the best sound in the world

I know it is hard to see, but the sound is worth it.

Lights and Chocolate- does it get any better?

We went to Ethel M's to check out the lights and chocolate. It did not disappoint. It was great. It seemed like they had more lights than ever, and the chocolate was de-lish.
but it was cold




When we came closer to Santa MJ was getting nervous that she would have to talk to him. She started to panic a little. So we kept our distance, and went inside for the tour. At the end they give you a chocolate. MJ thought it was awesome and asked if we could do it again to get another piece of chocolate.
We didn't stay in the store long becuase a 2 and 5 year old in a candy store can quickly turn into a diaster.
We went back outside to look at the lights again. We asked MJ if she wanted to go spy on Santa. She didnt even want to go near, but Jens thought it was cool. Then we noticed the M&Ms the kids were getting after they talked with Santa. MJ changed her mind and get the guts to go talk to Santa. I guess the benefit of candy out weighs being scared by Santa.
Jens kept her eyes on the M&Ms the entire time. When Santa asked her what she wanted she said candy.
MJ was very brave. Told Santa she wanted a ballarina doll and even smiled.
She was very proud of her self after. And we were very happy with the chocolate A'mooh and Grandpa got :)

Check out the before and after party

We had a Wii before and after Turkey party. It was pretty awesome. We were bummed more couldn' t make it cuz they missed out.


Clark stayed at our house with the chawinnies. The girls could not have been more happy.

Austin and Garrett

Clark and Sam
Trevon and Mark

gooble gooble

Shame on me because I didn't take any pictures at the Thanksgiving extravaganza- but my Mom brought her camera. We had a big Hafen bash, with lots of special guests (G Gma Kathryn, Gary and Patrice).
We have out grown any house so we had it at a church.

I took this picture


This is our game of Family Feud. I was on the Elephant Balls team ( if you have experienced the splendor of elephant balls (chocolate desert), you really should).
We had a photo shoot. (sorry Arth, not the best one of you)
The kids got prizes. Jens was a fan of the glasses- and the belly.
Awe
Even Evan Miracle Miles made it.
Look how sweet this baby is
Thank goodness for left over pie.

Maissie turns 5

Maissie wanted a birthday party. SO, we got some invitations that happened to be unicorn, but then MJ wanted everything unicorn. My Dad found Pinata Loca- a shop that will make any pinata for you. We were really excited- especially MJ- but when we saw it, we thought it was so funny. Check this thing out.



We were all very amused by the gigantic unicorn. At first we blind folded the kids- but soon realized it was not necessary to have the blind fold- they needed all the help they could get to conquer this sucker.
Jens and Sam had a good time watching



Mark made balloon flowers and doggies for all the girls
We also made bracelets and decorated cookies- must have been to messy because I didn't get any pictures.

I was teasing MJ that it was my birthday for 30 days- so she told me it was her birthday for 5 days.

This is her 5 year old bike from Grandpa and A'mooh.
She thinks it is pretty cool to have a big 5 year old bike- but we still need to find the right training wheels for it.
On her actual birthday Sam was nice enough to watch Jens so I could go volunteer in MJ's preschool class. They sang to her, and did a birthday dance song. She even got a prize that took her 5 min or more to choose.
She really wanted a unicorn cake. Mark I am sure could have pulled it off, but I wasn't interested or up to the challenge. SO we got a unicorn my little pony and stuck it on top of the cake and called it good.

Three Turkey Triathlon

We (Me, Mark, Sam) did the St. George Turkey Triathlon yesterday. AND we all finished successfully. This is us before. Notice how we are wearing long sleeves? It was c o l d.

This is Sam intimidating the others.

Mark and I passed each other- I was trying to give my camera to my Mom and Grandma (in the background) but couldn't get over to them, but Mark came though at that exact time.
This is our fan club
This is me after finishing. I chose not to run because baby boy put too much pressure on my gutz. My goal was to finish in an hour, not have EMT come get me, and to not let Mark or Sam finish before me (they did 2x what I did). I finished in just over an hour (official results are not yet in) but I met the other 2 goals.
Mark finishes
The girls were excited to see him.
Sam finishes

Look- we are all standing and smiling in the end :). But I think if we do it again we would make a great team division.

I L O V E Halloween!!

Halloween is the best holiday EVER!! Here are some of our festiveness:

We colored some Halloween decorations



We liked to try the dog costumes on the dogs. Angus didn't like it so much
Phishy was a good sport and kept his on for a long time
We love the MR. potato head pumpkin decorations

MJ chose the princess one this year
We went to a harvest festival. I forgot the camera, so we took pictures after we got home. MJ told me she wouldn't get dirty so she wouldn't have to take a bath and wash off her unicorn.
Jens was just happy to have candy
We carved pumpkins too.

I didn't get a picture of the front of it, and now it has shriveled. BUT, it was a cute pumpkin

MJ was Ariel for Halloween. I felt bad, MJ was sick all week, so she missed her party at school, and a party with some friends. She was a really good sport about it. Don't worry, she made up for it on Halloween.
Jens was a Giraffe. It was so cute- had extra padding on the sides and butt. She was even cuter with the head piece on, but of course wouldn't wear it.
This is the kiddies checking out their loot at the end of the night. They did very well.