Christmas Tree Hunting

Each year on Black Friday we chose to bypass the crowds and head to the mountains in search of that "perfect" Christmas tree.  Of course the word "perfect" is sooooo relative.  Some of you may know that Ryan and I have adopted one of his family's traditions to trade off each year between a "pretty" tree and an "ugly" tree, a.k.a. the Charlie Brown tree.  On the "ugly" year (such as this year) the object is to find a tree that no one else would cut down because they would think it too ugly.  And it has to make us laugh.  We usually end up finding some pretty cool, ugly trees.

Here is Kolea just after I'd put her in her little warm baby snow suit sitting in the driver's seat before we headed out into the cold.  She had just woken up from a nap and I'd rapidly fed her.  She just looked at me like "what the crap have you done to me?"  Poor baby!  It was quite funny.

It was super windy and Ryan had worn his new bandana to keep the wind burn at a minimum.  Take a look at that grill!  He was really excited about it.  And you can't really tell, but Kolea is on his back. 
Here is my cute little family from the back.  It looks like we were bundled up for nothing- but it was freezing, windy, and it did begin snowing!  We had such an adventure, especially as Hunter and Gabriella navigated around the fallen trees.  They did a great job.
Here we are in front of the tree that we'd chosen.  Do you see how it kind of spirals up in the middle?  It's pretty cool.  Right after this picture was taken I got to cut it down with a tree saw (all by myself.)  Ryan couldn't do it because he had the backpack on.  It was quite the work-out.  I'm glad I hadn't gone to the gym that morning because that was all the exercise I needed.  I felt like such a burly-woman!   =)  
We came back to the trailer as our tree was being loaded up and found Kolea in a coma- not literally.  Kolea hated the backpack and cried herself to sleep!  But doesn't she look so serene now?  Hunter and Gabriella had a great time!
The finished product!  It's just over 8 feet tall- which isn't that tall for us.  Normally we bring home about 12 footers since we have the ceiling height for it.  We had a blast with the kids putting on the decorations.  This is the first year that Gabriella could help- and help she did.  She would put all the ornaments I gave her onto one branch until it sagged to nearly touching the floor!  She got a little offended when we tried to help her spread them out.  Oops!   
Here is Kolea on Thanksgiving.  I thought it was cute so I included it here.  This is the first time she's worn this huge bow- poor thing needs to grow some hair so that bow doesn't look so ridiculous!  =)
Also Thanksgiving day.  Gabriella was giving birth to this bear.  Nice huh?

HALLOWEEN!

Here we are in all of our Halloween glory!  The kids and I were navigating the party scene while Ryan was outside directing people to park their cars along the sidewalk for an easy trunk-or-treat later that evening.  I'm Little Red Riding Hood if you couldn't guess.  I had a cute basket too which was temporarily replaced by the cute baby.  P.S. my mom made my costume.  She is so talented.

Kolea was a little lion.  She was so adorable and cozy!  She slept through a lot of the party.  Surprise, surprise.
We were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather all week long.  In fact, this is the first time since I've lived here (7 years) that there hasn't been a first snow before Halloween.  We were not complaining.  I've never seen so many princesses and fairies in all my life!  And all the costumes you can't wear when it's freezing outside came out this year.  Hunter was a very convincing ninja and Gabriella was a beautiful Sleeping Beauty- she was sooooo excited!
These are some pictures from two different ward Halloween parties.  The first is of the kids and I walking around during the costume contest.  Notice how Gabriella is eating an apple.  She took it out of the basket that was for display- oops.  She looks more like Snow White eating that apple than Sleeping Beauty.  =)
I was surprised to find Ryan sitting at this table ready for a "pie eating" contest.  Where really all they had to do was try and find as many gummy worms in the whip cream as quickly as possible in 10 seconds.  On your marks, get set...

GO!  Come on Ryan!!

