Christmas Fun At Riverwoods
We went to Riverwoods last week to see the lights and Santa Claus. It was really pretty and a fun environment.This was a big tree made out of light balls. It took me 15 minutes just to get all the kids to stay still long enough to snap this picture. We had just got there and they were so excited to be there. Ash had just had his tonsils out and a tube put in his ear 4 days before so he was wearing my hat for extra ear protection. It is clearly too big, but it kept him warm.

Burke and Ellie waiting to see Santa.

Ellie with Santa. She told me that he is the real Santa because look at him. He just looks so real she told me.

Ashton & Santa

Santa & Bradley

Braxton was a crack up seeing Santa. He and Burke are getting a little big to fit on Santa's knee, but they both wanted their turn.

Santa & Burke

They have a free carriage ride on weekend nights so we waited a long time to ride the carriage. It was so fun! The kids loved it, especially Charlie the horse. This is Rick, Burke, Brax & Ashton.

Ellie, Me, and Brad

No More Tonsils
Ashton got his tonsils out this morning. This was a first for him and our family. He is the first child to have any surgery in our family and this won't be the last for him. He has to have reconstructive ear surgery on the 29th so this was just a starter for him. Anyway, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed and everything went well. Waking up was awful, but now he is on the mend and happy!
He looked so stinking cute in his hospital garb! They gave him this little lion and he held it until he went to surgery and as soon as he woke up and his is still holding at home watching cartoons! I was so proud of him because he was so brave and excited for this surgery. That quickly changed when he was coming out of the anesthetic, and now he knows what to expect in 3 weeks, but he was such a trooper! I love Ash to pieces and am glad we have one surgery down!

Artwork??
One day Ellie had a friend over and they were playing in the basement. I was upstairs and Ashton poked his head around the corner this is what I saw. Ellie and her friend had gotten out acryllic paint and this was the result. I was laughing so hard! He looked so strange to have his whole face colored. Good times, good times!

FHE Up the Canyon
Could I love my kids anymore? I just love this picture of my five loves!

This was only a week after Brax broke his arm so he was a little on the low down. He had a rough go of things for about a week with his break which was a darn good one, if that is the right term.

Burke's usual happiness at being in the outdoors.

Ashton with pumpkin cookies. They were the treat for the night and they were super yummy.

HALLOWEEN FUN!!
We had lots of Halloween fun this year. It started with our annual Christianson party. This is all of us on our way to Mandi's house for the festivities.
I had to document Ricky and I in our costumes and Brad didn't want to be left out!

Me and Mandi waiting for the fun to begin.

Brigham workin' it.

This was one of my favorite pics of the night. Josie just hopped right up there between her two uncle's and was happy as a clam.

Mandi & Josie

Brad & Zac

Tyler & Mason

The boys.

The darling girls!

Cookie decorating.

Pinata fun to celebrate Josie's birthday.

Beautiful Fall Day
I love Provo Canyon, especially in the fall! We went up the canyon over fall break and it was a glorious day!

Burke Flag Football
Burke played flag football this year and he loved it!
Burke is big for his age. He is taller than his 10 year old brother so he is bigger than almost everyone on the team which meant he was on the line most of the time. He did great at blocking the other team.

I love Burke! He is so happy to just be wherever he is. He does what he is asked without complaint and is just happy to be on the team!

Braxton Arrow of Light
Braxton earned his arrow of light award in October and he was so excited! It is the highest award you can earn in cub scouts. I was very proud of him.
His Weeblos leader is the one next to me with the beard. He is amazing and he had planned an awesome ceremony that made it such a special night for Braxton.

PUMPKIN CARVING
We were able to carve pumpkins outside this year which was great! No sticky, icky mess in the kitchen!
We had out two nieces, Paityn and Briar, with us for the day which was lots of fun!

Brad showing us his guts.

We loved having Briar here for Halloween. She lives in Seattle so we don't get to see her enough- we all love her to pieces!!

Braxton carved his own pumpkin this year and he was so proud of himself. He did a great job!

Ellie turns 7
Ellie finally got to celebrate her birthday. She has been counting down for weeks and she had a great day!!
She wanted muffins for breakfast so of course that is what we had.

Ellie has wanted a denim jacket for months! Every time she sees one she begs for it. She was thrilled when she got one!

I surprised her by taking her ice skating after school- just the two of us. It was so much fun!! I love ice skating and we had a all together. There were hardly any other people there so we basically had the rink to ourselves. It was awesome!!

We went to Ellie's class to share a poster about her and read her favorite book.

We had a family party at the park that night. Ellie felt special the whole day and that is all I wanted for her. All girls should feel special on their birthday. I love my Ellie!!