Silly Samuel

Samuel is 3. He looks like he is 5. The kid is already so tall! We figure he grows about an inch every two months. So, we make sure he drinks milk at every meal. Luckily (for us all!) he loves it, so much that he often drinks 2-3 glasses at every meal.

On Sunday, we went to church and the Sacrament trays were going around. After Samuel took the water, he leaned over to Jeff and said, "too bad they don't have milk here."

Christmas Tree

For the first time in our 10+ years of marriage, we went up in the mountains and cut down a tree! We usually get our tree at Home Depot or Lowes (after looking at the Christmas Tree lots and deciding they are too expensive). Last year, Jared and Kaylene cut one down for us, so this year we returned the favor and cut one down for them!

We took the family and went to Woodland Park (by Colo. Springs) and made it a day...a very fun day. I really was there too (though you wouldn't know it by the pictures--I was the one behind the lens).

Photo Tip #1, don't take pictures into the sun...sorry!

It was a big deal for Jeff to find the "perfect" trees, just the right height and as full as we could find. We saw a lot of super nice little trees, but they were a little on the short side.

Meanwhile....we took pictures!

Eliza

Samuel

Sarah

David

David was pretty cozy in my Sweet Pod. Near the end all the kids were complaining about being cold. I told them to be tough and that it wasn't cold at all! Once we got up to the truck and I got David off of me and in his car seat, I changed my mind. Funny how suddenly not having your own personal heater changes the temperature!

We got the tree home, up and decorated, it looked so fun, I just had to take more photos. This time we set the timer, so we all could be in it (except for David, he was too tired).

The only one we got Samuel to hold still in, but glass-glare on the mom.


Most of the others looked like this.


It's a fun tree though. Colorado grown--12 feet high. Nothing like a tree to get us in the Christmas spirit!

Craft Show

So, I'm trying to catch up on this backlog of blogs.

The craft show was about a week ago (Dec. 5) and we went with high expectations.

It didn't go so well. We didn't sell a single car-seat cover (Anyone want one? I have 32!). We only sold a set of burp rags, a diaper strap, and 3 cards--$20 total. If I would have had a nickel for everyone that came by and said, "That is so cute! What a great idea!" I think I could have paid for my booth 3 times over.

I'm (slowly) posting some stuff to my etsy store, so that hopefully all those who took my card will call and say they want one.

So, back to taking care of family and getting ready for Christmas. I can't believe it's only 10 days away!

Thanskgiving

The rest of the family showed up a couple days before Thanksgiving. We cooked, ate turkey, played dominos, and talked and ate again! All of us were there. Eliza, Jeff, Papa, Jaron, Samuel, Nick, RaeLyn, Grandma, David, Sarah, and Stacey! The WHOLE fam!

The kids and the "guys" watched Polar Express while Stacey, Mom, and I made some Christmas Decorations. They are blocks covered with patterned paper/cardstock and vinyl rub-ons from Stampin' Up's Holiday Mini Catalog. Each of the block sides has something different. The 3 sayings are "SNOW, "JOY," and "NOEL." It took us awhile, but I think they turned out really cute!

Jaron

Jaron was the first to arrive for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a day with just him, so we saw a bit of "Denver."

We Went to Casa Bonita for lunch (and survived the food without getting sick!) and headed up I-70 to Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill is buried.



Eliza and Sarah were "Annie Oakley" while Jaron and Samuel had their picture taken with Buffalo Bill himself!



We stopped to see the Buffalo before we headed back. Samuel was shivering, he was so cold, but did NOT want to leave!