November 2013

 Our thankful tree has all of our hand prints with things were are thankful for written on them.  We had to guess who was who's.  The easiest ones to guess was "spinning things", "my kidney", "Lamborghinis", and "binkies."

 The adult table...my kids fixed up my chair all soft and cozy with pillows and blankets (so thoughtful) since I threw out my back while bathing Bethany.

 Such a big boy taking some of his very own steps and...

 turning one year old.  He was much more interested in the candle than the cake.  He did not want to touch it or eat it.  When big brother finally took his hand and smashed it in the cake, he cried and turned away from the cake.  He wouldn't even look at it.  Such a cutie, but a little stinker too :)

 Went to a Texas Legends (farm team for Dallas Mavericks) game.  The Legends were down by at least 10 and up to 20 the whole first half, but they made a great come back in the 2nd half to win 113-106.  Great game!

 Lots of fun activities at the game...very kid friendly (except for the immodest cheerleaders).  We made it onto the Jumbo Tron and even caught a T-shirt.

 We were able to go down on the court afterwards and meet the players.  We had one of the players sign our T-shirt. Yes, we are missing Beth in the picture.  She stayed home with the younger Beams and some good friends of ours (the Boarders) babysat them for us.  They were so brave to babysit since they only have teenagers and they had 4 kiddos ages 1-5 to take care of and put to bed. 

 JCPenney is a big sponsor on the Texas Legends.  Ken is showing his work pride!  Hope JCP stays around at least a little longer.

 Cute Sunday best girls!

 And their mommies!

 Needless to say, Bethany was very excited to decorate our house with Christmas decor.  She is also very practical...they are stockings right?

 So Wednesday the high was 78 degrees and by Thursday night it was sleeting/icing. Friday and Saturday everything was canceled because there is a thick layer of ice on everything including the roads.  The kids had literally been praying for snow/ice and were up and out at 7:30 a.m. both Friday and Saturday playing in the snow.  They much get that from their dad, because I watched from the window in my warm house!

 Cameron and Bethany picked me a frozen rose.  It really was beautiful and it still smelled amazing!

October 2013

We went to Broken Bow, OK with the Normans and the Walkers.  We stayed in a motel that looked like a log cabin on the outside and the kids immediately adopted the stray cat that hung around the lodge.  They named him Tiger. My poor pet deprived children!

There were lots of quartz rocks everywhere.  Carter spent hours making his own collection!

We had fun playing with Lily and watching all the new little things she was learning.

We rode on a train through the woods and even saw several deer.

Here's my four cuties that would have loved to have been born on a farm.

Look closely and you will see a daddy long leg trying to camouflage himself in the rust of the tire.  These spiders were everywhere, at least it wasn't tarantulas. 

Here's the whole crew except for Gram because she was taking the picture!

Already to go canoeing! 

It was a very scenic river and we even got some rapids in...so much fun!

Here's some of the wildlife and scenery we enjoyed while paddling down the river.  It was especially exciting the go into the little inlets that were kind of hidden and off the main path of the river.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in this pit behind our lodge too many times (I was craving vegetables).  The kids were pretending like they were wizards and witches making a brew when we were putting out the fire.  Surprisingly, we all smelled like smoke the whole weekend.

We spent Sunday afternoon at this beautiful lake where the kids skipped rocks for hours.  There was a lot of perfect slate rocks to skip. I wanted to take a bunch of it home and re-tile our kitchen floor.  We went to the local branch for church in the morning that was a half hour a way and we just about doubled the congregation with our group.  We were surprised to see so many people from the Marshall Islands there.  Apparently, there are thousands of them that have come to the states and  settled in the areas close to Broken Bow, OK.

Not quite sure what she is doing, but I have to say she is quite talented and creative.

I guess he wants to know what it feels like to be homeless?  Curling up on the trash just doesn't strike me as the most comfy place, but you never know!

Our kids had fun at our neighborhood fall festival.  They especially loved petting the animals.  Ken's animal loving genes must be really strong because all our kids got them.

They even had a little train that rode around our neighborhood.  Wesley and his friend Tristin weren't super impressed with the speed of the train.

Although she doesn't look or act any older, Gram had another birthday and we celebrated with Costco cheesecake!  The hairy black legs hanging down are from our Halloween spider that hovers over our kitchen island...creepy!

Cutest daddy-daughter picture.  They sure are smitten with each other :)

Bethany and I enjoyed a little pumpkin patch one afternoon that a local church puts on.

Enjoying a weekend away at Grapevine Lake with some of my "besties" Sondra and Lori.  We had a great time just relaxing, shopping, eating, watching movies (I was introduced to my first Indian movie) and lots of chatting.

The closest ward building and the time that worked best for us was a Young Single Adult ward.  So their congregation was graced by 3 forty year old married women. It was a very inspiring and impressive Sacrament Meeting.

Wesley singing at his first concert being in the Staley choir.  He also tried out and made it for Regional Choir.  Only two people from Staley made it and there had never been a boy make it to Regional Choir in the history of Staley.  Way to go, Wes!

Here's our cute little Bumble Bee. 

And the rest of the clan!  We had so many trick or treaters and the kids got so much candy plus they even got to brave a "haunted house" that was set up in the garage of one of their friends. It was a successful night for a kid!

They even enjoyed giving out the candy.  Bethany would watch out the window and yell, "We have another customer!"

I borrowed a traditional outfit from one of my East Indian friends.  If I didn't have pale skin and blond hair, it would be pretty believable!

Cameron got to go to Sky Ranch 5th grade camp.  Ken also went as a chaperone.  They had a great time playing games, learning about Social Studies and Science and just enjoying the outdoors. Notice Cameron's adorable smile in every picture.  He loved it!