My bad...

I am sooooo sorry that I have been so awful about posting lately! November flew by and I didn't even get any pictures of Thanksgiving (I'm blaming the tryptophan). So here is a little taste of what we've been up to...

Christmas Day

Surprisingly, the kids slept in until after 8 am! Great-Grandma, on the other hand, was up at 7 am...opening her presents!! I guess she just couldn't bare the excitement any longer! Tara Lynn made us a delicious breakfast quiche (actually, they ate while I napped. 5 hours when you have a cold just isn't sufficient). It was fun watching Shawn get excited as he meticulously put together Michael & Garret's Millennium Falcon that Santa brought. Not to mention Russ generously sacrificing his peaceful Christmas morning to "test" M & G's new Wii. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids!

Izzy & Shnook with their Santa gifts...Good morning Nanna!




Russ & Tara Lynn's old tennis rivalry was re-kindled this Christmas day. (I wont say who won)


Isabelle cuddling with Brooklynn's new "Bolt" super-dog.

Christmas Eve

This year everyone came to Great-Grandma's house for plenty of food, friends, family and fun. Erica & Mark were able to visit from Utah and Shawn & Tara stayed here this year so Buster and Lorna were able to have ALL of their kids home for Christmas. Neal's bunch came to dinner and the Elders also joined us. After dinner, several of us went caroling to a few houses and took goodies along with a pamphlet about The Restoration. It was sooo much fun! Later, we had a big sleepover at Great-Grandma's house. Tara Lynn, Shawn, Michael & Garret all slept in one bedroom while Russ, Izzy, & Brooklynn slept in the other. What about me...I stayed up with Izzy until 2 am (too much excitement, I guess) and when she finally went to bed, Russ looked too comfortable sprawled out in that little double bed, so I crashed (literally) on the futon in the TV room.

Elders Wilkerson & Smith...................... Nora & her funky-bunch!


The 3 Amigos!


Izzy was fascinated by Great-Grandma's Nativity scene. She kept wanting to kiss baby Jesus and hug the shepherd. Ok, everyone together..."Aaaaaaahhhh".

I wonder if they're dreaming of sugar-plums...or Reese's Cups!

Class Christmas Party

On the 18th we went to Brooklynn's class Christmas party! Isabelle LOVED sitting at the table with the BIG kids and she thoroughly enjoyed her candy-cane...but I think her favorite part was just sitting back and watching all the kids run around and act like wild animals!

Here is Brooklynn's "best friend" Jessica. From what Brooklynn says, Jessica is just as big of a goof-ball as Brooklynn. At the beginning of the year, these two got in trouble almost every day for talking. But since they've been separated, the teacher says Brooklynn has calmed down and is an excellent student. She is at the top of the class in reading and the teacher has even put Brooklynn in charge of different groups of students so she can help them with their reading if they need it!