Max and his sisters

Max's baby blessing


Christmas Eve

Funny picture of Lauren's hair after pigtails.

Christmas Fun

All of the grandkids came over to make gingerbread houses. Mason was very careful when he made his. Too bad he wasn't as careful later on. He dropped it on the floor and we had some tears before we could get it fixed.

Ian was a pro and had his just the way he wanted it.

Blake liked eating the candy.

Claire must have been learning about patterns in preschool because she did her best at first to follow patterns. Later she just put on as much candy as she could.

Lauren didn't understand gingerbread houses too much. She helped but mostly she just ate the
crackers, frosting and candy.

The finished house.

Laurens house and more eating of the crackers.

.
Blake finished and is hoping he gets to eat it real soon.

Another work of art.

Balls

On Monday Abram was using a basketball to play soccer with Reagan in the living room. They were having fun and Benson was wanting to join in. The only problem was every time Benson got the ball he would pick it up and start running with it. Abe would try to show Benson how to kick the ball so he could play too. After showing Benson what to do they went back to the game. As soon as Benson got the ball he picked it up and started running with it again. Reagan was getting frustrated. He kept telling Benson that you don't use your hands when you play soccer. If he wants to play he can't use his hands. After repeating this cycle several times Benson finally left the living room went into Reagan's room and came back kicking the real soccer ball. The boys were then able to play a game a soccer together. Benson knew exactly what he was doing. He just couldn't figure out why his dad and brother would kick a basketball. A basketball is supposed to be thrown in a hoop not kicked.

Christmas ups and downs

Saturday was the ward Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. Reagan was so excited when he got to sit on Santa's lap. Santa gave both boys a couple of candy canes and he gave Benson a plane and Reagan a Spiderman car. Reagan was very proud of his toy. He went up to every person he knew at the party and showed them what Santa gave him. I even saw him showing a few people that I'm sure he didn't know.
Reagan is getting excited for Christmas. We keep asking him if he want to go ahead and open one of his presents now. He always gets mad and yells "No, it's not Christmas!"
We been talking to Reagan trying to make sure he understands why it is we celebrate Christmas. We keep thinking he is understanding and then he says something else that we have to correct him on so his Christmas won't be too disappointing.
The first thing he said was "Grammie is going to come see me at Christmas." (Easy to see why he thought that. We have been talking about being able to see her again as one of the gifts Christ gave us.)
Then last night before going to bed Reagan was telling Abe how excited he is for Christmas. He can't wait until he wakes up so he can build his snowman. Abe had to explain to Reagan that there will be no snow at our house on Christmas. It only snows in Idaho. We get to wear shorts and go to the park. People in Idaho don't get to do that. We will still have a fun Christmas anyways. (Easy to see why he would expect snow. He has always been in Boise in December and has always seen snow.)
This morning when Reagan woke up I asked him how many more sleeps until Christmas. With a disappointed look Reagan said "We don't get Christmas in Texas. Only Idaho people get Christmas." I told Reagan that we would still have Christmas. Christmas is not snow. Christmas is Jesus' birthday. You don't have to have snow to have a birthday. Reagan then informed me that he needed to have snow to have his birthday. If he can't have snow he can't have his party now.

Missionary song

Not his best performance but okay for a 3 year-old!!
He insists on singing it every single time he goes to bed. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Reagan: What about a song?
Abe/April: What song?
Reagan: How 'bout a missionary song?
Abe/April: Like what?
Reagan: Maybe called to serve the King.

Snow

It snowed for about 5 days straight. We have 19 inches of snow. I already got tired of shoveling and bought a snowblower.




The deer don't like the snow.



Jonah likes the snow.




Norah doesn't mind the snow.

More photos of Norah

And a bonus of Jonah's obstacle course.

short hair

Although Claire's hair was so beautiful... it was very hard to take care of. Especially after you have a baby. So we decided to cut her hair.

Before:During:

After:

This is a the only picture of her with her hair done. I will have to take a better picture later.

What will she miss most? Having her hair in braids and then taking them out so she can look like a princess.

Norah Revae Ashby

Born Nov 22nd at 12:30 PM. 7 lbs 7 oz, 21 inches.

Halloween for Jonah

This was Jonah's first real Halloween because he was sick last year. He was an expert. He is a monkey but also looks like a mouse






These are our deer.

Zeitgeist Half Marathon

I did the Zeitgeist Half Marathon yesterday, which was my first Half Marathon in more than 15 years. I didn't realize how hilly of a course it was until after I signed up. The first 8 miles were uphil (3 big hills with about 1200 feet in elevation change -- its the same "dump loop" Cory and I ride when we do our hills cycling) and the last 5 miles were downhill. I prefer flat courses, and I haven't run a single hill in at least 3 months, so I am feeling REALLY sore today. Out of a little over 1000 runners, I was 35th place with a time of 1 hour 33 minutes.

Ballerina

Claire is now a ballerina. Here is one of her favorite steps/

After years of walking on her tippy toes she is really good at this step.

She says this one is the hardest.

Ballerina hair.