Is it Christmas yet?

I always say this, but the days between Thanksgiving to Christmas seem to drag on forever. I guess I get excited to go to my parents for Christmas and can't wait to get out of town.  Even with that anticipation, we had a great pre-Christmas month.

 Jason and the kiddos looking at the lights at Ethel M's.

Me and all the kiddos.  They loved the lights.

Kimball ran and gave Santa a hug, before her brothers could even get up to him.  Then we finally got them all to look at us for this picture.  Santa got a little nervous that the kiddos were going to break down his little house, because Jack and Tod kept jumping up and down on his little platform.  Very entertaining for us to watch Santa get a little flustered.

 And, what kind of mom would I be if I didn't take bathtub pictures of my kids.  I can just see this picture in their wedding slide show.  Hehehe.  Danny is growing so fast.  He's just as tall as he is chubby... Jason keeps 

saying he's well proportioned.  Whatever he is, he is a big boy.

 And Tod is continuing to show us how clever he is.  He's learned how to climb up the stools to up on the kitchen counter, and I saw him tip over a little garbage can and step up, to get something off my dresser.  He's always finding ways to keep up with his big brother and sister.

Not to be out down, Danny learned how to sit up in December.  Very big accomplishment for him.

 

I just loved this picture.  It just captures our boys so well.  Jack w/ a pirate face, Tod just happy to be there, and Danny a little concerned about having to figure out the other two.

It has been a fun month getting ready for Christmas.  I didn't procrastinate, having learned that hard lesson last year, and got all of the shopping done on black friday.  It was so nice decorating and wrapping, and getting to focus on the Christmas season w/o as much stress as previous years.

Thanksgiving and Jack's Seating Arrangements

We spent Thanksgiving this year in town with the whole Hafen family.  We started out the day with the annual Turkey Trot.  This is very serious, as you can see by line up.  Kimball and Jack were determined to run around with their cousins, alas, it wasn't meant to be.  Jason was also ready to run, but before he could even make it around once, Kimball decided she needed her dad to cheer her up, when she couldn't keep up with the older cousins.  I had a very leisurely stroll with Danny in the stroller, and even picked up a few stragglers during my one lap.

Runners, take your mark.... I can't remember who won, but it was a good race.

 Tod decided to hop out of the stroller and make a run for the finish.

 After the trot, we got right to work with some delicious pumpkin cookies.

And this lovely bird, is Jason's turkey.  It was as delicious as it looks, and we even managed to make gravy from the drippings, after a few phone consultations w/ our cooking experts, thanks MOM.

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving w/ over 80 Hafens.  There are so many of us that we had to meet at a church building.  After dinner, there was very fun game of bingo.  It's always fun to catch up w/ family members that we don't get to chat with very often.

And now, here's Jack.  He's been choosing some very interesting seating for himself lately.  Here's a few I was able to capture on camera.

 And now that Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas decorations came out.  As Jack is so kind to display.

Temple Trip and Nana and Papa's House

Jason and I were getting a little stir crazy and felt like a road-trip, so we headed up to Midway to visit my parents.  It was a mellow weekend of just hanging out with the family, and enjoying their house before the snow hits. Abbey and Bill came up for one night, and then Cally and Nate and their kids joined us.

 Here is Papa and his crew.  

I think he was just as content watching the Backyardigans as the kids were.

 Kimball's best "Nana" impression. She even figured out to grab the kindle and her glasses and sit in Nana's chair.

 Jack got the idea too. So here he is in Papa's chair pretending to read one of his books.

 Lots of people tell me Jack looks like my dad, either way, Jack sure has fun pretending to be him.

The kids love to climb up this one branch like little monkeys. 

 And of course, it was only a matter of time until Kimball (and then Jack) started to jump off of it.

Oh, to be so fearless!  I wonder who these kids are sometimes.

