-Gingerbread Houses-

This is totally a messy and time consuming Christmas tradition but the girls loves it...so it's worth it! It didn't help that the icing package split right next to where it dispenses from and so it made it EXTRA messy this year! Hopefully we'll continue to improve on our gingerbread making skillz as the years go by!!

Christmas Pageant - Preschool Style!

Tonight was Alexa's Christmas program at her Preschool. She has been sooooooooo excited about this. They have been practicing their songs for weeks. Her class was dressed up as the shepherds and she couldn't wait! I love that she thoroughly enjoys going to school and learning, she just soaks it all up. Poor little Payton though, couldn't understand why she didn't get to be up there with her sister. We had to pull her back down to where we were sitting probably 3 different times! Next year, Payton, next year!! :-)

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(Alexa is the cute little shepherd in purple stripes, if you're having a hard time locating her. She was especially excited about the song "Come Let Us Adore Him" and so, although you can't really see her, I had to put that video in too!)

Temple Lights

Today, we headed up to Phoenix for our nephew, Connor's, baptism. It was a great day to be able to spend time with family on Connor's special day. And since we were already up there, we figured it'd be the perfect time to go see the Christmas Lights at the Mesa Temple. The girls loved it last year and we knew we wanted to make it another family tradition at Christmas time. However, today was a very rainy day for Arizona and COLD to boot! But we knew it was going to be chilly and perhaps rainy so we came prepared with umbrellas and warm clothing. Thankfully though, the rain stopped while we were walking around so it was still pretty chilly for us not used to that kind of weather, but at least we weren't getting wet too! :-)

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(My camera was set on a weird setting so all our pictures from tonight are dark and fuzzy!)

It was a fun evening with our little family, enjoying the Spirit of Christmas right on Temple Grounds. The lights were beautiful but they only added to the beauty of the temple!

This Girl...

...is such a girly-girl and totally a stinker, and she knows it! I fear she's giving us a good taste already of what her teenage years are going to be like...and the forecast isn't good! But OH if she isn't so darn cute!!! Attitude, sassy-ness, drama, emotions and all...she's a keeper!! :-)

Oh the places he can go....

After tubby time tonight, I came back downstairs with Barrett and put him down on the floor so I could make up a bottle for him. When I turned back around, this is what I found. He'd scooted himself over to the exersaucer and then crawled in. He was so proud of himself. It really won't be long now until he is crawling all over!

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And just for fun, I had to do a comparison of all three kiddos...it's been a long time since I've done one of these. You can definitely tell the kids are siblings but Barrett is just a much more masculine version!

~Family Pictures~

About a week and a half ago, we decided we should probably get some family pictures taken so we could send out our annual Christmas Card. It worked out nicely that Kevin's brother, Duane's father-in-law (who dabbles in photography) was in town for Thanksgiving, and so we went over to their house and used their backyard. I'm pretty happy with what we ended up with. Here are some of our favorites:

And here are some of the funny ones...

Be on the lookout for our Christmas card, coming to a mailbox near you soon!!!

Season of Thanks

Thanksgiving 2011

Football

Playing

Being Cute

Lots of sliding

Conversations with Cousins

Chillaxin' with buddies

(Barrett with his cousin, Christian, who is 2 months older)

Eating

Lots of yummy food

(the luscious 4-layer pumpkin cake I made)

Making turkey rice-krispie treats

Jumping on the trampoline

Turkey Hunt

"I Found One!!!"

More sliding

More being cute

(he can't help himself!!)

Snuggle time

Hangin' with Gramps

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We had a GREAT Thanksgiving. We went up to Darron & Ann's this year, along with David, Kevin's parents, and Georganna and her family. As you can see, we had a lot of fun! We have so much to be thankful for; our Savior and the Gospel, our family, our health, wonderful friends, a good job...the list goes on and on. We're grateful for the time we were able to spend with family this weekend and look forward to the upcoming Christmas Season and the time we'll have to reflect more on the birth and life of our Savior and Redeemer!

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Happy Birthday...

Alexa is FIVE!!!!

Five years ago today, I became a Mom. Kevin and I became Parents. It. Was. A. BIG DAY! And today, that sweet baby girl has turned into a beautiful young little lady!

I cannot believe she is five!

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A little bit about the birthday girl:

*She became a big sister again this year and thoroughly loves her baby brother!

*She started preschool and LOVES it! She asks every day if it is a school day!

*She does not like crusty food (totally not my daughter, the crispier the better for me!!!)

*She loves blankets and sleeps with several of her favorites each night

*She loves pretty things...dresses, skirts, shoes, purses, jewelry, hair

*She loves to sing and I can quite often find her during the day making up songs as she's playing

*She's 43 1/4 " tall (75th percentile) and 39 lbs (50th percentile)

*She would live in dresses if I would let her (I love her in jeans and a t-shirt too!!)

*She loves anything princessy

*She has a growing infatuation with Justin Bieber thanks to her cousin, Norah (I do not feed or encourage this infatuation)

*She still sucks her thumb but only at night now (too bad we can't just get rid of the thumb)

*She took a gymnastics class and had a lot of fun with her friend Evie

*She loves going to Primary at church and gets so excited when it's her turn to give a talk

Alexa decided that she wanted a family party and since her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, this worked out perfectly. We went out to dinner yesterday as a family, to Chili's...Alexa's choice, so she could get the free chocolate cake! Then today, she got to open presents before church. After church, I made her requested birthday dinner...steak, risotto and fruit salad. She has good taste!! She went back and forth all year as to what kind of cake she wanted but she finally settled on a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting and she wanted purple flowers. Easy peasy! Pretty low key...but I'm pretty sure she still felt special all day! I think her favorite part was probably getting her birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa Mortenson and her birthday package from Grandma and Grandpa Baker. She absolutely LOVES to get mail just for her and she was equally excited to find birthday money from both grandparents!

Happy Birthday Alexa!

We love you too much! :-)