Halloween...way after the fact

I was just fixing to print my 2010 blog book when I realized a couple key posts where missing...because I never wrote them, oops. How could I possibly leave out Halloween? Riddle me this will ya? We had a super fun Halloween this year. We spent it hanging out with grandma Anna, trunk or treating, carving pumpkins, visiting the pediatric unit, and eating LOTS of candy.
We started a new tradition this year. We were hanging out at Grandma Annas house with the Tolman crew when Judy announced to her family that they better go so they would have time to visit the pediatric unit at the hospital. I asked why they were going to the hospital, and she told me about their Halloween tradition. After all the trunk or treating, games, and parties are over they go to the hospital to trick or treat the sick kids. But, the "trick" is that they give half of their candy to the sick kids instead of asking for it. I thought this was a brilliant idea! The kids that don't get to trick or treat still get to enjoy some of the sweetness and fun of the holiday, and my kids learn to give...plus they will only be on a sugar high for half the time:)win/win. I love it.

Carters Creations

Carter has been working on his artistic skills for a while now, and he has been so much fun to watch as he grows and develops into an "artist". He comes up with something new almost every day. Sometimes he will have a common theme for a while, and then he will change it up. He has kind of been on a Dragon kick lately, but here are some other things he has done.








The other day I was putting Carters laundry away in his room and I noticed this sign hanging on his wall. I laughed my head off, so I had to share it.
no running
no eating
no jupin (jumping)
no mesis (messes)
no mooveng (moving his toys)
no staken (stacking)
no crans (crayons on the floor)
no Layla
no visudrs (visitors, but he turned the no into a yes:)

First Hair Cut

Benson was born with this amazing Hair. It was kind of a combination of gold, and this beautiful brown color. We couldn't tell if he would go light like Carter, or dark like Layla. His hair grew and grew, and I didn't want to cut it, because I loved it so much. After weeks a Craig commenting on Benson's old man comb over I finally gave it, and gave grandma a call.
Grandma Hall has given all our kids their first haircut, so we wanted to keep with tradition. I got a couple of before and after photos for you to enjoy. In Benson's defense, he isn't really making that funny face ALL The TIME, but he does it almost every time he sees the light on my camera...and we like to laugh about it. Love you Benson.
Thank you Grandma Hall for being wonderful, and taking good care of us. We love you lots.

Little Dancer

Layla started dance lessons this year with 3 of her sweet little friends. They had their Christmas show last weekend, and they were super cute. If I can figure out how to post it I will. Let me just say, Layla was hilarious! I love this little angel so much, and love to watch her grow.

Oh Christmas Tree

The other night we planned to decorate our Christmas tree, but making ginger breat houses took way longer than planned. So, plan B, we could do it the next night.
The next night Craigs old boss surprised us that he wanted to take us out for dinner, so we went to plan C...the next night.
That night Craig had to go to mutual, so we thought we could do it when he got home. We had a string of visitors after he got home, one of which was our Stake President (We got a new Bishopric on Sunday, so Craig was released as the first Counselor...for 5 minutes, before they put him back in with the new Bishop). By the time we were ready to do the tree it was pretty late, but we knew it wouldn't happen any other night that week, so we pressed forward.
It was fun to hear Craig tell the kids about all of his old ornaments, and to watch the kids try to find the perfect branch for each one. I love so many things about Christmas, and decorating the tree is at the top of my list.

ginger bread houses, mobile homes, and out houses

Grandpa and Grandma Hall came over the other night, and we made gingerbread houses...the easy kind, with grahm crackers in stead of gingerbread. We kind of paired off into 3 teams, the Grandparents team, the girl team, and the boy team. When we were done we ended up with an out house from the grandparent team, a mobile home from the girl team, and a cute little house whith a car from the boy team...who would have thought.

A thanksgiving song..kind of

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving...I know I did. This year was my families turn to have us for Thanksgiving, and all four sisters were able to make it, but neither of the brothers. I was nervous a little, because we haven't ever prepared a thanksgiving dinner without my Mom to head it up, but I think she would be proud of us. We pulled it together, and it was beautiful. The children, the mayflower replicas made out of paper placed on the tables as centerpieces, the hand made name plates at each table setting, the hand cut napkin rings with turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indians on them, the sparkling lights filling the room from the disco ball slowly spinning on the ceiling, and last but not least...the food. Oh the food. We ate like kings and queens...and princess of course (Layla was there you know).

The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have the rest of my family there. I knew before hand that a couple families wouldn't be able to come, so I recorded this little jig for them. My brother in law had his projector set up for the kids to watch movies in one room, so we played this on it after our feast.

It is kind of a scary thing to write a song, and share it with others, because it can be such a personal thing. In this case, it definitely is. I wrote "rely on my dreams" about my Mom after she passed away, and I didn't think I would ever share it with people, but I built up the nerve to record it for my family. I thought it would be a nice tribute to Mom, and help us all keep her in our thoughts on this day to be grateful. We do have so much to be grateful for in this year of trials. It has been a tough one for all of us, but I can see that we have been so incredibly blessed through our trials, and are coming out of them with deeper understanding, strength, gratitude, respect, and love.

After hearing the song, one of my sisters has been convincing me to share it. I have to say, I had a cold and was starting to lose my voice when I sang this...so it's not the best, but I hope the message can still touch your heart. Maybe remind you of someone you have loved, and are separated from for now.