The boys each wrote a letter to Santa. We laughed a lot and wanted to share. For some reason, Cam's letter didn't upload as big as the other two. His is the funniest so I typed what he wrote. Dear Santa, I want a light saber. I've been good. Owen, 2-years-old Dear Santa, I want a Nintendo 64 for Christmas. I am 5-years-old and I try to be good. Gavin Dear Santa Claus, I want a B.B. gun. Please tell me if I am good or bad. Cameron, 8-years-old (He'll be 8 December 20th but he decided to sign his letter as how old he'd be on Christmas)
Gavin had a snow-themed party on Saturday, even though there wasn't any snow on the ground yet. He had 5 friends from church come.
First, they made a snowman that we put on a 2-liter bottle and they got to go "snowman bowling".
Then they played "Pin-the-nose-on-the-snowman". Then it was time for "Stomp the Snowball" (which didn't work out as well as I was hoping but the video is funny.) Then we opened presents and had Snowball Cake. Yum!
Later Saturday evening it started to snow. Now it's beginning to look like Christmas at our house! I love this time of year.
Gavin turned 5 on Monday. We celebrated with the Tew's while we were still in Blackfoot. He got a green remote control car and an outfit from Granny & Grandpa and a Playdough set from Aunt No'el and Uncle Ryan.
Aunt Callie, Aunt Emily & Uncle Jeff gave him a Leapster. That thing is the BEST gift ever. He's played it almost nonstop. He loves it.
Uncle Tom gave him a Pirate Book & some fun Pirate toys and a Frog that grew when placed in water. Here is the progress of the frog over a 7-day period: We gave him a game for the Leapster and we went to dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Styer. G & G Styer gave him some puzzles, a Dr. Seuss game, and War (the card game.)
Gavin went to the doctor for his well-child check up today. He is 44 inches tall and weighs 44 pounds. He is such a smarty. He's learning sign language at preschool and is going to start a reading program in January. He is so musically talented. He is a good little singer in Primary and Preschool. We sure love him and we're glad he is part of our family.
We celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year. The first was with the Styer Family on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Dave & Tisa, David (Uncle Dude), Chopper & Niki, and Tom came to our house for dinner. We had Italian Chicken with mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, rolls, Pretzel salad, and pecan and pumpkin pie. (Go here for the Italian Chicken and Pretzel Salad recipes.) It was the first time in 6 years that we'd all been together. The boys love their uncles and the uncles seemed to enjoy them as well. It was such a good evening and we hope to see them all soon.
The second celebration was with the Tew Family. We drove to Blackfoot on Wednesday night after Callie got out of school. It was ten o'clock when we got on I-15 and we arrived a little after one AM! I was so thankful for a husband who can drive without getting sleepy because the rest of us napped. Thursday was spent with my parents, Ryan & No'el and girls, Callie, and our family. We had the traditional dinner and it was so so so yummy. I discovered that I have finally developed taste buds that enjoy YAMS. No'el brought cream corn that was delicious. Mom & Dad homemade the rolls and pies. We were spoiled!
Friday we met No'el, Abbie, Avery, and Jette at Riverside Elementary. Our good friends, Krissy & Dan came over too. The kids had a lot of fun burning off some extra energy. They played basketball and rode scooters and we got out the big parachute. Jette sat in the middle of all the balls and crawled around on the floor. Even the adults played a game of Lightning. Krissy won. Ryan came to the school a little later. He let each child climb into the salad bar and twirled them around the gymnasium. They thought their uncle was SO funny. My mom swore us to secrecy so SHHH...
Saturday we played games and lounged around. When Ryan & No'el and the girls came over that evening we decorated gingerbread men. Notice that Callie's had a broken arm...she called him Grandpa Hugh and decorated him with Red boots.
As I bragged on Facebook...Spencer, Callie, Nichole (Callie's friend), and I were lucky enough to have tickets to the PREMIER of New Moon tonight. (Thanks for an awesome night, Hillary.) The show started at 9:30! We had to wear these sweet lanyards and have a ticket to be admitted. We entered our theater around 8:40 and the only place with 4 vacant seats was the 2nd row. We didn't mind too much but got a little dizzy. They warned the entire theater that if they saw any lights (camera or cell phone) they'd kick us out without hesitation. Luckily we took this (horrible) picture on our way in... I won't say too much about the movie but I will say that before New Moon I claimed to be a "Jedward" fan because I liked them both. I am now officially on Team Jacob. Anyone else?
While Ryan & No'el were on a cruise with Ryan's employer, Avery & Jette stayed with No'el's sister about 20 minutes from our house. I told Leslie that if she had anything come up and needed me to take the girls, not to hesitate because we'd love to have them. How happy I was when she called, Thursday, to see if the girlies could come play on Friday.
Jette arrived with this adorable bow and I'm so glad that I took this picture within the first 10 minutes because the bow immediately came off! She had a lot of fun crawling around my house but got a little frustrated on the hard wood part of the house...she just kept slipping around.
Gavin and Avery and Owen had a blast from the minute Aves walked in the house. They played everything you can imagine and then ended at the table for some coloring time. This was what Gavin drew. We were so glad to have them over for a few hours. We miss them a lot when we only get to see them once a month. Come visit again...and bring Abbie and your parents!
I hate getting behind in my posts. We've had a busy couple of weeks but I did want to post the pictures we took of Halloween.
The Monday before Halloween we carved pumpkins. We made the boys get the "guts" out and then they decided how they wanted their pumpkins to look. We drew them on with a Sharpie and then Spence & I carved them.
We went to Trunk or Treat and we all dressed up! Owen was a Robot. He was so excited to wear the box until we got to the church and got ready to put it on. Then he bawled...it was too heavy, he couldn't move in it, and on and on. Glad I got this picture anyway. Gavin was a pirate and loved every minute of it. Cam was Darth Vader. Spence & I went in 80's get-up.
Dear Santa, I want a light saber. I've been good. Owen, 2-years-old