Well that was short lived.  He only found 2 in the 10 seconds!  Mmmm, yummy.  If you notice in the background, my little lion is being held by Ryan's dad (the hotdog.)  And Mini Mouse is looking on (Ryan's sister, Lexie.)  She pulled off that wig quite well!  
Each year we have an annual pumpkin carving party.  This year I made some fun/scary treats.  I got the idea from a party that my sis, Tamara went to.  Anyhow these are called witch fingers.  I shaped each and every one myself and then made the knuckles with a toothpick!  The "blood" is raspberry jam and the "fingernails" are almond slices.  Sick huh?  This tray is before they were baked.
And this is after they were baked.  Those are some fat fingers!  Heeheehee!

Cute Girls

Kolea is two months old now!  I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone.  And lucky me, she has been sleeping between 7 and 8 hours at night.  Look at those cheeks... I'm not sure I'm feeding her enough. 

Here is a short clip of Gabriella singing one of her favorite song's, "I Am Like a Star Shining Brightly."  And of course she is wearing some dress-up skirt b/c she never seems to wear real clothes anymore.

Crazy Hair Day

Today Hunter had "Crazy Hair Day" at pre-school.  He wanted me to spike it up, but his hair is REALLY LONG.  So this was the best thing I could come up with.  It took me a half hour and plenty of moose and hair spray.  Hunter was very patient through the process and was really excited to have his hair sprayed black at the end!  

Of course his hair is so white that his hair doesn't even look very "black" in these pictures!
He really had the craziest hair out of all the kids in his pre-school class, considering he looks like he is wearing a ski bini on his head-- how can anyone say this isn't "crazy!"

Kolea's Blessing

This is our beautiful daughter on this beautiful day.  Kolea was blessed on Sunday, October 5, at 9:30 am.  We blessed her at home as we have done with the other two children.  We don't have anything against doing it at church, we simply enjoy the intimacy of being at home with our friends and family.  Besides, then we can take all the pictures we want right in the moment!

I realized that this is our first "Family Photo" of the five of us.  It took us long enough to get together- I guess it just takes a special occasion!
Here is another picture I liked of Kolea.  We caught her in between crying spells.  I had pulled her out of bed to have the blessing done and photos taken.  That is why the look on her face is one of displeasure. 
Here you can see the whole blessing gown.  My mom (what a saint) made this dress for Gabriella when she was blessed.  It will truly be a family heirloom.  You can see more of the detailed work on the bodice that my mom did in the top photo.  This dress took a total of 40 hours to create.  It is amazing.  And the blanket was a gift when Hunter was born.  All of our children have been blessed in it.
Here is the crew that stood in for the blessing (except for me, of course.)  The four men standing behind Ryan are his friends, and the Bishop is standing in between my brother, Adam and my bro-in-law, Ryan.  Then Ryan's two brothers are Skyler and David.  And of course we have the two proud Grandpas!
It was a very special day and we missed the rest of our family and close friends that live too far to be able to attend.  We also learned that Kolea has much to teach us.

One Month Old

I know I'm a little behind in posting this, but my baby is one month old in these pictures.  The dress she is wearing is from the late '70's early '80's.  My sisters and I probably wore it- my mom found it in some boxes in her basement along with some other little girl clothing.  (Ryan hates it and all the clothes my mom passed to me.)  Ha ha!

This is later that same day.  Kolea is so cute with that expression (or lack thereof) on her face.

The Adventures of Hunter and Gabriella

We went to some gardens across from CSU and took some fun pictures.  Hunter is "talking" on his cell phone (it doesn't even work.)  I can't figure out why he loves that thing but it's pretty funny to hear the imaginary and one-sided conversations he holds while on the phone.

I love this one of Gabriella.  It's totally candid.  She LOVES flowers...
My kids love to be in the great outdoors and enjoy God's beautiful creations.
Hunter and his little friend, Megan were goofing around while we were at dinner in Denver.  It was sort of a special "mommy date."  (Megan's mom and my good friend, Crystle was there too.)  When Crystle and I go out with our kids together people always think that Hunter and Megan are twins.  She is his honorary sister.  =)
My friend, Tiina and I took "the girls" shopping.  Gabriella is a sucker for shoes!  I'm in trouble, she's only 2 ya know?  Anyhow, we were at Macy's and she tried on every pair of heels she could grab (before I could stop her.)  Luckily I had my camera with me- what a little diva!