Merry Christmas, everyone!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent us wonderful Christmas cards--we loved them all, and any with pictures are on our fridge (all others are on display around our house!). I obviously didn't get a family card out this year, but hey, one of these years I may surprise myself and do it! I always want to, but it seems like from Thanksgiving to Christmas ends up being a blur. Anyway, the above picture is Annie helping to decorate the tree, which she really enjoyed (she also enjoyed removing the ornaments and trying to hang them in her hair, unfortunately!).

Here are the kids decorating. This beautiful tree was a gift from some dear friends of ours, who actually got a tree cutting permit and drove about 30 minutes north of us to cut it. We have really enjoyed it.

More decorating...

This picture isn't obviously "Christmas-y", but cute none the less. We got about 1 1/2 feet of snow about a week before Christmas, and Annie and Simon had been out with the older kids playing in it, but had to come in to warm up by the wood stove. We are SO enjoying our wood stove!

The kids are very serious about decorating their gingerbread houses--we always do one for the boys and one for the girls...

More concentration--this is serious cowboy stuff!!

OK, these next two pictures are a little out of whack, as they were taken after all the presents had been opened, but I'm too tired and lazy to rearrange them, so here they are! Here's Jonathan helping Simon put his Bionicle together; he's such a nice big brother, very kind and helpful.

Lydia is opening her and Adrienne's new dollhouse furniture and family; they've had lots of fun playing with it!

Here's Elijah on Christmas morning, unwrapping the guitar strap he'd asked for...

And here I am with one of the nice gifts Elijah gave me--I know it's not great, but none of the other pictures were any better (besides, it's early and I was tired!).

Here's Adrienne opening a Crayola activity tub, while Lydia waits to open one of her gifts...

Annie LOVED her stocking full of candy!! And we used an old dog stocking because it was smaller than the others and we didn't give her much candy. However, what we did give her was too much, because by noon she was crying non-stop and had to lie down for a nap. Next year I am definitely waiting to give them their stockings until at least after breakfast, maybe even lunch!!

Here's Simon opening the present he wanted most, a Lego pirate ship...

Jonathan was really excited to get the ipod Nano he's asked for, but didn't think he'd get...

Here's Aaron with a gift from Jonathan...

And here's Annie with her activity doll. She loves to try to button shirts and snap anything she can find with snaps, so we got her this doll so she could practice ;).

Here's Simon unwrapping a gift from Jonathan (a Nerf gun)...

And here are Simon and Annie, before the present unwrapping frenzy began, whew!! We had lots of fun this holiday season, but I a little relieved that it's all over! I think I've felt more overwhelmed this holiday season than I usually do, because I am almost five months pregnant! We are very excited about welcoming our seventh baby in May, but in the mean time, I'm a little more tired than usual :). Anyway, I hope everyone's holidays were nice, and I am going to enjoy the heck out of this little one and a half week lull we have left before school and sports start up again!!

One more picture from the dance

Here is the group Aaron went with to the "Twirps" dance (the other picture I took is in an earlier post). Unfortunately Aaron's date was in the bathroom when this picture was taken, but it's all I've got!

Jonathan's football season in pictures

I thought I was done posting pictures from Jonathan's football season this fall after my last post. However, we went to Jonathan's football banquet a few nights ago, and his coach's wife gave us a disc with over a hundred incredible pictures on it! Her camera takes wonderful pictures, and of course I didn't post all of them here, but they were so good that I had to post some of them ;). Warning--this may be a post that only grandparents will find interesting!! Oh, and Jonathan was very surprised and excited to win the "Lonnie Eagleson" (hope that's spelled correctly) award as well (they only award it to 3 players each year, so it's a big deal for him). Anyway, in the above picture, the team is walking onto the field before a game...

Here they're lined up before a game for the Star Spangled banner--Jonathan is #77.

OK, the above picture is Jonathan's *favorite* picture of the whole season (we also have it up on our refridgerator!). He is the one running in the middle in front of the ball carrier--notice that his feet are completely off the ground! He was "pulling" or running ahead of the ball carrier and blocking for him.

Pre-game huddle-I don't know where Jonathan is in this one, only that he's in there somewhere!

Here's #77 on the field during a game--look how wet and sweaty he is! I can't even imagine how hot they get running around in all that gear in August and September!

Here he is in the thick of it-he's sort of in the middle (you can spot him by the "77" on his shoulder).

Here he is again, well his back, anyway!

Here he is (on the right) possibly about to get pulled down...

And here is his back again....

He really likes this one as well--he is one of the players on the right blocking the player (#45) from the other team (if you look closely, you can spot his brown arms!!).

And here he is on the far right, blocking #54. We aren't proud of him because he plays football, but we are very proud of his determination and earnestness and how he puts 200% into everything he does. The coaches noticed this as well, and remarked that his enthusiasm was contagious. He had a great season this year, and we're hoping he'll have many more to come (although we're not sure if his plans to go straight to USC will materialize!!).

Our big boys

Here is Aaron and his best friend, Nick, outside Hula's restaurant before going to the "Twerps" dance put on by Nick's high school. For this dance, the girls ask the boys and pay for everything, so Aaron and Nick were pretty lucky to be at Hula's restaurant (we heard that a lot of the girls took their dates to the In N Out!). I would've taken more pictures, but didn't want to go into Hula's and embarrass the girls by taking tons of pictures (and of course I didn't follow them to the dance). So this picture is the best I have!

Sports, on the other hand, of course are instant photo opportunities, except when the sun goes down. Anyway, even though you can't see much, Jonathan is in the photo above!

This is at the beginning of the game, where the team captains are meeting. Jonathan was one of them--he's #77.

The pre-game huddle...

And here's Jonathan at the water table--he's the only tall, dark, and handsome one there ;). We're really proud of how much effort he's put into this; last year he was a rookie, and this year he started and played a lot. He loves football and is looking forward to many more seasons to come!

Our pumpkin patch trip

Here's what's left of the pumpkin bread I made with one of the pumpkins we brought home...

Here's Adrienne, Lydia, & Simon on the wooden train--this is Simon's favorite thing about the pumpkin patch!

Maybe Aaron isn't too old to be playful?!!

Here's Simon and Annie...


Jonathan, Elijah, & Annie on the train--oh, and the reason everyone (except for Jonathan) is in coats and long sleeves is that it was exceptionally cold and windy that day (other than that, we've had a nice Indian summer!).

Simon showing his perfect pumpkin...



Simon and Jonathan at the pig race...

And the petting zoo. Annie *loved* it, but I'm not sure the goats felt the same way!

Lydia was more "goat friendly"...

Fortunately, she wasn't able to pet the pig!

Lydia, Annie, Simon, & Jonathan goofing...we had a great day, as this pumpkin patch is really fun. It's the 4th year we've gone, and it's one of the high points of our fall!