Candle Light Christmas

The night before Christmas Eve we took the kids to the "This is the Place" Heritage Park for a Candlelight Christmas. What a fun night! There was something for everyone as we stepped back in time to celebrate Christmas the old fashioned way. We danced to the fiddle at the old school house which was a BLAST for everyone,
built wooden trains, shopped in an original ZC,
took a train ride around the little village, fed the reindeer and had pictures taken with Santa, well, we tried, but Massimo was too enthralled with Santa to look at the camera. Arianna has finally gotten comfy w/ the big guy, a first!

had hot cider at Brigham's house, and walked through the live nativity. We scrunched into an old log cabin, barely big enough to fit our small group of 8 yet once home to a family of 13! It was lit only by fire and candle light, what a different world it would be w/o electricity!
Massimo did his best to stay warm through the 2 hour, mostly outdoor event. He is ALWAYS such a trooper!

Enzo could hardly WAIT for our turn to ride the train, and when we arrived at our destination we really had to cajole him to get off! Fortunatly we had another chance to ride before our night was over.
We had a blast w/ the cousins and would definitely do it again, even if we were all frozen by the end of it!

I haven't blogged for so long I think I forgot how to do it. I'll give it my best shot.
Merry Christmas! I hope that Christmas was as magical as ever for you! I loved all the snow that kept falling!
Marco wasn't feeling it though what with all the shoveling he had to do for us and our neighbor. Christmas was good to us though. Arianna is now all ready to play some serious 'school'! She loves her new easel and all her art supplies. She was really excited about a book of 501 science experiments too, that is one of her absolute favorite past times. That's what you get when your mom is a science teacher, I guess.
Enzo is the king of Lightning McQueen, he just LOVES things that go! My favorite sight to see was this rosy-cheeked boy just in from the snow. He couldn't even wait to take off all his snow gear to start playing w/ the RC car (you might notice that he couldn't wait to get out in the snow so he put his snow gear over his jammies, maybe we need to teach him patience...).
At the days' end we loved having some family over to eat and sled...a pretty tough crowd!
For Christmas Eve we got together w/ Marco's family to enjoy an "Italian Christmas."
We ate pasta, exchanged gifts and wrapped and delivered presents for a family in need; that was certainly the best part! That and being together!

3 Little Monkeys

Our prophet counsels us to, "find joy in the journey" and "make memories for tomorrow," so I have been making a more concerted effort to do that. These guys make that a pretty easy job, and a fun one too!
Enzo was getting into the Christmas spirit and enjoying egg nog with us after decorating the tree and he said, "I like 'egg knock', Daddy do you want 'egg knock'?"
Then, when I told him that Mary was the figurine from the nativity that was in blue he questioned, "Mom, is this 'Barry'?" as he held up Mary. He's learning!
Then Arianna pulled needles from the tree and began scattering them around the house...why? She was 'decorating'. So we had pine needles on the window sills, on the counter, the table, the speakers, the entry table...you get the picture. She has loved getting the house ready for Christmas though! She loves the music and the tree and the lights and the books etc.
Then there was Daddy's homecoming! Everyone was thrilled to have him back, but Massimo just couldn't take his eyes off him. It was the funniest thing! And he wouldn't let Daddy take his eyes off of him either.

Thanksgiving Goodies

I should have posted this BEFORE Thanksgiving had passed, but these are some fun Thanksgiving goodies we made to share:
Cornucopia w/ a sweet n salty mix inside held together w/ a little honey. (pretzels represent folded arms giving thanks to God, seeds and fruit for the bountiful harvest, candy corns reminding us of the pilgrims' scarce winter before the indians taught them how to use the land)

These simple pilgrim hats were such fun for the kids to dip and eat! Chocolate covered cookie, marshmallow, chocolate to melt and white or yellow frosting.
We worked dilligently to fill our Grateful Jar, Arianna was the #1 contributor! So much to be grateful for, for sure!

Happy Birthday to the Big Man!

So, this is what you get when you are far, far away on your birthday. Hurry on home, huh?! Hope your 32nd is a happy one! I love you to PIECES, and here are just 32 reasons why (WARNING: if you are NOT Marco this will be very mushy and may cause nausea and vomiting, escape while you still can!)

