Zoe's Birthday and Baptism

Zoe turned 8 on Wed. Dec. 2nd. It was a half day at school. This means for her birthday date she got to go out with her dad in the afternoon. Her date of choice was a trip to Fiddlesticks followed by a little shopping at Old Navy. Because I had been working all day she got to choose a cake from the store. As you can see she chose cupcakes. I think the kids are so enamored by the brightly colored stack of frosting that they are impervious to the fact that it all tastes yucky. Tanner swiped the frosting off of his and then barely touched the cupcake. We of course lit the candles many times because that is what the kids all want to do is play with fire.
Here is Zoe with her stash of gifts. She is wearing the pajamas she bought on her date with Reed.

On Dec.5 Zoe got baptized. Zoe is a good girl with a very obedient heart and she was so excited to follow Jesus example and be baptized. She had grandma's and grandpa's and so many cousins there to share in the days events. They all came over to our house after for dinner. What a great day for Zoe!

Soul Train

The second half of our Thanksgiving break was dedicated to a trip to Williams to ride the Polar Express. Grandma Chris arranged the whole trip including t-shirts and mugs. It was a fun way to spend time together as a family.

Here are the cousins anxiously receiving their bells from Santa.

Here is Tanner, not so sure he wants a bell from Santa.







Cousins just having fun riding the rails together.

Giving Thanks

This is the crowd that was at Dave and Jenn's for Thanksgiving Dinner. I used the new panorama making software that came with my camera, so it may look a little crazy, but we got everyone in (and some people twice.) Noticeably absent are Reed and Tanner. They missed the days festivities because Tanner had a raging fever that had started the night before. For Reed it brought back memories of all the times his mom missed Thanksgiving for that very reason. Everyone did a bang up job preparing food and we all committed the sin of gluttony. Good times.

Heidi is Six

Heidi had the good fortune of having Grandma Karen in town for her birthday. This is what Grandma Karen got for Heidi. Heidi was very happy. FYI, the finished product does not look or taste very good, but she loves this toy.


This is Heidi's cake. Heidi is not so particular about cakes, she just likes to decorate them herself. She made flowers with M&M's and spelled her name out in gummi worms. 100% Heidi.
We have not yet made the list of what we love about Heidi, so we will make that it's own post.

Ode to Molly

Molly turned 10 years old
On November tenth
Seems like only yesterday
she came, from heaven sent.

I held up her clothes and thought
surely she'll never be this big.
Now she is trying to wear my clothes-
I am not ready for this.

Molly is a peacemaker,
is always kind to others,
she is smart and obedient,
I am glad that I'm her mother.

Molly planned this cake. I am not sure it turned out just as she wanted, but she was happy with it. We made a chocolate layer and a vanilla layer. She wanted vanilla icing in the middle, but I happened to have marshmallow fluff on hand, so we used it instead and then covered it in a chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Because life is crazy around here we did not eat this cake until two days after I made it, so the fluff had all oozed out. It looked really cool, and tasted pretty good too.

some things we love about Molly

(dad was gone, but Grandma Chris and Grandpa Jeff were here for FHE)
Heidi: She sits next to me at dinner. Our eye color is the same
Grandma Chris: She is tall, she is the oldest
Zoe: She is a nice sister to play with, she cares for us.
Grandpa Jeff: Great example of a big sister, born in Louisville during the fall meet at Churchill downs so we could see the horses race when we visited.
Tanner: Because she is so excited for Disneyland, she is not afraid of tall things.
Molly: I love me.

Two Fer

Zoe had an accident today at school. She tripped on something in the classroom, fell and hit a table on the way down and managed to put her lower teeth through her lip and knock out her two front teeth. Gratefully they were baby teeth that were already loose. The lacerations on her lower lip are small. The fat lip combined with the hole in the front is making it hard for her to talk, but other than that she is doing well. Curiously enough Molly also knocked out her two front teeth in an accident as well, but not with as much collateral damage. When I picked Heidi up from school I told her what happened to Zoe. Her response "That is a really bad day." Of course by the time we were home she was already trying to devise ways to tease Zoe for her missing teeth.

What were you for Halloween?

My candy hoarding monsters, dressed up as a firefighter, a cowgirl, a pink pirate and a hippie. Molly went trick or treating with her friend Breelyn, and was able to cover more area. She has a big haul. The younger kids went with the Hunsakers and had a good time. It was my turn this year to hand out candy. I usually try to dress up, but I had dressed up on Thursday night for a party in a dress from high school and to be honest I had two hot dogs for dinner and was fairly confident I wouldn't be able to breathe if I put it on.