Uncle Kyle is home!

Uncle Kyle came home from his mission in Russia! We all went to the airport at midnight to pick him up! Emmy was so excited that we were going to the airport in the middle of the night. Zach was pretty annoyed that we got him out of bed. (Payback, Zach!)

We made signs and put up yellow ribbons around the neighborhood that day. The missionaries took their sweet time getting off the plane!

Emmy and the kids were so excited to have Uncle Kyle back. They love him so much! It's been fun having him around these past few weeks. He left the other day to go up to school in Rexburg, and when we told Emmy he was going, she started crying. It was so sad! She said, "I don't want him to go away again!" We had to reassure her that it wasn't the same as a mission and that she would still be able to see him and call him.

We love Uncle Kyle!

Cousin Christmas PJs!

This is what happens when you try to take a picture of 6 cousins in their matching jammies from Grandma! I love these pictures so much. I can't stop laughing every time I look at them. I think that they turned out way better than a plain old nice smiling picture. Even though some of the kids are not very pleased to be forced to sit by their cousins. Ha!

I love how much Emily and Rivers love each other!

Temple Square

We went early in the season to Temple Square this year while it was still fairly warm-ish. We rode Trax downtown, had dinner at City Creek, and went to see the lights. Zach was a pill on the train, but other than that, they loved seeing the lights!

And this "Tree of Life" tree at Draper Park was pretty cool too!

Let the festivities begin!

Emmy was SO excited to pull out the Christmas decorations and tree. She did a great job of putting all the ornaments on. In the same 1x1 foot square. Ha! Zach thought the ornaments were balls and took one and threw it on the kitchen floor. It shattered. Zach loves to turn on and off the tree lights and bat at the ornaments. And then Emmy gets mad at him. Emmy loves to show all her stuffed animals the tree. And have them sit in it to see it better.

When it was all done, she kept examining it and saying, "Beautiful!" She also watched Matt put up the lights on our house. Then kept saying, "This is so beautiful!" Oh, I love having a 4 year old at holidays!

She also wrote her first letter to Santa. She asked for a princess dress, a real kitty, a horse, and a new water bottle. Ha!

I'm not sure what we are going to do about the kitty. Ever since someone brought kittens to preschool, she has been asking for a real kitty. I told her Matt was allergic so we couldn't have one, and she said it could stay outside while Dad was home and she would only bring it in when he was at work. I am not getting her a cat, so I'm going to have to come up with something good.

She was excited to mail her letter to Santa.

I'm so excited for the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving Day race

Every year since I got home from my mission, I have done a Thanksgiving morning race. I have even gotten most of my family and several friends involved and it's become a fun tradition. This year was the first year we took the kids. I jogged with the stroller and Matt ran like normal. Even though it took me longer than usual because of the stroller, it was so fun! Emmy loved it!

She kept saying, "Go Faster Mom!" And she loved it when we zigzagged through people to not run into them. Zach just kept pointing at everything. When we got to the last quarter mile or so, Emmy got out and ran with me. She loved crossing the finish line!

And then we went back to find her cousin Rivers and she ran across again with him. What a fun tradition that we can now involve the kids in.

Family

I am thankful for my family. I'm thankful my Dad is still around after his bike wreck a few days after Emmy was born. He got a pretty bad concussion, and still has to take "breaks" like this every few hours...even at football games!

But he's still here to go to football games with and sneak silly pictures of him at halftime while he takes his "break".

And I'm grateful for these sillies. When I had to take the kids to church by myself, Emmy was so good. And she is the best little singer in Primary.

And I don't know how this is comfy, but I love this little goof too. Especially when he sleeps well!

Lazy days

We've had some lazy days around here since it got cold. I have turned into such a wuss when it comes to cold. Anyway, I have probably let the kids watch too much TV.

I did make some pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes on Halloween, and they were delicious!

We've made blanket forts a few times. Emmy thinks this is the greatest thing ever and now asks every day if we can build forts.

I've had to limit the fort building days because she wants to watch movies in there all day.

One day Emmy decided to play Primary with all her stuffed animals. It was hilarious. She lined them all up and then wrote their names on sticks so she could pick sticks for helpers. She also announced that we would have a prayer by Christy Lively. And then proceeded to whisper in my ear what I was supposed to say for the prayer. Ha! And then I had to give a talk too.

She has also started playing Family Night with her friend. What a silly!