PICTURES!!!!

Here are a few pictures to accompany the previous post! Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Noelle touching her feet to her shoulders- YIKES!

He's a silly one!

If you read my previous post you are probably saying, "I thought you said he does not take naps!" Only when you go to the bank at 4:00 in the afternoon. And check out what it takes to bundle these babies up to go outside!

Our family masterpiece!

Sickness hit our family hard over the weekend!

Elijah on Thanksgiving!

I kid you not, Noelle made most of the Grandma's Rolls- what a great helper!

The tree went up before Thanksgiving this year and we are enjoying it!

The kids seemed to put all of the garland and ornaments where they could reach- we had to shuffle once pictures were taken!

We've heard Frosty sing hundreds of times and it hasn't even been a week!

BOREDOM! Bunk beds (Did you guess it?)

STILL HERE!

Its a Monday afternoon and we just got Noelle off to preschool. I have been trying for the last half hour to rock Corom to sleep with no luck. He is not napping these days. He's two and a half, which is a lot older than Noelle when she stopped napping, so I suppose its normal. He does have to do quiet time, which he loves. He loves having the house to himself with sister at school and Elijah asleep. I should rewind a little to begin my family update. Last week they forecasted blizzard-like conditions on Tuesday. It scared me to death! It dropped down to 16 degrees and I ran to Costco before hand to stock up on food, batteries, propane and water. We all went hibernated and the school were shut down and yes, it snowed, but not as much as they had predicted. It was, however, FREEZING! Since then, it has snowed on and off, but a lot. I think this is the deepest snow that I have seen since we've been here. On Wednesday, we decided that we couldn't resist the kids begging any more to put up the Christmas decorations. This is the earliest we have ever put up a tree and the first year using an artificial one. The kids are facinated by it. 3 kids under 5- its going to be a fun year! On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving at my cousin Laura's home with Laura's family, my Aunt Alice and Uncle Lynn and other cousin Mike and his children. Dinner was wonderful and they are great company! We had a relaxing weekend. Noelle had her Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting at church on Sunday. They learn songs all year and are each assigned a speaking part. Noelle had 2 parts and decided before church that she was too scared to talk in the microphone. She did get up there and her teacher read her parts for her. She loves to sing though, and sang her heart out! We were so proud of her! And now, we are back to school. Dan only has 2 weeks left and then he is done with class work forever! WOO HOO! I have been feeling really blessed lately. I look at my children and wonder how I have been so blessed to be the mother of three children as healthy and active as them. I feel blessed to live in a free country, where we are able to follow our dreams and practice our beliefs. Yesterday we had a lesson about how we can be Christ's hands here on earth and I have been reflecting on how many angels I have in my life. Happy Late Thanksgiving to all and here's to kicking off the Christmas Season! I love this time of year!

Temple Square

Yet another Tami blog. I am really good about writing in my journal- but love to blog because it can be shared and can be accompanied by pictures, so here I am again. We had a Family Home Evening on Temple Square last night. We have an upcoming Stake Conference at the Assembly Hall with Elder Ballard. We wanted to go and show the children the building so we can prepare them and to get them excited. I LOVE TEMPLE SQUARE! I love sharing these amazing buildings with my children and explaining the history behind them- the pioneers and their sacrifices. We followed the evening with dinner and hot chocolate. The funny thing is that we did a really elaborate family home evening and when we got home the kids begged to hold a "normal" one with a lesson, songs, duck-duck-goose and singing "Popcorn Popping" for Elijah, Kids thrive on routines. This morning we did some Thanksgiving party preps and this is where these pictures come from- the children are creating their "Turkey Masterpieces" and what does a one year old do while mom and siblings are creating art? Scroll down to see! Have a great day!

Quotes of the day: "I'm Evil Dr. Porkchop!" and "Ken says, "Darn it Barbie!" (Corom quoting Toy Story 3- he knows every line in the movie and takes turns playing all the characters. Yesterday he and Noelle were playing Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head) If you haven't seen the movie yet- its a watcher!

