Lights at Temple Square

 

 For December, I decided to do an advent calendar to help us focus on 2 important things:

1. Our Savior

2. Spending time as a family.

Our very first activity was to visit Temple Square.

I wanted to do this early in the month so we wouldn't freeze, and to avoid crazy crowds.

That's exactly what happened, and it made it a lot more enjoyable!

Plus, Allison and Todd joined us, which made it even more fun!

 I'm fairly certain I've taken like 100 pictures of the temple.

It never changes, yet it's so beautiful, I can't help it.

I love the temple, and I love that my boys get so excited when they see 

beautiful buildings like this one and exclaim, "Look! It's the Temple! I see Angel Moroni!"

I hope they keep that excitement,

and I hope they learn that the temple is the place we go to feel peace, 

seek for guidance or comfort, 

make covenants,

and most importantly, feel the love of our Heavenly Father.

 No matter how many times I've gone, I can never get over how magical everything looks.

I love it.

So...this was taken by a flag pole...need I say more?

Hoping for more Advent fun in December!

Happy 4 Months

 Oscar is 4 months old!

I can never get over how fast time flies.

His STATS are:

12 lbs 8 oz (10th percentile)

22 inches long

The doctor told me that he needed to spend some more time

on the floor, which is kind of scary with 3 other boys running around!

We're working on it though, and Mateo likes to lay down right next to him.

 Ben also had to join in on the party.

Seeing my boys love on each other is one of my most favorite things in the whole world.

They're best buddies, and I hope they stay that way. 

And this picture of Ben was just too cute to not share.

Random Happy Things

 Manuel had the boys take a "Happy Birthday" picture for me.

Sam wrote "Happy Birthday" on his pumpkin, and Mateo had "Mommy" on his.

It was sweet. So grateful for these sweet boys!

 The boys were mesmerized by the first snowfall!

I walked into the dining room to find them like this!

 Mateo is always prepared for bath time.

This boy kills me!

Halloween

 The kids had a hard time deciding what to be this year.

Mateo chose first, and decided he wanted to be Batman.

I'm all about the themed costumes, so I was super excited to do DC Comic Superheroes.

Sam would have none of that, though. 

After many tears, and hours scouring the internet, Sam decided on a Ninja Turtle. 

*sigh*

They're superheroes... right?!

 Our town has trick-or-treating on Main Street the Saturday before Halloween.

We went last year, and had a lot of fun.

This year, with scantily-clad teenage girls, and people smoking near the buildings 

(and WAY to close to little kids)

I left feeling sad and frustrated.

Our little town isn't what it used to be.

The important thing, is that the boys had fun. 

On Halloween, we attended our ward's Trunk-or-Treat, 

ate our traditional Jack o' Lantern pizza,

then went over to my parents' house, 

where Sam begged us to let him go "real" trick-or-treating.

He went out with my dad and came back with quite the haul!

Luckily, The Great Pumpkin came later that night and swapped the candy 

for some cool TMNT toys.

Hope you had a safe and happy Halloween!

Hogle Zoo

 We went to the zoo with my dad, Katie, and little sister Emma over

UEA weekend.

The boys had a blast!

 While Katie took Sam and Mateo in the small reptile building, I stayed outside

with Emma, Ben, and Oscar.

We kept them happy with popcorn and ICEE's.

 Such a goofball!

 Oscar was happy to be bundled and cozy in his car seat.

 He really was excited to see the giraffes... he just doesn't show it very well. ;)

 Cute brothers!

It was so fun to see Ben's reaction to the animals. I think we need to go to the zoo more often!

Two Months!

Our sweet little baby is two months old!

At his well child visit, he weighed 10 lbs 2 oz and was 22 inches long.

It's hard to believe he was the same length at 2 months that Mateo was at birth!

He's starting to look more like Sam every day!

Blessed

 Oscar was blessed on Sept 1st.

We tried to keep it small, which is kind of hard to do 

since we both have large families.

For some reason, The Blessing Day is always incredibly stressful to me,

and I didn't want it to be that way again.

It's supposed to be a time to celebrate the sweet new baby,

not a time for The Mommy to freak out. 

That meant that the guest list was small, and the food was simple.

I'm all about simplicity these days.

My mom bought Oscar's blessing outfit, and he looked adorable.

 Of course, Oscar had to have some Converse for the occasion.

(Also a gift from my mom)

 Mateo insisted on having his picture taken with "Oxter."

 Manuel and I kept the invites to immediate family,

and some of our best friends. 

A very embarrassing attempt at a family picture.

I am so grateful for Manuel.

He's an amazing daddy, and it always makes me cry

when he exercises his Priesthood power. 

Oscar's blessing was beautiful, just like the other boys. 

I am grateful for our sweet little baby who wanted to join our crazy family.

I am also grateful for my awesome, supportive family.

Thanks to everyone that came to support us!