Our First Visit With Santa This Year

So last weekend we ventured to St. George again for the Balch Family Christmas Party. We met at the movie theatre bright and early on Saturday morning for the Zions Bank movie. We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks which was pretty cute. We got treats, and a visit with Santa, and even a present. Brielle was pretty relieved to inform Santa that she wanted a Barbie JET for Christmas...not a plane. We also ran into Santa later in the day at a store and he gave Jacob a sucker. That is what Jacob remembers about Santa...he gave him a sucker. Hopefully we will get to see him again on Friday at the ward party. Wahoo!

Our Thanksgiving

I never really got around to writing about Thanksgiving, I sorta forgot I even took pictures. I didn't take many, but these pretty much sum up what we did all day. Laptops...

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And FOOD!!!!! This is Jacob the night of Thanksgiving after we got home from my dads. I was downstairs, and he opened the huge bucket of orange rolls and got the tops of three rolls eaten off before I discovered him. He was happy though!!

He's 2!

Jacob had his birthday last week. Finally 2. Or should I say already 2?! He was lucky to be able to spend his birthday with all of his grandparents. Grandpa Carlile came over to give him his present and then we all went to lunch...

And after lunch we jumped in the car, picked up dad, and headed for St. George for more presents, cake and ice cream...

The Fire Station

Last week Jacob and I got to go to the fire station with Brooke's preschool class. It was fun to see all of the cute kids and hear all of their cute comments. Here is Jacob, just one of the boys...

The whole class...

Looks excited, doesn't he?

That's a little better. At least a half a smile...

Jacob and Brooke inside the fire truck. The kids were supposed to go in one side and out the other. Jacob went in, and never came out. He must have had fun in there. I retrieved him once all of the kids were out.

4 Years

Wow, 4 years. Some days it seems like it has been forever, some days it seems like yesterday.

A lot of things have happened in the past 4 years. A lot of GOOD things. Blake and Mary Ann had beautiful Tori..., moved 3 or 4 (or more) times, and springtime will bring baby #2 and Law School Graduation...Congrats Blake!

We moved here, and had Jacob, and are adding #4 next month...

Nolan left and came home from serving a mission in Germany, and is now on his way into the medical field...school school school...

Anne got married...

And had baby Allee...

And moved a bunch of times too.

And dad...he turned into a biker...a happy biker

It has been a fun 4 years watching everyone's families grow and their lives change. I just seems like when someone is missing, happy things come with just a tinge of sadness. I have decided today to remember some of the things I miss about my mom...

I miss coming home from college the night before Thanksgiving and the smell of my moms kitchen. She was happy as could be with her candle going, her Diet Pepsi with ice in a big ugly plastic cup, making roll dough and pies, and pie crust cookies.
I miss her laughing histerically until tears streamed down her face.
I miss calling her for random recipes that she could spout off the top of her head without even thinking.
I miss her chastising me for calling my one year old a "monster."
I miss her "oh, crapola."
But no "crap" that is a horribly naughty word.
I miss calling her on the phone to whine about how I just can't handle my kids. And I only had 1 or 2 then. Great.
I miss her singing Sons of the San Joquin which I HATED, oh, and the Beatles! Shoot me! And now I miss it. I think I only hated the Beatles because Blake liked them so much.
I miss her and my dad singing the Olivia Newton John duet together without missing a beat. I wish I had that recorded.
I miss her smell.
I miss her cooking and the family dinners she insisted on.
I miss her hands, she would always tell me she was getting old, and I would ask why, and she would have me pinch the skin on the back of her hand. It would stay up for a few seconds after I let go, and she would tell me that is how she new she was getting old. The skin on the back of her hands didn't snap back in place. I find myself pinching my hands every once in a while, just to be sure I'm not getting old.
I miss her love for Diet Pepsi, which I definately inherited. The night before she died she begged me for just a sip of my Diet Pepsi. And wow, she acted like she enjoyed it.
This one is weird, but I miss how she smelled early in the morning, right after she went walking, and she was wearing her black sweatpants and gray sweatshirt jacket, and she would wake me up for school. She always felt cold and smelled like the outside.
I miss shopping with her. She loved shopping. The longer she shopped the more into it she got. Wow, the enthusiam. I'm the opposite. I wear out. We didn't shop well together, but one thing we agreed on...going to lunch was the best part.
I miss how excited she would get when us kids would show up at her office. She acted like it made her day. She would even buy us a 35 cent drink out of the fridge in the warehouse.

I miss her telling me that "in your twenties, I promise, your cheeks will sink in." "You're still in your early twenties, just be patient, your cheeks will sink in." Well, I'm still hoping, but I'm 28 and a half, and some, and I'm running out of time for my cheeks to sink in. I just may have "a round face" forever. Maybe she should've just said, "if you lose weight, your cheeks will sink in." ;)

I miss her looking at my two beautiful baby girls and telling me that they "just look like one of ours!" I wish so badly she could've seen how much Tori looks like Blake did as a kid. I'm sure she would've said the same thing to them.

