Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

Every year Grant, Monte and Lillian love pulling out their Christmas ornaments and remembering what one they got in what year of their lives. Monte is pointing to the one he got this year it is an Iguana in remembrance of Iggie. I have to say I like Iggie better on the tree.

Thank You!

Thank You for the book, we look forward to reading it! What a fun tradition this is!!

Decorating the Tree

I thought a 2 year old was bad. They actually have rearranged the ornaments on this tree 13 times and it hasn't even been up that long! If you notice the whole middle section of my tree no longer lights up. We have checked the bulbs and everything, and yes it is plugged in. I guess I will keep looking for that one bulb!!

Grant and Lillian

Lillian loves his big brother Grant! It is funny Grant will ask Lillian if he can carry her; as if she were this little baby.

Lillian Eating her Cookie

Belly Busters

Grant loves dad's belly buster cookies.

Sunday Night

As if we didn't have enough sugar in the house from Thanksgiving, we decided to make more! The kids love making cookies with their dad.

Making Cookies with Dad

Jeremy and the kids decided to make some chocolate mint chip cookies. Yummy!

Strong Museum of Play

Today we headed to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester. It is the 2nd largest children's museum in the nation. It is 282,000 square feet! This is recognized as one of the Nations top museums for family and children. It is the home of the National Toy Hall of Fame. It has the worlds largest collection of toys, dolls, games, and other items that celebrate play. We spent 6 hours walking around and playing!! There was so much to see and do we could have definitely stayed longer. This is a must see for anybody who comes to the area!!

I love this sign!!!

I couldn't help but smile when I read this sign on the entrance to the butterfly gardens.

"I Found One Mom!"

Monte found this little butterfly hiding.

Room of Butterflies

Monte was fascinated with all of the butterflies!!

Butterflies

Grant and Lillian were seeing how many butterflies they could get to land on them.

Fairy Tale Land

Jack and the Beanstalk

Monte really liked this big green beanstalk.

Pail of Water

Lillian discovered a frog in Jack and Jill's well!

Sword in the Stone

Monte trying so hard to get the sword from the stone!

Girl Talk

Growing up I spent many hours on the weekend playing "Girl Talk" with my best friend Molly.

Monte's Radio Show

Monte pretending to be on the radio.

Crockpot!

I was so excited when I saw this crock-pot!! I remember my mom using this one when I was little, but it was orange. I especially remember looking at the lobsters on the bottom.

Flag of Buttons

Grant loved the flag made from buttons!

Walls of Barbie's

Lillian was in heaven with the walls of Barbie displays.

Remember This?

I loved playing this when I was little. Especially Pac Man

The Screen

The kids thought these screens were the coolest thing!

Rock Climbing Wall

Grant enjoyed climbing on this wall, wishing he had one in his house.

Give Thanks

The kids and I had fun making this sign. I sent them outside with a sack and they collected all of these treasures. The sign includes: dandelions, rocks, sticks, leaves and blades of thick grass. The kids loved doing this!
Jeremy and I had a lot of fun preparing all of the food for our "first" Thanksgiving away from home. Our friends came over with their kids as well as the missionaries. We all had a good time eating and playing games. The kids absolutely love it when the missionaries come over.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!

Jeremy- Prayer
Rachel- Moms, Dads, Sisters, Sister-N-Laws, My Favorite Brother, Nieces and Nephews. I Love You All!!
Grant- Rain
Monte- Indians
Lillian- Pink Tu Tu's

Today We Are Thankful For:

Dad- Free Sweaters from MooseJaw (sidenote: he enters contests and giveaways and wins!)
Mom-The simple things in life: Early morning when nobody is up and you have time to just have peace and quiet, watching the sunset, a unexpected note in the mail, when Jeremy says why don't you go upstairs and take a nap, a babies laugh, a stranger saying hello, a bubble bath with lots and lots of bubbles, my kids bear hugs, when Grant comes up to me and says, "Mom, oh I just love ya!", checking on the kids when they are fast asleep at night, and finally when Jeremy cooks dinner.
Grant- Turkey Dinner
Monte- Turkey Dinner
Lillian- Milky

Today We Are Thankful For:

Dad- Knowledge
Mom- Freedom
Grant- The food we have to eat
Monte- Playing games with my family
Lillian- My pink coat

Today We Are Thankful For:

Grant- The Earth
Monte- The Sun
Lillian- The Stars
Dad- My Children
Mom- The happiness and laughter that Jeremy brings into my life

Jeremy and Rachel

When we were at the park, it started to snow. I can't wait for the snow! I am hoping we will have a white Christmas. We will see.

Daddy Daughter

Lillian loves her daddy! She would not let him out of her sight!

The Boys

There is a little park by our house with this waterfall at it. The kids loved hiking and playing on the rocks.

Today We Are Thankful For:

Jeremy- The Plan of Salvation
Rachel- I am thankful for being a mom
Grant- My friends
Monte- Gordon B. Hinckley
Lillian- Clothes

Good Ole Elmer's Glue

This Barbie's head fell off so Lillian solved the problem with a little Elmer's glue! I was laughing so hard when I discovered Lilly gluing.

