Snowman & Snow Angels

The kids were so excited to build their first snowman ever!! They named him Jack! And they also tried out making snow angels as well. I'm so excited they've gotten to experience snow this winter!! :)

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Yesterday it snowed here all day long -- it was SO pretty! All day long we were looking out the window and oohing and aahing at the snow!

And today, we woke up in a winter wonderland!! It was gorgeous!! (Wish I had gotten more pictures earlier this morning before it all started melting)...

Two Favorites!

Just posting these two for fun... Two of my recent favorites... :)

Seeing Santa

Some were more impressed than others... :)

Our Ward Party

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This past week was our ward party. The kids were very excited about the cookies they got to make, and I just loved how cute Colette looked in Brielle's old Chirstmas "cape"! She would not leave this Christmas tree the entire evening! They had fun...

Playing in the Muddy Yard!

They always look so cute when they first start out...

Typical Ending! :)

Our First Snow!!

We had a momentous occassion yesterday!! I was upstairs with the kids, and Samuel was looking out the window watching the cars drive by as always, and he said, "Mom there's snow." I didn't even know he knew what snow was. We all looked out the window, and it was snowing!! Our first snow for the winter, and the kids' first time ever seeing snow before!! It only lasted for like an hour or so yesterday morning, but we were able to get out there and see it and "play" in it a little before it stopped... The kids were SO excited!! Their first time in snow... (I know it might seem silly to be so excited about a little snow, but this is the first time we've ever lived where it actually snowed in the wintertime -- we're excited to see what it's like!)

(Don't mind Sam's purple hat -- we need to get the poor boy a boy one and a bigger coat... Just had to use whatever we could find yesterday... But of course at this age he doesn't notice yet!) :)

Such a fun memory! :)

16-Month-Old Colette

A little video of Colette for fun -- doing face parts and her version of animal sounds and other fun little things! She's getting so big, and just constantly learning new things every day! So fun to watch them learn and grow... :)

Christmas Excitement!

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The kids had a blast decorating for Christmas, of course, as soon as we got back home!! They've got a countdown going as always and talk of nothing else. We decided we're going to start having them take turns every year for who gets to put the star on top of the tree -- (Brielle did it last year) -- so Samuel was quite excited to have his turn this year! :) As always, our tree gets to be in the playpen to keep out little hands as much as possible... :)

We decided to try making a Christmas tree cake for our Family Home Evening refreshments yesterday just for fun... I love how the smallest things can cause such excitement!! (Even when the finished product isn't exactly how you pictured)... :) Such a fun time of year!

Jared's Birthday

Jared had his 29th birthday the day after Thanksgiving while we were in Pima! It was a fun day... :)

Colette was having fun sharing in her Daddy's birthday cake... :)

Our Thanksgiving

A few pictures from our Thanksgiving for this year...

Arizona Trip

Another Trip!! So many more fun memories with our awesome families!! It is nice to be home again, though...

All six of the cousins on the Ray side... The family just keeps on growing! :)

We did family pictures in Pima while we were there for Thanksgiving. Again, just can't believe how much the family just grows and grows every year...

Just had to post this one for fun -- the true feelings regarding family pictures! :)

Some more of my favorites... The cutest little sisters and cutest boys ever!! :)

Our Halloween

(I know this is quite after the fact, but we've been out of town...) So here was our Halloween! :)

We had a very fun Halloween this year! The kids have been so excited, and they had a blast! Brielle was a "Duchess going to a

ball" -- as she was sure to inform and correct anyone who called her a princess by mistake! :) Samuel was a pirate (he finally actually figured out how to say that the right way, instead of calling himself a "pirate ship")! :) And Colette was the cutest little 50's girls there ever was! :) She had so much fun this year -- she really got into all of the fun, and loved being apart of it! We got to do Halloween night at Athena's house this year since we were in Mesa that night, and it was so much fun to get to do Halloween with family for once -- the kids' first time getting to have that experience!

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Samuel & Brielle looked so cool standing next to eachother because it was like

"Pirates of the Caribbean" with Brielle in that dress! And the two girls were cute together too because they were both girls going to dances -- Brielle to a ball, and Colette to a sock-hop! :)

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Here they are Trick-or-treating; and Handing out candy (even if it was sometimes to eachother!) :)

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Here's some cute little shots of each of the kids -- Brielle posed so cute for me on the stairs in her "ballgown"! Samuel's hair was bothering him, so we tied it up on top of his head... :) And Colette was so cute with the trick-or-treating, following the other two around everywhere, and refusing to let anyone else carry her bucket or even her. She caught on quickly to what was going on, and did not want to miss a thing!

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The favorite part at the end -- dumping out all the candy, and seeing what you got!! Even Colette was getting excited about this part... :) Definitely a fun Halloween this year!

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Here's a little video of the kids on Halloween -- in their costumes and trick-or-treating and stuff. You have to check out Samuel's little "side" head-banging dance at the end of the video while they're handing out candy!! Gets us laughing every time...