It's Rudolph....

                                               

The Creche

     One of our favorite traditions is to attend the Creche.  This year they had a dress-up Nativity Scene for families. This will be a fun memory for our family. Dylan could have stayed for hours looking at the various Nativity Scenes this year.  His favorite was a beautiful scene made of silver and gold.  The carved Creche's from Jordan were amazing this year and became the adults favorite.  

"Déjà vu"

Dylan made me cookies for my birthday again this year, "with just a little help."

As he was making the cookies I had a flashback of what seemed like yesterday(and is that toothless smile awesome or what)....................................

Where does the time go! I wonder in 3 more years if he will still like making cookies for his mom's birthday.

Hopefully, he will be as good in the kitchen as his dad. Can you believe this apple pie that Mike made. He told me it was on his "bucket list." He made the pie crust and it tasted so yummy on Thanksgiving night.

I was impressed that it was the first pie he has made. I think he will be making the pies for Thanksgiving from now on. My husband is so talented and he looks amazing in the kitchen (even if he insists on not wearing an apron!)

THANKFUL......

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." -Meister Eckhart

Thank you for....

the GOSPEL and my TESTIMONY.....

a WONDERFUL HUSBAND. I am grateful for his devotion to our family and for his example of love and perseverance.....

my LITTLE BOYS. They bring me joy every day.....

my FAMILY. I love them all so much.....

my WONDERFUL FRIENDS. They have been there for the good times and the difficult times and they know how to make me laugh.

my HUSBAND'S EMPLOYMENT. It is wonderful to see him happy doing something he loves and I love that he can work from home.

my JOB. I have been blessed to have an education and to be able to do what I love........

my warm comfortable HOME.... it is my favorite place to be...

I have so many blessings that I can't list them all, but I count them every day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Photo Booth......

At the reception they had a photo booth as their guest book....

Mike chose Ozzy Osbourne glasses. Dylan chose his glasses and mom's glasses and Tate chose a "batman looking mask." (not a surprise for Tate's choice).

Dylan and Ellie had fun in the photo booth and would have stayed in the booth for hours if they would have been allowed. I think they look pretty silly and cute! What a great idea for a guest book......

More of Jerrod and Michelle's Wedding

Dylan and Grandma waiting for the Wedding to begin.
Our handsome boys!

Tate at the reception watching the dancing.
Dylan and Ellie were so cute. They were taking pictures, conversing, and giggling all night.

Jerrod and Michelle's Wedding.......Jerrod and Michelle after their wedding vows. We were so excited to be at this special occasion. Mike's Aunt Kathy and his cousin Enjoli both married in the past two years, but we were unable to attend because of Mike's employment situation. We are so grateful that we could attend Jerrod's wedding and it was so great to see his cousins and his Aunt and to spend time with them. It was a beautiful ceremony.


Our little family at the wedding ceremony.
It was fun to dress up for a wedding.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.....

Tate had a difficult time deciding which costume he was going to wear this year. He had Darth Maul on earlier in the day and then at the last moment decided he would be Spiderman. Dylan was excited to wear the same costume that he had planned on this year. The boys had a great time trick or treating with their dad. Grandpa and Grandma Green were awesome to come and hand out candy this year while mom worked in the NICU with the little babies. It was a fun filled day and apparently we had around 175 kids come to our home this year for candy. We have a fun neighborhood!

THE PUMPKIN PATCH...........

The boys always love to go to the pumpkin patch.

This year Dylan liked hauling Tate around in the cart.

The pumpkin patch had a new slide this year.
Mom with her silly boys!

THE TOOTHLESS DYLAN.......

Dylan had a recent visit to the dentist. The dentist showed him how to start wriggling his little teeth so that they can come out. Since Dylan has been off track he has been busy wriggling his teeth. He lost 4 teeth in 2 days! I love the toothless smile and we told him he should be a pirate for Halloween. I have been trying hard to snap photos of his adorable toothless grin.

PUMPKIN CARVING.....
One of Mike's favorite things is to carve pumpkins.
The boys thought the green pumpkin should be the Hulk and since we just saw Jack at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland, Tate really wanted "2 Jack pumpkins." Mike did a great job!

