Lights at Temple Square

We made the pilgrimage to Temple Square to see the lights.

We rode the train:



We viewed the beautiful nativity:

The boys weren't enthusiastic about the pictures

And this was the only non-blurry shot of us in front of the Salt Lake Temple:

Family Pictures

Becky, once again, did a fabulous job with our family pictures this year. We did one session with just the boys and then a quick family session on another day. All shots were taken in the foothills behind our apartment. I definitely need to put more blonde in my hair (and ease up on the chocolate therapy), but the boys are certainly adorable.

Old Time Christmas

A new favorite tradition of ours is to go to the Candlelight Christmas at This Is The Place Heritage Park.

There was a live Nativity:

We met with Father Christmas to put in our last requests:

We wrote letters to Father Christmas and then threw them into the fire - the smoke and ashes went directly to the North Pole!

Dear Santa, Merry Christmas! Please bring me a Bakugan. Love, Andrew

We made a few Christmas crafts:

And we saw the elves' workshops:

Thankful.

As I was getting ready this morning, I took some time to think of what I was thankful for this year. This year was bitter sweet. We had a good amount of heartache with two miscarriages (in July & October) - I certainly won't miss 2009 for those reasons. But the sweet part is that I know how loved I am. I have received so much love, friendship & support from my friends & family. Not once have I ever felt alone or abandoned, and I am truly thankful for that.

Two of my favorite memories of 2009:

This summer, we and three other families in our little neighborhood (and by little, I mean FIVE total townhouses) wanted to go in together to buy sod for our small front yards. We weeded and shoveled and got the yard prepared. The deal on the sod didn't go through at the last minute, so one of our neighbors went ahead and purchased sod for his own yard at a home improvement store. But when I woke up the next morning, there was beautiful sod laid down on our yard and the other three neighboring yards! The men who laid the sod worked late into the night to make this happen. When I looked out the window the next morning and saw my cute little yard, I burst into tears and immediately said a thankful prayer. I was going through my first miscarriage at that time and this simple act of service touched my heart so profoundly. I also love each and every one of my neighbors. I'm telling you, it's Zion over here.

Some weeks ago, I was in way over my head with housework, meetings, and "get it dones" and to top it off, I had a nasty cold. I woke up one morning, after only a short night's sleep, and BEGGED that miracles would happen - there was much to do that day. After I took Andrew to school and came home, I got a knock at the door - my friend was there and she said, "Hi, I'm here to take care of you!" I said, "You are my miracle! I begged for a miracle today!" and I swiftly put her to work! I'm sure I would have survived even if she hadn't come that day, but she made my life so much more pleasant and helped me to know that God truly loves me. That day was also lovely because I was able to spend some time with another friend of mine that was visiting from out of town - all of my housework was done and I was able to relax and enjoy her company for a few hours.

We spent Thanksgiving at Randy's parents this year. After dinner, we took a walk up the canyon. Here is Joshy riding piggy-back on Grandma...

And here are my little Indians. Andrew's teacher (aka Mary Poppins) did so much with her class to get ready for Thanksgiving. They made all sorts of turkeys and learned songs and poems. Here is Andrew in his Native American Get-up - I love the Baby Papoose on his back!

Little Brother has to do everythng Big Brother does.

Our Heathen Child

It all started innocent enough. Josh was with me at the fabric store and he started singing... "Book of Mormon Stories..Jesus Christ amen!" I thought he was funny and I laughed. He sang it a few more times until I started to sing with him the correct words. I don't know how why or when, but things just went downhill from there. He started saying, "Jesus Christ amen" at the end of every sentence. Then, he shortened it to just "Jesus" and made sure he squeezed it in somehow to every conversation. And now he's saying His name when he's frustrated or mad about something. Randy and I think it's kind of funny, but I'm starting to get worried - I have no idea what to do about it except to just ignore it (and try not to laugh). Any advice?

Introducing...

Megan Marie Turner
Born November 14, 2009
9 lb. 6 oz., 22 in.

We love you Little Miss Megan!

Zoo Trip

Why are all creatures so much cuter as babies? We went to the zoo to see the new baby elephant, isn't he cute?

Halloween at This Is The Place

This Is The Place Heritage Park's Little Haunts didn't disappoint this year. There was trick-or-treating, a pony ride, train ride, & story telling. Don't the boys look cute in their costumes?

Later that night, our neighbors watched the boys so we could go to the Haunted Village - scary!

Our Halloween week was busy as usual with the ward trunk-or-treat and a school carnival. I don't remember Halloween being so busy when I was little. We dressed up on the DAY of Halloween and went trick-or-treating that night.

Joshy was the cutest little monkey. Every time he wore his costume, he'd walk around talking like Curious George. He wore his costume for three days, even slept in it!

Our Pumpkins

This was our first year EVER that we've had an outside to light up our carved pumpkins. We're old pros at it now. I gut the pumpkins while Andrew picks out all the seeds. Dad carves the cool designs and Joshy throws the tantrums (thus the splotchy face which he possesses
most of his wakeful hours).

Batman, ghost & dinosaur