The primary from our ward planned a trip to the temple. We figure we'd take the kids and teach them about how special the temple is. So we got the kids dressed in church clothes, combed their hair, got them all buckled and situated in the car, and then tried to start the car... nothing.  Our battery was dead, and we couldn't find our cables.  Jason drove to the store, got cables, jumped the car, we got back in the car, recombed hair and then went to the temple.

 The whole process of getting there took it's toll.  Both Kimball and Jack passed out on the way there.

 Once we got there, it was very fun to walk the kids around the temple.  We met up with the primary on the inside just as one of the temple presidency was finishing a little chat with the kids.  It was fun to see how all of the kids stayed reverent, or at least tried as best as they could.

 

At one point, we did pile all of the kids in the double stroller as we were walking around the grounds.  Let me tell you, life doesn't get much better than this! I love these little kids (and the man pushing the stroller that you can't see). I'm so blessed to get to be a part of this crazy little family.  I thank Heavenly Father everyday for this, and for the temple that lets us be a family forever.

Halloween 2011

Halloween lasted what seemed like weeks at our house.  Here's some pictures of the many activities.

 

Here is Tod.  You may think that we was dressed as a vampire... but no.  That is frosting from a cupcake that he enjoyed at the trunk or treat.

 

Kimball wanted to be a white princess, (I don't know where she got the idea), and then was so happy to have her face painted by some of the young women in our ward.

 Jack was happy to show off his pirate skills and moustache.

Then, on Halloween,  I got brave and took all the kids to the closest rec center by myself.  I probably looked a little frazzled, but that's what happens when 2 kids run in opposite directions towards 2 different bouncy houses and leave me with 2 in a stroller.  But, we survived, and I daresay the kids had a great time.

 On Halloween night, we actually went out trick or treating.  Kimball and Jack had a great time, and didn't want to stop, especially Kimball. 

Tod went to a couple of doors, but decided that he was enjoying the stroller.  Then, when we got him in some light we understood why he didn't want to leave his stroller.  He just grabbed the candy from his bucket and started chowing down.  This is how we looked by the time we headed home.  It was a very successful Halloween. 

Just Videos

Here are a few videos that we've managed to catch of the kiddos lately.  They're always keeping us on our toes and making us smile - or making each other laugh.

 Kimball playing with Danny.  Who knew counting to 3 was so funny?

Dance party.  Really Kimball wanted to show off her new move the jump and spin.

Jack and his "Captain Hook" song. 

 

Danny starting some solids.  Yum, rice cereal.

 

Tod's attempts at talking.  We're getting there, slowly but surely.

Happy Birthday Jack!

 Jack had a birthday, shout hooray. HOORAY!!

  

  Here he is opening up his presents on his birthday morning.

 He's been all about pirates this year, so when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he said a pirate ship.  And when I asked what he wanted to name the boat, he said, "the bad guys." This is as good as I could get it for him.

Here he is blowing out the cannons (or candles) while we all sang to him at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

He came home with a whole backpack of presents from all of his cousins.  (Thanks aunts and uncles!)

And in honor of Jacks birthday... here's a video of him singing "Single Ladies."  And just to explain the song... my kids aren't watching Beyonce videos, they learned it from the 2nd Chipmunk movies.

 

Please disregard the last 10 seconds or so, I forgot to stop filming.

The Last Hoorah!

Jason and I bought Disneyland passes right before I found out I was prego with Danny. Which means that the passes were going to expire right before Danny turned 3 months old.  So, we did what any Disneyland loving (or obsessed) people would do.  We packed up our 4 kiddos, 2 double strollers, one porta-crib, and headed to the Happiest Place On Earth.  We had a great time!  People looked at us a little strange, as if to ask "can you really have fun with that many little kids?"  And we did.  Here's our proof.

 First day in, we managed to take a couple of pictures with some of our favorite character.

 I made it into this picture, but poor Danny didn't.

 This is where he was for that picture.