The boys were into sword fighting, just being boys,

instead of helping their dad carve the pumpkins.

CORONADO ISLAND

We went to California to attend Jerrod and Michelle's wedding. Jerrod is Mike's cousin and we are so thankful that we were able to attend their beautiful wedding. They had a rehearsal dinner on Coronado Island and it was a gorgeous evening. I snapped some photos of the boys and I feel like I captured their personalities. The last photo shows how much they really do love each other despite the wrestling, arguing, and little quarrels that they do have as brothers.

Our Halloween attire for the ward party

Our annual ward Halloween party was on the 20th. Tate was going to be Darth Maul, but changed his mind when the Spiderman costume for his birthday arrived in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma Rowley earlier that day. Notice the web that Spiderman is throwing and Dylan made his own little sign for Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

DARTH TATE......

He looks pretty mean! I don't think it fits his personality, but he loves it and is dressed in the costume every chance he gets.
His friend Colin and him are always dressed up as some superhero....or villian. They play outside like this and it is pretty funny.

Tate's Birthday Celebration...(back to October 9th because I am such a great blogger).

The shy boy as we all sang Happy Birthday to him. He chose a Spiderman cake and he was excited to blow out the candle. We had a family party at our home and had a lot of fun.
Grandpa and Grandma Green gave him his requested gift of a Darth Maul costume. He had to try it on as soon as he opened the gift.

BUILD A BEAR! (THE STAR WARS SAGA CONTINUES..)

Tate has informed us for a while that for his birthday he wanted to go to Build a Bear. We decided that we should do it since it was a family birthday party this year. I thought Build a Bear was more for girls, until I had a patient who informed me otherwise. It was surprisingly so much fun. An employee provided Mike and I with great entertainment and the boys were smiling from ear to ear. Here is the bear that they chose. We tried to talk Tate out of a camouflage bear, but he was insistent that it was the one.

After the bear was stuffed and a heart placed in it, it was time for the bath. Tate bathed his bear for over 20 minutes. It is really clean!

Now it is time to dress the bear...Oh so many choices, but of course we end up with the villain(Mr. T loves villains).

The bear is finished and is in his home. His name is Camo Vader and the owner may be protective over this item. He smiled like this as we walked through the mall to the car.

Camo Vader did end up being adorable and is all Tate.

Dylan named his bear Arch. Why? We still don't know....But hey it sounds good! We find these bears in the house sitting like this all the time. At least they are friends. Yes, my boys do love Star Wars!
The boys love these bears. They sleep with them, change them out of their clothes and Tate has many conversations with his bear. I heard him the other morning wake up and say, "camo it is day time now and we are going to be busy."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATE!

Mr. T (aka our little man Tate) is growing up quickly. Can't believe that he is already 4?!?! He requested eggs and toast for his birthday breakfast this year (we were a little shocked due to the fact that he requests waffles with syrup every morning).

I know I am a biased mom, but this little guy is so CUTE!

And we can't get enough of his hilarious personality. He always makes us laugh.

We asked him a few questions for his Birthday interview....

What is your favorite toy? Batman

Where is your favorite place to go? Home and the mountains and Disneyland and Church.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Darth Maul or Spiderman(now that is something to aspire to)!

What is your favorite book? Curious George (he loves to read books).

What is your favorite sport? swim and soccer.

What is your favorite food? Chocolate milk and waffles.

What is your favorite song? I love to see the Temple and the Star Wars theme.

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT FALL....

Spending time with our friends..........
Canning. Found out I really enjoy doing this and canned tomatoes, peaches and our favorite...
MINT PEARS. The boys are actually asking for them at every meal. Thanks Heidi and Tiff for your help. It was a lot of fun.........
Spending time in the mountains.....We have to make the perfect stick to roast the marshmallows!
If we DON'T blow the fire out first
or better yet, we must protect the fire so the brother does not put it out!
Our boys think the mountains are the best. They had so much fun and we were glad to spend some time with family in nature.
And who doesn't like a smore while listening to these great men?

I have to say the one of my favorite speakers of all time is President Uchtdorf. He certainly has a way with words.