Our Thanksgiving List

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone is having a great holiday!  We thought we would spend a minute to record some of the things we are thankful for this year. We have to keep it short because it is noon and we haven't even started cooking!  We miss all of our family and friends far away and wish you a happy day and a full belly.

Jonathan and Christina are thankful for six wonderful years together. 

They are thankful for two adorable and hilarious kids--precious joys who light up their lives!

They are thankful for a (finally) completed dissertation. Hooray!

And Christina is particularly thankful for a washer and dryer. After living without one for 10 years, she promises never to take it for granted again!

When we asked Ezra what he is thankful for, this is what he said: 

His dad...

His mommy...

Annika, his best friend...

Lions ("ROAR!")...

Milk...

and Jesus.

Annika is thankful for (as far as we can guess):

Things she can climb on.

Goodnight Moon. Which happens to be the one and only book she likes.

Milk. Lots and lots of milk.

Her best bud Ezra. These two give each other near constant entertainment.

ELMO!! Annika can spot an Elmo from miles away. She doesn't say a lot of words, but she never misses an opportunity to yell out "Eh-mol" whenever she sees him. 

Links and things

We found this song and the kids love it.

here

Oh and you can still vote for Ezra here. Hurry and go do it. He's losing pretty bad!

Toes!

Gorgeous, eh?

He picked out and put on all of this by himself!

Playing in the leaves.

She could almost pass for a boy!

Ezra is a finalist!

Ezra was chosen as a finalist in the 5 minutes for mom contest. Everyone should go here and vote for him. Whoever gets the most votes by December 3 wins $500 for groceries. One vote per computer so go vote as much as you can!! Just click on the below link scroll down to the bottom of the page and vote for #5! Also, tell everyone you know to vote too!!

http://www.5minutesformom.com/4857/prego-photo-contest-finalists/

Mouse with cheese

I decided to enter this photo of Ezra in his mouse costume for Halloween in this contest for fun! 

Check it out if you want: 

Win $500 for Groceries in our Prego FUN with FOOD Photo Contest.

Ezra says the funniest things

Hilarious things Ezra said this week:

While singing "I am a child of God":

"I am a child of God, and he has sent me here. Has given me a bowl full of cherries with parents kind of dear!"

(The song actually goes "I am a child of God, and he has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear.)

While in the car listening to Dad talk about how many articles he could possibly publish from his dissertation:

"I'm gonna get one articles from my dissertation Daddy!" 

When Dad asked what his dissertation was going to be about:

"My dissertation is gonna be about the ABC's!"

While looking at the front cover of the Ensign with President Monson on it:

"Look at this guy. Look at all of his red hair. Are you kidding me?!"  (What???)

When mom asked him if he was voting for Obama:

"No, I'm voting for Ocain!"

Jon finished his dissertation!!

Jonathan says that his new first name is Doctor. Be aware. He also says he's been in college for 12 years working toward this so he's earned it. I agree!! He turned in his dissertation today!! We are so proud and excited for him!

Trick-or-Treat

I love Halloween so much! Always have. I have tried really hard this year to make it as festive as I can for the kids. They get so excited and appreciate anything that you do for them. They are so much fun. I feel really lucky to get to stay home with them and play all day. 

Today Ezra and I decorated our front window for a contest PVIL is having while Annika was napping. I really wanted to do something scary but thought I better not. I didn't want to scare the kids. I'm sure they will love that sort of thing when there are older, so I can wait. 

We watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown today and thought that would be a perfect theme for the window. I think it turned out pretty cute. I only used construction paper and a black marker. See, I still use my art degree! Who said that was a waste of time?? :)

After dinner we went trick-or-treating at one of the dorms.  Ezra went as a mouse again and Annika went as a kitten. I really wanted them to match so after we were done with the window, I put together her costume. She is so adorable!

We ate dinner at the dining hall before we went. 

It was a perfect meal for a little mouse!

After dinner we went to a little Halloween party at the dorm. The girls there did such a good job making it fun for the kids. There were pumpkins to decorate, pictures to color, cookies to eat and games to play. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. Ezra decorated this cookie all by himself.

Ezra tried his hand at musical chairs. He was the smallest kid there by far. Words cannot describe how cute he looked running around the chairs with the bigger kids. I wish I had a video of it! He made it through the first round, but was out in the second. He didn't care though, they gave him orange playdough so he was set.

 Annika loved trick or treating! She had a blast walking up the hallways and getting to choose a piece of candy from the rooms- or more like a whole handful! I had mixed feelings about letting her do that. I know she is way too little to eat candy, but she was so dang cute!