Catching up

Since I'm the worst blogger ever I decided it's time to try and catch up so our loved ones far away can see what we've been up to.  So excuse my photo dump... here it goes. 

Christmas happenings

We finally had the ingenious idea to go to snowflake lane the week after thanksgiving - before it gets insane.  The crowds were much smaller and it was much more enjoyable. 

 Spencer cut his ear.  It felt a little odd calling Brent and telling him that someone needed to go to the ER besdies Sadie.  Luckily he didn't end up with stitches but he still talks about how he hurt his ear :)

 Lots of crafts.  The girls made a bunch of these to give to the staff at their school. 

Sadie lost her first 2 teeth!  She was quite thrilled. 

 Beeson family Christmas party - Grandma and precious baby Finley. 

 Notice Amelia running back to her seat after stealing the root beer.  It's always fun to see what the hot items are in the family gift exchange.  Spencer kept trying to return the gifts after people would steal them. 

Sadie loved this m & m dispenser she got, hilarious. 

 Christmas Sunday

 Christmas Eve - re-enacting the Christmas story.  Everyone gets in on the action :) 

 

Christmas Morning

 A couple weeks before Christmas Sadie informed me that she was asking Santa for a rocking chair just her size. I tried to tell her that Santa didn't bring such big presents, but she matter-of-factly told me that his elves would just make it.  Well, those elves must be more magical then I gave them credit for.  I love the look on her face! 

 Spencer wanted Santa to bring him Thomas and sure enough he did. 

 I didn't get a picture of Kate with her Santa gift - it was a fashion design kit.  But she was also quite thrilled with these earings from Grandma and Grandpa. 

 Spencer quietly played with his trains all day long.  Wow. 

 These are the doll beds I made for the girls - I think they turned out pretty cute.

 My parents came over later to exchange gifts.  We spent the day in our pjs playing with toys and watching movies - it was a perfect day. 

Thanksgiving

 

We had a delectable meal at mom and dad's.  Everyone humored me by letting the kids do a program with the cutest thanksgiving songs.  Then we went around sharing what we are thankful for and our testimonies.  What a sweet day - we are blessed indeed. 

Family Pictures

I had my friend Micah who is an amazing photographer take our family pictures this year.  I didn't even think to bring my mom or Brandi to help the kids look at the camera and they weren't exactly cooperative.  We still got some gems and I love how they turned out. 

Ballet

Sadie has been asking to do ballet for a while but I was scared.  I had bad visions of her tripping or running into someone and getting a cut.  But I also want her to do things she enjoys and recognize how amazing her body is even if her skin is "fragile."  I finally found a little class through our parks and rec that would be perfect, just four weeks long and a decently small group.  It was totally low-key and Sadie had a great time.  This was their last class that parents could come take all the pictures they wanted :)  She was so cute!

Halloween

Kate - Cleopatra.  She saw this in one of those cursed catalogs and couldn't get over it.  I told her I would pay for half. That is a lot more then I am usually willing to spend on costumes but it turned out so cute and she was thrilled! 

Sadie - Kitty. She changed her mind several times about what to be.  She wore a princess costume to a Halloween party we went to, refused to dress up for the ward trunk or treat, and settled on a kitty for Halloween itself.  She was adorable. 

 Spencer - Gnome.  I bought this costume a couple years ago when I saw it in Target on clearance and almost peed my pants laughing.  I figured this is probably the last year I will have complete say over what he wears.  But believe me he didn't want anything to do with that hat, much less the beard.  He kept ripping it off and saying "I don't like that hat!"  - we even caught it on video.  This is a rare moment that he actually wore it, but most of Halloween was spent without it.  Oh well. 

 Cade - Bumblebee.  It was so fun having my mom and Brandi's family come trick-or-treating with us.  We went to the local mall - which was insane - even us adults dressed up :)

 Dinner - Taco soup and corn muffins, plus some little fruit parfaits that looked like candy corn.  Then off trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  The kids all got such a kick out of this.  Fun times.