There's snow in the forecast for the first of December! Christmas will be here before we know it and I have a lot to get done until then. Yesterday the girls and I picked up Luke from school, grabbed some corn dogs and did a little shopping. It was my first real shopping with 3 kids. We didn't get much done in the way of Christmas shopping but we sure had a great time together. Luke and Ava were better behaved then usual...which could have had something to do with a promised visit with this guy....

Grandma, Rice and Em took the kids to see Santa later that night, while Jeremy and I went to the Temple.

Jeremy and I walked by the simple white nativity in front of the beautiful Provo temple last night and caught the last of an unbelievable winter sunset over the valley. That moment reminded me of being up a snowy-moonlit canyon, singing Silent Night on Christmas eve, as a girl with my family. I love moments like these when I quietly feel of the true meaning of Christmas. That is what makes this season so magical, Jesus Christ, that he was born on this earth, that he lived, that he died, that he showed us the way to live eternally with those we love. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas season full of love and giving.

Oh and Ava informed me later that night that she asked Santa and his favorite cookies are peanut butter and oreos...just so you know.;)

A Chubby Little Sleeping Beauty

All snugly and sleepy after her bath. (2 months old)

"Light Way Delight"

We took a drive with Grandma Barker earlier this fall to soak in the golden beauty of the Alpine Loop. There really are no words to describe the how beautiful these mountains are in the fall. The colors come and go so fast with the cold. Fall itself comes and goes so fast...to fast for me. Every year I try to enjoy every bit of this magical season but it always slips away sooner then I want it to.

Rewind to summer

I just can't leave out some of the good times we had this summer. Who can forget Sarah's sweet crazy pigs. The barn was a very fun place to be this summer. (thanks for the pictures Sarah)


Luke and Ava were really into fishing this year...as you may or may not be able to tell from this next picture??? I think it was just that relaxing.:)


And we can't forget the "pizza box"! Every time Luke saw the Pizza Hut commercial he would say to me or Jeremy, "Wow, that's a really great deal! It has pizza! bread sticks! aand cinnamon sticks! wiiith dipping sauce! Can we get that sometime?" So one Friday night we got that great deal pizza box...it was a very exciting dinner!:)

First day of 1st Grade!!!

We signed Ava up for a dance class finally after years of begging. This little girl was born to dance, she absolutely loves it! We have our own little preschool at home with her stuffed animals. This picture is of the "class" at lunch time.

The day before we became a family of FIVE!

And finally we end with the couple pictures I took of Luke's soccer season.

Seven in Eleven

Luke just turned lucky seven. He's growing up so fast. He loves first grade, playing basketball, reading, fishing, being a big brother to two little sisters, doing crafts:) and helping mom cook. He took his first hunting trip with daddy...to bad he wasn't lucky seven on that trip, maybe they would have actually filled their tag.:) But no matter how old he gets he will always be our sweet Mr. Bones.

onions

Check out these bad boys! Our onions were huge this year and we had peppers coming out our ears. I think everything grew so big this year because they had to fight the ginormous weeds that invaded our very neglected garden. We chopped up and froze most of the peppers, stored away the onions and canned the rest into spaghetti sauce. Plus we got quite a few bottles of grape juice canned the same night I went to the hospital to have Ruthy.

After cleaning up the garden we had our annual wienie roast under the walnut tree.
I never did do anything cute with the space between the garage and the house aside from stringing up some lights for Luke's pirate party....maybe next year I'll follow through on my "spruce up" plans. And maybe next year those ugly garage doors of ours will actually get painted...maybe. It feels so good to no longer be lazy, pregnant and sick. I got some MUCH need weeding done in my flower beds last week and mowed and raked to my hearts content...I have sooo missed working out in my yard. I have so missed having calluses on my hands, dirt under my nails and sore muscles from good hard work. So get ready yard, next summer you and me are gonna get down and dirty.:)