1. You love me unconditionally
2. You are always willing to serve another
3. You are faithful
4. You make me LAUGH!!
5. You are such a hard worker
6. And so dedicated
7. You're easy going
8. You are gentle
9. And kind
10.You bring such joy to the children.
11.You are SEXXXY!
12.And strong
13.You can fix any computer problems I ever have.
14.You are warm.
15.You are silly.
16.You keep your covenants.
17.You always surprise me.
18.You pretend to sing spanish songs to Enzo at night.
19.You can watch football AND converse with me...kind of.
20.You know any fact about any sport from any time.
21.You are never pretentious.
22.You're unassuming
23.And humble.
24.You have the scriptures engrained in your mind.
25.You are a great leader.
26.Always desirous to help someone in need.
27.You bless our family when we're sick or needy.
28.You honor your priesthood.
29.You want to drive your Audi into the ground!
30.You never go without me.
31.You're a quick and diligent learner.
32.You are You and that is everything I could EVER want, and more!

Happy Birthday Babe! Wish you were here!
Love,
Me

BASKETBALL!!!

This has been going on for some time now and it just cracks me up! If you say "Basketball" this guy just lights up! He starts squirming and even giggles aloud! His favorite place to be is at the net.

It is quite intriguing to see their preferences so early on in life. Who knows if this love affair will last, but for now, he is hooked!

Couldn't resist

Just a few more photos from the fall fun we enjoyed...

He loves things that go! I could hardly pull him off these tractors to head for home, and I literally had to pull him off.

Love it!
Our ward had a playgroup activity at the local pumpkin patch which turned out to be quite a hit! .

The kids enjoyed a wheel barrow ride together...I think
Our little bag o' bones, happy as usual.

Archaic, aren't they?? From the looks of it our little one doesn't want to go back in time quite that far.

They LOVED trick-or-treating! The haunted houses, the hot dogs, the aliens, the popcorn, the friends, the rain, the costumes; and most certainly, the candy!

Kindergarten Party Fun

I've never seen so much candy in my life! I think these kids were in 7th heaven! Arianna's kindergarten class had quite a party and Enzo was thrilled he could join in the fun! Massimo was a trooper, as always!
They played several games, had a cake walk and decorated cookies and halloween bags to put all their treats in. !

Arianna sure likes her teacher! She is so sweet

Pumpkin Carving Crazies

You can see our newest little carver really got into it...

as did our oldest!

They decided on a witch (that was the closest we could find to Tinker Bell) and a bat.

Enzo was quick to try to involve little bro in the carving process even though he REFUSED to get that gunk on his own hands. What a crack up! Arianna did a great job of diving in and cleaning out her pumpkin...she was orange up to her elbows too! What a sport. And Massimo was all over it as well! Way to carve dad!

Nothing like a Big Sis!

She LOVES him and he LOVES her.
When she gets home from school they both get so excited to play again!

Enzo loves her too, he just wont sit still for many photo opps. He did give a BIG grin for his new scooter though! Thanks Grandpa Max! He hates to put that thing down!

Batman and ...Pumpkin

Batman decided to take his scooter to play group,
he looked so tough riding in his costume.
Don't you love the ears!

My little pumpkin took an easy ride, so content. My little 'squish'!

Greatest Snow on Earth!

Whoa! Snow came and the kids disappeared! I love the snow! They couldn't even wait to get dressed, they just threw their coats and mittens and boots over their jammies and were off.
I guess that means the garden is done producing for the year, huh?!
Arianna thought this one was worth salvaging though.

Our snowman stayed pretty small, but we had fun in the snow just the same

Herriman Pumpkin Festival

We all needed to get out of the house last saturday and so we got the kids all 'costumed' and headed out to our local pumpkin party. It was very simple but a lot of fun for the kids. They love any reason to get in costume.
Our little pumpkin was supposed to be a little caveman to match his mom and dad, but the material seemed to bother his sensitive skin. We'll take it though, he's sure a sweet pumpkin!

Lunch with the Witches

I didn't know how long this wonderful weather would hold out so I gathered my little goblins and we headed out to Gardener Village for a date with the witches. Enzo was a crack up, as you'll see he NEVER gave a straight smile AND looked at the camera in any picture but this one;
Arianna, on the other hand, was smiling like a beauty queen and asking me to snap her photo at every opportunity!
Massimo loved being out and about, but he had a tought time being interested in the camera, go figure!
Loved it! Arianna found at least 12 witches before losing count, Enzo was busy counting pumpkins, quite a task! And Massimo was always counting on another bite of baby food, sweet little squish.
We had lunch by the pond there and fed the ducks and then we headed out to explore. Enzo didn't run away once...that's my boy!
Here they are with thier witch faces on.
Arianna got so comfy w/ the witches that she almost decided to stay...good thing she changed her mind!
And here is mama witch with her baby vampire.