Merry Christmas Sunday

I love love love the Sunday before Christmas. Stone woke up not feeling so hot, but he allowed a couple pictures to be taken, and made it to church for the Sacrament meeting, and then snuck home. I got to be a part of a trio, and sang, "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel". Brought back many memories of singing with one of my best friends (Laur-Laur!) in our ward growing up. 

This December has been quite warm, but I won't complain. One of the many reasons why Texas rocks. A white Christmas would be awesome, but I sure love wearing my flip flops on December 22.

Cutest little photo bomb ever (below)!

You can tell he isn't feeling so hot, but he was a good sport to let me snap a few pics.

 And we got one laughing picture with his missing tooth!

Santa Claus 2014

As usual, the kids were super excited to see Santa. Stone got a little nervous that he'd forget to ask for something. Emerson was a bit shy, and Knox was totally in to him.

Best.Time.Of.The.Year

The official picture...

And a few candids I got...

Emerson's Dance Class

I got more video than I did pictures, but here are a few shots I managed to get for Emerson's half year/Christmas preview. Her recital isn't until May, but we always get to see her perform in her class the week before Christmas. She is so stinkin' cute, and did a great job.

Her class is tiny this year, so she is being moved to a bigger (and older) class in January. She's begging to go into gymnastics, so we may switch over to straight gymnastics after her recital in May, and give it a shot. As much as I loved (and still love!) dancing, I remember feeling the same way. Tumbling and cheerleading is where my interest was, and she'll be giving gymnastics a try in the summer and cheerleading in the fall. We'll see what she prefers!

Our little angel...

Emerson had her Christmas program at preschool, and she got to be an angel. Isn't her costume gorgeous? She got to say, "Glory to God in the highest." We just love this time of year!

Emerson's Baby Girl

I don't know if it's my pregnancy hormones, but I was brought to tears a couple times on Sunday because of the thoughtfulness and compassion a friend had on Emerson She saw the video I posted on Facebook of Emerson revealing that our baby is a boy (if you didn't see the video, watch it here). When you see the video, you know her heart shattered. This friend gave her a new baby doll, accompanied with a blanket, diapers, and outfits, and wrote the sweetest note, telling Emerson she could relate to her. It brought me to tears that someone would recognize the real feelings of this little girl and take the time to do something to lift her spirits. The video was entertaining for sure, but she truly was devastated when the hope of having a sister vanished. That day, I had given a lesson in church, and we were discussing service. I brought this up (I had just received the gift to give to her), and said that recognizing the needs and circumstances of those around us are key so that we can provide service and compassion for them. This friend did just that.

And Emerson hasn't stopped carrying that baby around.

She.loves.it.

Beautiful Blue Bird

Emerson had her Pow Wow and Thanksgiving Feast this week. She was given an Indian name: Beautiful Blue Bird.

She now says that's her real name, and that is what we are to call her. Stone can't stand it. He refuses to call her Blue Bird, but I made him indulge her in her request. She's such a hoot! I loved how much her teacher got into it. It makes it that much more fun for the kids.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving break!

Halloween 2014

You know by now we go all out for Halloween. Though we've broke the tradition a couple times in the last 8 years (2008 Cliff and I skipped out because we had been out of town, and 2011 we did individual costumes), we typically have a family theme the night of our church Halloween party, and if the kids participate happily, they can choose to be something else on actual Halloween night for trick-or-treating.  Take Stone, for instance, who got stuck being a playing card last year (click here!). You could say he was less than thrilled (I'm laughing out loud as I type this, because he was a great sport, but did NOT dig being a PLAYING CARD). 

So this year, at Stone's request, we were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This year, it was Emerson that was the good sport. I know she doesn't look too thrilled in her pictures, but she really did enjoy it. And since she was a good sport, she (along with every other little girl in America) was Elsa the night of Halloween. Stone decided to be a vampire, last minute, and Knox remained a Ninja Turtle.

I love Halloween! It kicks off fall and holiday festivities. It's something we, as a family, do together, enjoy, and make memories of. 

Here are a few pictures from the two dress-ups.

People asked how Knox's makeup was so perfect. He actually loved Cliff putting it on! He watched Stone and Emerson get all dressed up, and he wanted to be jus like them. He was in full character all night long!

And then for Halloween night...

Doing her ice magic.... ....you can tell she did enjoy this costume a little more...