Christmas cards

I didn't do more than a handful of cards this year. I just wasn't excited about it because I didn't have any new family photos or great pictures of the three kids together. We worked at getting some cute holiday pictures, but this is the best we could do. It's a shame Lucy looks so serious... she is usually a bundle of smiles!

But luckily a friend of mine asked a bunch of friends with babies to come over so she could practice her photography skills. These pictures show Lucy's personality much more. Isn't she a darling Christmas baby?
So we hope you all have a happy holiday next week. This will be our first Christmas at home. It will be quieter than what we're used to, but we're pretty excited! All our love!

November in a Flash

Justin's birthday was fun, mainly because we had my favorite peanut butter cup dark chocolate cake. He got the new Star Trek movie. His mom babysat so that we could go see a movie. It was nice to get away for a bit.

This past month, our ward (Lighthouse) finally split. We had over 700 people, with nearly 250 Primary children. We are now in a brand new ward, the Park View ward. I really have struggled with this change because there were so many women in the other ward that were good examples and always had encouraging advice. But there are many good people and our bishopric is wonderful! We are in a smaller building though, so it still feels like a crowded ward still. Justin was called as the financial clerk. It was strange for him to be the Young Men's President for only 5 months. He really put his heart and soul into that calling and those boys in our other ward. But he is enjoying his new job and has found that it is a great fit for him. I'm a Primary teacher. I've been shuffled around for several weeks so I'm not sure exactly which class I'll end up in. I've taught Ezra's class twice and I know that won't work long term. Let's hope he is better behaved for other teachers!
We met up with friends at the park for the last time this year. It was good to visit with Terrah again. She moved away a few years ago. What a beautiful day it was before the snow started to fly. It's always fun to talk with these other mommies. We have lots of kids between the 5 of us: Me (3), Terrah (4), Amber (3), Samantha (3), Kirsten (5).

Lucy keeps growing and growing way too fast. We feel like we won the baby lottery with her! She is so sweet and joyful! We all want to snuggle with her every chance we can.

She even smiles in her sleep! My most favorite thing is having her fall asleep on my chest. There is nothing better!

Nolan had three entries in the Reflections contest this year: a photography collage, a dance to some Latin music, and a 3-D picture made of marshmallows that he painted. He won an Award of Excellence and will be moving on with his photo collage of wildlife pictures (see picture). Way to go, buddy! His best friend, Jaxon (aka JJ), also won an award and they were so cute up there together.

 We could hear Lucy cooing and blowing bubbles in bed one morning. I asked Justin to go get her (yahoo... it was the weekend so I could stay in bed!) and this is what he found. Ez had already climbed in the crib to be with her!

 These are amusing pictures. Ezra wanted a cute picture with Lucy but Nolan kept being so obnoxious. Ezra got so fed up that he smacked him in the face!

And here is the picture of that. Serves Nolan right! I'm sure this will be a classic.

 After I gave them each a little lecture, we ended up with this decent picture. I love Lucy's chubby belly!

Dads and Donuts was a success at Ezra's preschool. He and Dad had a special night together. Ezra filled out a paper that was cute. His answers are in quotes: My Dad's name is "Justin." He is "15" years old. He likes to "wrestle with me and my brother, do fun things, and finger paint with me." His favorite color is "black." He "stays at work for a little bit" all day long. I like to "wrestle" with my dad.
We celebrated my birthday. I am now 30. Kind of sad to leave the 20's behind. My parents came up and took us all out to a yummy dinner at Brio.
Ezra had a friend over. Brynlie's mom teaches his preschool class. They played so cute!

The boys love crafts. They found this bubble maker idea in a book and begged to make it.

Lucy turned 5 months. I hate that she is already this old. Why couldn't she stay 1 month for a loooong time?

