Christmas 2011

We spent Christmas Eve with Justin's family this year in his parents new home.  All of his family came into town this year, so it was much more enjoyable for the boys to have cousins to play with.  On Christmas day, we had church at 9, so we didn't open Santa gifts until after Church.  It made the day go a lot quicker.  The boys also wanted to buy gifts for each other this year.  So it was fun to spend one on one time with each of them to get gifts.  What a great time of year.

The boys all got one toy, games and puzzles, and a pillow pet.  They had been begging for a pillow pet for ever.  Zayne didn't really care for opening presents, but he sure enjoyed seeing what was inside.  Justin and I felt like Christmas was a big success since there was no fighting and plenty of things to keep the boys busy all day.  Wooooohoooooo!

Got Lucky

This past weekend the boys were desperate to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe, which is still their all time favorite restaurant.  So poor me didn't get to cook Saturday night and had to go enjoy a night out.  While we were there a special visitor came to visit.  Can  you guess who?  Yep, Santa Claus.  The boys were so excited and each one of them was willing to sit on his lap and get their picture taken.  After wards we wandered the Riverwoods and saw all the lights and stopped in the toy store there for a bit to warm up.  Everyone seemed to have fun and enjoyed time as a family.  Saturday morning, Quentin also performed in his Christmas recital and did a great job.  He played his song Jingle Bell Rock. 
The pictures were all taken with Justin's camera so they turned out a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

It's A...........

Well, I'm a bit of a slacker and haven't had time or the ability to post on Halloween and fun outside.  So I will share pictures of that and let you all know, that we are finally getting our little girl.  Apparently Heavenly Father felt like we could now handle a little girl after 3 crazy fun boys.  We'll see if that changes once she is here.  She is going to be so loved by her little brothers and like most of you have mentioned she will be well protected.  Others have mentioned that she will have her daddy wrapped around her finger and I do believe that that will be true.  However, he mentioned that that will be the case as long as she doesn't date.  Funny, Funny.  As we get closer, we will have fun shopping and changing a few things to get ready for this little sweat heart.  She made it a bit hard at the ultrasound to see that she was a girl.  So we will have another ultrasound in December to double check that and a few other things.  She was determined to keep her legs either crossed or her knees together.  Although, she some how managed to kick me while being a proper little lady.  We also couldn't get much of a facial shot seems how she wanted to hide her face with her arms as well.  They do start out early with their little personalities don't they.  Anyway, check out the 2 pictures we did get of her profile and obviously between the legs shot.  Hope you enjoy!

her profile

Cyrus carved pumpkins the best but still didn't care for the cleaning part.

Quentin was just grossed out about the whole thing.

Zayne didn't like any of this except coloring the pumpkin.  He was not a happy boy.

Quentin jumping in the leaves.

Cyrus jumped to fast so I got him in leaves after he jumped.

Zayne jumping.

Zayne excited to try and hit the baseball.

Fall Break

The boys and I decided to take our chances at the Zoo over fall break and it was actually worth going this time.  We got there right as they opened and all of the animals were out and feeding. While we were there we were asked to feed the Llamas.  The boys and I were the only ones around, so we got some great treatment.  There is a lot of construction going on right now so we were forced to take paths we wouldn't normally go on, but we were also able to see some animals that we would not normally see.  We even ended up right next to the bald eagles which are Justin's favorite.  The Tigers were out growling and prowling as well.  

the boys were a bit nervous to feed the llamas at first, but thought that was pretty cool. Unfortunately they moved to fast for the camera, but this is them with the Llamas.

Traditional pictures for us at the Zoo to see how the boys measure up to the Gorillas.

Waiting on the train for our ride.

The boys were also very excited to try on their Halloween costumes, so I got pictures of them as well. They'll be all done up more with make-up and such for Halloween so I"ll get more pictures then.  

Cyrus as a ghost

Quentin as a Vampire

Zayne as a Skeleton

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well, we finally took a few pictures of Quentin playing soccer.  Soccer seems to be our life for the past 2 months and we only have about 1 week left.  That will be a nice break coming.
Also, our garden is going nuts with the few things that it will grow.  We have discovered that our soil must be very acidic and does not have trouble growing some products.
This was our first year at trying potatoes and they turned out amazing.  We also have not had any problems with pumpkins or carrots as well.  Our potatoes turned out plentiful and huge.  It was quite fun to see. 
Here are a few pictures of our produce.

Quentin at one of his many games.

I planted about 6 plants and this is how many potatoes we ended up with. It was quite fun digging them up and finding them in the dirt.  Zayne enjoyed digging in the dirt with me.

Just ignore the dirty shoe and leg.  I just got done running with Cyrus at school for their fun run and it was quite muddy,  but I wanted to show you how big these turned out. 

We have about 20 or so pumpkins that came in this year all pretty decent sized.

August

Justin's sister was finally able to get married in August and it was a very happy day for all.  Their marriage was a long time coming.  I didn't have my camera so all of these pics were taken from Justin's phone.  

Also included are some pictures of the boys playing outside and having some summer fun. 

Quentin on the slip'n slide

Cyrus preferred to just jump on it instead of slide

Zayne would rather jump then get in the water.  He is getting really good at that

Quentin and Cyrus waiting with cousins outside the Temple.  It was a hot day.

Zayne and his thumb.  Justin got a new app on his phone that does fun things to photos.  So it tested it out on these next few pictures.

Enjoying mid wedding snacks

All of the cousins on the Hemingway side.

Zayne riding his tricycle.

Cyrus just after he scored his goal.  He is the number 2.  He is doing amazing at soccer and is the star player on his team.  He is definitely shocking me with how well he is playing instead of complaining about being tired. 

Cyrus again about to score.

 We have been going to games for Quentin as well, but haven't remembered to take pictures.  I'll get some soon and get those up. 

School has started as well and the boys are both doing really well and making lots of friends.  They come home happy which tells me they are having fun.  Zayne and I enjoy being home and running errands together.