Christmas is almost here....

Being home for Christmas this year, all by ourselves, we had many opportunities to go out and have some pre-Christmas fun. Here's the proof!

Brian's birthday was Dec. 5 - he got a circular saw! And a list of projects I want done. :)

Makayla being a big cheeseball.

Ella having some fun on Dad's shoulders.

Ella helping Brian fold clothes. She loves to throw all the clothes out and then sit in the laundry basket.

Kylee's school had their annual singing program. They sang a song about snowballs and then threw these styrofoam balls at the audience at the end. It was cute.

The Primary kids singing at the annual ward Christmas party.

We took the kids to Bass Pro to see Santa - not only do they give you a free picture, but they also have a fun area for the kids to play in afterwards. Yes, I was excited. Why do you ask?

YES!! I finally got a picture of my kid screaming on Santa's lap. Goal accomplished.

Ella loved watching the fish in the huge aquarium inside Bass Pro. She and this fish stared at eachother for quite awhile.

Let's get this cookie decorating party started!

After we put the tree up, Ella had to try out the "candy" garland to see if it was real.

Maybe she's trying to decide if she should try the berries since the candy didn't work out too well.

We went to our zoo's Festival of Lights one night, which was awesome! It reminds me of Temple Square, but bigger. Here, we're going through the tunnel of lights that leads to the entrance.

The kids in front of the ginormous Christmas tree at the zoo.

Hanging out with a gingerbread guy. I mainly like the picture because of how crazy the lights are in the background.

There's a lake at the zoo that has a big Christmas tree in the middle. They put lights on all the bushes and trees around the lake and then do synchronized light shows to music. We sat and watched for a couple of songs, and it was great. It was hard to get a good picture, but I liked how this one turned out.

Fall is the best!

I totally love fall! I'm a little sad that it's already going into winter, so here are a few images from this past fall.

A bouquet I made with cuttings from the 2 mum plants in my front yard.

Brian took the kids to the park one fall day. Notice the interesting outfit he let Makayla wear.

Halloween - Wonderland style

This year for Halloween, we decided to go with an Alice in Wonderland theme. I actually wanted to do it last year, but when my mom found an Alice costume for Makayla this year, I knew the time had come. Kylee was the Queen of Hearts, Makayla was Alice, and Ella was the White Rabbit. I tried to find a Mad Hatter hat for Brian, but something tells me he wouldn't have worn it even if I had found one. The girls were sure a hit in the neighborhood!

Makayla turns 5!

Our little Makayla turned the big 5 on October 6th this year! She got a lot of fun presents, including the fairy wings shown in the picture below, but her big surprise was getting a trip to the Build-A-Bear to pick out her own stuffed animal. She chose a pink bunny with a dancing outfit for it to wear (big surprise!). We had a fun evening with just our family. I can't believe she's going to be leaving me to go to Kindergarten next year!

Ella turns 1!

My baby girl is 1 years old now (sniff)! She turned 1 while we were in Utah, so we got to spend her birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Olsen, and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a great time. She got a ton of toys and had a fabulous birthday cake, made by a friend of my sister-in-law.

My birthday girl!

Opening presents

Ella's individual cake, which she only took a few bites of.

The big cake. It was sooo adorable - love it!

Ella with daddy

Little monkey cousins, Andrew and Kylee

Ella pulled the ladybug right off and started going to town on it, but she wasn't so sure about the rest of the cake. She mainly just poked at it. Oh well, the rest of us enjoyed it!

Cutest little 1-year-old face I ever saw

Just had to throw in this picture of Ella at the zoo - we sure love this little girl!

Utah Trip

Ok, I don't know why it's been so difficult to get this post done, but here it finally is! (What, you all haven't been waiting on the edge of your seats for me to post this??) Anyway, we had the opportunity to go to Utah in June, where we saw cousins we've never met, and had a fabulous time with Brian's side of the family (we missed you, Wendy!) Here's the rundown into some of the things we did while we were there:

One of the first things we did was go down to Mt. Pleasant and visit Brian's sister Karen and her family. Brian's dad brought down his boat, so we headed to the (snow-filled) mountains, found a lake that wasn't covered with ice and spent a fun afternoon hanging out while the kids took turns going for rides in the boat with Grandpa. Above: Benson, Kylee, Ila, Tanner, and Makayla scouring the ground for treasures,

Ella hanging out with Mom on the shore.

The 1st group of kids and adults getting ready to take off in the boat.

And they're off! That's Brian crunched in the front of the boat there.

The next day, Brian and his dad went fishing alone while us ladies kept 8 kids happy and busy all day. The weather was totally beautiful and it was great to just sit outside in the afternoon. Ella was happy just to sit and play with her toys on the grass.

Here's the kiddos having a great time on the "waterslide"

Brielle, Ila, Makayla, and Kylee

Brian out on the lake catching our dinner. Too bad they had to throw back most of the fish they caught!

Brian and I took advantage of having some babysitters around, so we went on an overnight date. We ended up going to Temple Square and had a great time walking around and enjoying the scenery (it's amazing how much you miss it when you don't have it around!). We even busted out our cheesiness and re-enacted some poses from our wedding day. :)

What a cute guy! Too bad he's out of focus...

One day we took the kids on a ride on the Trax (the light-rail train that runs through the Salt Lake Valley). When we got to the end of the line and were getting ready to return, some of the kids said they needed to use the bathroom. We spotted a park right near the trax station so we headed over there for a bathroom and playground break. They had tons of fun. Here they are at the park.

Ila, Kylee, Benson, and Makayla

Heading back to get on the Trax. We made it just in time, it started to rain soon after that.

On the Trax headed home.

Brian's dad took all of us out to dinner at Olive Garden one night. No small feat, considering there were about 16 of us! Here's Ella and her look-alike cousin, Brielle.

The whole group. Well, almost.

The kids at the aquarium. L to R: Makayla, Brielle, Tanner, Ila, Benson, Andrew holding Ella, and Kylee. You wouldn't know that Andrew is only 3 months older than Kylee!

Posing in a canoe at the aquarium

Aaaaaaaand.........this is what we hauled home behind our van. That's a piano under there. Crazy, huh? I'm amazing it survived.

Unfortunately, the 2 weeks went way too fast and we eventually had to leave. It was pretty hard to come home, but we hope that we'll end up living around family in the future, after all this school stuff is over. Thanks Mom, Karen, and Sara for showing us the best time we've had in a long time, and letting us trash your houses and eat your food!

So, when's the next vacation?