We got Elfed!

We elfed ourselves. Follow the link below to see our elf dance and then you can elf your family too. Our kids love when we do this and want us to play it over and over. Happy Elfing!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/HAmLVtSeswL9pD2E

Make sure you mute our music at the bottom of our blog before you play the elf dance.

BIG NEWS!

In an earlier post I mentioned that a lot has been going on with our family. The first news is that Travis is officially done with his MBA, as of this last week. It has been a very long 2 1/2 years of Travis juggling, family, work, church and school but he did it! He finished with all A's and I think one B+. This has probably been the most challenging time in his life. We are so grateful for all of his sacrifices he makes for our family, he is our HERO! He will walk in May.

Speaking of May, we are expecting our 4th baby May 15th. Hopefully it will not be the same time Travis is supposed to graduate. I am about 18 weeks a long and we have already found out what we are having. I have a good friend who is an ultra sound tech at a hospital downtown, she works the grave yard shift a couple nights a week. While my family was here for Thanksgiving, Travis and I went to see Marnie in the middle of the night to find out the sex. We are having another GIRL! We are of course thrilled and happy. This little one looks so cute with a beautiful profile. I have my official ultrasound this week with my doctor, we will see if it is different. I grew up in a family with 3 girls and 1 boy and my brother turned out to be just fine. I am not worried about Jake, he is so protective of his sisters and he has Travis who is just like another kid at times. Trav told Jake they will go and do all the guy things together, like playing video games, going to sporting events, etc. After my next ultrasound I will post pictures of the baby. Our family is thrilled to have another addition to our family.

May will be a busy month for us. Travis and I will also celebrate our 10th Anniversary 5 days after the baby is due! I do not think we will be doing anything too exciting that day.

Visit with Santa

The first Saturday in December in old town Sherwood they have a big Christmas celebration with a parade, music, tree lighting, free hot chocolate and hot dogs, Christmas crafts and Santa. We love to go every year, it is fun to celebrate the Holidays with everyone in our community. We waited in line to see Santa but Sydney would not get near him so Travis had to hold her. Baylee asked for an ipod, clothes, shoes and a cell phone (she has been hanging out with her 12 year old cousin, Madi), Jake asked for a Nintendo DS, Pokeman cards, and a new Wii video game and Syd asked for a a bike, Dora toys, and anything princess. It is funny to see the lists your kids come up with when they are right there with Santa.

Baylee's Baptism

Madi sang a beautiful song for the baptism.

My side of the family except for my sister, Tina, she had to leave the day after Thanksgiving to get back to work at Nordstrom. My sweet brother-in-law and their kids stayed for the baptism and then drove back to Utah right after it was over.

Emma, Baylee and Amanda
Sydney loves her Kaleb (Bubby).

Kaleb will be leaving on a mission in a couple of months, we will miss him.

We are so grateful Jake has such great older cousins to look up to.

Our sweet Baylee was baptized Thanksgiving weekend. We had a lot of family come in town for her special day, my parents, Trav's parents, my sisters' family and Trav's sister, Angie and her family. Many wonderful friends also came to share this day with Baylee. Travis' mom made Baylee's beautiful baptism dress. It is hard to believe that my little girl is 8 years old, she has grown up so fast. Before I know it, another 8 years will pass and she will be 16 and driving, that is scary. It was a wonderful and very spiritual experience, thanks to everyone who made this day even better.

I Know, I Know!

I have heard from many of you that I need to update my blog, it has been a month and a half. I will try to do better, but life happens. I will post more this weekend, life has been pretty busy around here.

Thanksgiving Week

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year. My parents flew up here from Texas for 9 days and then my sister, Tina and her family came for a week. This was the first Thanksgiving in my own house but with the help of my sister and Mom everything turned out great! My kids were out of school the week of Thanksgiving so we were able to do a lot of fun things around Portland. We went to the coast for a day, went hiking at Silver Falls, walked around downtown Portland (my Dad got to see all of the really interesting people that live in Portland), and even got in a little shopping with the girls while the guys went to some big airplane museum. I know my Dad and Jake loved that. I am waiting to get back more pictures from my Mom and nephew, so I will post more later.

