Ready for Christmas

We put up the Christmas decorations last weekend.
The kids love to help and the girls are getting really good at decorating. Eliza did most of this shelf!

Just thought I would throw in a shot of our painting now that it's hanging on the wall.

Every year after Christmas I buy a new santa.

All the kids want to put on the topper, so Jim helps them all.

Here's Eliza.

Here's Emma.

Parker can almost reach by himself.

Merry Christmas!

What a weekend!

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we went to alcatraz with the Roziers. The tour is fantastic. You wear headphones and here stories narated by former inmates. The cells were so small (5 x 9) and cold!

This is one of the cells where the inmates dug out through the air vent and escaped.

Parker and Alex (they look right at home!) :)

Some of the buildings are falling down but most of it was in great shape. The gardens are beautiful.

We had to stop by Pier 39.

The following night we went to the Oakland Temple for a Christmas program and to see them turn on the Christmas lights.

It was beautiful and not too cold!

It's a great way to start the holiday season!

Thanksgiving!

Eliza, Emma and I painted the front porch and stairs to get ready for hosting Thanksgiving dinner. We liked the pumpkins stacked this way. Inside was all decorated.

Aunt Suzanne brought delicious appetizers.

I made 15 pounds of mashed potatoes and stuffing with sausage, chestnuts and mushrooms.

We had cranberry sauce, turkey (of course!), roasted brussel sprouts, salad & rolls (made by Shannon) and lots of pies- also made by Shannon.

Here's the young adults table-

Here's the older adults table-

Here's the kids table-

We had all of Matt and Shannon's girls and the three new spouses with us.

Here's Shannon, Matt and Suzanne. We didn't get photos of John and Alex, but they were here!

We had a great Thanksgiving, we missed Julie, Nate and Clara and Nick who's serving his mission. Today we are off to Alcatraz!

Happy Birthday Porter!

Porter turned six today! It's fitting that his birthday is close to (or some years on) Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for this sweet kid (who had to have strawberry cupcakes, NOT a cake)!

He was spoiled with presents.

He loved them all. He's playing with Spiderman and Wolverine and making martians as I blog.

I've spent the day reflecting on Porter and getting teary eyed (not just because of all the onions and shallots I've been chopping). I think back to all the doctor's appointments, tests, treatments, and surgeries this little boy has endured in his short six years. I remember doctors telling us his chances of survival were about 29%. I remember crying myself to sleep and spending hours on my knees pleading with the Lord to let him have a normal, healthy life. Well, here we are six years later. He's a miracle. He still has leukemia, he still has Noonan's Syndrome, he still has a mild heart condition and he will endure yet another surgery in January, but he's growing and thriving and making us laugh each day and melting the hearts of everyone he meets. The Lord has answered our prayers. We love you Porter!

New Moon party!

I had a pre-movie watching party last night.
Friends came over around 9pm. We had lots of delicious food, New Moon trivia and quizes and made t-shirts (Valerie's was hilarious- see below). I let my girls stay up for most of the party -they get to see the movie with me tonight!

We decorated with cheesy posters from "Teen Dream" magazine!

We had a 1000-piece New Moon puzzle for the more serious party goer.

We had a blast screeming our heads off like teenagers! What fun friends I've got! (top row-Lisie, Sarah, Emily, Alaina, me, Christine. Bottom row- Rachel, Lora, Valerie.) We met more friends at the theater.

Thanks ladies- We'll have an even bigger party for Eclipse!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's Day! Thanks to all who serve or have served in the military. I am so grateful to live in this free land. Special thanks to my grandpa Hawkins who served in WWII, was a hero in Pearl Harbor and is such a good man. I love you Grandpa! (Thanks Natalie for the photo!)

Life after Halloween...

You know your kids have too much candy when they wake up in the morning with a giant wad of gum stuck in their hair on the back on their head! His kindergarten teacher also sent home a note saying, "Porter kept eating candy during class and it was really disrupting the other students." Apparently he sneaks it to class in his pockets. I'll have to reinstate my policy of frisking him before he leaves home. I sure love that kid!