Baby Molly

I just love this little girl.  She has the sweetest personality.  Doesn't take much to get her to smile anymore.  She just loves to make people happy.  

She's getting so good at holding her head up and so good at sleeping more regularly.  She loves her family so much!  I love that about her.  She has developed some really tight bonds with a lot of her siblings and with her mommy.  It's cute to watch everyone with her and what a blessing she is in our home.  I love having her here.  

Schlaich Maynes Photo Shoot

I felt very privileged when Adele asked me to take their family pictures.  We had a lot of fun walking around the ponds and talking.  My only regret was the time of day that we went.  It was too sunny.  Shadows galore, which is a total bummer and I'm not good enough with photoshop to fix that.  But other than that, I think we got some really great pictures.  I loved doing it!  And I'm so grateful for the experience.

I think this is my favorite from the whole shoot.  Ivy was so adorable!

Liz is just too grown up these days!!  I always think back to her 3rd birthday party when she was taking the time to throw away the wrapping paper before even looking at what the gift was :) So cute!

I really liked how these ones of Brynn turned out.  It was so fun to meet him.  

Cute Brayden.  Such a sweetheart!!

These guys were so obedient with the whole shoot- doing whatever we asked them to do :)

I really love her hair in this one.

Cute Allan.  I can't believe Nate used to throw him up in the air :).  Those days seem so recent!  How did they grow up so fast?

Dan, GQ

If only we could see their faces.... :(

Of all the siblings I know- I think these three are the coolest.  They never seem to disagree and seem to love each other so much!  I am sure they fight, they are siblings, but I only see them being kind and loving to each other- I love that.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't as cool as I thought it would be.  Oh well.  I still like the stone.

Kelly's Musical

Kelly has worked so hard on this musical.  I was so proud of her because she wasn't all that excited about it.  She had been in way bigger productions with better acting and directing, so I think it was a challenge, but she did it!  And she had so much fun in the process.  I love watching my kids perform.  Kelly was a star as usual.

Candy Man

Kelly was an orphan during the Hard Knock Life song.  She loved jumping on the trampoline beds.

And her least favorite Bushel and a Peck.  Didn't love the costumes on this part.

Kelly and her friends.

Things to Remember Week of 11-22-15

FAMILY COUNCIL
So we're doing it!!  Second week in a row!  President Taylor advised everyone to start having family councils at our last Stake Conference.  We had discussed it a bunch and never come to a conclusion on when we could do it.  So the idea fell between the cracks and we forgot about it completely.  I was glad when it was brought up again at the adult session.  We started doing it on Sundays, after we've scrounged up some lunch and before Nate has to leave for work.  It has ended up being at about 12:30/1:00ish.  So far I love it!  It is short and sweet, and so far we haven't had much to discuss, just the weekly schedule, but I love it!  And I love that we are doing what we are told.  I know we will be blessed for that.  11-22-15

BROKEN AGAIN
So Noah has had his glasses for about two months now... have I even posted about that?  I hope so!  Either way, he's had them for about a month now, and they've already been broken twice!  The first time was Corbin's fault.  (There was some controversy on the matter, but since Corbin breaks everything else in and around our house, I feel like it's safe to say it was him...)  That was just a quick little fix at the glasses place.  This last time was Noah's fault.  I loved his description of how it happened.  I can't do it justice, but basically he sat on them.  Kind of a bummer.  So he went a few weeks without them.  We finally got them back this week so he can see again, it's a miracle!  I was so relieved with how quickly they took care of them.  They were snapped completely in half and for some reason we were not charged a cent!  I don't know what kind of warranty Nate got on them (he was the one to take Noah to the eye doctor since it was right after Molly was born), but I feel very lucky.  11-24-15

SWIMMER?
So apparently Bradley is an awesome swimmer!  It's been so long since we went, I had no idea.  Bro. Pickering had such nice things to say about how well he did at scouts.  Made me proud!  I have to admit a small part of me hopes that at least one of my kids enjoys swimming and can excel at it as much as I did.  But even if they don't- I still get excited to hear this kind of news :).  11-25-15

TITHING SETTLEMENT
I totally loved tithing settlement this year.  I don't know why.  I loved that my kids were completely honest.  Almost too honest :).  I'm kidding.  But really- they are so brave and so faithful.  And I'm grateful that they all know how to pay tithing.  11-25-15

CASTLE PARK
We had Wednesday off so EVERYONE got to come to playgroup with us.  We were bummed to find out that the church was being carpeted but LOVED being able to go to the Castle Park with everyone!  It's fun to have the older kids home with us.  I just love my big kids so much!  11-26-15

FHE
We had to have Family night on Wednesday this week because Nate was shift balanced and had to work Monday evening instead of day.  Erika was the lesson and since we didn't really take the time to prepare, I kind of walked her through her lesson.  She did a fantastic job of thinking of an example when she was obedient and then we did the object lesson with the marble on the plate and how it's hard to make it go around in a circle because there are no boundaries for the marble to stay within.  You can't get the marble going very fast without the walls of a bowl to keep it in.  The kids all loved it.  The activity was playing Taboo and then we all watched the Jazz Game together.  It was a fun evening.  I wish Charity was writing all of this since she was the scribe (We added a new assignment when we added the new little person :) ).  The treat was Dad's Peanut Butter Cheerio Treat- so delicious!  11-26-15

MOVIE NIGHT
We finally earned our movie night!  Nate's new point system finally paid off.  I guess it's only been two weeks, but after the let down the first week, I wasn't sure I was up for the whole idea.  The kids did great though!  Even surprising us with a really clean house one night.  We all watched Inside Out with lots of treats and popcorn.  I think that everyone had fun :).  I love that movie!  Reminds me so much of my Psychology class.  I bet Mrs. Whitlock is having a hay day with that movie in her Psych classes.  11-27-15

THANKSGIVING LUNCH
My Mom had us over for lunch on Saturday as kind of an aftershock of Thanksgiving.  The food was great.  The company was great.  It was  nice time.  I liked seeing Steve.  It's been a while.  I totally brought my camera and then just let it sit there the entire time.  No pictures.  Lame.  Heidi ended up coming to our house after and stayed and talked with me all evening!  I loved it!!  Wish she would/could do that more often!  11-28-15