We had so much snow we couldn't get our car up our steep driveway. The next morning Justin went out and shoveled my driveway and pulled my car into the garage. I had to do some shopping so it was nice to load all the kids up in the garage instead of in the street.
Jacob wanted to help Daddy, so even though everyone else was in their pajamas, he got out in the cold and helped.
Jacob and our neighbor Caitlin.
Jacob and Caitlin getting pulled by her dog Zoe.Just snapped these pictures tonight. We were playing a game and Katie put Kami next to her. She just sat there watching and didn't try to grab anything. I think she liked having all of us down at her level.
I also took a picture of our Christmas lights, 
He had lots of family there to witness his baptism.
King for the day
Blowing out the candles 
Kami and Grandpa KoberJason had his first pack meeting last night for Cub Scouts and was able to be a part of the color guard and carry the flag. Here's some quick video of the color guard retiring the flags. He's so cute in his uniform.
Well, we got our Christmas tree today. As soon as the kids got home from school we took off. It was about 3:30 and we were worried it would be closed, it gets dark so early and last year we came when they were closed. After we got there we discovered they close at 4:00 so Justin took off with the 3 older kids while I stayed at the car trying to strap Kami into a baby carrier. By the time I caught up to them it started to rain. Justin was hurrying through the trees trying to find a good one before they close, Katie and I were trying to keep up and Jason was bringing up the rear pulling the cart wth Jacob on it. We quickly found a tree and chopped it down. Justin had the foresight to bring our own saw, in the past we've used theirs and it takes forever to cut a tree down. So we had the tree down and on the cart in no time and we hustled back to the entrance. This place takes cash or check only and we had neither on us, luckily they had an ATM machine. Which was really slow and charges you $1.50. Justin accidentally pushed the button for $20. So he had to do it again and get charged another $1.50. Luckily the tree only cost $24.95 so another $3 wasn't going to kill us. Justin loaded the tree on top of our van and we were off. I think we left around 4:00. So it only took us half an hour to find a tree, cut it down, pay for it and load it up. That's a record!!
Our tree getting netted.
Jason took this picture of me and Kami. I handed him the camera and told him to take our picture. This is the only way I can show I was really there, I'm usually the one behind the camera.
The kids did most of the decorating. My shoulders were sore (we think from basketball, that's another story) so I helped with the lights but sat on the couch and supervised the ornaments.
Jason did most of the ornaments, he helped supervise Katie and told her how to put up the ornaments so they were evenly spaced.
Kami sat on my lap and watched.Kami had her 6 month check-up today. Here she is waiting for her shots. She did so good. She didn't cry after the first shot but started crying after the second one. Once I picked her up she stopped and even smiled at the nurse on her way out. This is the happiest baby I've ever had.
She weighed 15lbs 2oz (I think the camera flash reflected on the scale's digital readout so you can't see the numbers) which is a little less than average but the doctor said she's tall for her age, in the 90th percentile. 
I took this picture a few days ago but never posted it. Kami has discovered her toes. Any chance she gets she plays with her feet (see above photos). I gave her a bath and when I was dressing her she kept trying to suck on her toes. 
The kids are enjoying dessert, pumpkin pie. The grown-ups were so stuffed from eating we weren't ready for dessert for awhile, and we didn't want to get up and serve it. The kids kept asking us if they could have some pumpkin pie every 15 minutes after dinner. We finally gave in.
Logan and Kami hung out together on the floor.
Of course, these two older brothers couldn't resist the babies on the floor hogging the camera. Jacob layed down and started saying cheeeeese. I sent the kids upstairs to get into their pajamas and they never came back down. I went upstairs and found them in Jacob's room playing beauty salon. Jason was spraying Katie's hair with water and brushing it. I had to capture this moment on camera so I could embarass him with it later when he's a teenager. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. Jacob was waiting patiently for his turn in the chair next to Katie but got up when I went for the camera.
Jason came home from school last Wednesday with an award her received at an assembly that I didn't know anything about. Apparently he forgot to give me a paper inviting me to attend the assembly to see him get the award. Every month the kids at his school learn about a different character trait and each teacher chooses kids from their class that represent that trait. Last December Jason got the award for Leadership, this month the award was for Trustworthiness. I am so proud of him for receiving this award. I can't help but notice the irony that he wasn't trustworthy enough to pass along the invite. :)
Any suggestions on keeping these fingers out of this mouth?
