day after thanksgiving (aka black friday)

after our early morning shopping i made it home to find kevin had put the tree out! he couldn't take it any longer. this guy loves christmas more than anyone i know. it makes it fun.

i was home long enough to rearrange furniture for the tree (this will be the first year we have put it in our living room) and get everyone dressed before we were out shopping again with my sister nat, mom, grandma freidenberger, janice (my mom's sister visiting from cali), and my cousin kayla (janice's daughter).

we had fun and accomplished our main task of finding something to bring to the crafting table.

we had some great crafts and had a good time.


our holy family

and a trio of trees

thanks for the fun day everyone! it's always fun to see janice and kayla!

with a tree up in my house i couldn't think of anything else to do but start pulling out christmas. i had fun all day saturday decorating.

and kevin surprised us with a train to go under our tree. we wore the batteries out before the weekend was over. lots of fun! and it brought back many memories of the train under the tree when i was growing up.

magic! 

happy thanksgiving

we had a very lovely and quiet thanksgiving! kevin went off to work thursday morning while the kids and i watched the macy's parade and put the finishing touches on our menu assignments. then we headed over to my parents for the rest of the day.

kevin came over around 2 to join in the relaxing. we did a puzzled, dressed some pilgrim and indian paper dolls, and watched movies.

we put a great spread on the table and enjoyed dinner with natalie, grandma freidenberger, and mom and dad.

 

 

a turkey butter mold. awesome! 

kevin and maddy 

owen and kevin 

the four old birds. Ha! ;) 

me and nat (SO FUN to have a sister join us) 

me and wes 

wesley's taking a bite of the drumstick. 

wesley putting the finishing touch on our charles wysocki puzzle.

after a few hours we were ready for PIE! maddy insisted that grandpa sit with her. she loves her grandpa!

around 9pm me and nat convinced dad to chauffeur us to walmart and target to get a couple shopping items. we struck out at both places. THEY WERE CRAZY! but, it is always fun to be a part of it for a moment. we were sad we didn't get what we wanted to PLEASED we didn't have to stand in the 1-2 hour lines.

the next morning me, nat, mom, and dad were back at it! we had great success and a fun time shopping together. dad is a great chauffeur and is always waiting right outside the store door with a warm car to greet us! we grabbed some breakfast (the REAL reason we go out) and made it home in time for kevin to head to work. 

happy birthday mom!

 my dad was out of town this year for mom's birthday, so we decided it would be our extra rare chance to spoil mom on our own. :)
 after owen's soccer game on saturday we went over to mom's and cooked her a big birthday breakfast! it was fun to share it with her.



 i love this classic mom squinty-smile! we love you mom! happy 58th!

 

boxed up fun

it's amazing how much fun these kids can have with big boxes.

a big thank you to our new neighbor for donating them to the cause! :)

LEGO's

owen seriously doesn't go anywhere without legos. he aspires to be a lego engineer when he grows up. he just LOVES them!

the other night kevin went to check on him and found him with a lego guy in his mouth!

out.of.control! 

we voted!

we voted! maddy came with me.



i think this picture fits my feelings exactly. so glad the election is over.

happy 10th anniversary!

 november 2nd was our 10 year anniversary!
it's fun to revisit the BEST DAY EVER!

kevin took the day off and we spent it together.
we went out to breakfast with maddy and wes.
did a temple session (thanks brenda for watching maddy).
went and did some errands and window shopping with maddy and wes (owen was at a birthday party)
then, ended with a date night. dinner AND a movie! ;)
 

halloween

halloween has come and gone. it surely makes for a SUPER crazy day! but, the kids like it so i will try to wear a happy face.

our little cinderella was up early and demanded to be the first one in her costume (notice the mom in her pajamas still). she was the MOST excited. and she did make a beautiful cinderella.

 

we sent owen off to school and then headed to his costume parade shortly after. owen was a jedi this year, along with is best buddy carson. handsome little guy!


then we went home and got wesley ready, sent him off to school and followed shortly after for his costume parade.



wesley FINALLY decided that he would be a skeleton the night before halloween. he just couldn't make up his mind. he told us he wanted to be "something dark". this kindof alarmed me, until kevin explained he meant dark in color...not dark in nature. :) phew!

he was the cutest darn skeleton too, even though it was a couple sizes too big.

after school we freshened up and then decided to go and hit the great grandparents and family on the other side of town. 

  

 

 

 

we visited grandma freidenberger and shirley, tried to see grandma eva, a stop to the jarom manwarings, and tried to see the benjamin manwarings.

i had to snap this picture of wes during our driving. creepy little thing!

then we came home, freshened up for round two! we walked around the neighborhood trick-or-treating with our friends, the allen's, hit the iona trunk or treat, then i passed out candy at home while kevin walked the kids around some more.

it was beautiful weather and a fun night!

happy halloween! 

shoe-tying maniac

wesley is a determined little man. once he puts sets his mind on something he doesn't rest until he is good at it. i've seen him do this with making his bed, memorizing, singing, music class, school, building, and drawing.

this time, it was tying his shoe. he just decided one day he wanted to know how to tie shoes. so he grabbed some old church shoes and practiced for a couple hours and mastered it! he was SO PROUD! and we were proud too.

way to go wesley!


 

carving pumpkins

the joys of carving pumpkins. a necessary evil. ;)

our sweet neighbors and friends were kind enough to grow some pumpkins for us this year. they were even thoughtful enough to carve their names on them so when it came time to hunt for their pumpkins the kids found their names. so fun!

 

 

 

the saturday before halloween we made a party out of it and gathered to carve, eat pizza, and watch movies. we had a good time! 

wes, owen, coop, maddy, morgan, carson

happy halloween! 

34!

i celebrated by 34th birthday in october. my family made the day perfect for me.

kevin made a delicious breakfast and treated me to a massage
relaxing  morning
lunch date with kevin and madalyn
window shopping
cuddled and watched a movie by the fire (it poured rain all day...i loved it)
YUMMY pizza for dinner
and mom and dad over for cake



not to mention all of the sweet texts, visits, phone calls, facebook notes, and gifts. thanks everyone!