Merry Christmas!!

 Merry Christmas! I love this time of year. I love serving, finding presents, and of course learning  about Christ!

We went to Temple square with Robb and Carlie. The problem was that right when we got to temple square Max conked out.  We tried to wake him up to see the lights but to no avail. The kid slept through it all!

 Why can't kids just all smile at the same time?!  I love picking out their Sunday Christmas outfits.

Pyper leading the roost. That sounds about right.

 Out of 25 pictures this was the best one. Go figure.  I sure do love these little ones and I'm so glad we have them in our family!

Thanksgiving

 We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  It was Mitch's parents year so we spent the entire day at their house. How I didn't get any pictures is beyond me.  Of course I spent that evening going black friday shopping and although I was mostly alone (mom was out of town) I still had a great time.

Over the break we got to babysit Sadie.  We decided to go Ice skating at Station Park and honestly it was a bit of a disaster. Mitch and I were out numbered by little ones and the tears were flowing from most of them.

 Look how peaceably the indian and the pilgrim look.  A rare moment in time...

Even though everyone was out of town the making of pies tradition was still in full swing. Grandma Murray accompanied us and  of course to her everything was just 'delicious'!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Happy Birthday Ellie! I can't believe she is already 6! What a joy she has been and continues to be. Ellie is a very obedient little girl who is Moms best helper.  She loves choosing the right and learning new things.  We had a special day together. I put Max and Ellie at babysitters and we had a girls day out.

We met dad for lunch at Zupas where she got to choose her favorite dessert out of the yummy display case!

We finished the day off with a great birthday party at classic skating. We had 17 kids there and boy were they running everywhere.  We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many friends and cousins. Even Pyper loved classic skating!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Crazy Hair day!

Pyper is at that awkward stage of hair growth. Thus, when she wakes up she looks like this. Here she is being a bit of pill.

 Finally I got the little goon to give me a smile.

 Even Max was a little surprised when he saw her wake up.

Family Pictures

Uncle Matt took some cute family pictures of us this fall for our Christmas card. He did a great job and the Utah colors were fabulous. Have I mentioned how much I love this State?  I don't think there is a more beautiful place  in the whole world.

 Ellie (El Belle) age 5

 Max (big guy) age 3

 Pyper (lil' Py)  age 20 m

Not sure how this picture got in here. But wrestling matches are part of life around here.

Dinosaur Museum

 A few weeks ago we went to the Dinosaur Museum down at Thanksgiving point. I'm happy to report that all dinosaurs and their bones were left standing after this rowdy group of cousins made their way through!

       Here they are acting like paleontologists. That reminds me of my one experience with paleontologists when I was in Jr. High.  In science class we made weather balloons and put our school name, and science class experiment explanation in them. We were studying weather patterns and wanted to find out where the atmosphere would take our balloons.  Eventually we got our popped balloon back in the mail from a paleontologist who found it out in some sage brush in the middle of Wyoming!! That was a fun memory for us all.

   Lukily they had a few dinosaurs that were meant to be sat on!  Pyper took full advantage of them and rode them like a horse!

Daily Life

As I catch up on my journaling of these kids I wish I could more accurately describe what our typical life is like. It's monatonous, messy, hilarious,  exhasting, and most often my heart is filled with so much love It could burst into a million pieces. So here is a post to the random, mundane and silly parts of our life.

 This hair! Pypers hair is well... sparse. And Whimsy.  I look forward to it thickening up a bit so I can do something with it. Until then... she looks a little disheveled pretty much every day.

 These faces.  Our house is full of LOTS OF SILLINESS at this stage of our lives (and lots of messes).  But these three are the best of friends for the most part. Ellie is a wonderful helper and Max is coming along too at helping out.  Mitch and I often reflect on how lucky we are to have these three little geese in our life.

 Such a little heart melter.

 EVERYTIME I WASH THE WINDOWS THEY DO THIS!!!!!  Literally seconds after I finish cleaning them, EVERYTIME! It honestly boils my blood.  I suppose they are just excited to see through it again once it's clean... sigh.

 I really can't get enough of her. Here she is at swim lessons thinking she's hilarious. I was just glad they weren't my windows she was smudging up!

 This particular summer day it was pouring rain and swim lessons lived on! Ellie is a great swimmer however chlorine really irritates her eyes so if she has a choice she avoids it. Max and Pyper though love jumping in and making a splash.

Yes these three are inseparable. I've been trying to get them to play at other kids houses with out their siblings and it has taken some work.  They immediately run for hugs the moment they get back. Now, don't go being misled by that.  Sometimes they are screaming at each other, actually that happens probably once a day (we are working on tempers right now) but for the most part they are all best pals.  It makes a Mommas heart happy.