Moore's Winter Visit

A couple of days after Christmas I had a really bad allergic reaction (to who knows what!)  I felt terrible, and my face looked horrible- swollen with hives.  Luckily my sister Michelle and her family came for a visit and kept my kids entertained so that I could rest.  We had lots of fun too.  And I felt a lot better after the first day.

The kids got to have a sleepover one of the nights. 

 It's fun to get the cousins together!

Christmas Finally!

The big day finally arrived!  And it was awesome.

We had such a fun day together!  We played with all our toys, 

(the kids got tablets and Jonas spent hours playing on his) the girls did nails...

and we went sledding!  

Christmas Eve

We went to Grandma Lori and Grandpa Matt's 

for Christmas Eve dinner, games, and fun.

The kids did a nativity play (so cute)!

Jonas was Joseph, Carlie was Mary, Eli was a donkey then a shepherd, Conner was a wise man, Hannah was an angel, and Kate was baby Jesus (replaced with a toy when she started crying).

 Lori and Matt have a foreign exchange student student from
Germany living with them this year.

His name is Daniel, and he is so nice.
He gave each of the kids a chocolate egg with a toy inside from Germany.

Back at home, we got on jammies, 

then read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" together. 

(We read Luke 2  during the Nativity play.) 

Christmas cookies for Santa.

Skidmore Party

Gotta love the Skidmore party.  There's always YUMMY food! 

The kids love the piñata !  It's a highlight of the Christmas season.

Dancing with Grandma Lori.  

We love you Grandma Skidmore! Thanks for an awesome time.

Neighbor Plates

The kids had fun helping make goodies for the 

Christmas plates that we gave to family and friends.

This year we tried peppermint bark.  It turned out super yummy!

Christmas Preperation

Grandma Skidmore gave us a train to put under the Christmas tree.  

We love it!!! We've always wanted one, but never bought one.  

The kids love doing gingerbread (okay, graham cracker) houses.

We had left over frosting, so they kept adding to them for days.

Our ward had a Fiesta Christmas Party!  It was fun. 

We ate enchiladas and tomales, Santa came, and the kids broke open piñatas.    

They split into age groups to do the piñatas and Eli broke open the one for his group, so he got to keep it.

Thanksgiving Week

To start off the Thanksgiving break, Brady taught Hannah and Eli how to play Monopoly.  Monopoly always takes a long time to play.  Hopefully it won't take over four hours next time.

Luke and Ashley's family came and stayed with us during the break.  

We loved having them visit, and having family gatherings at our home.

Here's a picture of the whole clan.

The girls loved dressing up and playing together.

All of the cousins had a tea party and watched a movie.

The sisters-in-law went out to see the last Twilight movie one night.

It's always fun to get the brothers together!

Here's Jonas with his spy buddy, Uncle Kyle.

(Oh, shhhh, it's a secret)

 Grandma and baby Kate

The kids and I went down to Logan the day before Thanksgiving to see my sister Michelle and her family.  It was Leila's birthday and we celebrated that night.
Pizza, cake, presents, games, and a movie!

 The kids loved spending the night with their cousins. 

 Jonas enjoyed collecting eggs in the morning.

  

 They have shoe covers to keep the shoes clean while in the chicken coup.

Snuggling up for a movie.

 On Thanksgiving day we headed to Grandma Skidmore's for a feast.

Grandma is the best cook and never disappoints!

She works so hard and always makes an amazing meal.  

 The kids love playing at grandma's and exploring outside.

Back home again!  

After Thanksgiving, we are ready to jump into Christmas preparations.  

Here are the kiddos wearing their new Christmas church clothes.

Halloween 2012

We had a fun Halloween this year.  The kids each dressed up for their school parties.  Hannah wanted to be a Jack-O-Lantern witch, Jonas was a knight, and Eli a football player.

We also went to the ward Halloween dinner and trunk or treating. 

 And finally, the actual day, we went trick or treating around the neighborhood.

So, all in all, it was another successful, safe Halloween.

Side note: our kids are so sweet, they know mom and dad love chocolate and gladly share with us!

Duet Piano Recital 2012

Hannah and Eli had a piano recital 

and they each played a duet with their piano teacher, Miss Kendra.

This is Eli's first year playing and he did a great job.  

Hannah's been playing for a few years and did great too!

Daddy Daughter Date

The activity day girls had a daddy daughter date night in October.  It was a nerd night.  

They looked so good... I couldn't stop laughing at Brady.

Hannah won an award for the "Best Nerd Glasses".

(I think Brady should have won an award for Best Nerd Shoes,
 but I don't think they had one.)

They had a spaghetti dinner, then fun activities.  There was a riddle contest, the girls shaved the dads- blindfolded, the dads had to pick their daughter's nose- the girls poked their noses through holes in a sheet and the dads had to find their daughter's nose (Brady found Hannah's easily), the daughters had to tie a tie on the dads (with the dads explaining, but not touching the tie).  Needless to say, they had an amazing time!

Jonas' Field Trip

Jonas' preschool went on a field trip to a local pumpkin patch. 

 This pumpkin patch is a lot of fun.  They have...

 chickens and turkeys to see...

 hay bales to climb...

 a train to ride...

a hay maze... 

and pumpkins, of course!

Jonas gave it a big thumbs up!