Ward Christmas Party!

Do you think Santa knows that I've been a little naughty?!!

Josh was rambling on and on before he even got on Santa's lap!

"Who is this jolly man?"

We had a fun ward breakfast for Christmas this year! Don't you just love our Santa! All of our kids were excited to sit on his lap! Even Maurie had fun!

Snow Day!

Sam starting to make a snowman!

This is the first time he has been able to make a decent sized ball without help.

Josh decided he would be better off making a snow angel!

Jeppsen Christmas!

We had a fun Christmas party at my parents house! We did so many things I don't know where to start! Most important though is that all of the cousins had a blast!

We decorated gingerbread houses, had pizza, played in the fresh new snow, listened to Grandma read a cute version of "The Night Before Christmas," and we exchanged presents.

We are blessed!

Josh and Ted made a cute log cabin gingerbread house with delicous licorice rope fences!

Sam and I worked on a stable of sorts!

I haven't played in the snow for awhile, so it was fun to run around a little bit!

Joshie was a dare-devil on the sled!

I couldn't resist putting this one in - He is just too cute!

The grandchildren intent on Grandma's story!

Almost Stitches!

What happens when Mom tries to get ready and leaves the boys to play alone?

Luckily I had some skin glue and some butterfly bandaids! Josh was brave as always. He sure had a pretty black eye the next few days!

Our Trip on the Polar Express!

Sam and Josh in front of our passenger car of the Polar Express (Heber Valley Railroad). We had an excellent time with the kids and with cousins!

Waiting to board the Polar Express!

We were cozy inside the train! The kids wore their pj's just like in the movie!

Chase, Peyton, Heather, and Jeff

Marlee, Barrett, Kirsti, and Paul

Hot Chocolate and Cookies made by Mrs. Claus!

Our host, the "Reindeer Wrangler" read us the Polar Express and kept us entertained by singing carols and telling us funny stories and christmas jokes!


We spotted Santa at the North Pole!

(Look closely out the window.)

We had such a fun time!!

WALL-E

Sam really wanted me to put these pictures on the blog! He built this 95% by himself. It is supposed to be WALL-E (a robot from the new release movie).

Our Christmas Tree this Year

Sam and Josh were thrilled to help assemble the tree this year!

Doll Obsession!

Maurie has loved dolls since she was just a few months old! Anytime she sees one she smiles from ear to ear!

Last weekend Ted and I took the kids to the store and let them look around at the toys so they could make a list for Santa. Well, I decided to see what Maurie's reaction would be down the doll isle. I wish I would have had my camera, because she was going nuts. People were staring and laughing at how funny and cute she was! And it was cute until we started to put the dolls back and started to walk away, and then she went nuts on the other end of the spectrum and starting yelling and crying. She even rammed her head into the shopping cart handle because of her overwhelming sadness! It was pretty funny! (I hope she grows out of this!)

Maurie's first reaction is always a big hug!

Her second reaction is usually her snicker face because she is lucky to be holding the bestest thing in the world!:)

And when she can't contain her excitement, her next reaction is to mutilate the poor thing with slimey kisses!

Construction

Sam keeps telling me that he wants to be a "constructioner" when he grows up! We have been building a variety of things with our play mats lately. Maurie has had so much fun crawling through these tunnels and houses!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My most handsome guy is 34 today! This wonderful guy brings me a smile everyday! I am more thankful for him than for anything else in this world! I love you Honey!

Sam's Halloween Class Party!

Toilet Paper Mummy!

I volunteered to help with Sam's party. I was in charge of the goblin's guts!

We got a few interesting faces!

Halloween!!

(Sam-Batman, Josh-"piderman", Maurie-Pooh Bear dressed as a pumpkin, Becca - yikes:))

We had so much fun this Halloween! I was reminiscing how last year I was flat on my back (pregnancy issues with Maurie) during Halloween and how I missed walking around with the boys. So I took advantage this year and Ted and I took the kids around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating! They were so excited about every piece of candy that they received.

These guys are perfect ages for this kind of stuff!! It was great!

Poor Maurie!

Maurie has been subject to a lot of dress up this halloween. She is definitely a good sport!

(And these were the only ones I took pictures of!)

Sam's Kindergarten Halloween Program

Sam's Kindergarten Class

(Sam is in the top left corner)

Sam chose to be a fire fighter this year!

JACK-O-LANTERNS

We had a fun family night and carved pumpkins!

Dad helped Josh with his "happy" pumpkin and I helped Sam with his "scary" pumpkin. We followed their instructions to make these pumpkins just perfect. Both Sam and Josh were brave enough this year to touch the pumpkin guts!

Doesn't each pumpkin reflect the personality of their maker?!

Nintendo Bonding!

It is rare to see these two this close to each other without them being on the attack!

Cowboy Bopper

Isn't he too cute! Josh is enjoying this season of dress-up!

Sugar Cookies!

Decorating Sugar Cookies

Rachel and Scott brought a bunch of halloween shaped cookies for the kids to decorate!

Mark and Taneil came with Landon, Luke, and Lily to join in the fun!

We had a lot of fun even though our house was torn apart (downstairs remodeling)!

Kindergarten Trip to Vineyard

Pumpkinland

I volunteered to help out with Sam's kindergarten class on their exciting trip to Vineyard (west of Orem). Everyone had lots of fun and no one got lost! :)

Sam and Josh

Joshie in his true form!

In the corn maze! Sam, Nicholas (from Sam's class), and Josh.

Maurie endured the adventure!

Sam in the hay house.

The boys had a lot of fun playing on all of the fun setups. They were also able to pick out a pumpkin to take home!