Santa Visit

Santa stopped by our house tonight and it was so fun!

 Our neighbors came over to join in the festivities and Hallie got to be Santa's page turner (his gloves were making that job tricky).  He read the kids a book about the nativity and why we really have Christmas which I thought was so nice.  

 I think this is the first year Kyle has actually sat on Santa's lap since he was a newborn.

 Grace seemed shocked when she realized who was in our house.  She loved it and couldn't stop bouncing up and down.

 I think Kyle grinned the whole time he was here.

 The wheels in Evan's head were turning.  This was when they were all telling him what they wanted for Christmas.

Addison did a lot of jumping up and down with Grace, and eventually at least talked to Santa, no sitting on his lap though.

 Group hug before Santa headed out.  The kids all said it was one of Santa's helpers, since Santa is obviously busy at the North Pole this time of year, but they loved it and were so glad to finally know that their wishes were getting delivered to Santa.  Now we wait to see if Santa got everything they asked for.

Christmas Happenings

 The great Christmas tree hunt 2012

 Grace enjoyed measuring lots of small trees. 

 The tree all decorated. Creepy Santa still works.  I should take pictures of the kids decorating, but I always forget.  Grace was so excited to put the ornaments on, and she actually figured out how to do it this year which was fun.  She continues to use her skills of hanging the ornaments daily as she redecorates the tree.

 Our front porch this year.  I saw some ideas on pinterest I liked and we tried to recreate them on a budget.  I'm pretty happy with the results.

 The annual gingerbread house. 

It was a messy process, and not as pretty and artistic as Brandon would've liked, but the kids had a fabulous time sticking candy all over it. 

 

Halloween

 We are losers, and didn't get great pictures of the kids in their costumes this year.  Grace had been asleep all day (literally) and we were trying to get the trick-or-treating in while we had her awake.  I think she slept about 20 hours that day. Anyway, Grace was an adorable owl.  I need to dress her up again and get a better picture.

 Evan was a creepy skeleton, including painting his face.  They had masks but I wouldn't let them go door-to-door in them.

Cute little skeleton Kyle.  He did not want face paint, but he was awesome this year.  He has been so shy in the past, but this year he was running from house to house saying trick-or-treat.  The boys filled their buckets, plus a little extra for Grace since she went home early.  Such sweet brothers.

Random Pics

 Back in August/September our friends moved in next door.  They were moving from the other side of the development, and this was how they got their piano over.  It was so funny to watch four men walking a piano on two dollys around the block.  Seriously awesome, especially since it wasn't my piano.

 We bought guinea pigs.  The one on the left is Cinnamon, and the one on the right is Buttercup.  They were 3 or 4 months old when we got them, and they have grown quite a bit since then.  The kids love them.  They can hold them, they read to them, and Grace loves to harass them.  We got a hamster when we sold the dog (I need to get a picture of Penny I guess), and we like her, but you can't hold her because she gets away.  That's how we ended up with these two, and honestly, they are pretty hilarious.

 Grace still loves her daddy.  She was very glad when his 6 weeks of work in Portland ended.

 Our trip to the pumpkin patch.  We take the kids to the pumpkin patch for the experience, and then buy our pumpkins at Walmart because we're cheap.  Win-win for everyone.

Totally random pic, but we had a thing of eggs from Costco, and more than half of the eggs were double yolks.  It was probably 18-20 of the 24 eggs.  This pic is just 2 cracked eggs.  It was crazy!

Papa's Wedding

Brandon's dad got married October 20th.  Our kids have really taken to Grandma Sherry and she has been great with them.  

 The boys were so excited for cousins to come and hang out at the "party."

It was fun to have so much family in town, even though we didn't take pictures of many of them.  This is Brandon's cute grandparents.  I seriously love them.  They are the sweetest people ever and I wish we lived closer to them.  Perhaps we will be visiting them more often now that Gene and Sherry are moving near them. 

 The wedding cake Doug made.  I think we have our cake decorator for our kids weddings picked out :)

Last but not least, our cute girl.  I know this isn't how her hair was supposed to look, but I think its cute.  She loves putting things behind her ear lately, thanks to Handy Manny, and thought the flower was very fun.

Missing Teeth

Kyle lost his first tooth October 20th (I know I'm behind).  He announced on Wednesday or so during breakfast that it was wiggly.  He has made similar announcements several times before, but I checked and sure enough.  After wiggling and wiggling it Saturday morning it was very loose.  He wanted my dad to pull it, but I convinced him to let me try once.  By the time I grabbed tissue the tooth had fallen out and was sitting in his lip.  He was shocked and so excited!  Now he has another loose one and can't wait for it to come out too.