of space for twirling. She tried on about 6 or 7 dresses. It made me a little teary to see her so beautiful and happy with herself in the mirror. She trotted out of the dressing room and twirled in front of the mirror. We talked about what we liked and what we didn't about each one. She decided on this one because it has little sparkles all over the whole dress and also it had a flower that picked up the top layer of the dress, and none of the other dresses had that. It was a fun little shopping experience with her. The other kids came too. The boys told her she was beautiful every time she came out in another dress. They're pretty sweet brothers.


All of the family in attendance...


We all met at our house afterward for lunch. It was my Aunt Jeri's spaghetti (which has quickly become a family favorite), salad & bread sticks (both compliments of The Olive Garden :) ) I didn't happen to get any photos of the spread, but you get the idea.

We also had a belated family birthday party for her too-since we were all together. She got to blow out some candles on a Barbie cake and open a few presents.





I'm so proud of her.  I'm so proud of her eagerness to learn more about the Gospel and about the scriptures.  I love that she wants to read them all the time.  I love that she gets so excited about family home evening every week (well almost every week).  I love that she understands baptism and the sacrifice made by our Savior so that we may return to our Heavenly Father.  She understands how important setting a good example is.  She understands that we are going to make mistakes and that we can repent and that we will be forgiven.  I love that.  Also, I sort of can't believe she just got baptized!  I remember her baby blessing!  I remember doing very similar things in preparation for her blessing, and here she just got baptized 8 short years later. 


sigh.


It was one of those days.  It was so great.  I cried a little while I watched Matt baptize her.  I thought about my own.  I'm sure she doesn't understand it all, but someday she will.  I'm sure she won't remember it all, but I will.  I appreciate so much all the family that was able to come and support Chloe.  We missed  those who weren't there.  We had her grandpas as the witnesses, Cousin Korissa give a talk on baptism, and Papa Kitty said the closing prayer.  Her dad (along with her uncles, grandpas, great grandpa, and bishop) confirmed her.  It was a beautiful program.  She had a couple of her little friends come-both of which will be turning 8 next year.  It was just one of those days.  

I love those kind of days.