Gingerbread Cookies

Each year we look forward to baking gingerbread cookies and decorating them as a family. I love the smell of the cookies baking. The kids always put a ton of candy on the cookies so it is fun getting to eat their designs later!

A Visit with Santa

Please pardon the direction of the photo. Blogger is not cooperating with me! Morgan's hospital had a Christmas party for all the employees children. The kids were able to sit on Santa's lap and as you can tell, everyone enjoyed it except Eve. Maybe next Christmas she will be in the holiday spirit! Anyway, the kids also got a gift from Santa. Luke got a set of police legos, Miriam a set of polly pockets, Eve a doll that says lots of phrases, and Jane a crib play set. These were incredible gifts! We decided to make them wait until Christmas to open them. I am so grateful for Morgan's employment and all the little perks that we have benefited from.

Sleeping Jane

Jane is such a sweetie. I just had to share this cute picture of her sleeping. I love that she was holding onto the ear part of her bunny hat. I wish you all could be here to hold and love this little girl. She really is a sweet baby and has started sleeping through the night. (I hope I am not jinxing it.) She is the first of all 4 kids to sleep through the night before turning a year old. She has started to laugh and loves to smile at us. I am so blessed to have her in our family.

Halloween Night

Take a look at our goodies this year:

Our children are very picky about their candy. I had them sort through their candy and make a pile of things they didn't like. We put that candy in a bowl and sent it to the hospital with Morgan to share with the other residents. The candy they were left with we put in a bag and if they eat their dinner then they can choose a treat.

Halloween night was kind of chilly so we only went up and down our street. The kids still got plenty of candy and we were able to get back in before too late. Hopefully Morgan won't have to work next Halloween and he can be a part of all the trick or treating.

Eve Turns 2

Where did the time go? Look at our little 2 year old Eve!

She always says "cheese" when you take her picture and squints her eyes.

Eve opening a card from Aunt Ashley.

Aunt Ashley included some money for Eve in the card. She wasn't too sure what to do with the cash but she will learn soon enough!

Since Eve always wants one of Miriam's barbies, she got her own this year!
A fun tracing book from Aunt Kristen.

In the hopes of inspiring her to potty train, she received a potty book.

Elmo Cake

There's our birthday girl ready for cake.

Eve is such a dynamic little person. She tries to do everything Luke and Miriam do. She loves her blanket and to twirl her hair while falling asleep. She says to Jane: "Hi Baby. How you?" Eve is our curly haired princess that sometimes is a drama queen. She loves her mama and is never far from me. She loves it when Daddy sings "Grand 'Ol Duke of York" and "Five Little Pumpkins." We love you Eve very much! Happy Birthday!

Ward Halloween Party

My children get their love of Halloween from their Daddy so when the Church announced the ward party was during the week that Morgan was working nights, I knew that I had to take them even if I had to do it alone.

Wonder Woman Miriam, Batman Luke and Tinker Bell Eve

And Pumpkin Jane
There were several carnival type games for the children to play. They really enjoyed playing and then choosing a prize. We scored lots of bouncy balls that night! One of the games was a coloring contest. I was so glad that the children decided to do this event because it kept them all in one place for a few minutes.

While Miriam and Eve finished coloring, Luke decided to try his turn at the doughnut eating contest. I was so impressed that he wanted to do this event because he is not a big doughnut eater. I think he just thought it was cool to try and eat something without using your hands.

Eve coloring away...

I had lots of help from the other ward members. I am so grateful to be in an area where people see a need (a crazy mom with 4 kids to watch after) and step in and help out. Eve was swept up later in the evening by some of our teenage babysitters. They carried her around and Eve just loved being the center of attention with them.

We came home exhausted and after eating a few treats headed to bed. Thank goodness the next day the kids were off from school. We needed the extra rest!

Adult Halloween Party

My dear husband LOVES Halloween. When we were living in Seattle a few years ago, we started having adult only Halloween parties so that we could party without having to worry about chasing our children around. Morgan really wanted to have a party this year but I was hesitant about hosting it since Jane is still so small. Then a friend in the ward called and said that she was thinking of having a party this year and wanted to know if we could combine the parties. Perfect! Jodie let us use her home as party central and we just needed to come up with a few games.

One of the games was an eyeball toss. Afterwards we found out that the eyeballs make hilarious ornaments for your eyes. After several ladies putting them over their eyes we got the great idea for Jane to try them too. (Jane was invited to the party since I am still nursing...) Anyway, Jane looks pretty creepy with these eyes, don't you think?

This game was called "Cut the Flour." A dime rests on top of a stack of flour. Each group member must slice a portion of the flour off the stack. Whomever causes the dime to fall must pick it up using their mouth. Poor Mariann...

Bobbing for Apples...I did NOT try this. 2 reasons: I wear make-up and need it to stay on to protect my true identity and because the water was freezing cold!

We loved having everyone in costume. Here are our friends Snooki and the Situation:

Can you tell who we are? Edward and Bella of course! I am the Bella from the 1st movie after being thrown by James and I even had a bandage on my wrist where he bit me. Until people knew what we were dressed up as they kept asking what happened to my leg. Very funny!

I couldn't believe that Morgan went along with it! Are you ready for Breaking Dawn yet?

Everyone seemed to have a great time and we hope to continue our tradition of having Halloween adult parties in the future.