Pack Meeting

B earned his first patch at this month's pack meeting. He earned his Bobcat. He was so excited proud of himself. He got to get his face painted by a parent as he was presented his award. He was pretty adamant about his dad doing it and not me. I guess he thought I would make it too feminine. I forgot to bring the camera, but here he is when we got home. He is holding his bobcat badge in his hand.

Christmas Time!

There has been so much going on this time of year! I've just downloaded the pictures over the last couple of weeks, so now I get to start going through all that we have done over the last few days.

We always start of December with a special Christmas candlelight dinner on December 1. We pull out all the fancy dishes and napkins. It is fun and the kids love it!

Here are my little sweeties sitting down for their dinner.

...and toasting the joy of the season! (they were so excited they got to have Martinelli's in the special glasses) Sheem, sheem, banana, nana! (this is a special toast that Dave did growing up as kids and has passed it on to our kids)

You have noticed that one of my little angels is missing from the table. She fell asleep before we ate, and I wasn't about to wake her up!


Here are all the kids:
L (holding KL who was trying to get away), CK (sound asleep), D, and B

Funny Girl

Just a little bit more about our funny little toddler who we just can't get enough of. The other night, I went in to check on her after she had fallen asleep and found that she had done some re-arranging to her bed before falling asleep.She talks so much these days that she is always cracking us up. Her favorite words these days are "Sw-uh" (sure) and "o-tay". She is obsessed with eating oranges. I bought a bag of "cuties" (the seedless tangerines) yesterday morning, and she just brought me the empty bag telling me they are "aw gone." She wasn't the only one to eat them, but she almost was!

A few weeks ago, we were walking to B's soccer game. We passed a little girl who was following her dad crying. KL said, "See cwying, mom." (She's crying, Mom.) "I know." "See need a nap!" It always just cracks me when I hear the things pre-schoolers say that they so obviously pick up from hearing their parents! I didn't even think I said that very much, but I guess she has picked up on more than I thought!

End of Season Party

B's soccer season recently came to an end. He had a really fun party. It was held during his last practice. The first half of the party was a game between the parents and the kids. Here is Dave with D going after the ball.
The pictures are blurry, but hey! They were having fun. Here is L, Zach, CK, B and all running together.
Grandma Shirley was still here when we had the party. We were quite happy to sit on the sidelines and watch with KL.
After the game, we had pizza. Here is CK eating her pizza on Grandma's lap.
The awards were handed out last. Here is Zach getting his trophy.

B getting his

Oh Baby!

I have been asked before it I was making an announcement, and I wasn't. For whatever reason, I haven't been able to go public with this, and I can't really say why. However, everything seems to be going just as it should. We are extremely excited and blessed to announce our 6th baby is due on April 26th--a great day to be born we have found, huh Julia and Kathryn? Like always, we have chosen not to find out what we are having, but KL keeps telling me it is a baby bruder. As of today, I am officially 1/2 way done(20 weeks), so I guess we will find out soon enough, huh?

The kids are all really excited. We had told D quite a while ago, and he kept the secret amazingly well. He didn't tell a soul. We let it him announce it to everyone on Thanksgiving. When he first said it, the adults let out their exclamations, but the kids weren't really paying attention. CK was standing next to me and not really listening, so I said, "Did you here that?"
CK: "What?"
me: "We are going to have another baby."
CK: "Sewiously?"
Me: "Yes."
CK: "Fow Weals?"
Me: "Yes."
CK: "Oh. My. Gosh."

Anyway, like I said, we are excited. The kids are all making their projections on what it will be (the girls think it will be a girl--except for KL, of course-- and the boys are hoping for a baby brother). D got a big kick out of feeling it kick tonight as we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. As for me, I'm just feeling very blessed to already have 5 amazing kids and now to get to have another! What a great life!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, this is the only picture we managed to take. This is during pie. All the girls were in here talking, while the boys were all watching the Broncos. Go Broncos! It was a great game and Spencer played tons. We are so proud of him and are especially happy to have such a wonderful pro athlete that our boys can look up to.

I'm so thankful for so many things, that I can't possible list them all. Hope you all had a great day too!

Field Trip

CK got to go on her first field trip last month. They went to Schnepf Farms where they got to go on a hay ride, pet animals, and pick out a pumpkin.

Here she is proudly displaying her pumpkin!

Family Visits

We had so much fun with Grandma Shirley when she was here for the twins baptism. It really is such a shame that we don't get to spend more time with Dave's family, but we try to make the most of it when we can.

KL really loved following around "Bapma Sir-dee". Here they are together.We had a surprise visit from Dave's sister Katie and baby L. She almost didn't get to come, but thankfully, it all worked out at the last minute and we were so excited to have them, and Grandma was very surprised!
We were all driving the car one morning, and KL and baby L just started holding hands together (and if you are looking at this Jon, sorry your boy is in a pink car seat!)
I decided to let the kids go to school late one morning so we could to out to breakfast. Everyday, B would ask me why he had to go to school while Grandma was here. It just seemed like such an injustice, but he survived.

Grandma Shirley does reflexology and is always nice enough to do my feet (and lots of my family too, to be honest). This trip, the kids wanted to get in on the action.

CK:
B (with L looking on... she had already had hers done earlier that day)

D:

Baptism

This post is obviously overdue. Sorry! Still, it was a very special day for the twins, and especially for Dave and I. It is already an extremely special experience to see your child baptized, but 2 at the same time? I really am thankful for all of my kids, but it was a day to be especially thankful for those 2 and the great kids they are.

I had them get together before we left for a quick picture, but KL insisted on jumping in.Here is just the 2 of them. We got B a new suit for the occasion. He is so overwhelmingly proud of it. He just couldn't wait to show it off to everyone.

Here they are in their white clothes:

They were so lucky to have both of their grandmas here.

Grammy, Grandma Shirley, B, L

Dave, Me, L, and B

Dave and B

L wanted my dad to baptize her.

CK insisted on jumping in for a picture
Grandpa, L, CK, B, Dave

Grandpa, L, B, Dave

We had a special surprise for my parents that day. My little sister has been up at BYU-I. She wasn't going to be able to come home for Thanksgiving, but Jill and I were able to arrange for her to come down. She flew home the night before, but no one but us knew about it. It was my parents anniversary that day, so it was a special surprise for them. I pulled my dad out into the foyer. He was a little overcome with emotion.

Here is she is with my mom.

This is just a cute picture of my little brother, Erik with CK and my niece Evelynne after.
So, as you can see, it was a very special day. I'm so thankful that B and L wanted to be baptized, and am also so grateful for all the wonderful family and friends that were able to come and support them.

The Girls

When Dave and I were in San Francisco, we bought these dresses for the girls in Chinatown. I just had to post the pictures because they looked so cute. :)