For Thanksgiving we enjoyed dinner with Grandma K., Grandpa J., and Sarah in Salt Lake City at his house. Amanda recently made it to Romania on her mission, so we missed her. It was a relaxing day with yummy food, as always. That morning, Nolan ran a 6k with Grandma. He did a great job! He got 2nd place in his age division and won a medal. Grandma K. said he never stopped running at all. Maybe he'll be on the cross country team some day. And Grandma even gave him his own RSL shirt. He was so excited because he is quite the fan now. At dinner, Nolan won the 20 dollar bill from Grandma K. There's a rule that you have to spend it on someone else. He is hoping to go shopping for an angel tree gift.

No, Justin didn't really feed her... but she did look interested. She had not started solid food yet.

Grandma K and Jon took the boys on a walk after dinner to see Jon's rental house. They were thrilled that Jon actually lifted them onto the roof!

Lastly, we got out the Christmas stuff. What a terrible day that always is! So messy and the boys think they are "helping." I love Christmas time but it does feel a bit cluttered sometimes. I don't even have that much stuff either! And our Christmas tree is only 2 feet wide! Lucy was interested in seeing Christmas lights for the first time. And the boys are beyond excited about everything this year. It's been fun!

Ezra (and Lucy apparently) think it is so amusing to put this reindeer on her head. Is there anything more yummy than a baby's cheeks?

Fall fun!

The soccer season has ended... Nolan sure had a good time. He was able to be goalie one last time. And for his last game, he played against his best buddy, Jaxon (aka "JJ"). They play at each other's homes at least every week. Cute friends!

For family night, we went to a nearby pumpkin patch. The kids loved the hay ride and we found some beautiful pumpkins for cheap! There was even a fun playground there. Two weeks later, Ezra's preschool class had a field trip there. We love Miss Susan!

 We spent the day at Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point for a fun day out. The weather was gorgeous so everyone else had the same idea. It was really crowded! Daddy had been really busy at work and with his Young Men's calling, so it was a treat. The kids had a good time as soon as we taught them how to STAY WITH US! We lost Ezra (what else is new?) for about 5 minutes... we were getting nervous. He had just wandered off to play. Seriously, I wish I could keep that kid on a leash. It's just that the one we have isn't long enough!

 We took a trip to the cabin over UEA. Keeley and Lacey's families were there, too. Justin wanted to do lots of hiking. We spent a day at Zions, did a hike in Orderville, and a day at Bryce. Lucy and me stayed home the day of Bryce Canyon... it felt great to relax and watch movies. It's always nice to let the cousins play, and Keeley's family was glad to see Lucy again. She was only 4 weeks when they saw her last. The kids had fun doing target practice. Nolan came home asking if we could go to CAL Ranch to buy him a bow and arrows.

This month Nolan lost his first tooth! Good thing since the two teeth behind it were practically halfway in. The second tooth came out a week later. I was dreading him losing his teeth... but he's still pretty darn cute. Now I am dreading the top teeth coming in. They always look so huge!

Last of all, Halloween! Ezra decided to be a minion again (I love it when kids reuse costumes!) and Nolan used Travis's Hulk costume. Travis was scared of it. Lucy was a giraffe. Costumes were easy this year! It felt great to get Nolan's class party done. I think it went well. There was one boring game, but they got enough candy to make up for it. I'll know for next time I'm a room mother, but maybe I won't ever have to do it again!

The Rignell's stopped by at the end of the night to say hello. Ez and Travis were cute minions together, but didn't want to take any other pictures. 

 Nolan was one scary dude with his mask on.

We came across this funny robot hiding in the bushes. He had blinking eyes and danced. Pretty fun. I think Nolan was having costume envy!

 
 Here are the kids at the ward party. That was nice that they had a photographer! It was the last time our ward was all together... we were split the next week.

 Nolan carving his pumpkin. This is obviously out of order. But he can nearly do it all by himself now. What a relief!

 Here is Ezra at his preschool parade. He didn't last... next thing I knew he was at my feet refusing to sing the songs. He was being a pill so we had to leave before it was over.

