Christmas Lights

On Christmas Eve we went Temple Square with the Allred Family

Afterwards we went to Denny's for Hot Cocoa. Yum!

Fun Fest Champions

The first weekend in December Sam's team 'The Rapids' played in local soccer tournament called 'Fun Fest'.

(bundled up to play goalie - the coldest job since there wasn't a lot of moving around)

It was FREEZING cold (for us that is 30 degrees) 

- so the kids were bundled in layers and layers, but they played on!  

In between the games I let the boys pile in my van to watch Christmas videos and warm up.

I asked Sam what the scores of the 4 games were and he said:

1-0

5-0

1-0

2-0

A shut out! and GOLD medals for everyone!

GO RAPIDS!  Awesome season!

Legoland

Taking Sam to Legoland has been on my list for a while ... so when we found out that Ben's soccer tournament was in San Diego I decided that was our opportunity!

Sam started planning for it right away ...

 saving all of his money ... counting it over and over ... and anticipating lots of FuN!

The night before he made sure his little iPod was charged so he could get lots of pictures ...

so fun watching him snap away all day ... (I see a mini album in the future!)

Here is a little of what we did ...

 toured Lego Miniland - always so fun to see all the lego replicas of cities across the USA!

went on a few rides,

 saw how legos are made,

and of course ... did some shopping!

and visited with Lego Santa.

As you will see this new area was definitly the kids favorite!

 The biggest lego model ever - a star wars x-wing!

This past weekend we drove to San Diego for the Nomads Tournament - it was fun to see Ben in action ...doing what he loves (and he couldn't hide from my camera - hehehe)!

 During half-time the team makes a game plan ...

 and Sam shoots goals!

Won 2 - Lost 1

3 games and done - didn't advance due to goal differential.

Turkey Day

(artwork by Sam)

This weekend we are traveling to San Diego so we decided to have our feast a little early ;)  It was nice to gather together with our 5 and reflect on our many blessing and enjoy a few of our Thanksgiving traditions.

our 'gratitude' poster 

... one of my favorite traditions, it hangs on our kitchen wall and everybody adds pictures and words of things they are thankful for - such a great visual reminder!

 little details

enjoying his favorite ... frozen pumpkin pie!

Now we are off to watch some serious soccer and enjoy some time at the beach and Legoland!  

A turkey in disguise ...

Sam just had a homework assignment to create a disguise for a turkey to escape being Thanksgiving dinner and write a story about it.  I loved his clever ideas!

I even saw on Instagram that my friends daughter had the same assignment in Virginia - She disguised her turkey as a mermaid ;)  Children all over the USA are probably doing this assignment. ... I'm not sure if there will be any turkey's left of Thanksgiving dinner - we may have to 'eat mor chikin'!

Sometimes ...

I stumble upon this and my heart melts ... and I snap a quick picture before it turns into a wrestling match ;)

Love these boy ...

Trick or Treat

Halloween has come and gone!

Susie and Sam had fun dressing up and going Trick or Treating - Ben did homework - but Sam shared a piece of candy with him ... just one ;)

 This year's costumes were a Karate Guy and Vanellope von Schweetz (from the movie Wreck-it Ralph)

Sambo wanted me to snap a few shots of his moves!

 Both kids met up with their friends to go Trick-or-Treating

Afterwards, Sam ripped off his costume and checked out his stash!

Susie donated her candy at school.  A local dentist will pay $1 per pound which they are going to use for their next Honor Society service project.