Gingerbread Houses Dec. 8th 2012

Since Cami and her soon-to-be-fiance Matt were in town, we decided to have a little gingerbread house making group date with Mitch and his friend Jess and my parents.  Drew was excited for the company to come play.

Instead of using gingerbread, we went new school with graham crackers.  Sure they don't hold up like gingerbread, but they are so convenient to use.  Madolyn and Grandpa really went to town and made this nice little one story cottage.

Grandma and Avery decided to go a different route and made a cot instead of a house.

Bam, photo bombed by Mitchy.

Here is Mitch and Jess doing their thing.

Two story home with roof and window?  Yes please.

After the house was built, it would be a shame not to have a moment of pleasure and eat part of the house.

It was definitely Avery's favorite part of the evening which has her living up to her to shirt being a Daddy's girl.

At the end of the evening, Avery and Madolyn ate their works of art and our two story collapsed during a horrific earthquake.  Only Cami and Matt's and Jess and Mitch's survived the evening.

Stickers from Aunt Amanda Dec. 1st 2012

The girls got a letter from Aunt Amanda and in it were some stickers.  The girls loved them..

...loved them so much that Avery started putting them on her shirt and Madolyn went cross-eyed.

Birthday and Visit from Grandma Yee Dec. 2012

I went to Arizona for a week for some work meetings so Grandma Yee came to stay with Dawn and the kids.  The kids love when Grandma Yee is here to play with them, and Dawn loves to have her here as well especially while I'm away.

They even celebrated her birthday while she was here.

Drew loved twirling and dancing with Grandma.

Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving this year we headed to the northeast to spend time with Kate and Dave's family up in Kennewick, Washington.  The kids loved playing with each other and it was good to see where they lived up there.  It was a long drive but was really good for the kids to see their cousins and spend time with them.

Tanner has always liked to draw and Madolyn has that gene as well.  They had a good time drawing pictures  and coloring together.

Avery and Her Sucker Oct. 2012

Dawn decided to cash in on a much needed vacation so she and her sisters and Mom took off for Disneyland for 4 days.  When she got back, she gave the girls gifts and this was Avery's favorite.  She couldn't believe she got such a delicious sucker that was as long as her arm.

Halloween 2012

We decided to do a Disney character theme seeing as the girls really wanted to be princesses this year.  In our previous years the girls have been some type of animal so this was fun change for them and for us.  Just in case you're a little rusty on your Disney people I'll tell you who is who.   Madolyn is Snow White, Avery is Cinderella, Drew is the Frog Prince, I'm Pocahontas and Jordan is Prince Charming.  Jordan's mom, Bonnie  helped me put together my costume and I think she did an awesome job.  We went to our ward Trunk or Treat the Friday before Halloween and then around to some of the neighbor's houses Halloween night just to give the girls a feel for the real experience of Trick or Treating.  

Avery wasn't very happy that Madolyn got to hold Drew, so we moved him over for a second shot and a happier Avery.

More Dance October 2012

Here are some pictures of the girls getting their ballet on.  Professional ballerinas in the making:)

Carving Pumpkins October 2012

A few days before Halloween we pulled out the carving tools and got busy making some scary pumpkins.  The girls were even willing to get into it and help scoop out the sticky seeds.  They really wanted to help with the cutting as well so we went with basic cut outs to make it easy for everyone while I held their hand holding a knife.

Drew couldn't carve so he hung out and played on the floor.

Here are the end results.  Avery's pumpkin is on the left, Madolyn' on the right with Dawn's in the middle and mine and Drew's on either side of Dawns.  We actually had those two monster pumpkins given to us and I wasn't up for carving 80 lb pumpkins.

Pretty scary huh?

Avery was so happy to have spent her evening in the Halloween spirit.

The Pumpkin Patch October 2012

We have a pumpkin patch with a little petting zoo/corn maze just up the road from our house.  We decided it would be fun to go pick out some pumpkins and check out the animals for family night a few weeks before Halloween.  It wasn't too cold and the girls had a great time.  Avery was really excited to pick her own pumpkin, and Madolyn loved the slide.

A nice little family pic at the patch.

We got to do a little hay ride behind a tractor on our way out to pick our pumpkins.

Cute little Drewby all bundled up.

The girls loved running through the maze trying to figure out which turn would be correct and get us back out.

Even Drew enjoyed walking through the corn.

The pumpkin patch peeps did a great job of making it kid friendly with lots of little things for the kids to play on.  The girls had a blast playing on everything.

Madolyn would go down and back up again in the time it took Avery to get up once.  Madolyn is a thrill seeker and loves to go fast.

Here's Dawn and the kiddles hanging out.

Getting pulled behind a four-wheeler in barrel carts was a lot of fun for the girls as well.

We even got to pet some animals we don't usually get to see or pet.  Madolyn loved running around looking at all the animals, and Avery was close on her heels.