For Emily's birthday this year (October 16), my parents rented our favorite cabin in Sundance. We have even been there with Brian's family. We went up and stayed the weekend, enjoying the gorgeous weather and great company. We rode the lift at Sundance and hiked around for a few hours and then went to Provo where we got to eat Blue Bell ice cream from a shop at the Riverwoods!! The XBox 360 was a big hit and we had time for some games as well. It was a great weekend, so thanks to Mom and Dad and Emily for having a birthday!
While we hiked Brian and the boys jumped out of the bushes to scare us and Lincoln got covered in hundreds of burrs. All the kids had a good time helping him clean off. I am just glad it was not McKinley's hair that ended up in that bush!
Happy Birthday Emily! (And the rest of us!)
Super Soccer Player!
Jefferson played his first season of soccer this fall and LOVED it. Some of his favorite parts of playing were scoring goals, giving his coach high five, and finding his best buddy Tommy with whom he now spends three days a week playing (the blond behind Jefferson in the third picture).
Jefferson's coach, who apparently has been around soccer in this area forever, was impressed that Jefferson could tell where the ball was going to go, and played accordingly. On one play, Jefferson flanked the kid with the ball and when someone came to challenge that kid, he passed it in to Jefferson who turned and put it in the goal. It was like real soccer! Way to go Jefferson!
Family Picture Time
Brian let me go to Old Navy and pick out matching shirts for our family picture! I assure you the shopping was much more fun then the taking of these pictures. We took about 150 and just a few caught everyone with the fingers out of their nose and their eyes opened. ...Oh the memories.
Just the 5 of them
We tried to get a really good picture of all the kids but McKinley was a complete basket case--which is actually quite unusual for her. In the end, we have a great picture of Reagan and her siblings happen to be around her.
Hansel and Gretel
Jefferson looks a lot like Brian when he was younger and McKinley looks a lot like me. So, we thought, this might of been a good follow up to our wedding invitation. Are these kids just photogenic or am I biased?
Speaking of Church
Jefferson gave his first talk at Church last Sunday in Primary. We received permission from the bishopric to record it so, when Brian gets to putting it on the computer, I will blog for all to see. Its very cute and he is very cute. Here he is on his way, suit and all, for his first talk in Church. He did a great job talking about the resurrection.
The Girl and the Boy
Here is another one of the two rascals. McKinley love's the camera. She has this great 'wink' which I need to get Brian to take pictures of so I can blog it. Its quite a bit hilarious. Jefferson in the background, again, making faces.
Maegan and her little Brian
This little guy is a lot like Brian. He looks just like him, he's got a whiny voice, cries a lot and always ends up napping at the wrong time. He also hates Brussel Sprouts.
GQ #2
Maybe I have been reading too much Twilight, but lately I've noticed Jefferson's pale skin, blue circles under his eyes, need for a tousled hairdo (he actually does this himself), astonishingly good looks and I think, "Is my son a Vampire?"
Hats #4
These two just can't get enough fun. Their voices are so similar and its hard to tell them apart...especially when they are crying (which is always).
Hats #3
As happy as these two are right here its amazing how much they fight. I can't remember a day that one of them didn't run to me complaining about the other...
Christmas Morning for the Boys
The kids did not get up until 8:00 on Christmas after an eventful Christmas Eve. The kids "saw" Santa and Rudolph out the window and then rushed to bed at 7:00. They were so good, we did not hear a peep - even when the heard jingle bells outside their window. According to Lincoln, "It was more jingle bells than one person could hold, so it had to be Santa." He also said he heard Santa say "Rudolph, if you hear something, tell me!" By 8:00 Lincoln was the only one still awake, so I turned on Babes in Toyland for him and he eventually fell asleep.
When we opened presents in the morning Jefferson chose one of his gifts from Santa to open and inside was a 9-inch Denver Broncos action figure (it has clothes and joints like a doll, but it is for boys, so I guess that makes it an action figure, right?). Truman saw it, turned around and did a face plant into the couch. He was SO JEALOUS. He folded his arms and walked out of the room while Jefferson oohed and ahhed over it. When he eventually came back and had his turn he ripped into a similarly shaped gift of his own, also from Santa. (Seriously, I have never seen someone unwrap with such vigor and that is saying a lot considering how many presents we open in a year around here!) Sure enough, inside was his very own Denver Broncos football player. Santa got these toys for under $4, so definitely a prize this year!
Monkey Man
So Jefferson and the boys had a competition to see who can hang on the monkey bars for the longest. Jefferson wasn't only first place but hung on the bars for longer than the other two combined. It was something like 148 seconds vs. 40 seconds (Lincoln) and 50 seconds (Truman). There was an 8 year old girl there who did it for 112 seconds. It is safe to say he can hang on a bar for longer than anyone in our entire household. Way to go JJ!
Jefferson's Looks
Here is our adorable little boy. He is growing fast and pictures like this make him look like a teenager.
October: Birthdays and Conference
We enjoyed a lot of birthday fun and too many birthday treats over the first week of October with my 30th birthday, Lincoln's 7th birthday, and the girls up for Conference weekend. Dad was also here, which was lots of fun - for us at least!
PinkerPell
Our beautiful little girl was Tinkerbell (or as she says, PinkerPell). She was a riot getting in and out of the red wagon and running to the doors with her candy bag in hand. "Wait for me, Wait for me..." And 2 seconds after they have rung the door bell, "De Not Home Mommy, De not Home"?
We don't have a great picture of Jefferson for Halloween but you can see him in his Dragon Costume crossing the street behind her in this photo.
