Here Comes Santa Claus!

We took the kids to see Santa last night for FHE. Trevor

was so excited all day, and kept asking when we were going to see "Christmas" as he calls Santa. When we got to the mall and got in line, Trevor got really quiet. He didn't say much until we were next in line and then he grabbed ahold of my leg and said "Let's go home!" He was scared of that bearded stranger. I thought it was so cute. He has seen pictures, but the real thing is a little scary for a little guy. He wouldn't sit on his lap, so we got him to stand in front of him and give him "Five" and "knuckles" and then he warmed up a little. He had been practicing all day what he was going to ask for for Christmas. He wanted "A Beach" (Jeep) and "A Gas" (A Gas Pump for the Jeep), but when he got up there, he froze and wouldn't say anything. I had to whisper in his ear and then he finally whispered it. I hope that Santa heard!

Abbey and Haley both sat on his lap and then Trevor saw that if his two sisters could do it, so could he...Finally we got him to sit on Santa's lap for a picture. I thought Tyson would cry, but he seemed to like Santa. Taylor wasn't going to sit on his lap, but Santa told him if he wanted a sucker he needed to sit on his knee.

Taylor told me later that Santa didn't even ask him what he wanted for Christmas. He said "Santa must know that I haven't been a "Good Boy" so he didn't bother asking!"

We got that all over for this year anyway, now hopefully Santa will remember what they all asked for!

I will close with Trevor's favorite Christmas Song...

"You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry, You Better Not Pout, I'm telling you why....Santa Claus is coming to town!

First of Many Christmas Recitals

Tis the Season for Recitals....

Fa La La La La, La-La La La!

I love them, but wish we could spread them out a bit instead off all in December. Haley started us out this Holiday with her early morning strings concert. She is really loving the violin and is progressing really fast on it. I must say I am impressed. I have picked her violin up a few times and can't make any clear sound out of it. She is pretty dedicated to wake up at 6:30 am every morning to make it to early morning violin practice. She gets home just in time to grab some breakfast and then is out the door to school. She has never complained. I wish I could say the same! I am really proud of her dedication. She did a great job in her concert and enjoys taking early morning violin with three of her friends from school.

One thing off my "To Do" List!

Well Tyson is almost 6 months old and I finally went in yesterday to get some "professional" pictures done. I am the worst at getting my kids in to get good pictures done. It is an all day task and most days I don't have all day to fret about one thing. I took most of the morning finding outfits, bathing, dressing and getting everything perfect. I even timed it good so that Tyson would have time for a little nap before it was his turn. Although it took the better part of an hour working with the baby to get a good smile out of him, we finally coaxed a few out of him. I thought they turned out great.

Next job is to get the whole family in for a family picture. I would like to do it before Christmas, but who knows if that will ever happen. I keep telling myself that we need to go get new outfits to color coordinate and I would like to shed a few pounds. I can't blame the extra pounds on the baby anymore. He is 6 months old, and I weigh the same that I did a week after coming home from the hospital. I am starting to see that I will never have the perfect clothes for my family or be in shape enough to get a "perfect" picture and if I keep waiting, my kids will be grown.

Trevor was so cute yesterday and I think he really enjoyed getting his picture taken. He even tried to help coax one out of Tyson. The lady taking the pictures really wasn't in the mood to put up with me saying "one more". She thought I was being really picky, but I told her I may not be back until Tyson is two, so I am staying until I get one good picture if it takes me all day. I think she was glad to see me go.

We pulled out Taylor's pictures when he was about the same age as Tyson and we all thought they looked like twins. Trevor has a little different look, but you can certainly tell they are brothers.

Halloween 2007

Well another great Halloween has come and gone. The kids all had a lot of fun this year. Taylor, Haley, and Abbey all dressed up for school and had a fun time with Halloween parties, parades, etc. As you can see by the pics, Taylor was a "Granny-on-wheels" (He rode his scooter around the neighborhood with a couple of his buddies...it was quite a site), Haley was a scarecrow, Abbey was a princess, Trevor of course was a cowboy, and Tyson was Tigger! They all looked really cute. They all had a fun night of Trick-or-Treating and got tons of candy. John stayed at home with Tyson to pass out candy. Taylor went with a couple of his friends. So Haley, Abbey, Trevor, and I walked around the neighborhood. The girls were good sports to wait for little Trevor. He was especially slow this year because he insisted on wearing his boots that are 2 sizes to big instead of his boots that fit him. He rode in the wagon between houses, and refused to go to the "Scaredy houses". They all came back home with pumkins full of treats.