Lucy is 4 months

I desperately wish I could stop time and keep Lucy a tiny baby, but she's already 4 months and so much fun! Here's what she's been up to:
She loves playing patty cake!

 She has been really intrigued by her right hand for the past few weeks. She studies and studies it. But not the left... she doesn't care about that hand!

 She plays in the exersaucer for a few minutes at a time. It's very stimulating, though, so she gets a little worn out after about 10 minutes. These were taken the first time she gave it a try.

She sits up better in the bumbo seat, but she slowly slumps forward farther and farther after a while. She loves to watch me while I'm cooking dinner, though.

 Here is Lucy at 4 months old. She weighs 12 lbs. 2 oz. Which is about the 10th percentile. She is 23 in. long. Head circumference is 15".

She is sleeping better lately. She almost always sleeps about 6 or 7 hours from when I put her to bed around 8:30 p.m. But sometimes she surprises me and gives me more! She still sleeps all swaddled up tight (our little "tootsie roll"). Her favorite thing to do lately is to roll over onto her tummy. She has rolled back a few times, but mostly she just gets stuck on her tummy. After a few minutes she spits up a little and then rubs her face in it repeatedly until we rescue her, wipe her face, and put her on her back... to start the process all over again! Lately she gets a little worried about new places and being held by people other than mom or dad. She gets her little lip into a great pout and then gives quite a scowl! It's pretty cute now... might not be as cute in a year or two.

Homeless

Last month, Nolan said he wanted to go stand on the street corner near our house with this sign that he'd made. It says, "Homlese. Ple's giv me munee."

Big Soccer Game

Last weekend we went to the Real Salt Lake game. It was discount night for our local soccer club, and Nolan was going to be playing in a mini game during half time. He was pretty excited to play on the huge field. He also got to be in the "Parade of Kings" at the start of the game. Grandpa John came with us, and Grandma K. met us at the stadium. The evening would have been perfect if Ezra hadn't started off the night by choking on some dried apples and making himself gag and throw up. For some reason, whenever he chokes he does that. He and Grandma K. were pretty messy after that and headed to the bathroom to clean up. I wanted to help but I was feeding Lucy. It was a blessing that no one happened to be sitting in front of us and never showed up, either. While they were cleaning up, they missed the beginning parade. It wasn't much to see... we could barely make Nolan out from where we sat. But he said it was pretty awesome.

Ezra in the bathroom with Grandma. Ick!

Thank goodness we had the telephoto lens. Nolan was way out there!

The half time game was fun to watch, but I think Nolan only came into contact with the ball once or twice. There were lots of players. When his team scored a goal he did a fun little victory dance. They set up the game on the opposite side of where our soccer club's seats were... that was disappointing. My Dad and I were running over so that we wouldn't miss it. And Justin came with the camera. After watching for a few minutes, I began to head back so that Grandma K could come over and watch (instead of sitting with Ez and Lucy the whole time) but that's when it ended. They only played for about 10 minutes. Nolan was totally stoked about the whole thing, though! And it got even better when Grandpa bought him popcorn and a drink.

Victory Dance. Oh yeah!

He just kept dancing, even though there was some action going on. This picture says it all:

This has been Nolan's coach this season. He's done a great job! You can tell that Nolan was sad when his coach said the game was over.

I enjoyed watching the Real players. It was the first professional soccer game I had ever watched. My Dad is a big fan of soccer so it was good to sit by him and learn more about what was going on. Ezra loved the popcorn and a had a fun time during the second half. He was with Grandma K. during the first half and I think he complained about the cold. Lucy stayed cozy in a little winter suit and snuggled in Grandma's arms.
I can tell it was special to Nolan because the next morning he had drawn lots of little pictures of the soccer game and was writing things like: "Go Real Salt Lake" and "I'm the biggest fan of Real."

 And here's Lucy... just because. She was bundled up to go on a walk the next day.