Christmas at our house

Our tree this year. I love decorating the tree and house and watching the kids get excited for the holidays. Now if I can only keep Ally out of the decor..we shall see.

 Look at the snow that fell this morning all in about 1 hour too! I have mixed feelings about snow, I love the look of it, I love it at Christmas time and for a few months. BUT I hate the cold that comes with it. I truly wish I lived in warmer climate and I am always cold! I am a wimp, yup I am. But driving in the stuff, getting kids and groceries in and out of the car when it's freezing and having winter stay around for months is sometimes the pits..just saying.

 Here are a few of the decorations we decorate with during the holidays...festive huh?

 These Dickens Villages are collectibles that my Mom collected most of my childhood and when she passed away she all of her daughters got to have an entire set. I will cherish these for my entire life.

 We had FHE on Sunday night and the kids wrote letters to Santa. Home evenings are often chaotic in our home with so many kids and it's tough to teach a lesson and we wonder sometimes why in the world we attempt to do them, but we are teaching the kid's the importance of family and gospel principles so it's worth the madness.

HaPpY HoLiDaYS

Ally girl- Novemember 2011

When I found out I was pregnant with Miss Allyson or we joke Ally-oops, I was scared to death that I wouldn't know how to handle 5 kiddos and I was certain that I would never sleep through the night again. But as little Ally grew in my belly and of course grew in my heart, I fell madly in love with her the moment the nurse placed her in my arms.

It's now 21 months later and our Ally girl has grown up too fast, is the cutest little thing, is BUSY as can be and so super smart indeed. I love her to pieces and cannot imagine our family without her. She competed the Thibodeau clan and we are grateful to have Allyson June in our lives.

Here are a few things she is up to right now.

* She loves DORA, not just likes it but LOVES DORA!! She won't watch much of anything else and plays with any Dora toy she finds. She sings along and recites all the lines. She's a bit obsessed actually.

* She can count to 13 by herself really well

* She can sing " you are my sunshine" and " twinkle twinkle little star" almost perfectly and when she does it melts my heart.

* She is a Mommy and Daddy's girl and is a little weary of people. She likes you from afar but if you better not think about trying to hold her or she will freak! And nursery and Ally aren't quite friends yet. Thankfully there is a lady in there that looks like me a little and she sits with the entire time.

*She is a great eater and isn't picky at all..she loves fruit snacks, milk, apples, bananas, hot dogs chocolate milk and Cheerios.

*She loves to say "Kayla where are you?" 

There ya have it, Ally at a 21 months.

 We sure love you Allyson.

Beautiful girls!

 I have never done an indoor professional shoot for any of the kids in their Halloween costumes, so when Quinn's friend's wife offered a special on a mini shoot, I jumped on it and I am SO HAPPY I did!! These pictures of the girls are precious!! Lily is such a poser and was loving all the attention on her! Fun morning for sure!

Weekend fun

 This weekend was busy, busy! On Saturday, we had Halloween pictures for the little girls, then home to nap Ally, then off to Lily's birthday party, over to Kaytee's basketball game right after, home to make something to eat for the kiddos and then to dessert with my older sisters. Whew... that was a lot in one day!

 Olive Garden tradition

 Kaytee had a great basketball game!! I am super proud of her and how much she has improved in 3 seasons. I think she might be one of the best payers this year....wahoo. Her aunts, uncles and cousins came to see her play which made Kaytee's day!!

 On Sunday we decided to take advantage of the last nice day this week and drove up to Palisades after church to have a picnic and see the fall colors. It was the BEST Sunday I have had in so long!! The girls behaved and we had so much fun playing hide and seek in the tall grass and even found the best spot for a picnic. This will defiantly be a tradition each fall!

Lily turned 5!

 Our cute Lily turned 5, yes FIVE on Oct. 20th!

She has to be the cutest little girl I know and I must admit a lot of people tell me how adorable she is.

We had a fun party at Blast Off, she celebrated at school, we went to dinner and she got some fun gifts from family too.

 LILY AT 5

Favorite foods are scrambled eggs, Cheerios, bread with homemade jam, chocolate milk, Oreo cookies, apples, strawberries, bananas and Alfredo.

Loves to play dress up

Favorite toys are Mario, Lightening McQueen and her stuffed animals

Best friend is Ian Palmer 

Favorite movies are Tangled, Dora,  The Incredible Mr. Limpet, and Cars

When she grows up she wants to be a Mommy and go to work with her Daddy

Road Trip to Utah with Kim~ Oct.15th, 2011

My oldest sister Jennifer placed a baby girl named Nichole up for adoption 23 years ago and I had the privilege of meeting her this month.

Kim and I drove down together which was pretty fun, its always fun to be with my sisters! We talked about everything and anything, you name it we about covered it. Kim didn't even get on my nerves....haha....wink, wink.

Nichole was such a delightful young lady! Very pretty, mature, sweet as could be and funny! Here she is with Kim and I below.

 While on our trip, we headed to this place that has corn mazes, jump toys, hot cider, hot chocolate, all sorts of fall activities. It was pretty cool, however I got so sick, like every bone on my body hurting kind of sick!! So I couldn't stay and enjoy the fun!! I will defiantly take the kids there next year tough.

 Sunday afternoon we drove up to Provo Canyon so Jenn's family could take some family pictures. Thankfully I was feeling much better because it was GORGEOUS in the canyon. The colors were amazing and the weather was perfect! It was simply a relaxing day with my sisters and Dad.

Makayla turned 15

Well Makayla turned 15 this month and continues to grow up even though I tell her not to.

I must say that having a teenager is the toughest thing ever!! I think that girls and Mom's have the biggest challenge and we have to work extra hard on our relationship. Most days as Makayla's Mom, I wonder if she even hears me, likes me, cares what I think, looks up to me and wants to be like me. It's defiantly been a test of faith raising a teenage daughter! But I love Kayla girl so much and I am always amazed by her. She is still a straight A student and just recently told us that she really wants to be a surgeon or an obgyn & I believe she is smart enough, motivated enough and will achieve any goal she sets for herself.


She had a fun birthday with her friends, ate pizza and went to a haunted house.