Turkey Day

We spent this Thanksgiving in Missoula, MT. I actually have 2 sisters that live down the street from each other there and most of my family was making the trip too. My sister, Holly was also turning 40, so there were plenty of reasons to make the 14 hour drive to Montana!! I had everyone of my siblings except for 2 of my brothers all together. We couldn't have had a more fabulous time! The best part was to see all the little cousins play so well together. I think we had 16 kids total and there was little if no fighting. It's so good to get those cousins together, especially because they don't get to see each other too often. And of course you can't beat just being together with family! We'll never forget our Thanksgiving this year, thanks to all who hosted--we had a wonderful time!

My sister Carrie with her sweet baby, Emmett.

She made the most delicious jello, so I had her show it off.

Isn't it so beautiful!

ready to dig in...

Layne, Avery, Maddie, and Charly

We have a tradition when we've been together in the past to play bingo. It makes a great activity, especially for the kids. Even better when there are tons of prizes to choose from.

This pie was beautiful. My sister Melinda spent hours on this crust..cutting each leaf out individually and placing it in the most perfect spot to turn into perfection!! Great job Melinda!!

15 out of the 16 cousins(minus Braxton)

Mike and Glen were getting a little too close for comfort that they finally bursted out in laughter!

Me with 3 of my sisters....

Carrie, Sarah, and Holly

Ready or Not?

Oh how glad I was when we got back from Thanksgiving vacation, that our house was already READY for Christmas!! We decided a couple years ago to start as early as 1 week after Halloween to start getting Christmas decorations up. I know, I know-you just might say-"it's not even Thanksgiving yet", but boy is it nice to enjoy the spirit of Christmas a little longer and not to have to worry about it right after Thanksgiving. Now I have just a little more time to get our Christmas cards out--oh the joys of Christmas!! Looking forward to seeing all of yours!!Merry Christmas everyone!!

Halloween Night

Ready to conquer the neighborhood.... Charly----Princess Belle

The kids managed to come out pretty big this year with candy. So much that Wesley threw up the next day as Mike was carrying him out of Sacrament meeting. So gross!! The only problem now is that I am the only one eating it all. Why does this always seem to be the case? Gotta love Halloween---who says it's just for kids?

6 years old!

Our little Wesley turned 6 on Halloween! What a day he had! It started off with his traditional birthday breakfast with donuts and chocolate milk. Then off to his birthday party at Mr. Biggs with 11 other boys. Craziness! And last but not least --trick or treating that night. What a fun day to have your birthday!!

Nat---this one's for you......

Only in CO!!!

So only a few days later after our huge snow storm, the kids were in swimsuits enjoying the hot weather. That's right--November--who woulda thought?

Only in CO!!!---the best place to live!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Oh how we love SNOW DAYS!!

Yep that's right--it's not even Halloween yet and we've had one of the biggest snow storms we've had in a long time. There has to be at least 2 feet out there, but I'm no judge. You would not believe how much snow has fallen and is still falling. We've had snow for 2 1/2 days straight--without stopping. You would think it's Christmas time--it is just beautiful! And the best part about it is they've cancelled the last 2 days of school!!!! It worked out perfect to hang out with our cousins here from UT. The last few days have been endless playing, sleepovers, hot chocolate, out to dinner, movies, potluck breakfasts and lunches--you name it we've done it. The kids have been out in the snow everyday loving every minute of it. There's just something great about

SNOW DAYS!!!

Just look at that---you wouldn't even know that that is my car! CRAZY!!

Oh boy was it fun to dig it out!

Check out the roof---the wind has been blowing too, making some interesting sculptures.

most of the cousins trying to stay warm...

Pumpkin Party!

We had Aunt Melinda here with us to carve pumpkins. She was a great help especially with Charly's kitty pumpkin. I forget how cool it is to see the pumpkin all finished. I forgot that I was actually pretty good at it--especially with Wesley's help--he picked out a pretty cool dragon. Drake picked a scary spider with Dad's help and Charly picked the kitty in the tree. They didn't even seem to care about how gross the insides were, Charly was even getting in there with her bare hands.

After we were all done Charly shouts "this is going to look so cute and awesome!"

Bring on the trick or treaters!!

Halloween Party

Well Grandma does it again. She pulled it off for the 6th year in a row. The kids look forward to Grandma's annual Halloween bash with tons of festivities. All from pizza, bobbing for apples, decorating cookies, dancing to monster mash, and watching movies. We sure love our Grandma Jones--especially when she suprises us with her clever costumes! We even got to have our special cousin's from Utah here this year--Tyler, Halle, and little Luke!!!

Oh we love little Lukie!!!

Grandma and the favorite witch!

Taylor and Drake

Tessa, Luke, and Elena(the cutest 2 year olds around)

winding down....