Piano moments

This Christmas season has already been so much better because this little guy can play Christmas music.He has been taking piano for over a year now and his songs are getting increasingly difficult. Right now every Monday we chose a new Christmas song to sing for school, and we pick one from his piano book so he can play it for us. Singing with him every morning is the highlight of the day for me. I love that he enjoys playing. Often, throughout the day, when Peter is bored or frustrated I will find him here playing his songs over and over again. In fact, he now has Yankee Doodle completely memorized.  This piano came from Peter's Great Grandpa and I'm sure he is up in heaven absolutely thrilled this dude is loving his treasured piano.

Silly moments at Home Depot

My boys are a bit obsessed with the Christmas blow up decorations. The other day we had to run to Home Depot to return something we didn't end up using (plumber's putty for the garbage disposal we had to replace). The boys saw these decorations and asked if I would please take their picture. It was one of those rare mommy moments when I slowed down and saw these two boys growing up way to quickly right before my eyes.

Thankful turkey's

The first Monday night of November found us gathered around the kitchen counter with our construction paper. I love this annual tradition. I am always astonded when I stop and think about all my blessings. More then any other time in my life, I am so very thankful for what I have. My Heavenly Father is so good to me and this little family of mine. 

Mom's turkey

Dad's turkey

luke's turkey

peter's turkey

Peter's Birthday

This kid is now 7 Years old. I can't believe how quickly the time has zoomed by. He was awake at 5am, but we didn't let him open presents until 6:30. We are so incredibly blessed because Brandon is always able to take the day off work for birthdays. After spending most of the morning at home we went to get Peter's pictures taken at the mall (an annual tradition that counts as annual school pictures), and then to Chuck-E-Cheese's for lunch. It was a glouious day, this kid was happy, and he received many wonderful presents. Hopefully he will spend the next several months spending hours and hours playing with them.

Trying to be like Jesus

This is one of the Primary songs my boys are memorizing right now. This past week we were able to put the words of this song into action by sending a special treat to a new missionary at the MTC. He is the son of a great friend who lives in Minnesota. While I got busy making cinnamon rolls the boys colored pictures. It was fun to see them excited and I really loved Peter's drawing. He is at such an enjoyable kid right now.

Witches at Gardner Village

There is a really great homeschool group that goes on biweekly fieldtrips/hikes around utah county. This week they decided to go to Gardner Village. It just happened to work out that Brandon was able to take the day off work and come with us. That made it a super fun day. I loved going and the boys really enjoyed finding all the fun witches scattered throughout the shops. I would love to make this an annual October tradition for our little family.

Thomas Halloween Party

Every year we host a Halloween Party for the Thomas side. Sadly, every year I hardly get any pictures of the event. This year we played a game of clue using our family members and parts of our house. It lasted a little on the long side (about 90 minutes), but it was still fun. Hopefully soon Dad T. will be done editing our annual Thomas side Halloween picture and I can add it to this spot. This is the first year that I dressed up for Halloween in a long, long time.

Homeschool Halloween Party

We love getting together with good homeschool friends and having a party. This year we kept it pretty simple with Halloween Bingo, Pin the heart on the skeleton, and Sugar cookie decorating. We let the kids spend the rest of the time playing together. Everyone had a wonderful time, and I look forward to getting this group together soon for another party.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

This year we coordinated a trip to Cornbelly's with my cousins on my mothers side. Sadly, the weather got a bit rainy on us. But, that didn't prevent us from doing as many of the activities as we could before we were completely soaked. It was the first year that we have taken the boys. Luke was absolutely thrilled with the Minion theme this year. He is obsessed with minions right now. I think it is overpriced so I doubt we will go again.