Sydney throwing one of her many tantrums.

My Dad's walking stick.

My sweet parents!

Jake, Maddie, Baylee and Sydney at Cannon Beach.
Uncle Troy trying to find sea creatures in the tide pools.
There were star fish everywhere.
Maddie and Baylee Uncle Troy carrying our little monkey.

50's Murder Mystery Party

We went to a 50's Murder Mystery Party in November. It was a lot of fun but I am not really good at playing a certain character besides myself. I do not like being outside of my comfort zone. I mainly wanted to be there just to socialize with friends but everyone else was really playing their part. Trav was the "cool guy" and was being framed for the murder. I really did not like anyone talking "smack" about my husband even though it was just a game. All in all, it was a fun night!

Halloween

Jake and Spencer (Star Wars guys)

Miss Hannah

Trick or Treating group

Baylee, Amanda and Abigail

Halloween was full of school and neighborhood parties and a late night of trick or treating. The kids had a blast. Baylee was Hannah Montana (surprise surprise), Jake was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Sydney was a cheerleader but just the week before she was the Little Mermaid. She could not decide what to be. When she was dressed as a cheerleader she kept on saying, "GO DADDY!" She really loves her Daddy!

Birthday Girl Sydney

Syd and Tay Tay (that is what Sydney calls her)

Jake and Benj

Posing with their fancy cake.

The last week of October is a busy week for us. Baylee and Sydney's birthdays are 3 days a part and then Halloween is 3 days after Sydney. By November 1, I am so warn out from our week long of parties. Sydney has a buddy, Taylor, who is a day older than Syd. We are great friends with their family so we decided to celebrate their birthdays together. Sydney and Taylor wanted a Barbie cake and went shopping together for each other's presents. It is nice because they both love the exact same things.

Silly Sisters

Baylee found our Baby Bjorn and decided to put Sydney in it. Sydney loved it just like when she was a baby.

Baylee Boo is EIGHT!

Eating High School Musical star cupcakes.
Cute girls!

I just love the big wads of gum in their mouths.

Baylee's birthday was last Saturday and we had a busy day with soccer games, end of the season soccer parties and of course her party. She invited a couple of friends and we went to see High School Musical 3. It was a great movie, and I even got a little choked up. After the movie, we came back to our house for cake, presents and to dance. Having 5 seven and eight year olds running around singing and dancing to the HSM3 soundtrack was a little crazy. Travis was happy when the party was over. Baylee had a great birthday!

Pumpkin Patch

On the hayride

Baylee is the best big sister!

Crazy Jake!

Every year we love going to the pumpkin patch as a family. This is year we went to Lee Farms and loved their homemade doughnuts and apple cider, the hay ride, the hay maze and slides. We missed you this year Bigler Family (this is the first year we have been in Oregon that we did not go with your family, maybe next year).

Fall in Oregon

When you pull into our subdivision you drive on a road called Sunset that is lined with trees. For those that have been here, you know what I am talking about. This is my favorite time of year here because Sunset is covered with red, orange and yellow trees. Every year I have wanted to take pictures of the kids and this year I finally did it. We are so grateful to live in a place where we are surrounded with beauty. We tried to get a good picture where all 3 kids were looking happy and smiling but had a real difficult time. These pictures show their true personalities.

Meikles came to visit!

Jake and Lukey!
Caleb and Baylee were not thrilled we were taking their picture.
Baylee and Caleb act just like brother and sister, they wrestled all weekend. Baylee can hold her own.

Jess, Katie and their boys came for a long weekend the first of October. Jess and Travis were supposed to play in a softball tournament but it got rained out. (It is Portland.) We still had a great weekend, we always have fun with the Meikles. Katie and I took all the kids to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) on Friday, we took my kids out of school which they thought was pretty fun! The adults went on a date, watched college football, Jess and Travis spent a lot of time in Trav's office discussing fantasy football, we all went to our kids' soccer games, celebrated Caleb, Baylee and Sydney's birthdays and had a great time! It was fun to see Katie's cute belly and we can not wait to meet their new little guy! Thanks for visiting us Meikles!