AUTUMN OR WINTER???

The weather has been intense lately- any break in the rain/snow and we bundle up and go outside. The other day the kids could see their friends playing outside and really wanted to go out too. So, we bundled up- it takes forever to get on coats, hats, boots, gloves, etc. By the time we got outside, they had gone in already because it was too cold to play. It has been in the low 40's! This didn't stop my children, however, as you can see by the smiles on their faces that they are excited to not be cooped up! The picture of the dog that Elijah is so fond of is our new neighbor "in training." He is learning how to work for the family who is training him- he is seriously the most patient dog as all of the kids hang all over him! And as a side note, the 14-month old has learned to run! He was playing hide and go seek with Noelle last night calling her name and running to find her-so funny! AHHH! its going too fast! Have a good week!

STUFFED ANIMALS

Every child needs a security "something" I believe... something that they love, that makes them feel at home. Our first 2 as babies and toddlers were pacifier kids. We have tried blankets, and yes they like their blankets, but they have never REALLY taken to them individually. Within the last few month our kids have discovered the softest items in our house and have fallen in love with them. Every year My Aunt Nancy who lives in Oregon now, sends stuffed animals for the kids from a boutique called JoAnn's in Sacramento. I am convinced that these special animals are the softest stuffed animals I have every felt. Corom has attached onto a black dog, that he named Sweet Bo Bo dog and Percy the Penguin (who is actually Elijah's). Noelle has Addie the Cow (named after her 2nd cousin in CA who she talks about all the time) and Angel the dog. Each has a special spot in her bed and they come to the breakfast table and often get their own chair. And Elijah, who has never taken to any objects in particular, has fallen in love with 2 of the doggies. You put him in his bed with a dog in each arm and he is happy as a clam. Funny that we can hear him "Talking" to his dogs in the morning and when we hold them up he "Barks" at them. I LOVE IT! Thanks Aunt Nancy!

Not a baby any more...

Elijah started walking a few weeks ago and immediately ditched his "Baby" status. He is climbing, undoing cupboards and pantries, flushing the toilet and wanting to do whatever his siblings are doing. Tonight the kids (including Dan) were watching Toy Story 3 with the door closed and Elijah kept knocking on the door like, "Excuse me...did you forget I was out here?" We took him to gymnastics today and he did literally every trick that the toddlers were doing- every roll, bar trick, balancing on the beam and wanting Corom to bounce him on the trampoline. Lastly, tonight I was reading him stories and he was repeating my words, "balloon, ball, Elmo, hat, dog, duck. This is all exciting, but I don't know if I am ready for my baby to grow up so fast!

UPDATE!

My update begins last Friday night when my football-loving husband along with some of the other husbands decided to camp out over night outside the ticket booth at the University to get a crack at the ticket handout Saturday morning. It included a cold night with wristband checks every few hours, but he did it.. he got tickets to the Utah vs. TCU game! That Saturday was Halloween, and a rainy one at that. The costumes came together beautifully! We bundled up and trick-or-treated at the local shopping center. (A yearly favorite) As long as we were under canopies, we were able to dodge the rain. We got a bite to eat and went over to my Grandma and Grandpa's home across town to show off our costumes and trick or treat a little more in the neighborhood. Our buckets were heavy by the end of the night and the kids had a blast!

It has been a busy week as Dan has been wrapping up some major research projects for school. Such is evidence that he is almost done with his graduate coursework- yeah! On Wednesday night we called to ask his dad if he might be willing to fly out to watch the kids for the football game today. He hopped on a plane the next day- amazing I know. The kids were so excited! We have had a wonderful time. We went to the game today and yes, we lost by a lot! It was my first game though, I loved it and was so nice to have a day with Dan and friends! THANKS to the kid's PAPA for coming to give us this experience!