Christmas

I am such a blog slacker but I wanted to post some pictures from Christmas. We went to my parents in Henderson for Christmas and luckily all my family was there. My brothers come home from their missions on April 1st so we were able to Skype with them, so they were there too! The drive was horrible going down because of the terrible snowstorms in Utah and the flooding from Cedar City to Vegas. It took us about 5 hours just to get to Cedar, which normally takes 3. I was a nervous wreck driving in snow even though Jaron was driving. We ended up staying in New Harmony at my grandparent’s house over night because our car continued to hydroplane and we were in 4-wheel drive. Needless to say I was very relieved when we finally reached my parent’s house.

We had such a good time being all together and doing lots of fun traditions. One of the first nights we were there, my grandma Tobler made her famous chili and my mom’s side of the family all came over to eat and play games. My cousin Kara was even there from Oklahoma, which was so great to see her and her husband.

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional big family dinner and afterward we started a new tradition of decorating gingerbread houses. Then we all opened our matching pajamas. My little family also gets to open a new ornament that is personal to them and a book. Luckily all the kids went to bed early so we could finish some last minute things. Christmas morning we had a big breakfast and then opened presents while we Skyped with my brothers. It was so great to talk and see them face to face. We had such a great time being all together and we surely enjoyed the much warmer weather!

Lexi in her snow boots and coat before going to Vegas

Kysa wanting to play with Kaylee

The Rime gingerbread house

The Tillack gingerbread house

The Shaw gingerbread house

Mom reading the Night Before Christmas

Cute little Lexi in her new pjs

Christmas morning opening our stockings

The tree with all the presents stacked behind it

Jaden, Stacy and Kysa with cute bedhead

Jacob, Kenzie, Austin and Mindy

Kaylee being so cute in her Jumperoo

Lexi sporting her princess dress up from Grandma and Grandpa Rime (also you can see Tyler on the computer screen in the back ground)

Lexi finding her big present Santa left in her bedroom

Halloween

Halloween started on the 27th for us with our ward Trunk or Treat. Unfortunately it was about 40 degrees so we were freezing and didn’t stay long. Kaylee was very unhappy the moment we got there and I didn’t dress her up since it was too cold to put her in a costume and Lexi refused to wear a jacket. She still had fun though and really enjoyed all the candy.
The next day we went over to Austin and Diana Troyer’s house, our good friends and neighbors to carve our pumpkin. Jaron cleaned out the guts and I did the carving. It was our first time doing it together and it actually turned out pretty good.
Since we live in Utah, mostly everyone does their Trick or Treating on Saturday, but unfortunately for us the weather was terrible. Stacy, Jaden and Kysa came down so we could take the girls together. We ordered pizza and then were going to head out, but there was a terrible storm complete with hail, rain and lots of wind. Luckily after we ate some pizza and dressed up the girls it had stopped raining and we were able to go around my little neighborhood. It was still cold and wet but the girls were able to still get plenty of candy.

Jaron and Lexi at the Trunk or Treat

Enjoying the "Goods"

Kaylee's make-do costume for the cold weather

Cleaning out the pumpkin guts

Our cute little pumpkin

Ready to Trick or Treat

Jaden and Kysa ready to go

The girls looking so cute!

A trip to Henderson

October 21st Stacy and I, with our girls, went down to visit our parents for the weekend. Jaden was going hunting and Jaron had to work so we decided to embark on the adventure solo. It was quite the experience with our three girls squished into the middle seats in Stacy’s Tahoe. Luckily Stacy’s car is equipped with a DVD player so most of the ride Lexi and Kysa were somewhat entertained. Kysa cried a lot of the way for some unknown reason and Kaylee, who hates riding in the car and more specifically her car seat, screamed 2/3rds of the way down and back. Stacy and I, being the terrible mothers that we are, would just laugh because we were screaming at each other to talk. We were very relieved when we got there!
We had so much fun just hanging out with my mom and Mindy and her kids. Stacy and I also went with my dad and Austin to Hoover Dam and walked up to the new bridge. It was pretty neat but it was so high up it made me a little scared of heights. My mom made Lexi an amazing Genie costume that turned out so cute while we were there. We also made a Halloween craft, caramel apples, and others fabulous things. We celebrated Mindy and my dad’s birthdays while we were there by going to BJ’s and then had a Snickers ice cream cake that I made them. Both were delish! Even though Stacy and I had a great time, I think we both would agree that we would have liked having our husbands with us.

Our one moment of complete silence that lasted about 20 minutes

View from the bridge

Stacy and Austin on top of the bridge

The view of the bridge from the top of Hoover Dam

Some Big Horn Sheep at a park in Boulder City

Dad and Mindy

Pumpkin Patch

Stacy and I have made it a tradition to go to a pumpkin patch each year and then go and eat at the Pie Pizzeria before or after. This year we went to a different pumpkin patch that was closer to Stacy’s house in Draper. It had little booths that sold chocolate, clothes, homemade donuts and lots more. There were also tons of pumpkins that you could buy. We had a lot of fun even though we weren’t there very long, but we all got some big pumpkins to carve.

Our Bumbo Girl

We always wanted to get a Bumbo because we had heard how great they were but they were a little expensive. We decided to get one for Kaylee and it was so worth it. It is fabulous to let her sit up and see everything without having to hold her all the time! It’s great and I just wish we had gotten it when we had Lexi.

PumpkinLand

The beginning of October began with a visit to Pumpkin Land in Provo. Stacy and Kysa came and went with us. It was our first time and it wasn’t as great as we were expecting but I think the girls had fun. Unfortunately about a thousand preschool kids showed up right after we got there so it was hard for the girls to really do much playing. We still got some cute pictures however.


They had some HUGE pumpkins

Kysa really cheezin' it up with Lexi

A picture to show that Kaylee was there eventhough she slept through it

Lexi showing off her pumpkin that she picked

Kysa's pumpkin was a little big for her to hold so we borrowed this one for the pic