Dear Santa...

Eliza and Talia wrote letters to Santa awhile ago.  But we've kind of been on lock down in our house with sickness.  We finally ventured out to get those letters off to Santa!

 Eliza's letter to Santa...

 ...and putting it in the mailbox (love the tongue).

 Talia's letter to Santa...

 ...and putting it in the mailbox (of course sister has to help).

Here's to hoping Santa brings what they've asked for!

Ward party...

Our ward Christmas party was on the 7th...and Santa came!

 This is the first year that Eliza didn't hesitate to sit on Santa's lap.  And she had quite the list of things to tell him.

 Talia on the other hand wasn't thrilled.  She said hi to Santa when she was about five feet away from him.  But as soon as she got closer the tears came.  Maybe next year!

We even had a family picture taken.

Merry Christmas!

Cocolalla weekend...

We went up to Cocolalla the first weekend of December.

 Andy and Brayden on the 4 wheeler.

 Darran is standing next to the "stick" that fell from one of the trees during a wind storm.  We could see it from the house but we were a little surprised when we went down to the water and saw how big it really was.

 Skipping rocks in the water.

 This will probably be one of the last times we see the water flowing before it freezes through the winter.

And we got new couches for downstairs!  They are comfy!!!

Beaver Fever!

I just don't want to forget this...

Talia woke up from her nap this afternoon with a fever.  I was trying to explain to Eliza (for the billionth time) to stay out of her face and away from the germs. 

 

Talia said..."I have a beaver...in my mouth."

Me: "do you know what a beaver is Tal?  An animal."

Then it dawned on me...a fever, not a beaver!

 

When daddy came home Talia was quick to explain to him that a beaver is an animal she has in her mouth!

 

 

The next morning...

 

Me: "Oh good Tal, your fever is gone!"

Talia: "He not in my mouth.  Animal go to his home."

Right...be gone you beaver fever.

I can't even imagine the mental picture she must have!

Bever fever or Beiber fever...not sure what's worse!

 

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Darran celebrated his birthday on Tuesday!

 Daddy with his presents and favorite girls!

 Mom and Dad joined us for his birthday dinner and mud pie that night.

Then Wednesday night Nana and Papa came over for our Chirstmas tree decorating dinner/2nd birthday celebration.

We love you so much Daddy!  You are the kindest, hardest working, funniest, strongest daddy we could ever ask for!  Happy Birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a family filled Thanksgiving...and wouldn't have it any other way!  Unfortunately, we didn't take too many pictures but here's what we do have...

 The kids had fun in the basement (unfinished basement I might add) playing the Wii.  I love that Eliza is sitting on the couch with her boy cousins...she was quite intrigued by watching them beat all the levels!

 Some good conversation at the table...sorry Kelly...you must of snuck out when this picture was taken!

 Football and basketball games watched all weekend.

 On Thanksgiving morning we had a Moody turkey bowl in the backyard!

 The weather was absolutely perfect!

 And a little bit of soccer too.

 This was my turkey veggie tray (thank you pinterest).

 Playing with cousins at Nana and Papa's.

 Kelly, Lexi, Dana, Lincoln, and April.

And this is as close as we get to a picture of Thanksgiving dinner...the pre-dinner snacks.

After dinner we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma's for dessert and some games.

I actually ventured out and did a little shopping that night while Darran went to sleep early with a fever...and then slept the entire next day!  But after a day of recovery we again enjoyed family on Saturday.  What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend it was for us!  We are thankful for so much and are blessed beyond belief!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Santa parade!

On Saturday, November 17th we went to the First Annual Christmas parade at the mall.  It was extra special because we got to bring Greg, Kelly, Ryan and Briella with us!

There were firetrucks and policemen...high school homecoming royalty (a little random)...

 ...even princesses!

 There were Elves passing out candy too!  The parade was short and sweet...with lots of candy and Santa at the end!

Then we followed Santa into the mall where the kids were given a cookie, Santa read them a story, we sang a couple Christmas songs, and then he lit up the tree!

A fun way to start the season...and even better to do so with cousins!

Leak...

A new house should mean no problems right?  Wrong?

This is what our study looks like right now thanks to a water leak.  It was either these holes or rip out the entire bathroom.  Fortunately, the piano is strategically placed in front of these holes to hide the problem until it's fixed.  The ironic part?  We were told if we didn't have SO MUCH insulation that we would have found the leak a week after moving in...not 5 months later!  

Turkey time!

Eliza made an oreo turkey at preschool and was so excited to show Talia how to make one too.  Gobble, gobble!

Lawn mower...

This is Darran's new toy.  I made him "suffer" through the summer with the hopes that the price of riding lawn mowers would decrease in the fall.  I mowed the lawn myself towards the end of the summer and told him he should of had me do it earlier then I might have given in sooner!  Here's to lots of lawn mowing next summer I guess!

Let me show you...

We went for a walk when the weather was still nice.  We started and ended at this pond.  I couldn't resist taking this picture...big sister showing little sister what there was to see.  Love it.

Hair styling...

 Eliza has been enjoying doing mom's hair lately...with LOTS of bows.  Then she insists that dad takes a picture.

I'm slightly nervous that one of these days I'm going to leave the house forgetting I have 20 baby bows in my hair.  But in Eliza's words at least I'll be "stylish!"

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Eliza and Talia have been SOOOO excited for Halloween.  In fact, Talia took quite a short nap that afternoon and woke up chanting "Halloween...trick-or-treat...Halloween...trick-or-treat!"

 Pirate Brayden and two Cinderellas.

Brayden and Aunt Julie joined us for dinner and then we went to our ward's trunk-or-treat.

 After that we headed to trick-or-treat at Grandpa Hague's!

And then a few houses in our neighborhood before retiring for the night.

Here they are with all their candy!

Happy Halloween!

A walk along the river...

This week of Halloween has been rainy for us but quite pleasant outside.  So we ventured out for a "ride" along the river.

 The girls brought snacks, books, and Barbies...the necessities of life.

 I would attempt to jog a little in between walking.  Every time I stopped jogging one of the girls would ask if I was ok?  I had to laugh.

 We stopped to throw some rocks in the water.

We're glad our fall weather is back.  And we're even happier that our relatives in the East have survived their bad weather and are doing just fine!  We love you guys!

Halloween at Preschool...

On Tuesday Eliza's preschool class had a little Halloween performance too.  This time she decided to be Snow White...and yes, Talia did too.

Tavis, Trevor, Brynn, Megan, Olivia, Eliza, and Miley.

Carving pumpkins!

Monday night we carved pumpkins.

 I think this was all of the pumpkin insides that Eliza touched.  Neither she nor Talia were fans of that yucky stuff!

 Pumpkins all carved...

 ...and lit!  Eliza carved (with lots of help) Snow White and Talia went for the traditional jack-o-lantern.  Although she told me it was a ghost face!

 And Daddy carved a bat.

These two are just cheesy...senior pictures with pumpkins down the road maybe?

Happy pumpkin carving!