Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at our house.  It was so fun having everyone over!  Aunt Sharon made yummy turkey, stuffing, and ham, and her homemade noodles.  Mom brought the traditional yummy rolls and pies, everyone else brought the rest...salads, potatoes, green beans and pretzel jello of course!!  It was truly a feast!  My whole family was together: Mom and Dad, Jeff and his family, John and his family, our family, Shelby and her family, Lisa and her family, and Josh and his family.  Also Aunt Sharon and Uncle Ron, and Amy and Troy and their family came. Grandpa Larson came too.  We talked, ate, played some games (a dangerous soccer game included) and laughed together.   I only wish we could have taken a picture all together!  Thanksgiving will always remind me of the cabin: food, family, fun, puzzles, games, staying up in our bunk beds, fire in the fireplace, snow, and getting snowed in so we could miss school!!  Making memories as a family is what it's all about!  I love Thankgiving time!

The beginning of the feast!!

Ashlyn and Mason stayed late.  We played the wii, Scrabble, and tried putting Camden's dinosaur together again.  

I did get a picture of Jeff and his family.  I love when they visit.  The kids go crazy over Mason and Emma.  We always love having their family around.  

One of my favorite stories about this Thanksgiving that I want to remember is about my Grandparents.  They were at the Temple during this week of Thanksgiving.  They recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.  So, because they were down in LA they chose to go to Knotts Berry Farm for Thanksgiving Lunch.  That is where they went for their very first Thanksgiving together!  They were on their honeymoon then, and apparently are still on their honeymoon now.  I love that!  They are a great example to me of what an eternal couple should be.

Camden's Birthday

Camden's birthday started early.  Right when he woke up he got to open presents!  Blake was so excited to have Camden open the Star Wars guys he picked out for him!  Camden was excited too!

Next he started getting phone calls which lasted all day long.  Here is Camden talking to Nana and Dandy.  He is getting so grown up!   He also got a Tech Dech Skate Park which is in the background of this picture.  He played with that all day too.

Grandma and Grandpa Simpson visited that night with a Star Wars Space Ship and guys!!

After his pizza dinner we had Donuts for his cake.  His favorite...Maple Bars from Smith's Bakery!  

A few days later on Saturday we had his "Mario Kart Wii" Birthday Party with family.  

A few rounds on the Wii

Uncle John entertaining the little ones.

Mario game...who is that boy?

And who is that one?

A cupcake race on the track! (And a cool Lego Start and Finish line made by Daddy!)

Fun with Balloons!!

It was another happy day!

After everyone left we completed the masterpiece from Grandpa Larson!!

Happy 7th Birthday Camden!!  We love you!!

Happy Birthday Camden!!!

It's hard to believe it has been seven years since we had our cute Camden!  What a blessing he is in our family!  Here are a few pictures of him at birth, 4 months, and 18 months.  What a cute boy!!!  Wish we would have had  a digital camera back then!  My scanner didn't do these pictures justice!

Camden was only 5 pounds, 10 ounces.  What a cute little guy! This picture shows when I first got to touch him-I had to have a glove on!

Here is Camden in the bubble that helped him breath in the NICU.  He also was in an incubator for a while.  It's amazing all that he went through to get here!  We are so blessed to have Camden in our family!  We love you Camden!!  Thank you for coming to our family!!!

On this day we also remember Camden's twin brother, Jacob.  What a special spirit to be with our Heavenly Father already.  We are thankful to know about the Plan of Salvation and look forward to the day we will be able to see our Jacob again.  

Our week of Halloween!

This was a busy Halloween!  We started with dressing up in a variety of costumes, going to a pumpkin patch, party party parties, and trick or treating.  The funniest thing this Halloween seemed to be Blake's variety of costumes.  First he was going to be Wolverine then for his preschool party he was Superman, then finally for Halloween night he was Dash.  He also had to be like Camden quite a bit and dressed up as a storm trooper.  I think we should open up a costume shop!!!!   We also didn't decorate much because we are trying to sell our house.  We didn't want to frighten any buyers away!!!  The pictures start with Halloween and then go back in time to our first Halloween activities. 

We went trick-or-treating with the Race cousins.  Carsyn's the witch, Caden's the skater punk zombie, Blake's Dash from the Incredibles, Nixon's Wolverine, and Camden was Captain Rex from Star Wars the Clone Wars.  We could hardly get out our door.  Every time we opened it there were more trick or treaters!  The kids loved passing out candy and going trick-or-treating of course.  We had fun visiting Grandma and Grandpa Simpson too!  

Here was the tail end of our trick or treating group.  They did not like the scary houses, and when we went up to a house that looked a little scary, Blake would put on his little mask as shown in this picture.  I think he felt a little more safe with it on!

Here is Camden's second grade class on Halloween day.  They had a party and a parade. Camden is the cool Storm Trooper, Captain Rex on the right side of this picture.  

Rex and Superman in the parade. (Blake had to dress up and wanted to be in the parade too.)

Camden and his buddies from his class - and his little buddy Blake.

There were two Captain Rex boys in Camden's class.  The one on the left has a helmet that goes all the way around his head.  He had boots, and a really cool expensive costume.  Camden is the one on the right.  He kept looking at the other boy all morning and asked, why does your helmet go all the way around your head?  Why is your costume different?  He told us it was $50 at Party City!  I told Camden he still was a great Rex with his cheeper costume!!

Costume exchange.  Camden has on Blake's costume.  (It is too big for Blake).  Blake is wearing Camden's old costume from 2 years ago. 

Blake had to have a Superman Jack o lantern!  Notice Superman flying above the 'S' logo!

Camden drew this cute face on his own.  He says it is himself.  Notice the missing teeth.  Too cute!

The little Jack o lantern in the middle is one Camden made as Blake.  They loved carving pumpkins!

We missed our ward Trunk or Treat so we went to Lisa and Brad's trunk or treat with the 5th ward.  Here is everyone lined up with their treats.  Julie, Sean, Jack, Ashlyn, Carsyn, Blake, Caden, Camden  and Nixon.  What a great looking group of kids! (We should have made them all sit a little closer.)   We had fun but missed Shelby's and Jeff's kids!

Blake's a Storm Trooper for the day while we played with some more cousins: Nixon, Sydney, and Ty.

Here are a few pictures from Blake's preschool Halloween party.  He started out as Superman and ended up as Wolverine!  I think Superman was his favorite costume.  What a great pose!

  

Nixon is on the left and Blake on the right.  Two little Wolverines!  
This is our little preschool group trick or treating at our bedroom doors in our house.  Blake had to play it again and again after the party.

The preschool group:  Nixon's Wolverine, Kaylee is Cinderella, Blake is Superman, and Breyson is a Chunky candy bar.  Too cute!

We went to the pumpkin patch and Blake stood at this wagon for quite a while cleaning his pumpkin with a baby wipe.  

Here's a little pre-Halloween dress up....Blake is Wolverine, Camden is the Batman in the middle and Nixon is the other Batman.  My kids love to dress up!