Christmas Party!

The Stamps hosted our first event in the new house. We had all the appetizers at this table and we drank wassail, and cranberry spritzers  served from the punch bowl behind it.

All the candles were lit all over the house which lent to a great ambaince.

The desserts were served from the dining room table. Everyone brought delicious food.

These are the ice rings I made out of a number ten can with cranberries lining the top. It's hollow inside and we put a candle in it and lined the sidewalk leading up to the door. A big hit!

This is the family room where we served the antipasto plates and olives. Only certain palettes came to this table. Good, more for me! MMMM...olive breath!

Thanks!

Nate and Darli came to Denver for Thanksgiving. Their kids are so beautiful and precious.

All the kids had so much fun together. They chased and wrestled the whole time. We had a ball.

Giacomo is so darling. Couldn't you just kiss his face off?

Baptizing Fox

What a glorious day. Thank you to all who sacrficed to be with us on this very treasured day. It was wonderful. I can't believe our first born is baptized!

Fox Week

Fox turned 8 this week!!!

Fox's first day to scouts. They toured the sheriffs station and got to sit in the police car and run the sirens. They also were able to sit in a tank and one of the other boys pulled the brake so they moved the tank. Fox said the policeman ran in and yanked the kid out. "He was in big trouble, mom." 

Steve couldn't resist this photo. Fox, at the end of his birthday on the phone to his Smiley cousins and the Lamb's reciting all of his birthday fun and presents. He must have been on the phone for and hour. It was so cute to see him so animated.He misses all of them so much!! We love you, thank you for calling and making it a great end to a great day!

Happy Halloween!!

I don't think there will be a year where the boys won't dress up as someone from Star Wars. Steve is a proud Dad. Here we have, as you all can tell of course, Anakin, Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker.

We tried to wrestle Julia into a Leah outfit to round off the quartet but she wouldn't have. She just really wanted to be a panda bear. She was so adorable chasing after the boys while they were trick-or-treating. People at the door would give her candy and she would just put it back in their bowls. She thought it was a fun game.

All their LOOT! 

This photo was taken at 7:30 this morning and they had been in there counting and tasting and playing for at least a half hour.

In Fox's class they had Historical Halloween and everyone dressed up and gave an oral report on an important historical figure. Fox picked 

Joseph Smith. He did very well on his first "speech" in the classroom but we know he's had a lot of practice giving talks in primary so he wasn't nervous a bit. He did very well.

Happy Birthday, Mason is 6!!!

Bright and early Saturday morning Mason finds his way to all his loot.

Who is more excited for the cake?

Thank you for the costume Grandma!! Thank you for all the birthday presents everyone!!

Cooper petting the Silkie. I couldn't resist this picture.

A day in the life...

This is my favorite picture this month. This could be my favorite of Julia and her dad of all time. 

Julia and Cooper were out enjoying the nice warm weather for the last time this season. The chickens come right up to you in the yard because they think you have food for them. One of the hens let Cooper pet her. Julia loves to be out there with them.

This is one tired baby coming in from the car. She is sleeping sitting up, with her tongue out.

Movie night is every Fri. with the family and usually Julia is in bed when we start but this time she got to stay up and she feels pretty good about herself!

stripes

Steve announces last weekend that we are going to take family pictures and my year was made. I know how much he despises this occasion like hot needles in his eyes. I was so grateful. We found this little nook right here in the city and the boys were so well behaved.

The sun was just right and Steve took the most amazing shots but you don't get to see the good ones until Christmas!

We found a playground nearby for the little ones to blow off some steam after sitting still for so long. They were angels!!

We are at Sam's the other day looking at all the Halloween scary guys and Julia just freaks out excited! She is screaming and pointing and making this face we have never seen before. Eyebrows high and mouth open wider than a bass fish. We were rolling on the floor laughing!

Steve's good friend Colleen from school stopped by for a visit. She dragged us out to Bojo's for some yummy montain pizza. Very fun!

Camping Magic!

Camping up in the Colorado mountains! It doesn't get better than powder doughnuts for breakfast.  The chipmunks would come right up to their feet to beg for food but no one was sharing!

MMMMMMMMMMM!

So we've climbed to the top of this gorgeous vista and two of the boys are grouchy but I had to have the picture no matter what. They had a ton of fun camping though and they wished we went everyweekend. Their favorite activity was the fire and secret hiding spot under the Evergreen. Steve also put up a ropes course for them and it kept them occupied long enough for mom and dad to get a nap in so it was all worth it! I can't believe we don't do this every weekend. It was so fun to get away from the city.

Little posers. So handsome.

This picture is in the running for this years Christmas picture. We'll see how my luck goes in getting all of these poeple to sit still for another one. 

So Julia put this bucket on her head and walked around the house jabbering and  singing. We were laughing our guts out.

Our friend Mary took us to the Berry Patch Farm to pick our own strawberries. You pay by the pint but you can eat all you want while you're there. Julia  and Cooper were fantastic pickers but they didn't make it out with much. After the strawberries we went on to the rasberries which were heaven! The farm is so darling. Their chickens and pig are just walking around freely.  It was a great day . 

Cooling off in the sink after a hot day. She is quite the princess.

A Taste of Colorado

We left the kids with a baby sitter and went downtown to enjoy the Peoples' Fair and A taste of Colorado. I'm not sure why this beautiful woman keeps hanging around with me.

Luau Center Food table

Rocky Mountain Luau

These are the decorations we put up for our latest Stake activity. It was tons of fun and Mom was a saint to help so much. As always, I couldn't have done it without her, well maybe, but it would never have looked this good!!!!

Can you spot the fish?

We painted these to surround the room, along with the palm trees and lights pointed at them.

View from the stage, where the tahitian dancers performed!