Sibling Gift Exchange

We had to wait to do the sibling gift exchange until Westley came into town.  He went to California for Christmas but then came to Texas afterward before going back to Utah.  This is still my favorite family tradition at Christmas Time. 

Jonah made Eliza a butterfly charm to hang from her rearview mirror in her car.

Eliza made Nathan a bracelet.

Annmarie made Jonah a superhero cape.

Travis gave Annmarie coupons for baked goods.

Westley made Travis a custom album with a QR code to access it.

Nathan made Westley a scrap book photo album from all his years in band. 

Thanksgiving and More

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year for Grandpa and Grandma and Paige and the kids.  And for the first time in a long time, we did gingerbread (graham cracker) houses made from graham crackers.  Annmarie's kept falling apart so she said it was in an earthquake. 

 

Playtime Fun!

We told the little kids they couldn't watch TV so they ended up coming up with these fun things together, making shapes on the floor with their bodies. And Nathan really enjoys building with the linking cubes and built a really tall tower.

 

Rest of August

I guess August flew by because I took hardly any more pictures.  We were busy with school and work for Westley and Corey and that's about it.  

Travis went back to the orthopedist on the Monday after school started and found that his shoulder is looking good but he still has to wear the brace for several more weeks. What a pain!

Westley got a parking spot and painted it with In-N-Out palm trees and I think it looks awesome!  Unfortunately, we are sharing two cars between three drivers because the pandemic sucked us dry of extra money and we haven't been able to buy a third car.  Something will work out, I hope.

And Jonah helped with the school announcements so I pulled the picture of him from that day off the school's Facebook page. 

 

Hiking in Maxwell Creek

We discovered that Maxwell Creek neighborhood, which is across busy McCreary Road and also in our ward boundary, has some great hiking paths near the creek.  We can ride our bikes over there and park them in the woods and then hike all over.  It's been a great nature getaway during this time where we have to be at home.  The kids have even gone over themselves without me and had a great time hiking the trails.  It's getting hotter, though, so I don't know how much longer we'll be able to really do it.  But I'm glad we learned it is there!

End of Christmas Break

Annmarie and Nathan were having so much fun playing with bubbles in the tub and being so cute with each other that I couldn't resist taking a photo. 

Caleb got a Groupon for archery for his birthday, so over the break he chose to take his friend Riley with him to use it.  They had a great time, and Riley even brought his own equipment!

We spent some of the time outside in the sunshine, as it was in the 60s and 70s here in Texas for much of the break.

Westley spent some time over the break building with Legos, and I always enjoy seeing what he has created.  This was a miniature piano he made.  It was amazing!

Westley's Artwork

I wanted to share this artwork of Westley's.  He is becoming quite the artist and I loved his comic art here.  He also loves Star Wars and did a wonderful job depicting the characters here.

End of June

Some of these pictures just show some randomness at the end of June. Also, Aunt Kaori arranged for us to go visit the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Forth Worth, Texas. It is one of only two places in the United States that prints the paper money.   We took a tour of the facility.  Cameras were not allowed, so we could only take pictures outside.  It was very interesting to learn about how it's done.  And now, every time we have paper cash, we always look to see if it was printed in Fort Worth.

Another fun thing we did was go to a water park up in Denton where I got to visit with my friend Kathy from junior high.  The kids went off and played in the water park while Kathy and I got to visit.  We also spent time in the water as well.  It was quite a lot of fun.

Nathan turned four months old this month.  He is growing like a week and very chunky.  The kids still like helping with him and snuggling with him.  He is quite a happy baby most of the time. 

Annmarie has also figured out how to climb the door frames.  She is always coming up with something, that girl.

First Week of Summer

This summer I have decided that my kids need to learn to cook, so every week the five older kids will rotate through the five weekdays and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for that day. I don't always remember to take pictures.I did remember to take pictures on the first day, which was Westley's day.  For breakfast, he made cinnamon rolls.  He made pizza bombs for lunch, a recipe I got off Facebook, but by dinner, we had to go over to Adam and Eve's house because our kitchen faucet was broken and leaking water everywhere, so he cooked dinner there, which was chicken parmesan.

I got an app on my phone where you can play with makeup and hairstyles, so I took a fun picture of Annmarie to play with.  Eliza and I have had fun playing with this app.  We tried to go swimming every day this week as well.  I took a picture of Nathan and I hanging out at Adam and Eve's house.  On Saturday, I took Eliza to a local circus that was in town.  I found some cheap tickets and planned a mommy-daughter date.  We had a great time.  When we got home, Corey and Westley had come home from some one-on-one time as well at a LEGO convention and Westley was getting all the kids in on building with LEGOs.  It was cool to go upstairs and find ALL the kids, even Nathan, in the room while they built together.