Our Smith friends had us over for a Christmas party the other night and we exchanged "White Elephant" gifts~this was one of them. Our friend Tom Meservy took pictures off of our Facebooks and photoshopped them all in to look like this. It was hillarious. So creative and unless Carson or Evan play for the "Y" one day, this is the only time you'll ever see Dave in a BYU shirt. I love it!!!
For Carson's birthday party we had 12 of his friends meet us at Funquest for a few games of laser tag. This age group is out of control so Dave and I just let them do their thing and played like we didn't know them. The girls did a little roller skating while the boys played. It was their first time. I can't believe that...you all know how skating used to be "THE THING". Dave thinks he's like one of those 80's super skaters...yeah I'm thinking NO!!!! 
Poor Ryleigh was having a rough time. She's a little fighter though. Despite all of her falling and injuries she kept trying.
Cara had just come from dance and decided to give skating a go...she was descent. The difference between her and Ryleigh was Cara thought it was fun to fall and would just giggle, Ryleigh not so much!!!
Carson had a great time and is lucky to have so many good friends. Happy Birthday bud!!!
This day was a little bittersweet for me~Our other kids have all been blessed with lots of family around, making it a big, special event. Evan's blessing was lots different but also in a good way. As many of you know when you live away from home your Ward becomes your family. Dave and I have made some wonderful, long lasting relationships here and having those men in the circle was also very special. Dave did a wonderful job, as always, and it turned out to be just perfect. In the end, no matter who is there, a child's blessing is between him and his Father in Heaven. We're so blessed to have such a beautiful little boy and couldn't be happier to have him in our family. 
Cara turned 7 years old on December 1st. She decided for her party she wanted to have a sleepover, but now days most parents aren't too excited about the idea of sleepovers so I told her she could have an ALMOST SLEEPOVER~So she did just that. We had her friends over, they wore their jammies, brought their pillows, watched a movie, played games, told ghost stories, had pancake sundaes, and they all went home at 9:00pm. It was actually lots of fun and I didn't have to deal with 12 little kiddos sleeping over and keeping us up all night. Never realized how loud 7 year old girls can get...my ears and head were ringing just minutes into the party.
Sweet little faces.....
Crazy little faces....
This was the first year where Cara made her invite list and it was interesting because almost everyone was her age, minus a few. She made it clear that it was HER party and not hers and Ryleigh's. She's wanting to be her OWN person more and more lately and believe me...I get it!!! (no offense to Natalie haha)
We decided to brave the cold and take a trip to the zoo to see the lights. Lets just say....The kids were SOOOO over it about 15 minutes in....they were just too cold. We've become Southern wimps when it comes to the weather. Thankfully my good friend watched Evan or we may have lasted 5 minutes. It was a fun way to start out our December though. I love Christmas festivities and can't wait for all of the others in the weeks ahead. 
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends the Collier's. We love our Southern friends and their Southern dinners!!!
This year we're especially grateful for this little blessing in our lives. Evan is so happy, healthy, and thankful for his mommy (as the shirt says).
All in all it was a great day. We truly have so much to be grateful for~these 4 kids, our home, our health, a job, and the gospel~
