Great Weekend!

We celebrated Carson's birthday this past week.  We kicked off the celebrations with a Harry Potter party here at Hogwarts.  Laura, Ashley, and Eric helped me pull if off.  We sent out acceptance letters to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Some of the kids came dressed up in robes.  We the teachers all dressed up for a day of wizarding instructions.  We had a history of magic class (HP trivia), divinations (predicting flavors of Betty Botts Every Flavor Beans), potions class were they made a freezing potion (ice cream), and defense against the dark arts (dementor pinata).  Then we had a closing feast and announced the winners of the house cup.  It was a fun day.  Here are some pictures....

 The freezing potion...

 I think Harry just got busted by Snape!

Expecto Patrono!


Then we headed up to my mom's house in Mountain Green.  We hung out with the family.  It was fun to visit with my brother Tanner who just got home from his mission.  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner.  Maranda made fun little turkeys and pilgrim hats with the kids.

 Tanner

 Emery is almost as big as Audrey who is three months older!

I think Sophie is worried that Carson is going to eat her turkey.


Then we headed back down to our house were we decorated for Christmas and visited with my Dad and Louise.  Later that night we had a birthday dinner down the street.  Carson was feeling sick that night...

 Shortly (10 min) after this tree was all decorated it fell over.  This little lady might have had something to do with it.  Every year when we get out the Christmas decorations I think to my self, what will she brake this year?  It's turning into a family joke.  She is our toucher.  She has to touch everything.  She reminds me so much of young me.

Then on Saturday Carson went to Boondocks with Dad.  This is our family birthday tradition.  Later that night my family came over for another birthday dinner.  We spent the night building his Harry Potter legos.

Sunday we headed back up to Mountain Green for Tanner's homecoming talk in Sacrament Meeting.  He did a great job reporting his mission.  He has changed a lot.  I'm very proud of my little brother.  I hope Carson remembers all the fun from this weekend and the experiences he had with Uncle Tanner.  In ten short years Carson will be going on his mission.  Time is flying by.  This weekend has made me ponder on how precious the younger years are with our children.

 This is our second tree.  We cut it down from my mom's back yard.  It has character.  I hope our kids remember how much fun we had last night.

Homecoming

My little brother Tanner came home from his mission two weeks ago.  He went to Baton Rouge Louisiana.  It was great to hug him and see how much he has changed.  My dad flew out from Ohio to see him.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

 BTW Brazilian limonades are NOT free refills at Rodizio Grill!  Funny story.

 Later that night Garrett and I went over to David and Maranda's to visit with my dad.  Sophie and Garrett are becoming good little buddies.

It was good to see my dad.

Emery's 2 Month Check Up

Emery had her two month check up yesterday.  She has really grown!

Length 23.62 inches
86%tile
Weight 12 lbs. 9.5 ozs
85%tile
Head 38.1 cm
25%tile

She turned two months on the November 2nd.  She is holding up her head now.  Emery is very observant and enjoys watching changing facial expressions.  She'll copy you when you stick your tong out at her.  She also licks everything that comes close to her face.

The kids are really enjoying interacting with her.  Em is a lot more exciting now that she smiles and talks to them.

Halloween

This post is a little late.  Better late than never.

Carson was Harry Potter.  He has been reading the books this past year.  He read through book three.  He and I have listened to book four and five before bed and in the morning while the kids get ready for school.  Harry Potter has become a family favorite.

Paige was a BYU cheer leader.  She loves everything BYU and maybe some day we'll see her there cheering or dancing.

Garrett was a pirate, again.  I didn't manage to get a photo of him but if you look closely he is coming down the steps in this picture of Paige.

Emery was a cute baby.

We went trick or treating with Carter who was a dog, and Sophie who was Mulan.

One week later we are out of candy!  Can't wait until next year.

Wheeler Farm

We took some family pictures this weekend at Wheeler Farm. I remember coming here as a kid. It seemed so much bigger then. I guess my perspective has changed. We got some great pictures of the kids. It was a little harder to get one perfect family picture. But how often do you ever get a perfect family picture? Umm...never.

Emery

I am not keeping a baby book for Emery, yet.  I am still working on Paige's first year book.  I have things written in a calendar for Garrett.  So, for Emery I am going to keep notes on my blog, then I'll go back and put them into a book or something.  I wish I had established a system and kept it the same for all of our children.  It would make things much easier.

Emery has changed so much in the past few days.  Can you believe that, days!  She can now hold her head up for quite a long time.  She'll stand on your lap with out sitting for a few seconds.  She is getting some hair in.  I think she's going to blond with blue eyes.   Finally, the most exciting change!  She is smiling and cooing when you talk to her.  She has the most beautiful face and precious little lips when she smiles.  I am really beginning to bond with her.  I really enjoy seeing her personality starting to develop.  My production is that she'll be a happy little girl, but very busy.  She going to be like her Mama, always on the go and a little anxious!

Here are some pictures of Emery smiling and cooing....

Paige's 6th Birthday

Paige turned 6 last week.  She had a baking birthday party with her friends.















We made aprons...

cookie mixes....

and little cakes.

I hope she had a fun birthday party.  We also had family dinners with the Braswell Family and my family.  Today we make our cookie mix with Garrett, Sophie, Maranda, and Audrey.   All the kids had fun decorating their cookies and eating them.

Emery's Blessing Day

Trevor blessed Emery on Sunday. It was great to have so much family there with us. I was going through a box from my childhood a year ago and I found my blessing dress. I was so excited I decided to use it for Emery. I was really surprised at how white is was after 30 years!

Isn't she beautiful!





























































Granny Annie














Grandpa Shane and Grandma Weisie














Grandma and Grandpa


















Grandpa and Grandma Great