Today We Are Thankful For:

Dad- Prayer
Mom- Knowing That Families Forever
Grant- The Temple
Monte- Church
Lillian- Flowers

Today We Are Thankful For:

Dad- Scriptures
Mom- I am grateful to live in a place rich with culture and diversity.
Grant- Our Home
Monte- My Brain
Lillian- Baby Maxwell

86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" William A. Ward

I got this great idea from the Family Fun website. We made a turkey and hung it up by our kitchen table. Every night after dinner the kids take a feather and write what they are thankful for. By Thanksgiving our Turkey will be full of thankful feathers. For the next week I will be sharing some of the things that we are grateful for.
Grant- Grandma's and Grandpa's
Monte- Cousins
Lillian-Babies
Dad- GPS
Mom- Health

Niagara Falls

Tuesday was a beautiful day!! After the kids got home from school we took them to go and see the falls. Niagara Falls is almost in our backyard, about 20 minutes away! The waterfalls are absolutely breathtaking!!! I can't believe how much water comes down! This is the view from the American side. Once you cross Rainbow Bridge you are into Canada. The view from the Canadian side is actually better. This was definitely the perfect time to visit. There was nobody there! I couldn't believe it. Usually it is packed!! We were able to go on all the look out towers free of charge, as well as have them totally to ourselves! It was wonderful.

WOOPS

OK this wasn't supposed to go in like this. Woops wrong way! Anyways... Lillian was so afraid of the heights! She would not get out of her stroller and look down.

Grant and the Falls

Grant looking down at one of the falls!

Niagara River

Grant snapped this photo of Jeremy and I. He loves taking pictures!

Father and Son

I turned around and snapped this shot! I love it!! Jeremy and Grant were just standing there chatting.

Jeremy and Rachel

Standing at the Niagara River. The bridge in the back ground is called Rainbow Bridge. It connects the US to Canada.

Hiding

Lillian was hiding in this tree at the Niagara River.

Escaping the "House"

The kids didn't have school on Monday because of Veteran's Day. We were feeling crazy in our house after a long weekend, so we ventured out to the pond. There is this great pond around the corner from our house. The kids love going there. They especially like the little playgrounds tucked in the trees. They think that they are tree forts.

Lillian and Jane

Lillian loves Jane!!! Lilly thinks she is Jane's little mother!

Lillian Swinging

Lillian loves to swing!!! As I am pushing her she is saying, "Push me high like the honey." Ever since she was little she has always said that when I am pushing her on the swing. I have no idea why she says that.

Wooden Park

Grant and Monte playing on the tire swing.

Jeremy Look Alike!

This picture looks so much like a picture I have of Jeremy when he was a little boy!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The internet connection for some reason is not working correctly. Therefore, I am unable to post any pictures. Were still alive and I hope to get it up and running soon!!!

TAGGED????????????????

Alright, I have been tagged! Geez, thanks Toad!! I am supposed to list 7 things about myself and then tag 7 people. So here goes....

1- A few days before I was baptized, I decided I better say a swear word. I figured that it would soon be washed away and that I better say it now because after baptism you can't do anything wrong! Nice 7 year old mentality right? Anyways, I decided I better whisper that "bad" word to the telephone pole; the one that was in between my house and Molly's home. I figured no one would hear.
2- I have a confession, "Mom, your silverware the one that had the swirlies on it, well if you dig in the ground before you get to the Indian clay you will probably find several of your spoons and butter knives.
3- When I was 5 we had a family picture taken. I remember the day vividly. My mom of course wanted us all to match. I hated the fact we all had to wear sweaters! I hated sweaters, they made my neck and belly itch like crazy!!! Anyways, I remember throwing a fit because I didn't want to wear the sweater. My mom would not let me wear anything different. So I came up with a plan. I went into the bathroom and wrapped my belly and arms in toilet paper and then put the sweater on top of it. The problem was solved, I didn't itch! Looking back at the picture I think I added a little bit too much stuffing!
4- I am a list maker, and love making lists. Whether it be lists of things I need to accomplish, things I want to do as a family, places I want to travel to, my personal goals etc... I also document absolutely everything!!! I am a little excessive in that area. I love keeping pregnancy journals, gratitude journals, dream journals, funny book journals, love note books, kids journals, school memory book journals, you name it. I am always shocked when I read something that I thought I would always remember that I totally forgot about. That is why it is so important to me to write everything down, otherwise I would forget! I have kept a detailed journal ever since I was little. It was nice when I met Jeremy all I had to do was pull out my checklist that I had previously made of traits I wanted my husband to have. I just went down the list and was able to check every single thing off. Hey, someday my kids may want to know what there dad wore on our first date, what he ordered at dinner, and the first song that we ever slow danced to. For the record on our first date no lie he wore black corduroy pants, a brown polyester shirt, and white (yes WHITE) high top shoes! Now, I am definatley NOT Miss Fashion, but honestly the white high tops threw me off! I still have that brown polyester shirt, I am going to have to put it on the blog.
5- OK enough with the stories. I absolutely LOVE music. It is constantly playing day and night. I can never get sick of it. I especially love Enya, anything instrumental, Celtic, Opera and well the list goes on. I love listening to it very loud!! I love that it drowns out all the noise!
6-I love being a mom and also spending time with Jeremy and the kids. Especially our time in the outdoors. Whether it be hiking, biking, camping (as long as Jeremy has his "bear" gun) or the weekly adventures. I also enjoy jogging and skiing.
7- I love to write poetry. I haven't written anything for quite sometime, but I would eventually love to take some creative writing classes and get back into it.

Alleghany State Park

Today we decided to go to Alleghany State Park. It was very pretty!! This may be our last jaunt before the weather changes, snow is expected next week! There was definitely a nip in the air, but the views were spectacular! Lillian insisted on wearing those lovely glasses.

Jeremy and Rachel

Lillian

Lillian didn't seem to mind that it was getting a little chilly.

Rock Climbing

Grant was in heaven climbing all of these big rocks!

Running through the woods

Lillian had so much fun running through the woods that were blanketed with a ton of leaves!

Alleghany State Park

Grant loves playing in the leaves. This was a really fun park. In the summer you can rent paddle boats, I can't wait to try that! There are biking trails all around the lake that look fun too.

This is for my "leaf collection"

Monte was ready to go home with some leaves for his collection!