Merry, Merry Christmas!

For Christmas Eve, we had our friends, Holly, Brad, Eva, and little Thomas, over for dinner and games. We stuffed our bellies so full of the delicious ham dinner that we needed to wait a little bit before eating dessert.

The guys played some ping pong,

while the girls made some graham cracker houses.

Calvin and Thomas were already sleeping at this point. Then Chris and I taught Brad and Holly the game of Citadels. It was a great night and we had a lot of fun!

This was Calvin's first Christmas so Lila showed him the ropes by opening her stocking first.

She loves bananas!

Calvin looks excited doesn't he?

Then we opened presents. I thought these next few pictures were funny.

Let's open this.

Ooh, paper.

Is this mine?

You can have it. I want the paper.

Then we went to church. We heard messages about Christ, His birth, and His example of service. It was a great way to feel the Christmas spirit on this wonderful day. I also love singing Christmas hymns and we sang one of my favorites, 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'. This time of year is my favorite and I look forward to it all year long. There is just something magical in the air:)

I also love the feeling of a new beginning that comes when January rolls around. Here's to the ending of an exciting year and looking forward to what lies in store for us next year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yummy

Look What I Did!

I held still while my mom traced my hand for a turkey picture.

I colored my hand turkey all by myself.

I pulled myself up.

I made Christmas ornaments.

Chris put together this tree table/stand.

We love the way it turned out:)

Before...

after!!

(Ginny did this, btw)

Also this...

and this.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Utah. It was an entire week of fun, stuffing our faces, lots of shopping, poor sleep, and tons of babysitters to entertain our kids. We loved being around family and wished we all lived closer.

I was too busy or maybe a little lazy to whip out the camera, so I had to borrow these pictures (Thanks Katie!).

I'm still recovering from eating so much chocolate...

and pie. It was so yummy!

Our kids were the life of the party. We loved watching everyone interact with Lila and Calvin.

I only wish I had pictures of everyone.

I didn't know if Lila could handle us taking her away from her aunt Katie. They were inseparable!

Oh and I got to see my friend Kzimbo and meet her hubby for the first time. It was really great seeing her too!

Here's a pic of Chris' parents, also known as Nana and Papa to the kids.

They are constantly serving and work so hard to provide a great time when we come to visit. All I can say is, mission accomplished.

Last but not least, another effort at a family picture.

We are getting better but it's gonna be quite the effort to get everyone to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Third times a charm, right?

I'm hoping:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

See The Resemblance?

Like father...

like son.

Love them both:)

Today

Today was great!

We had fun, I was patient, and we all took amazing naps:)

I look forward to many more days like today.

Lila loved licking the beater after making homemade ice cream!

Calvin enjoyed rolling around on the ground and under the tent:)

I've been trying to be better about starting my day off with prayer and scripture study. I notice a huge difference between the days I try to do it all on my own and the days I ask for my Heavenly Father's guidance. Today was great because of Him.

I know He loves me and I'm grateful for that.

Can't wait 'til tomorrow:)

There's Always One...

who won't look at the camera.

Maybe next time:)

I Love South Carolina

It's so BEAUTIFUL here!

That's all.

What Candy?

We took Lila and Calvin to a Fall Festival to do some trunk-or-treating. Here are pics from the night.

My cute little skeletons:)

Lila wasn't so sure she would have fun in the beginning.

She was more interested in pushing the stroller.

In the end, she enjoyed people giving her candy. Maybe even more than pushing the stroller.

Calvin along for the ride. Waiting for his next meal, as always:)

My sister-in-law, Lizz, was probably the most excited to trunk-or-treat.

I didn't get a picture of my brother, Ben, analyzing the jar of candy corn. He stood there forever before submitting his guess. I don't even think the prize was very exciting but he took his guess very seriously.

Here are pictures of some of the decorated trunks.

Notice the cross carved in the pumpkin. A baptist church co-hosted this event.

Oh and this is Jonah and the whale. I kept hearing other people saying, 'look at the shark'.

Happy Halloween!

"I Was Like, What"

So much is happening in a short amount of time that it is hard to keep up.

This is the only picture I've taken of our house.

Who knows when I'll take more.

Lila is getting so big and I'm always amazed at how much she understands. She is a great helper too!

Calvin tried rice cereal for the first time.

He didn't like it.

But he loved the highchair:)

He is getting his first tooth and handling it really well.

Calvin also recently started trying to crawl.

But I think he would rather fly.

Father and son in matching Polo.

How sweet:)

While she may be a great helper at times, she also does whatever she wants:)