Christmas Day 2014

This is the last Christmas we were to spend in our home in Gladstone, MO. Our last time to relax and enjoy our home the way we had it decorated and set up. (Next day was to begin the process of decluttering the house to list it for sale) The kids woke up very excited. Santa did not bring anything this year that needed setting up. The kids all were pretty easy going and didn't really care what they got for Christmas. It was a lot of legos for the boys and dolls for the girl. I was just gonna post a video of them first coming out to see Santa gifts but it was too large of a video. And I really didn't take many pictures of this Christmas, so these are the best I had.

Playing with their things

Dan and I got each of the kids a bed pillow, and 3 of them are trying it out. 

Opening a joint gift.

Audrey is examining her purse filled with goodies from Grandma and Grandpa

Nate is going thru his gift cards that G and G had filled for him.

A happy Colton boy, I think he's happy

Josh seems pleased with his pokemon cards

It was a good Christmas. We really relaxed and just enjoyed our day. The kids played all day and we just hung out watching them. 

Christmas Eve 2014

This Christmas Eve, the kids and I spent the day decorating cookies for Santa. I really wish I had cut the recipe in half because we had WAY too many. And let me just say that I was way impressed at how well all the kids did at decorating their cookies. They worked the bags of icing rather well. 

In the midst of the chaos of decorating

Nate is hard at work.

One of Josh's creations

Colton is proud of his cookie

Audrey is working that icing

concentrating on their masterpieces

 I included all these shots that were taken consecutively trying to get them all to smile but this is what I got. And this shows my 4 kids and their unique personalities.

 All their hard work and again the different faces of each of them.

 Christmas Eve we let the kids open up one present each. They each were very pleased with what they got.

Anything Minecraft leaves Nate happy

All smiles with his legos

A happy Colton finally gets a disco ball

Just what she wanted, a doll to do hair and makeup

Last visit to Crown Center

 This was to be our last visit to Crown Center for Christmas. It has been one of our Christmas traditions while in Kansas City. It's always so fun to go and play on all their larger than life cars, trucks and trains. We will miss visiting this place.

Nate's 11th Bday

My boy just turned 11!!! He is getting so big! This is his final year in elementary, yikes! He has made some good friends. I was able to eat lunch with him on his birthday and he was able to invite some friends to eat with us so I could meet them. It's a group of 4 of them, 2 boys and 2 girls and they seem to all get along really well together. He's at that age now were he'd rather be with them than have his mom there at school eating with him. But I don't care, I'm gonna go eat with him anyways cause I love him (even if it embarrasses him.)

Look at this boy-he's huge. I can wear his shoes!

Danny presented him with a nice pocket knife. It was his gift for earning the arrow of light but we're just slow like that. 

He was excited to get this 20 question game cube that he really wanted. 

He is a book nerd just like his mom. So he got a couple of books.

And of course what could be more perfect than combining legos and minecraft. 

Birthdays are  a family event around here. Everyone likes to be involved. 

I promise I really wasn't choking Nate, it just looks that way. I just wanted to give him a hug and he was pulling away from me. 

He spend most of his birthday evening doing lego's and minecraft origami. 

Nate with his cake. I know this doesn't look that great but it tasted great. He chose a cheesecake this year. I added some decorative cool whip to it to spruce it up but by the time I got some pictures it was all melted away. Oh, well. It was a delicious oreo cheesecake with a lego chima to top it off. 

I wonder if his wish came true. 

We're so glad to have Nate in our family. We expect a lot from that boy because we know we can do it. He's a very smart boy. He is growing up and gaining a testimony of the gospel. He gave a talk in primary on how families are strengthened when they work together and he wrote it all himself. Danny and I came in to hear him give it and I was so impressed with the talk that he gave. It was a beautiful talk. He loves to be a leader and I know kids look up to him especially at church. He's involved with a lot of church activities but also school activities. He's getting ready to participate in a lego robotics competition with SAGE, he's on the student council at his elementary and participates in other activities that they have. He started piano lessons with Melissa this year and is picking up on it rather quickly. He started working on primary songs and he frequently goes over and starts playing those songs all the time. He's growing into a great young man but he's still my boy because.even though he was pulling away from me for a hug, we can always count on at least 2 hugs from him before he goes to sleep each night. We're glad we have our Nathan.

Halloween 2014

 Halloween 2014 was a pretty cold one. It looks nice and sunny but it was cold. The kid were lucky enough to be off of school that day. So were able to get ready early and be ready to go the minute Danny got home from work. We do it the lazy way and go to Zona Rosa, an outdoor mall, to get our trick or treating done. We were done before 6pm so we ordered pizza on our way home, picked it up and spent the rest of the night watching movies. But even the short time we were out it was super duper cold so we were ready to be inside.

This was about the best shot of them all looking at the camera.

I told them to make silly faces and this what I got. Nathan and Josh's faces don't change. 

I thought this was so cute of them, I liked how Audrey is looking up at her brother. 

Nathan is dressed as some Gothic zombie thing. Don't ask-he chose the costume. For some of our other events I managed to get black eye makeup on him. That really added to his look. 

Josh is dressed as "Willie" from Duck Dynasty. Easiest costume ever!

Colton is dressed as our black ninja.

Audrey is dressed as the beautiful Cinderella. Her hair was darling in person but you can't see it from this shot. 

AUDREY'S PRESCHOOL HALLOWEEN PARTY

A few days before Halloween the preschool puts on a small festival for the kids. They have a great time with activities then all the parents line their cars up and the kids get to do a small trunk or treat. For this party she chose to go as a cheerleader. I really didn't care if she kept changing because she was choosing things from things that we already had. And I think she makes a darling cheerleader. 

Each of the kids got to choose a small pumpkin

She is getting ready to get some art done on her hand.

Making a jack o lantern craft. 

Her finished product

This is Audrey's class-the blue Dolphins. 

In line to trick or treat.

Trick or treating at Melissa's van. I think she may have grunted trick or treat but who knows with that girl.