Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving again this year we got to enjoy the company of some of my family. I was so grateful that Mallory and Joshua, Matt and Emily along with Ben and Isabelle and also Andrew were willing to make the trip to my house. I love having my family come and since it does not happen often I get really excited for when it does. Mallory and Joshua arrived Wednesday mid afternoon and the rest appeared later that night. Joshua brought along a Turkey hat which Avynlea was so happy to put on and model.

Joshua and Kefford were caught by Kenedy taking a nap. She thought it was fun how they were kind of sleeping the same.

The kids at the kids table were caught holding hands for the prayer, when Ryker saw me taking a picture he quickly pulled his hand away. 

I made them do the hand holding so I could get a good picture. These kids are so cute and are such good friends as well as amazing Cousins. My kids were so happy to have Isabelle and Ben here for three full days to play with. It was Cousin Heaven!

Andrew and Kenedy

Joshua and Mallory

Emily and Matt

Kefford and Elizabeth

Emily tried to retake the picture of Joshua and Mallory hoping for a normal picture this time around. No such luck from Joshua.

I think Mallory took this picture of all of us looking at a youtube video on Joshua's phone. This picture is blurry and not perfect but I love it. It is a perfect moment and it makes me happy to look at it. I love my family so much!!!

Joshua brought his puppy with him on this trip and my kids had so much fun playing with him outside. Little Lord Windemere is a cute little doggie and Avynlea had the most fun playing with him.  Mallory bought him a cute little Christmas sweater and Avynlea took some cute pictures.

Andrew bought a set of new pillows for himself and said he was going to give the other one to his girlfriend since she was always stealing his. I suggested making her a pillowcase to go with the pillow and Emily mentioned how she remembered seeing some nesting doll fabric while we were at JoAnns. Kayley served her mission in the Ukraine and is going back for a study abroad program so this fabric was perfect for her. The owls are because they are her favorite animal and the yellow ribbon is Andrew's favorite color. He was a little stressed out about sewing this but I assured him it was really easy and I stayed by him and helped him and the end result was a beautifully made pillowcase his girlfriend will love.

This was a great Thanksgiving but Sunday morning was really sad once everyone left to go home. I kept it together pretty good until I was sitting in Sacrament meeting when I just started Bawling. I really miss my family and it is never easy to watch them leave. I was able to pull it together while in the Nursery using my cute Nursery kids as distractions but had a crying headache for the rest of the day. Such is life. I am glad I am able to have at least a couple of times a year to be with my family.

Dating and Sewing

Tuesday night we had our Relief Society Christmas Dinner. Since I am on the committee I had to be there early to help set up and stay after to put everything away. Kenedy and her best friend Lauren were helping out in the Nursery and after the event was over they came out to eat dinner while we were putting things away. The table they were sitting at had to be put back under the stage so they were given a smaller table to finish their dinners at. I thought they looked so cute sitting there like they were on a little date that I had to take some pictures. After the pictures were taken they told me they were practicing their dating techniques for future dates. These girls are too cute!

AVynlea has been hounding me to teach her how to sew and so on Friday I finally had time to let her have a turn at my sewing machine. She bought a bed for her American Doll a long while ago and after I made a mattress for Rylee's Doll's bed for her Birthday I got some material to make Avynlea one for her Doll Bed. Unfortunately that project never made it to light until yesterday where I had Avynlea do it. She did a good job and wants to do more so I need to find more sewing for her to do. Rylee wanted to have a turn also and so I let her sew some pages together to make a book. 

Track Break Fun

Avynlea had a Birthday Party to go to and I took her to Wal-Mart to get her friend a gift. As we walked by the sodas we would not figure out what they were trying to do as far as design goes. But then when we stepped away and looked at it from a distance we suddenly saw the light and realized it was Olaf! 

The birthday party was at 2 B a Kid which is a kids hair salon and when Avynlea came home she was all done up super cute. Hair done fancy, Nails polished and even a little bit of make-up on. She looked beautiful and I had to take some pictures of her fancy hair do because it was so cute. She told me that while the girl was doing it she thought to herself "my Mom could do this style". So for Sunday we recreated it and I have to say I did a good job! 

On Monday I took the girls with me while I taught Dance. One of the centers has a couple of Ferrets and my girls were quite excited to be able to hold them. 

Snow Day!

My friend Lana was telling me that Aubree had a new name for her baby doll and that is is Sister Peterson. How adorable is that?! When I was over at their house I had to have a picture taken with my buddy Aubree and my namesake Sister Peterson. She is such a cutie and I sure love this little girl!

I bought my girls some head wraps to wear and they looked so cute I had to take a picture. 

On Thursday it started to snow and didn't stop for two days. Because of all the snow and icy roads school was cancelled on Friday and it was a Snow Day! 

The kids loved playing in the snow and stayed outside playing for hours. Friday afternoon I decided we should take the opportunity of all the beautiful snow and get some family pictures. I have been wanting Family pictures in the snow for a couple of years but that is not something you can really plan for here in Idaho. So with all of the snow and with the kids being home and Kefford not having to be at work I decided my fates have aligned and i called Lana to see if she could take a couple of quick pictures. Kefford said he would only do it if we did it quick. So we met downtown Meridian and took 20 minutes to get some pictures. We got there before Lana and while we waited I snapped some pictures of my Cute kids. Rylee was wearing her leggings earlier and I liked the colors and decided to play off her leggings and have everyone wear something in the black and turquoise genre. Everyone looked really good and I am happy with the colors and how the outfits were put together. I really kept it easy for me and let them all choose what to wear.