Going backwards through time... Addison turns 4!

 Birthday girl in all her glory.  Very happy

it's finally her special day!

 Opening presents...

 A robe I made her...

 Minnie mouse! This is the theme she wanted for her

birthday... even though she really hasn't seen anything

with Minnie mouse. Oh well, we went with it and it

turned out fun! :)

 Grandma and Grandpa W couldn't be here so we skyped

in the evening to open presents.

 Blowing out candles at the "evening" party

 We let the kids open one present in the morning

Addison opened a harmonica that Tyler got.

She loved it as you can see. She has gotten

really good at jingle bells on it.

 Uncle Joe getting dressed up for the party!

 Clark didn't like the ears but he loved the sparkly

sunglasses. :)

 We did a little mid-morning party since

Hilary and kids came.  We also had Addison's

friend that lives next door come over. It was fun.  

The kids played musical chairs to the Mickey Mouse

March and ate cupcakes (addison't request).

 Enjoying the cupcake!

We love you so much Addison and are so

grateful you chose to be apart of our forever

family!  You have grown so much over

this past year and we are excited to watch you

learn and grow some more!

Christmas Day! It's finally here!

 Opening stocking stuffers... So exciting!

 These two cute kiddos were stoked the whole day!

I loved watching them get so excited.  Clark got to

the point where he was done opening presents and 

really just wanted to play. Then when he was in the

mood to open presents he wanted to open everyone's

but his. Silly boy!

 Addison opening doll clothes for her new "little sister"

as she calls her.  It is a cute 18inch doll that looks like 

her.  Even better because Santa found her at DI and 

she absolutely loves her! :) She put her in PJs last night

and tucked her in bed and this morning "little sister" got

dressed when Addison did and has been playing with 

her all day.  I believe she named the doll Abigail (but 

don't quote me on that.)

 Mom and Joe enjoying watching the festivities of opening

presents. Santa split up their presents so they could open

some with Nate and family when they went home mid-morning

on Christmas.  We are so glad you came.

 Coming out and seeing everything! So EXCITED!

 Clark with his blanket and stocking.

 Addison showing me a stocking stuffer Santa brought.

 opening presents...

 more....

 more.... Awesome R/C bus huh?

 more.... Tyler was super excited about all

his gifts this year! I think they all fit even!

 taking a break from opening presents to enjoy

a Dora art kit...

 Taking a break opening presents to read "I love to see the Temple"

book with Grandpa T.  This little boy melts my heart.

He absolutely loves Temples. He already knows a few of them

like the Kirtland, Nauvoo, and SLC one from a book we have.

We have to look through the book several times

a day.  Now he has one he can keep at his level and look at

all the time.  I hope he truly does know how important

the Temple is.  We are trying to be good parents and instill

faith in our Savior Jesus Christ in both of our sweet little

angels.  I know we aren't perfect that is why we need Christ

and I know that life isn't always perfect which is why we need

Christ because he knows us and loves us and can and 

wants to help us.

"Little sister" and Addison.... By the way

I haven't done a post about it but we are expecting 

a little brother or sister to join the family in

early-mid July.  We are very excited if you couldn't

tell. :) Addison has been praying for at least 8 months 

for a little sister... hopefully she won't be too disappointed

if a brother is coming. ;)

Christmas Eve and all through the house...

We are trying to establish our own traditions so like

last year we reenacted the birth of Christ.  Addison

was Mary again and Clark a shepherd.  He wasn't

as cooperative as last year keeping his shepherd clothes

on.  In fact we ended up using his beloved blankie as

his cloak that fell off a couple of minutes after beginning. 

 Also the kids always get to open one present on Christmas

Eve.  This year they got Christmas books again! (Trying

to build up our collection.) I am tired of reading the

nutcracker even though we have 3 different versions.

 Earlier in the day we made sugar cookies. Yum!

Addison always gets her own little ball of dough 

and I make the rest. :)  I am a little bit of a germ freak.

It didn't help that she had a nasty cough...

 They also each get their own frosting bowl and only frost

a couple of cookies which are their very own... hmmm 

wonder why?

 Sorry the pictures got way out of order...

more present opening Christmas Eve

 Addison had to sprinkle some reindeer food out 

so Santa could find his way through our snow!!!

I was so excited to have a white Christmas. 

We had such a fun time having Grandma and Grandpa T 

here and Uncle Joe.  Addison loves sitting by Joe and playing

Scribblenots on his phone.  He is so sweet to share. :)

Unfortunately we always seem to share our germs with him. :(

We also played board games and some wii and xbox golf and 

tennis in our spare time.  It was so fun and we enjoyed having

them share Christmas with us. Also on Christmas Eve instead of going

caroling with all the coughing we had our own caroling around the 

piano while I played.  It was so much fun to hear the harmony

going on and Joe joining us!

Halloween

 Well Here we are at breakfast having jack-o-lanterns.... The kids already dressed in their Halloween shirts!

 Here lies dinner a spooky ghost and jack-o-lantern.  Tyler's Mom always does a spooky supper and I am just not that creative to think of food items and name them something, but I know we all like pizza and it fed a lot since we had some friends come over for dinner and combines trick-or-treating.  It was a lot of fun!

 Clark wet as a monkey.  He didn't like the hood but wore it the whole time once he realized he got candy! After all candy is one of his favorite words!

 Addison went as Cinderella.  I made the dress and headband... don't look too closely! (Besides the picture is blurry... so I guess it doesn't matter too much.)

It was so warm.  Weird to go trick-or-treating without coats or even jackets!

 Some of the gang we went with. We really did have a fun Halloween.  We went trunk-or-treating on the 30th.  We enjoyed mostly spending time with good friends along with the yummy candy.

Sweet kiddos!

I had just gotten done doing something in the back room when I realized it was way to quiet in the house.  As I came down the hall I started to hear Addison's voice.  Turns out she was "reading" to Clark.  There are several books that we have read so many times that she knows by heart.  This is one of them and it is one of Clark's favorites because of all the animals in it.  Addison is such a good helper and big sister.  She is so loving and willing to share (most of the time).  :)

Highlight on Clark

Our sweet little boy is now 2 years old.  He loves trains, cars, firetrucks, airplanes... If it goes he loves it!  Probably because he is always on the go!  Clark will run up and down the sidewalk in front of our house.  He loves going for walks and going in the truck with Dad.  He also loves books and songs.  His favorite song is: "I am a Child of God"  Clark weighs 29 pounds and 33 inches tall.  He has blond hair that looks red depending on the light and big blue eyes.  He loves to play with Addison and is talking up a storm.  Too many words to count in his vocabulary.  (This is a fairly new development.  I was concerned for a while because he wasn't talking much, but no need to be worried now!)

 We love you so much Clark and are very grateful you are part of our forever family!