Christmas Cookies for Santa

And this is what happens when the adult leaves the uneven bosch alone on the counter.

Sneaky Preston

After we finished decorating the trees we hung candy canes on the one downstairs. After a while Preston disappeared and wouldn't tell anyone where he was when we were calling him. Five minutes later we found him hiding behind the couch....with a few real candy canes, a fake lollipop ornament, and a Candy Cane Reindeer ornament that I had made 20 years ago. Unfortunately he tried all of them and ended up eating the 20 year old candy cane! Mmm, Yum!

Decorating the Tree

Once again I have downloaded the pictures in the wrong order and cannot figure out how to rearrange them, but you get the general idea. We have a tree upstairs with matching ornaments and then another smaller tree downstairs with all the ornaments that we have gotten in our stockings. The kids thought it was quite fun to decorate two trees.

Aaron and Kari

As I mentioned in my snapfish pictures, Kari loved singing along with Aaron as he played the guitar. She wanted to sing a song from Annie, but Aaron didn't know the chords so he looked them up. Neither of them knew the words too well, but it was still cute to watch.

Thanksgiving in AZ

Once again we went to Mesa, AZ for Thanksgiving. Steven's Grandma and his aunt and uncles all live there. Four of his siblings and his dad were also able to come. Here are just a few pictures of our fun time. If you want to see all the pictures, just ask me for a link to my snapfish account.

While there we were also able to meet up with some friends from our IOwa days in dental school. Here we are with Serg and Lisa Montes and their six children: Tiana, Angel, Ammon, Alexa, Isaac, and Caleb.

This is Sedona, Az a very beautiful area between PHoenix and Flagstaff.

Somewhere in Sedona is this amazing bridge-like rock. I didn't actually see it because I took the kids home, but Steve and his siblings hiked to it.

On Thanksgiving day Grandma Swenson rented a bouncy house. Preston thought it was THE greatest thing ever. He was entertained for hours.

In Steve's Aunt Ann's backyard there are numerous toys for children. The kids couldn't believe that I didn't show them this yard until the 5th day we were there.

Steve and I tried out our skills with Guitar Hero. Needless to say, I stunk at it and gave up within 10 minutes. Aaron, on the other hand, was amazing and very fun to watch.

We all went to see the lights at the Mesa Temple. I loved that there were so many "willing" and able men to carry my kids around. Thanks guys, you were a great help.

Before we left we took one last family picture. We greatly enjoyed our stay and are so grateful for so many wonderful family. I missed my little family get together in Utah, but I was grateful for Steve's family putting up with us for so long.

Happy Halloween!!

This Princess picture of Kari was taken for our ward Halloween Party. The night of halloween she was dressed as Miss-Behavin' and wasn't looking quite as cute. We borrowed a curling iron and some of those little spongy curlers to put in her hair. She begs for curly hair every day...if she only knew! ANd since it was Halloween I let her load up on the make-up!


Preston tries daily to fly like Superman. For some reason though it hasn't worked out too well for him yet. Keep trying little buddy. Someday.

Once again Braden is Darth Vader. I know I shouldn't have to say what he is, but I do it for the benefit of my family members who have never seen Star Wars.

I really scored this year for Halloween. I spent ZILCH on costumes! Love it. And I didn't even have to beg or bribe.

Here the kids are just trick-or-treating at some random house. I just needed an action shot. I tried to get the actual treating but my camera is a little slow, so therefore it is not my fault. And by the time we got to the next house I had forgotten about 'capturing the moment'.

And this is what happens when little brothers try to steal big sister's candy. Sorry Preston hope your arm isn't broken.

Pumpkin Carving

As you can see, my pictures are a bit backwards. I'm still working on trying to figure out the layouts.

We didn't make it out to a Pumpkin Patch this year, (I know, lame) so we went for the best pumpkin left at the local grocery store. As you can see it is slightly slanted, which actually makes for a great angle of the face. Steve is our carver and the kids are the cleaner-outers. Preston thought the insides were pretty disgusting and wanted nothing to do with them. Braden insisted on picking out all the seeds so we can make toast them. It is now November 3rd and they are still sitting on my counter. Wow, I am m...o...t...i....v....a....t....e....d this year.