The Liberty Bell December 5, 2009

Chad and I has some friends down for the weekend. They wanted to go see some sights so on Saturday we decided to go see the Liberty Bell. The weather was terrible and we both forgot our cameras (I used my phone) so the pictures aren't great but it was nice to see some of our famous historical sights and learn some new things.


The Declaration of Independence. (not the real one.)

Nicholas standing in front of the Liberty Bell. He kept asking why it was cracked and why they couldn't just fix it. It was very cute to see it from a 3 year olds perspective.

Chad, Nicholas and Jacob in front of the Liberty Bell.

Setting up the Christmas Tree. November 27, 2009

Today we set up our Christmas Tree. Its a little earlier than we normally do it but I thought since we had my family down we would do it now. We bought a fake tree a few years ago so Chad was setting that up while I got out all of our ornaments. Nicholas put the star on with the help of Chad. Everyone helped put on the ornaments. It was a fun night and the tree looked great. Since then the tree has been abused. All of the ornaments have been put up really high so the kids don't touch them. Thankfully Chad attached it to the wall because I'm sure it would have been knocked over atleast half a dozen times by now. To put it mildly, the boys are very excited for Christmas:)


Chad setting up the tree.

Jake sitting on Papa Rick's lap.

Cathy doing her "I'm to sexy dance"

Hanging ornaments almost as fast as Jake pulling them off.

Putting on the star.

Finishing touches.

The boys loved it!

Our family in front of our tree.

Thanksgiving November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I am so thankful for my husband and my boys. They are the greatest. I am also thankful that my family was able to come down and celebrate the holiday with us. I love you all so much:) What a great day! So much food. Tons of fun. Great memories. Karin and I made shirts for all the guys that said Happy Thanksgiving on them. Then we traced the boys hands and made turkeys out of the handprints. They turned out so cute. I think we may continue that tradition in the future. On the menu today we had: a 20lb turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, carrots and rutabegas (my absolute favorite dish), my dad's stuffing, yams (both regular and candied), butternut squash, Chad's homemade cranberry sauce (plus the can stuff for my Dad and Michelle) and rolls. For dessert we had Cherry pie, Apple pie and a chocolate chip cheesecake. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff. It was delicious and could not have been a better day! I hope everyone else had a happy holiday as well.


Nicholas and Jacob in their new shirts.

My family getting the table ready for dinner.

Chad in his new shirt.

Chad and Ross. The shirts were meant to be a joke but I think everyone really liked them.

All the guys in the new shirts.

Nicholas trying to sneak a bite!

All of us getting ready to eat.

Jacob and his daddy very excited to finally eat dinner.

The Day Before Thanksgiving November 25, 2009

My other two sisters Michelle and Cathy and Cathy's boyfriend Ross came down today. Here are just a few pictures of everyone. The boys were so excited everyone was here. We had a lot of fun hanging out and watching my dad make the stuffing. That is one of our favorite sides at Thanksgiving dinner. He did a great job. Chad was so great and cut ALL the vegetables up ahead of time so all we had to do was boil and mash them the next day. It was a really fun night.


Jacob texting on Aunt Cathy's phone.

Nicholas with Aunt Shell.

Aunt Karin, Aunt Cathy and her boyfriend Ross.

Nicholas being a ham.

Papa Rick

Jake eating cheese puffs.

My Dad making his stuffing! Yummy!

Debby and Chad prepping for Thanksgiving dinner.

Aunt Karin Nov. 24, 2009

My Dad, Debby and sister Karin got into town yesterday to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Karin offered to watch the boys last night so that Chad and I could go out on a date. It had been so long I wasn't sure what to do:) Just kidding. We went to go see New Moon which was SO GREAT!!!! When we got home both the boys and Aunt Karin were passed out on our bed. It was so cute. We are looking forward to more family coming today.

Carving Pumpkins October 27, 2009

Chad and the boys carved pumpkins the other night. Nicholas had a lot of fun cleaning out the pumpkins and Jake just sat back and watched. They had fun watching Chad cut the faces out. Chad also cut their names into the back of the pumpkins as well. They turned out cute and the kids had fun so it was a good night.

Ward Halloween Party Oct. 23, 2009

We went to our ward Halloween Party last week and had so much fun. The boys were M&M's this year and as you can probably tell I made their costumes. Not the greatest but they don't care. As long as Nicholas was red because that's his favorite color that's all he cared about. They really enjoyed the trunk or treat part. Chad ended up making balloon animals for kids which I didn't even know he could do. Everyone was really impressed. It was a fun night.


The only picture of them together in their costumes.

After he ate this he was literally running around the gym like a crazy person. It was funny.

So tired.

He enjoyed the cotton candy too.

Apple Picking October 13, 2009

We finally got around to going apple picking. We found this really great place about 20 minutes from here. First we went to pick out a pumpkin for each of the boys. We let them pick their own. I figured Nicholas would get the biggest pumpkin he could see but I think he wanted to pick it up and carry it himself. Both pumpkins are on the small side but I am fine with that. Then we went into the store they have there and got some apple cider and apple cider donoughts. I think that was the first time either of my kids have had those. They LOVED them. Then it was off to the apple orchard. We were hoping to get a large variety of apples but when we got arrived the saleperson told us there were only 2 kinds of apples. Staymen and Red delicious. I was a little disappointed but I guess we just have to make sure we go earlier next year. The kids had a great time walking through the orchard and picking apples. Jake even got into it. We even found a little catepiller that Nicholas held for a minute. It was a really fun day. We ended up getting a TON of apples. So far we have dried some, make 2 apple crisp and 2 apple pies. Plus the kids eat at least one everyday. Now we just have to carve the pumpkins.



Jake and Chad with Jake's pumpkin.

Jake browsing around.

Nicholas with his pumpkin. He had a hard time deciding.

That's the one.

This picture is so cute. He loved the pumpkin patch.

At the apple orchard.

Jake pointing to the apples.

I love this one!! Jake would find them and Nicholas would pick them.

He picked a couple himself.

Nicholas was a pro.

The catepillar that Chad found.

Nicholas holding him.