Molly-POP and Black Friday

BLACK FRIDAY
No, I did not go shopping.  Thank goodness.  I don't think I ever will either.  On Black Friday, the girls were invited to go do baptisms with Grandma and Grandpa.  We never miss out on an opportunity to do baptisms, so we were all over that.  Made for a good excuse to have a sleepover the night before as well.  So we drove back up to Grandma and Granpda's house with Enoch in tow.  Bradley and Luke stayed home to help Nate with the stone job, and everyone else came with me.  The Idaho Maynes' were still in town and they were all dressed up and ready to do baptisms.  They were the only other grandkids to go!  I was surprised, but it reminded us all of our Nauvoo trip.  Good times.  The girls loved it.  I still haven't been in the Oquirrh Mountain temple!  I'm glad they got the opportunity!  While they were gone, the rest of us played games with Grandma Ruthie and Aunt Jen, Isaac and Rachel too.  It was really a fun afternoon!  I was so surprised when they got back and it had been almost two hours!  I love that Nate's Mom got to see my kids' true personalities a little.  She only sees them during the chaotic family parties.  She enjoyed Jack so much, I was in heaven :).  And even Molly got to spend some quality time with her.  Without crying!  Yay!  I'm really grateful for those times with her.  She's a sweet grandma to my kids and I appreciate her friendship.  I'll never forget the cracker conversation with Jack.  He was so skeptical at first, but warmed right up and never went back :).  So cute.  11-27-15

I love that he loves her feet as much as I do :)

Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING DAY
We had a really nice Thanksgiving!  All the boys got haircuts that morning (only because they needed them so bad and we weren't busy, not because it was Thanksgiving... just to clarify :) ).  Nate made all the preparations for his mussels that he was making.  I got all the frosting ready for Gingerbread houses (this was of course an after thought, so everyone sat in the car while I whipped it up, after driving halfway up the street and realizing we'd forgotten it!)  and we were off!  Thanksgiving was at Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Russ's house this year!  Becky's family, Lynn's family, Jen, Nancy's family, Rob's family, Dan's family, and some of Jared's kids were all there for dinner and then Maryn, Malisa, Meg, and the rest of Lynn's families all showed up for Gingerbread houses!  It was a FULL house!  It was really nice, minus the fact that Molly was hungry and nursing when dinner was finally ready.  So my food was extra cold.  And somewhat lonely.  Although, I have to thank Jen for saving me some stuffing!!  That's my favorite and it would have been gone for sure.  I hated Jack's tantrum as well, but once dinner was over, the rest was pretty enjoyable!  I loved that I brought my glue gun for the houses.  Makes things so painless.  The kids had a great time!  We traded Noah for Enoch for the night since we were going back up for baptisms the next day.  Pictures to come.  11-26-15

Luke made his really tall so that he could fill it with candy to eat later.  Unfortunately, it broke and ended up all over the trunk of the car.

Bradley did a triangular design this year... kind of cool, very creative.

Cute Jarom. 

Sam is so adorable.

Erika did her house entirely by herself!  I was so proud of her!!  She was so proud of her too :)

Jack did most of his by himself too.  I think he had help with the frosting, but he sure had fun doing it this year.

Noah's was just like Kelly's :).  I love the bond between those two.  And I love that they still have it.

Gingerbread houses were made possible by Adele.  Thank you, Adele!! 

And the cute blanket was a gift from the Idaho Maynes'.  They wanted Molly to have a bright and crazy blankie since she is the youngest in our bright and crazy family :).  She needed to stand out I guess :).  So cute.

Erika's finished product.

Charity's

Kelly's

The back of Kelly's

Bradley's

Noah's

The front of Erika's

And Jack's again

This is what Luke's ended up like

goofball

These two pictures were supposed to be at the top.  Oh well.

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.