I miss her. I love her. I know that she is with us, and that she hand picked all of these beautiful babies for us (don't send me anymore, please. Save them for the other three. I'm happy with 4.) Hopefully someday this day will be easier. But for today, me and dad will go to lunch, and we'll wish the rest of you lived closer so you could come to, and then life will continue on. We will continue to have babies, graduate from college, move to new homes, and be a wonderful perfect big family, with just something missing. We love you mom!!

Not Bad!

I would have to say, not bad for the first snow storm of the year! Actually it is the second, but I don't really count the first, it barely covered the grass...no shoveling required. My kids were very excited. Brooke ran outside for a taste. Yum.

Going Private

After seeing a news story on the dangers of blogging, I have finally decided that it is time to go private. So as of November 10th you will have to have an invite to view our blog. Big pain, I know. Sorry! Anyway, leave me a comment with your email, or send me an email if you want an invite. Anyone is welcome!

Halloween Part IV

So tonight my dad, brother, and sister came over for the Halloween festivities. We had pizza, got the kids dressed up, took pictures, and finally got out the door to do a little trick or treating. Brooke decided to be a bride/fairy/princess/angel. She wore angel wings, which she thinks are fairy wings, with a wedding dress that she thinks is a princess dress, and because the veil goes with it, we wore that too. But she did look pretty, huh? Brielle got to be the witch tonight with the orange and green hair, and Jacob decided to be a lion. He even got the roaring and the "trick or treat" down. I was impressed. My girls were always kind of timid at the doors, not Jacob. He wanted his treats! Kids definately make holidays fun, don't they? Normally by the time we cover our entire neighborhood my kids are cold, or their feet hurt, or their costumes itch. Sometimes they just want to eat their candy, but either way, they are ready to be done. Not this year. Brielle was determined to fill her pumpkin bucket clear to the top, and it took a lot of convincing to get her to go home. She wanted more candy. I guess she is getting old. I am not ready.

This is baby Allee, Anne's baby. She is 4 weeks old, and can I just say, what an adorable skeleton she makes! We bought this costume for Brooke and I have been sad ever since that none of my other kids could ever wear it, so I made Anne use it. Cute huh? It even glows in the dark and has a full skeleton on the back too.

Grandpa dressed up as a cowboy/Harley dude. He has on a great Harley belt buckle, but you can't really see it. He was the official candy hander-outer. He did a great job, thanks dad! It's nice for me and Charles to be able to take our kids out together, and still have someone at our house handing out candy. We need to find a way to crop in a picture of Tori so we can have grandpa and all his grandkids.

This is Charles in part of his costume. He is obviously making fun of the UTES. He had a whole cherade going on at work. It made for a fun day for him. He even won the costume contest! A disposable underwater camera, wahoo.

Halloween Part I (And Part II, and I Really Wish Chuck Would Let Me Post Part III)

Part I: On Wednesday Brooke and Jacob dressed up as Barbie Island Princess, and an elephant and we braved the Library Story Time Halloween Party. Wow. There were a whole lot more people there than I ever thought that there would be. We took Caroline, our friend, because her mom had just had twins the night before...Congrats Camille and Jonny!! She was so excited. We listened to a story, and the dentist showed us how to brush all the candy off of our teeth, and then we trick-or-treated. We had to leave a little early to get Brielle so we missed some of the games, but hey, we got a lot of candy and a couple of messy faces! Oh, and Jacob wouldn't leave his elephant head on his head which is why he really doesn't look like much of an elephant. We're going to try something else for trick or treating tonight.

Part II: Thursday Brooke had her Halloween Party at preschool and dressed up as a witch. A mighty cute one if I do say so myself. She was especially excited about the green and orange hair. I was worried about getting it out of her hair, but it basically flaked completely out by the end of the day.

I know this picture is completely fuzzy, my camera was being dumb, but I had to post it. It is her "mean witch face."

Part III: I figure if I really push, Charles will let me just put ONE picture in here. He had an awesome Halloween costume that he wore to work today, and I'm really struggling not just doing it. But he said my blogging priveledges would be revoked. Along with my internet, modem and all. Threats, I know. I'll keep pushing, stay tuned.

Never Too Young For Playdoh

Jacob had his first Playdoh experience the other day. And he loved it! I guess it is time to buy another stool for the bar. We had some struggles when Brooke got home from school and her seat had been taken. And her knife. And her Playdoh.

Carving Pumpkins

Every year we put grandpa in charge of growing pumpkins for us to carve. Once again they turned out great. So he hauled them over on Monday and we dug in. Brooke and Brielle seemed a lot more into it this year. They both reluctantly helped clean out the insides, and Brooke insisted that she do all of the cutting. Good thing grandpa is patient. I think they turned out pretty darn cute. Jacob hadn't finished his dinner yet when we started, so I just carved his for him. The problem was when he still wasn't finished with his dinner when the carving was done. What can I say, he's a good eater! I did make him stop so I could at least get some pictures. Sorry Jakey!