I have always loved Halloween, but this year was a little different. Getting 5 kids ready and trying to keep them all happy was a bigger job than I wanted. I am glad it is over! This is my favorite time of year though. The weather has been amazing. I love the cool, crisp mornings and the days are perfect as well. No wonder my housework has gone to pot! I don't want to be in the house anymore.....Tyson woke up this morning with a cold so I guess I will get some housework done now because I don't want to take him out and get him any sicker.

Haley & Abbey's Violin Concert

Haley and Abbey had their first official Violin performance on Friday, Oct. 26th. They both played in the Southwest Symphony Halloween Concert. They have been working really hard on their pieces and we were very proud of them both. Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin came down to watch. They were pretty tickled because they had 7 grandchildren all perform that night. Grandma Houston came as well! The girls got to dress up in their costumes and played some fun songs. It was a good experience for them. I enjoyed it as well but realized that the symphony is not a place for a 2 year old and a baby. We will have to get a babysitter for the two rowdy boys next time.

Deer Hunt 2007

Well I finally have my "Mighty Hunter" back. John had a wonderful hunt this year. He and Taylor left Friday after Taylor got out of school. Taylor gave up a soccer game to go hunting with his Dad. For those of you that know Taylor and his love for soccer, this was a big deal! I was glad that Taylor chose spending some time with his Dad over his hobby. I met John after dark on Sunday night in Springdale to pick Taylor up so he could be to school the next day. Trevor decided it was his turn to go hunting with his Dad, so we swapped boys. Taylor talked 90 mph the whole way home that night telling me all of their adventures. He loved every moment of it!

We decided to go up for FHE on Monday night to spend with John and to bring Trevor home. John had dutch oven chicken and potatoes (my favorite meal) cooked and ready when we got there. Wow! John took all 7 of us in the truck road hunting! He knows how much I enjoy being up to the Ranch and I appreciate him letting us crash his hunt for one night! We all had a great time and saw a lot of Deer. John got his buck on Sunday morning, so I didn't have to worry about seeing him shoot one while we were there. Although none of us really wanted to leave, the kids and I headed back for home right after it got too dark to see anything.

I thought that the hunt might be hard on John this year without his Dad! He said it sure wasn't the same without him, but I think he still felt really close to his Dad up there. John said something that surprised me because John typically doesn't talk like this, but he said that he thinks his Dad was helping him out this year. He did enjoy being up there with his Mom, Brother, and Brother-In-Laws! I don't think he was really ready to come home, but I was ready to have him home!

San Diego Trip - September 2007

First Time Bloggers

Well, I got tired of hearing the word blog and not knowing what it was, so I decided to check it out! I am a little weary of just putting info about my family on the Internet and not knowing how safe it is. This is a great way of keeping some sort of journal on the happenings of our family though. I am terrible at writing in a journal, but I love to play around on the computer so maybe this will be a good way to start for me.

I even experimented with a slide show of our trip to San Diego last month. Looking back on it, we did have a great time, but it took me a couple of weeks of being home to be able to say that and mean it. It is a lot of work to do anything with 5 kids. We didn't really fit in our Yukon, so the trip there and back was pretty miserable, but we survived. We stayed in a fabulous hotel on Coronado Island. The beach was beautiful. We did Sea World one day and just hung out at the beach and hotel the rest of the time. Trevor loved the beach and especially liked chasing the Sea Gull's. It was hilarious watching him chasing those birds! The kids all had a great time! Even little Tyson did good! It was his first big adventure and we couldn't have asked more from the little guy! We are sure glad he is part of our family!

Alaska Fishing Trip August 2007

Truly a trip of a life time! John was able to go to Alaska for a week with his brother and 4 brother-in-laws. His dad had planned this trip and had it all paid for. Clark was so excited for this trip. After Clark died, John and Thayne talked about canceling it, but knew that their Dad would want them to go. They had an incredible time! What a gift their Mom & Dad could give to them.

They enjoyed ocean fishing for halibut and salmon and spent a night in the wilderness stream fishing for salmon. They even had a mother grizzly and her three cubs as company. John enjoyed every minute of it and took lots of pictures and video to remember it.