 So we made an attempt to get at least one picture with all of us in it.  And this is what it looks like trying to get us all together.

 Danny had more fun at the hotel.  I think he was just happy to be out of his stroller.

 If you follow this blog, you may realize there are never any pictures of me on the tea-cup ride.  That is for a very good reason, and Jason just knows that this one is all him.

 We just happened to run into a couple of the princesses, which made Kimball very happy.

Jack, on the other hand, decided he was happier seeing the princesses from a far.

And this is how hard we played for those 2 days. 

Some of the highlights of this trip was having some of friends there at the same time.  Jeremy and Rachel Gwin just happened to be going the same weekend, so we did play with them for a little bit.  Not as much as we wanted to, but it sure was fun to hang out with them and go on a couple of rides together.  

Jack was also our brave little boy who wanted to try out the Tower of Terror.  Kimball respectfully declined (she went on it last time).  So, I took Jack. He didn't scream, didn't cry, but man was that kid's leg shaking as the ride bounced us up and down.  When he got off the ride, he kind of sounded like the "rainman" and couldn't stop saying "ride, scary, yeah, ride, scary, yeah scary."  Poor kid, I hope he's not too traumatized.  But, both Kimball and Jack loved Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  And Kimball loved Soarin' Over California.  

People ask why we take our kids to Disneyland so young, because they won't remember it, so why bother? That may be true.  But, I'll never forget watching them go on rides for the first time, or watching them chow down on a churro or Mickey Mouse pancakes, or be so excited to go talk to Mickey that they almost can't wait.  A teenager just doesn't show their excitement the same way. There's my response to that question.  I guess it's more about our memories as parents than it is for our kids.

So, that was the last trip for a little while. And now, time for the withdrawals.  If anyone here's me randomly whistling Disney tunes, just know that it's part of the withdrawal symptoms.

Midway and Swiss Days and Temple Square

As tradition follows, we headed up to my parents house in Midway for the annual Swiss Days.  Once a year, this little town of 2000 residents manages to host over 80,000 craft fair goers for a weekend.  It's quite crazy, but I love being there.  I've been going to this fair for as long as I can remember.  Then, the kids and I sent Jason home to work, and we stayed where it wasn't quite so hot.  Thanks for having us Mom and Dad!

Things about Swiss Days... portapotties and good treats, particularly snow cones.  Tod came home with a purple mouth, thank goodness for a dark shirt.

I walked around with Danny strapped to me, and by the time I made it back to my parents booth, he was officially passed out.

Jack's attempt at the rockwall.

Kimball's attempt at the rock wall.

Me and the kiddos playing in a little creek that ran right behind my parents drink booth, which became our hideout from the crowds.

Jason decided he wanted to cool his toes too.

After the fair, Jack disappeared, and this is where we found him (yes, he has no pants on).  We managed to put a pull-up on him just in case (I didn't want all my clean clothes to get peed on).

Nana is helping Kimball sew a little baby blanket for one of her new dolls that Nana got her.

Self portrait of Danny. Love those cheeks.

A trip to Nana and Papas isn't complete without a ride on the scooters. Here's my dad and Jack.

Kimball and Nana.

When Jason got back, we took the kids to Temple Square.  This little bench is where Jason officially proposed with my wedding ring.

It was too fun taking them around the temple and trying to get them to pose.  Danny was strapped to me the whole time, and didn't get any of the pictures.

Kimball kept asking why it was locked.  Good teaching moment trying to explain how to be worthy to be go the temple.

Okay, then it just became a climbing contest.

I love this picture, Tod wanted desperately to climb up to touch Jesus toes.

We met up with Jason's cousin Jesse and her kids.  Our kids had way too much fun playing in this fountain across the street from Temple Square.

And finally, we headed home, back to Las Vegas, after a fantastic road trip.  We were all exhausted. It was an awesome week of Swiss Days, swimming, playing the backyard, Temple Square, hangin' out with family and fun conversations.