Bowling

We haven't been bowling in a while, so when Grandpa Spence came to town we decided it was time.

Dallin didn't throw very hard so he would race the ball down the isle alongside our lane. We didn't see the sign that said "Employees Only Beyond This Point" until the end of our games.

Jordan and Calin came too.

Tanner got really into his form. It was a little over exagerated, but super cute. If the ball wasn't so heavy it would have worked better for him.

Ashlyn wanted to bowl. We have a toy bowling set at home and she knows the game and has played before.

She kept inching closer and closer to the lane.

The boys each bowled about a 60 point game with bumpers. That is about as good as I do too. :)

Dallin, in action. He loved his shoes, and wanted to take them home.

Steve bowling.

The kids had a blast while we were there, but when it came time to go home, everyone was crying because they wanted to stay.

Christmas Morning

One of our traditions at Christmas time is to let everyone chose any cereal for Christmas morning.Of course the kids go for the sugariest there are.

 

Ashlyn had a hard time unwrapping. She got distracted by the pieces of paper. Would start playing with it.

 The boys seemed pretty excited about their gifts. They are wearing armor. We got some swords for them around Halloween and they would cry so much because they'd get stabbed. Problem solved.

 Ashlyn was super excited about this dolly she got from her cousin Ty, or was it Maylee?

This ball popper was a hit...with ALL the kids. It was for Ashlyn. She got so excited after she'd push the button. There is a video below if you care to see.

 The kids got pillow cases their Grandma Tanner made for them. This is Dallin's excited face. :) But not Ashlyn's.

And I got a Kitchen Aid that I have been wanting for years! My hand mixer finally broke, so Nate upgraded me. :)

Christmas eve

 We had Christmas eve dinner with Jordan and Michaela and some friends. I left feeling sick from eating all the sweets. Michaela made cookies, fudge, and toffee. Plus we had all the traditional stuff. It was a fun afternoon. We look forward to tomorrow. We will have a Christmas brunch with them and go to church, and who knows what else. Play with presents probably.

We see the expression on the right when ever we walk into the door and Ashlyn sees us. She says "Hi!" It's my favorite.

 Here is Capri in her beautiful Christmas dress and headband that Michaela made. I didn't get a good picture of it. It was amazing. She is so talented.

 Dallin loves the Grinch, and here is Nate telling him the story.

 Calin was cracking me up. He seems to look up to Tanner. Tanner crossed his arms and Calin saw him do it, and he did it too. I don't know why Tanner is so cool to him. I hope Tanner is a good influence since he is the oldest.

The kids LOVED Calin's train set.

My sunshine

Ashlyn, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey.

I think Ashlyn is so smiley because I can't help but smile every time I look at her. She is such a sweetie.

She is still not quite walking, but won't be long.

I took some of my friends' pictures this week. This is Sarah with her little guy, Bridger. He is a couple months old now.

 This age is hard to photography because they don't sit, they don't hold their heads up real well either, They don't smile on demand or sleep during a session, so we just had her hold him. Isn't he a cutie?

 This this is my other friend, Natasha's, baby. Tiny little gal, less than 6 pounds and only one week old.

 You can see a few more on my photography blog.

Sickies in "My-tah"

I told Dallin we would be going to Utah over the weekend and he said "My-tah?" Get it? Ha ha. He makes me laugh.

We went down to Utah this weekend and pretty much as soon as we got there Dallin's voice started to sound a little raspy and he started coughing. He got feverish a little later. I felt horrible taking that with us as we visited some friends, but we had no idea until we were already there. I feel especially bad now because we found out today that it is strep throat. We hope no one we visited gets sick. I also got sick our first night in Utah; throwing up and feeling junky. I am not kidding, almost every time we go to Utah we get sick! We had to cancel some of our visits because of our sickness. Such a disappointing weekend, but the Wu's were awesome to let us stay with them, even though we were sick, and they even babysat for us! They will probably regret being so hospitable if they all get sick now. So, so sorry!

Another funny: I told the kids I threw up, and Tanner asked why. I told him I had a "bug". He said, "You ate a bug!?!" Ha ha. How do you explain viruses to kids?

 Ashlyn is as spunky (and shaggy) as ever though. Hope she doesn't get sick.

Stockings

I felt like doing new stockings for the kids this year. Just for fun. I have lots of scrap fabric so I pulled a bunch out and made these. They were really fun. 

Tanner and Taylee, and Abby too.

One of Tanner's favorite friends is Taylee, a girl in his kindergarten class. They get along great because she is a little tom boy.They play swords, guns, ninja, and dress up. And they both love to color.

 

 I got to take pictures of this little cutie today. She turned one recently. See more here.

"I smell something"

Dallin is our child that makes you laugh without even trying. Always saying something weird with a totally serious look. 

Here is a video of him singing. (Ashyln chimes in at just the right time too.)

Nate took Dallin to the bathroom at Walmart, and Dallin insists on sitting on the toilet when he goes, so Nate took him in a stall. Dallin gets situated and sniffs. Here is how the conversation went.
Dalling: I smell something. [sniffs].
Nate: Uh huh.
Dallin: I smell poop! Then he bends over and looks under the stall.
Nate: Uh huh.
Dallin: It's him! Pointing at the guy in the next stall.
Ha ha! How would you like to be that man?

 **********************

After church today Dallin sees some pigeons. He rolls down his window and yells. I ask what he is doing and he said he is trying to scare the "Holy Ghostesses". Nate had told him about when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Ghost was present in the form of a dove.

I found a cute tutorial about how to make these bow ties. I think it is cute on Tanner. A little large. I will make it smaller next time.

Thanksgiving

I didn't get the camera out until we played a game of UNO at the end of the day. And then I took too many. My sister Kris came from Rexburg to spend Thanksgiving with us. It was just us and her. We planned to spend it with some friends also, but their daughter got sick. So it was a pretty quiet, even boring day. 

Nate and I went to a "Pig Out workout" at the gym this morning.  A 2 hours class of kettlebell, spin, and intervals. Pretty intense, but great way to start a day of pigging out. 

 

 Nate getting ready to put down his last card, then celebrating a win.

The last for a while...I think

Just did my last two scheduled photo shoots. 2 Cute families. It is getting kind of cold, so unless anyone wants wintery snowy pictures, I will probably just do kids in my "studio".

It has been a fun, and busy fall. I hope I can build up my clientele where ever we end up next year.

You can see more on my photography blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I'm an indian"

We went to story time at the library the other day and Tanner wore this head band that he made at school. It has feathers on it and is supposed to be an indian head dress. Well, a bus load of preschool kids from the indian reservation in Fort Hall came to story time today. When Tanner was coloring after stories, he told the lady who did story time that he was an indian. I think he got some funny looks. :)

 Have you ever seen these squeezy baby foods? I love them for Ashlyn. She won't eat baby food from a jar any more because she can't do it by herself, but she will hold one of these and suck it down.

Took pictures of this cutie, Ashton, the other day. It was cool, breezy, and a it rained a little, but she was a good sport, and oh so cute. See more on my photography blog.