Everyday Living

One day I was sitting up on the counter talking to Willie when the boys came over wanting to get up on the counter too. I decided to take a picture of the boys with their dad.I love little smiles. Henry is really enjoying smiling these days. He loves to look at us deeply and then he just smiles really big.This picture is rotated the wrong way. Don't know why it was good when I sent it through. I love Lincoln's happiness and that he loves to lay down by Henry.
Three boys. Three different sizes. I chose this because it shows how much fun they all have with each other even though Henry doesn't go anywhere.
Infectious.
You must wonder what the two older boys are communicating. Their eyes can tell a great story. Poor Henry was ready to for bed too.
Some of our days the boys can become a little creative. Lincoln began this artwork. Parker was eager to join in making a mess. I was impressed and I refused to let them use anything that was glass. The picture only shows a portion. They pulled out all of our storage and built a long wall into the living room. They had fun and we left it up for daddy to see when he got home. It was nice to reorganize our food storage.

The Reason for the Season.

During this month we have focused on a different part of the Christmas Nativity for Family Home Evening. The first week we talked about the Shepherds. The next week we focused on the Wisemen and the spirit of giving. Week three we talked about what happened in the America's before Jesus came. Samuel the Lamanite gave his prophecy. Christmas Eve we plan to focus on Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

Week one: The Shepherds. Lincoln declined dressing up during this week but was willing to dress up at other times. We are grateful for the shepherds who were there to welcome Baby Jesus. We are grateful that they teach us to follow Christ.

Week two: The Wisemen. This was my favorite week. The boys did a great job riding their camels to give Baby Jesus (Henry) their gifts. How grateful I am that the wisemen teach us of giving. The Savior gave His life for us and I am grateful for Him. At the end of our lesson the three wisemen took cookies to three of our neighbors. Upon returning I asked Parker how he felt after giving the cookies away, he replied "cold."

Here is Joseph and Baby Jesus located near the star.

The three Wisemen.

Week three: Samuel the Lamanite. This lesson taught us about Samuels prophecy in the America's of Jesus Christ's birth. We taught the boys about the night being day and that Samuel didn't get hurt by the people throwing things at him. The activity was an idea from President Eyring, throwing aluminum foil balls at our Samuel (Lincoln). We don't have pictures of this night or of Christmas Eve.

A trip down South.

We took the boys for a little vacation to Disney World. Willie and I did the Disney Give a Day Get a Day. Back in April we did service in Piedmont Park for a few hours. In return we were given one day vouchers to use at Disney World. We headed down on Thursday and went to the park on Friday. We were all getting sick but we still had a great time. Some of the highlights were;

Riding into the park on the monorail.The first ride of the day, Dumbo. The boys didn't want to leave it. I wasn't sure what they would think of all the rides but with Dumbo we learned that they would enjoy the day.

It's a Small World. Parker was stoked about this ride. He loved looking at all the countries. It's good we didn't get in trouble from having him stand up on the ride.

The carousel and spinning in the teacups. We tried to go faster and faster.

The race cars. The boys were hilarious on this ride. Parker wanted to drive. I pushed the gas and headed out. The steering wheel was a little difficult for him to handle, he had his driver's license in one hand. In the end we bounced from side to side until Parker got hit in the head with a violent jerk and the steering wheel got him.

Riding the train back to Toontown was interesting. Lindy and I took all five kids without the strollers. We were told you couldn't take them on the train, when we arrived on the platform we saw a few strollers. Willie and John took the strollers to where we were going to meet them. It turned out okay in the end and probably was good we didn't have to worry about getting the strollers on the train.

During a break Willie pulled out a Clementine and started peeling it. A lady walking by said 'wow, I can really smell those orangecicles.'
After a couple of tantrums we realized that the "happiest place on earth" is only happy if we make it that way. We did have a great time and we try to remember the happy moments of the day.

Another time that Lindy and I took all the kids was on the 'people mover.' We did pretty good, the toughest part was getting them on the ride while it was moving. The scariest part was in the long tunnel that was really dark and Parker had a hard time finding me (he was sitting across from me).

Willie and I were privileged to go on a short date, Space Mountain was great. Thanks Lindy and John for watching all the kids.

The parade of Disney Characters, not what I was expecting but the kids enjoyed it.

The balloon in the back is the one I would have taken home for my kids if it were free. Since in wasn't free I took a picture instead. :)

It was great fun to meet Mickey and Minnie. The room was surprisingly quiet. I think the kids were in a little shock from seeing some famous mice.

The last ride of the day was Dumbo. We didn't get to ride on the carousel again because we didn't have wristbands. The park had a special holiday thing going on that we decided not to pay extra for. Parker was so disappointed. It is one thing he remembers from our trip. Before we left we took pictures of the castle lit up for the holidays. Isn't it so beautiful?

Saturday we took the boys to the Orlando Temple. Willie and I took turns going in. It was great to visit a temple that we hadn't been to before. I'm slowly working on my goal of doing work in 50 temples before I'm 50. I adapted the idea from my aunt who visited all 50 States before she was 50.

When we returned to the condo we went swimming with the Salmons. The water was nice and warm but the air outside kept getting cooler. Lincoln was freezing anytime he would get out to jump back into the pool. I think that will be the last swim time before next summer.

Heading home. We knew that Lincoln was happy because of his singing in the car.

Oh Christmas Tree.

Hunter's Tree farm. We found this farm a few years ago and loved the service. We had so much fun this year. It was a bit chilly but we had a great time. The boys had fallen asleep on the way up and it reflects in the first few photos. We stopped to first visit with Santa because we knew he was only visiting for a short time. In fact the kids were some of his last visitors. There is an old red tractor that we took Parker's picture on two years ago. He has grown up a bit. Now we have two more kids since that time. Lincoln was really tired and wanted Willie to hold him constantly. Henry was asleep for most of the time. Once we saw Santa and took pictures on the tractor we went searching for our Christmas tree.
Lincoln finally woke up and started having some fun. The boys found sticks and rocks to play with. They had a lot of fun. Parker liked finding the trees.
We found our perfect 7 1/2 foot Christmas Tree. Willie did the honors of cutting the tree.

While we waited for the tree to be wrapped up and placed on our car we took a hay ride around the farm and participated in a few fun activities.

One activity was riding a horse. This was Parker's first time riding a horse and he did a great job. Lincoln didn't get to ride and he seemed content to play with the dog that was near-by. Parker was the last.

Another activity was making ornaments with some wood that had been cut from the trees. Parker liked putting the stickers on the wood.
We had fun picking out our Christmas tree. I love getting ready for the Christmas season. This year we get to work on new traditions. I love the spirit of Christmas. I love that we get to have more reminders of our Savior. Yeah for the Christmas season.