First half of December

Some random pictures from the first half of December:

Conner came home from school really excited to show me this huge grapefruit.  Also his hair looks so crazy after wearing his snow hat:

At the beginning of December we had a few days of FRIGID temperatures.  Some of the days the high was -24 degrees F.  Some of the mornings we woke up to -33 degrees and with the wind chill it felt like -44 degrees.  The kids still had school but they didn't go outside for recess.  Alan is my boy who loves to be outside, no matter the weather.  So while he was waiting for his ride to take him to school at 8 am he asked to wait outside (it was -25 F).  I said "I guess" as long as he had all his cold weather gear on.  When I looked out the window to check on him this is what I see, him riding his scooter.  He seems to not notice the cold:

Unfortunately our van did notice the cold.  The pump for the power steering fluid broke on the coldest day of the cold snap so we had to get by without the van for a few days while it got fixed.

After it warmed up a friend invited Reed and the boys to go sledding with him and his kids.  The snow was too soft and sticky to do much sledding but it was perfect for building things in the snow.

Below are Alan and Hiram - it looks like they are riding a snow mobile made out of snow:

Alan, Micah, Hiram and Conner standing next to the snow men:

A random picture of Brooklyn - she loves to get dressed up and she had fun wearing that back pack for a day:

Conner had his Christmas program - he is right in the middle wearing a striped shirt and looking at the camera.  His grade sang 5 or 6 songs.  His favorite was "Jingle Bells".

Alan's program was just a half an hour after Conner's program.  Alan is wearing the green and black shirt.  His favorite song was "Hip Hop Reindeer":

November

 I am trying really hard to get caught up by the end of the year so here I go - all of November in one post. 

In the middle of the month Alan's friend Justiz asked Reed if he would baptize him.  It was a good experience for all involved:

 

Lately Brooklyn has an obsession with putting on clothes.  She loves to bring me piles of clothes and wants me to put them all on her.  Sometimes the clothes are Brooklyn's and sometimes they aren't. 

Here she is trying to put on 4 or 5 pairs of Micah's underwear:

 She would finally get them all on then she would stand up and they would all fall down around her ankles:

Brooklyn woke up from her nap and was very snuggly one afternoon:

 Happy girl:

 For Thanksgiving we stayed home.  We invited some friends (the Campbells) over for dinner and had a big feast and then we played some games.  Everything was delicious.  That night Reed and Steph came to do some black Friday shopping.  They helped us take the kids to get their Christmas presents for each other.  It works so much better when there is 1 adult per child.  We got some of our Christmas shopping done too.  Then we packed up and headed north to visit Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher.  We played games that night and their house with Reed and Steph.  The next day we went to the temple and then had lunch with our ward youth and then we did a little more Christmas shopping.  We got back in time to help put up the outdoor Christmas lights.  The next day we went to church and then headed home.  It was a fun, quick trip!

Micah LOVES these little guys.  He knows each of them and if one is missing he will tell you about it. 

 Getting ready to fire the cannon at the guys:

And there is the month of November in a nutshell. 

Halloween 2013

 We carved our jack-o-lanterns a couple of days before Halloween.  As usual our kids were not impressed with the pumpkin insides but they enjoyed making a face on the pumpkin. 

Conner was the only boy brave enough to stick his hand in:

"ewww"

 Micah used a spoon for a bit and then I just scooped his out for him:

 Alan tried using an ice cream scoop but the handle wasn't long enough for him because his hand would still brush against the sides:

 This was Brooklyn's first experience with carving a pumpkin.  She would just look at the inside with a disgusted look on her face.  Reed made her put her hand in the pumpkin and she immediately pulled it out and wiped her hand on her shirt:

 This year we were a family of ninjas.  Conner was the red ninja:

Alan the black ninja:

 Micah the blue ninja:

 and Brooklyn the Samurai:

 The kids have been watching Ninjago (lego ninja tv series).  We were going to have Reed be Sensei Wu but we couldn't find a good costume for him.

Alan, Justiz (Alan's friend who came trick or treating with us), Conner and Micah

 Hi-ya!!!

I took the kids to the stores downtown and we trick or treated for a little while.  Then we went to our ward trunk or treat.  After that the kids had plenty of candy so we headed home to sort it out and go to bed.

October (minus Halloween) in pictures

In October we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bassett and see James get baptized.  We decided to stay in a hotel and the kids were thrilled.  We got one with a pool and a continental breakfast - our two favorite things about hotels!

Reed trying to get Brooklyn to jump in:

 Reed helping her in:

 All of the pictures that we take with Reed's phone come out blurry - so frustrating!  Anyway, cute picture of Brooklyn:

 Micah was happy to just sit on the steps and play:

 Conner warming up in the hot tub:

 Alan and Conner playing in the hot tub:

Then we went out to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We helped winterize the chicken coop.  Brooklyn was kind of nervous around the chickens but she was also very curious.

Brooklyn peeking into the chicken coop:

Micah helping dad close some of the gaps in the siding:



Later in October we made cookies to deliver to families.  Everyone was excited to help.

Micah is trying to sneak chocolate chips and he just got caught by Dad:

Our annual leaf raking - I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the trees with their beautiful leaves:

We raked a big pile and then had fun jumping in it:

After we made a big pile I covered the 3 boys up with leaves and we waited for Dad to come home.  When he got there the boys burst out of the pile of leaves - it was pretty fun to plan the surprise.

Fun at the park

It seems odd to be writing about gorgeous fall days when it is -24 degrees F outside with 5 inches of snow on the ground.  I guess that is another reason I should get caught up.  In the middle of September we decided to go for a picnic dinner at a local park to enjoy some very nice weather.

Brooklyn enjoying some pizza and a juice box:

Making a train on the slide: Brooklyn, Reed, Alan, Conner and Micah as the caboose

Micah would fly down the slide - he looks a little concerned about his speed:

Brooklyn LOVES slides:

We love this big slide:

Then we had fun jumping from one tire to another and running between them:

I miss these warm days!