Jason had a great birthday. On his birthday (Thursday)I brought him lunch at school. A crispy chicken sandwich, Jr. bacon cheeseburger (extra bacon), fries and a Sprite from Wendy's. I also made peanut butter cookies to pass out to his class. Luckily no one had a peanut allergy. The 3 other kids went with me. We were in his class for about an hour and then it was time for Katie to get to class. That night we had planned to go out to dinner as a family but Justin had to be at the church at 6:30. I wanted the day to still feel special so I invited the Saunders over and decided I'd make dinner and we'd go out to eat on Saturday. Well he chose crepes. So we made sausage, bacon and crepes with several different kinds of toppings to choose from (whip cream, carmel sauce, pureed strawberries, raspberry pie filling, syrup, and blackberry jam). I don't think it was a big hit with the Saunders but our family loved it. On Friday I was asked to watch a friend of his overnight. So this friend rode the bus home from school with him, stayed the night, then went to his party the next day. On Saturday Justin took Jason and 4 friends ice skating and then back to our house for pizza and presents. He wanted a Reeses Blizzard cake from DQ but I forgot to order one. Apparently it's not the kind of thing they keep in stock. So we got a peanut butter and chocolate cake from Baskin Robbins. I apologized to him for not having the cake he wanted (he doesn't like regular cake) and he said "I never get what I want." So later that day he had his first indoor soccer game (I forgot my camera) and afterward we went out to dinner (his choice) to IHOP. He ordered crepes. Let's just say I'm glad Jason's birthday week is over. Jason got a lot of what he wanted the last few days. On top of it all both Justin and I were fighting nasty colds all week. Justin asked why I seemed to be trying so hard to please Jason this year by agreeing to all his whims and demands. I guess he's such a good kid that I felt like rewarding him. I'm always asking him to do things that the other kids don't have to do because he's the oldest and most responsible. And he usually does it without complaining.
I didn't get a lot of pictures the last few days but I do have some video of Jason blowing out his candles. I got trick candles that re-light, I don't think he's ever seen them before, we finally had to put them put them out with water.
Justin was the assistant coach. This picture is kind of funny because none of the boys are listening to Justin talk to them. They are too busy spinning the soccer ball on their trophies. Justin is the one that picked them out and the soccer ball spins like a globe. 
Justin bathed Jacob and got him dressed for church yesterday, he came down stairs looking so handsome. I don't usually style his hair or tuck in his shirt so he looked extra snazzy to me. He had a hard time holding still for the pictures and he doesn't smile, he just says "Cheeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and holds the "e" until the picture is snapped.
35 years! Hope you have a great anniversary!Tonight Kami was doing so well standing and holding my hands, that I decided to stand her up next to something and see if she could stand up on her own. Of course, I had to take a picture. It's just the two of us because Justin is working and the other kids are in bed. She's already growing up too fast. I think I'm in that "I want my last child to be a baby forever" syndrome.
My three trick-or-treaters. Sorry, no pics of Kami (as if I don't have enough). She spent most of the night asleep in her stroller and wasn't wearing a costume.
Katie's costume was called a sweetheart bat. She wanted something "scary" but "pretty".
Jacob was a very cute monkey, it's hard to see but his costume came with a banana in the pocket. He got the hang of trick-or-treating at our ward party and was so excited to go. He pushed his way through older kids to get to the door and didn't care if Katie and Jason were with him or not. Although, he had a hard time understanding why we skipped some houses, he didn't know lights out meant no one was home. He wanted to hit every house. For awhile he kept coming back to show me his candy, like he was thinking "look these people gave me free candy too!"
Jason was a ghoul. His mask didn't last too long because it was a little bent out of shape and was rubbing on his eye. Last year he had a mask that "smelled weird" so he didn't wear that very long either. I tried to talk him out of another costume with a mask but he was insistent. Somebody remind me about these mask issues next year.
Justin spent a lot of time turning our garage into the scariest house in the neighborhood. Trick-or-treaters entered one side and walked through to the other side where Justin was waiting in this costume (below) with their reward for bravery=candy.
After the night was through I did a walk through of the garage to capture it on video. The first time you couldn't see a thing, so we turned on the lights and did it again. So watch the video below and imagine it a lot darker.
Daddy carved Jacob's pumpkin and Mommy carved Katie's pumpkin. But Daddy gets credit for doing the dirty job of hollowing them out. This year we let Jason do his pumpkin himself.
Does this look like trouble? First Jason fell off the counter and bumped his head on the windowsill, then he cut his finger with the carving saw. He started it on Monday and finished it today. (Mommy broke two saws and had to go buy more so he could finish.) Despite the injuries he insisted on doing it all himself. Good job Jason! 
