And we are walking......

Gavin started walking at the beginning of November. He hasn't stopped since then. It's hard work for him to keep up with his sister and brothers. We had a gate up the stairs for about a week and then decided to heck with it and he learned to go up and down the stairs in a few days too. Now, I just have to monitor his Lego intake. They are his favorite things to put in his mouth when he escapes up to the playroom. He has also become quite the roamer at church. I can't keep him in primary because he makes too much noise and wants to walk all over the place disrupting the kids and when I take him out into the halls he runs away from me.... He has made a friend in the hall though. A girl, and today they were giving each other big hugs and kisses. Quite the ladies man already! Crap!

I know this is a lot, but I just LOVE them!!!!!

A few more.....

Give me your opinion on which you all think I should put for my big/center picture in my house?

Family Pictures

I'm just a little bit excited that we FINALLY got our family pictures taken!!!! The last time we did this, Gage was not even a year old yet, so it has been a very long time!!!!! These are just a few of them. I LOVE the way the turned out! Thanks Barb!

I am so knock kneed it is sad!!!! Mike always asks me why my feet are so far apart but my knees are so close together!!!! Other than that I adore this picture!

Can you say Grandpa John Jr.?******

Happy Halloween.....Just a little late!

Gavin was not so sure if this was his dad or not. Mike would talk in his normal voice and Gavin would get a little more comfortable, but as soon as he put on his nacho voice this is the look he got! Scrappy is not a Nacho lover!

Here's the Mystery Inc. Gang minus Daphne and Fred (Mike and I) We did not get a pic with us. Kind of a crazy day! Carter made us proud with his Shaggy do. Katlyn was perfect for smarty Velma. Gage was lovin' the Scooby Doo, and Gavers rounded it out with Scrappy! They were adorable!

We had a fun Halloween with almost all of my family here at our house this year. We had a mom's craft day and the kids played. Mike and Papa were the entertainers for the kids and did a great job! We did let them have a time out to go to Show Low and hang out for a while though. It was fun girls! We need to do it again SOON!!!!

Family Night & Fire Light.....

We built our first fire on Monday night. The kids loved it and it was nice and warm all night long. I was a little nervous that Gavin was going to burn his little hands, but he can't reach the door. Thanks heavens!!!!! When we lived in our first house Carter was about 18 mos. old and Mike had started a fire and left for work while I was grocery shopping with the kids. When I came home I just set Carter in the door and went to get the groceries out of the truck and a few seconds later he started screaming. He had burned the whole paw of his hand on the glass. It was AWEFUL!!!!! Glad we won't have to do that this winter!

I always have to put a picture of Gavin and his delicious smile in the mix!

We have the BEST hometeachers that brought us yummy brownies WITH icing, and a game called "Don't Eat Jack." I played it growing up but we played with skittles and it was called "Don't Eat Pete." We had a ball. The kids loved their dads goober way of sucking the candy corns off the page.

Katlyn also gave a really good lesson out of the friend about a family that wanted to go to the temple and be sealed, but they lived in Honduras and the closest temple was in Guatemala, a two day bus ride away. Their family grew corn and so they sold tortillas to raise money to go. They were blessed to raise enough money in just a couple of months, but they were also worried about taking all of their money on the bus because robbers often stopped the buses and took everyones belongings. They had faith that Heavenly Father would protect them and went. He did protect them and they were so grateful for the blessings of the temple.

After the story I asked if it was hard for us to go to the temple and Gage said, "No, I go by it every day on our walk." Carter said, "I can see it every day when I'm up in the playroom." These two sentences hit me SO hard. We are RIGHT by the temple of the Lord and we don't have to sacrifice anything but a little of our time to go there. Our children see it every day and are reminded of it's blessings. We don't have to travel for days and we don't have to worry about robbers. We are so blessed and spoiled. I am guilty as ever of not going as often as I should. Do I have as much faith as this family did? I don't think so, but I hope that one day I will.