Nothing but November

Here are a few last memories from November- enjoy!

Yep, that would be a toilet plunger that Tori is using as a hobby horse! We have awesome toys!!!

Can you tell Tori and Garrett are getting settled down for bed?

Ever since Halloween our kids have turned into Candy Monsters!!!

We had to be really sneaky to finally get a video of Garrett singing, "I am a Child of God!"

Jared's PhD is wearing him out- but he still loves it!

Here is a snippet of Garrett's expanding vocabulary!

Garrett was so excited to get in the tub that he moved the stool over and climbed right on in with his diaper on still!

He was very proud of himself!!!

Tori has taken to making people out of Garrett's train tracks- not too shabby!

 Tori and (especially) Garrett's latest dance moves are pretty great!

We definitely have some cute kiddos!!!

Hurrah for helping Daddy put up our Christmas lights! Tori and Garrett were fantastic helpers!

Hurrah for November, and now on to December!!!

Trimming the Tree

Tonight we got to put up and decorate our Christmas tree! Since we will be in Texas for Christmas this year, we are going with our tiny tree- Tori thought it was so much fun getting the top all ready!

And then on to the bottom!

Who needs ornaments? Our kids were super excited about the lights!!!

Garrett even let his goat take a good close look at the lights!

And now on to the new Christmas ornaments! Garrett got a Mater ornament! This kid loves anything and everything with wheels- especially Mater!!!

Tori got a Fancy Nancy ornament! Our little gal loves dressing up- if it has ruffles or sparkles it's even better!!!

Jared got me a Christmas Spirit Meter ornament! He said that with him being gone so much more, I am the one that keeps the spirit going in our home!

I got Jared a Colts Gingerbread Man ornament! This year he got to go to his very first Colts game and he was the commissioner for his fantasy football league!

Garrett found the perfect spot on our tree for Mater!

And Fancy Nancy soon joined him!

Hurrah for our new Christmas ornaments! They will certainly help us remember some fun things from this past year!!!

Ta-dah! Our Christmas tree looks so cute this year!!! (Tori and Garrett look pretty cute, too!!!)

A Day of Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some of our friends from church! We enjoyed a lovely meal, interesting conversation, and some fantastic games! And sadly, I did not take one picture all day!
Throughout the day, I have felt an overwhelming need to express how grateful we are for the numerous blessings we receive daily! It amazes me how much our Heavenly Father loves each of us and knows what we are all going through. From little things like gas prices going down while Jared is driving so much more than he was, to our grocery bills being much less even though we are eating the same, to an undeniable feeling that everything will work out just fine on our house selling! There are so many tender mercies that He sends to us all the time! I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for his Atonement! I am in awe of his love for me and my family and that through his Atonement we can all be together forever- that truly is the most amazing gift we will ever receive and one I am eternally grateful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Exercise Buddy

Jared and I try to exercise a little bit almost everyday. And typically this occurs after Tori and Garrett are in bed for the night. Tonight we had some time to kill, so we decided to do our exercising early. Garrett jumped right on board and became our exercise buddy!

He did a great job doing lunges and helping Daddy count!

Check out Garrett's plank!!!

And when all else fails, running around in a circle is a great way to exercise!

A Night of Song

Tonight we were able to join our neighbor Doris for a concert held at her church. The concert was put on by the Reem Family- Mom, Dad, and their 9 kids! It was so much fun and they were all so talented. Garrett danced to many of the songs and Tori liked watching the girls! The best part was being there with Doris and sharing the evening with her! On the way home we stopped by McDonald's and Doris treated us all to some ice cream! The kids were in heaven! It was the perfect way to end a really wonderful evening!

Garrett was so excited when he really got the licking thing down!

Doris and Tori were the best of ice cream eating buddies!!!

First Primary Program...Almost

Ever since Tori became a Sunbeam in January, we have been wondering how her first primary program would go. As we have been gearing up for the program, we helped Tori come up with her part, helped her practice said part and all the songs they would be singing in the program. And we even invited our neighbors Kent and Doris to come with us! Today started out great-we were even running enough ahead of schedule that we were able to take some "First Primary Program" pictures!

Tori looked so adorable in her purple dress!!!

And, of course, Garrett didn't want to be left out!

Love this one!!!

So silly!

And just like that we were off to church, with Doris along with us! Sadly, Kent hurt his leg this morning and wasn't able to join us. And then we were to that moment, that moment where it was time for Tori to go up on the stand for the Primary program. And she did not want to go. We tried to get her to go up with her friend Benson- nope. We tried getting her to go up with her teacher Sister Cameron (whom she adores)- nope. Then she agreed to go up with me. So the two of us walked up and got her all settled in her seat. As soon as she realized that I wouldn't be staying there with her, the tears started to flow. So, I scooped her up and we walked back down to our seat in the congregation. I so wish that I could say that Tori sang every single song with gusto and clearly gave her part, but I can't. Tori spent her first Primary program sitting with us. 

In reliving today, I am so disappointed in how I handled the situation. I realize that her part may have been 5 seconds and she probably wouldn't have sung anyways. But I felt like when she was confronted with something scary and hard, instead of helping her find the strength and courage within herself to overcome that, I sent the message that she didn't even need to try. So, after a few tears were shed this evening, Jared and I came up with a new game plan- one I wish we had thought of last night! Here's the basic gist- 1. When something big is coming up, we are going to make sure we talk about things very specifically so Tori (and Garrett) knows exactly what to expect the entire time. 2. We are going to plan ahead on who is going to help her along, if help is needed. 3. We are going to have about a million back-up plans!

So, even though today wasn't the Primary program experience we were hoping for, Jared and I learned a lot about being better parents. And although I wish we could get a do-over for the day, we are going to do much better when the next opportunity arises!!!

Halloween in Coatesville

One of our fellow nursery workers Jill, lives in a very small town about 40 minutes west-ish of us called Coatesville. For the past few weeks, she has been telling us about all the fun things they do to celebrate Halloween- such as free cinnamon rolls from her cafe, popcorn balls and candy from other merchants, and even a story time. Since we had some nasty weather yesterday (Halloween), all of the festivities were moved to tonight. So, we joined our good friends the Toney's and headed out to Coatesville to support Jill and the town she loves so much!

Our first stop was Jill's cafe! Garrett loved his Halloween brownie!

Tori liked her brownie too, but did not want to smile for a picture!!!

Jared and I totally enjoyed some homemade cinnamon rolls while Garrett kept handing Halloween finger puppets to Daddy!

Yeah- we finally got a smile! Thanks for the fun Halloween bags, Jill!

Garrett thought it was even better when Daddy put all the finger puppets on his fingers!

This storefront provided the perfect setting for a fabulous Halloween photo! Tonight we had Peter Pan (Garrett), Toadette (Tori), Thor (Benson), and Dora (Anna) with us!!!

My favorite part of the evening- story time at the Red Horse Livery! A real live witch read us the Headless Horseman (kid style)- and she did a fabulous job!

Tori and Benson trying to decide which candy to pick!

Since there were only a few kids present, we got to bring home lots of candy!!!

Daddy and Garrett stayed nice and cozy in their blanket!

Tori was so excited that she got to pick out the winning raffle ticket!

Just for fun, I tried to get one last good Halloween costume picture- not too shabby!

Hurrah for such a wonderful evening with some genuinely nice people! I love little towns- you can be sure we will be visiting Coatesville again!!!