Fall pictures in IL

While we were in IL back in October, I had the kid's pictures taken.  It was cold that day, but the kids did great.  The pictures turned out really cute.  Tyler is 7 years old and Molly is 3 1/2 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Concert

Last night we took Tyler to the K Love Christmas Tour.  The main performer was Jeremy Camp. By the time he came on at 9:00, Tyler had fallen asleep. I don't know how he can sleep through the loud music.  Before Jeremy Camp, Love and the Outcome was on, Christ August, and Plumb.

 We got there at 6:00 and had to wait in a long line till the doors opened at 6:30.  

Christmas Things

We have our calender where we pull out a card everyday of December and do something holidayis.  We've read the Nativity Story, Christmas stories, had two Christmas breakfasts, Christmas dinner, played Christmas memory, gotten peppermint shakes from Chick-fil-a, we took boxes of food to the food bank, went to look at lights, watched Christmas movies, went to see Santa....One fun thing we did was make a Christmas craft-we made crystalized snowflakes.  You just have to use pipe cleaners, borax and water. 

 

 

 

Our subdivision had Breakfast with Santa last Saturday. The kids had fun.  I thought it'd be super busy, so we got their early.  Since there was no line, Molly got to see Santa 4 or 5 times. 

 

 

 

 

Bass Pro Shop

Today we went to Bass Pro Shop for our annual Santa picture.  I even took Tyler out of school early since we had to wait so long last year.  This year, it was a breeze, no line and then plenty of time to play.

This little girl was so excited to see Santa.  She had just gotten a new Christmas doggie shirt and couldn't wait to wear it.  The puppy on her shirt is named Holly.  She wanted a Christmas name.

Tyler would like one of these boats. Molly's vote is for the black and gold one.  "Because it's so sparkly!"

Government Canyon Hike

Yesterday we went hiking with some friend in Government Canyon.  It was beautiful weather and the kids had fun.  It was just us moms with the kids and we overdid it just a little.  This park has dinosaur fossil footprints.  The kids really wanted to see them, but that total hike was 5 miles.  We thought with breaks and lunch, we'd be good to go.  The way there was great.  Kids had fun. We stopped for snacks and then had lunch at the fossils. 

 

 

You can see this footprint really well.  I was expecting a little better though.  I wasn't as impressed as other were that had told me about this.  

On the way to the fossils, there was an Overlook Trail.  On the way back, we went up it.  It overlooked where we had just been seeing the fossils. 

 

 

After that, the walk back was still 2 miles and seemed to take a long time.  I ended up carrying Molly a lot and Emily had to carry Ian a lot.  The boys did great and I think what made them tired was waiting for us. 

Overall, it was fun, just a little too long.  I'm writing this Friday morning and today Molly and I have sore legs. 

Fall in IL

I am so glad we were able to go to IL during the fall time.  I love the leaves changing color and cooler temps.  The kids had a blast running through leaf piles and being covered by leaves too.

 

 

 

We were collecting leaves and pinecones.  Molly had too many to carry, so Tyler showed her a new way to carry them.

 

 

 

 

Halloween in IL

We went to IL for Halloween and the kids had a blast.  I always miss the fall and was hoping for some nice fall weather.  Instead they had a cold front and on Friday the temperature with windchill was 27.  It made for cold trick or treating.  But at least when it was 55 and sunny on Sunday, we thought it was beautiful and didn't even need jackets.  

 We went to Val's house for pizza before heading out

Tyler was a Creeper from Minecraft

Molly was Princess Anna

 

Molly and Uncle Tom

All the cousins.  Don't ya just love Bailey's bunch of grapes costume

 

 

The kids had to wear 2 layers on top and bottom plus coat, hat and gloves.  They did great and didn't seem too bothered by the cold.

I'll be posting more pictures from our trip soon.