Colonial Thanksgiving...our Williamsburg outing!

The Day After...Yorketown!

Our last stop before heading home...

We finished off our trip with a visit to Yorktown Battlefield, the defining battle that clinched victory for America and led to the end of the Revolutionary War! George Washington commanded here, and we stood under the very same tent roof as he did!

It was a great family trip, especially at Thanksgiving! We really felt grateful as we reflected on the hand of the Lord in preparing this land for the restoration of the gospel. Leading great people here who would fight for freedom and establish liberty so we could enjoy the many blessings we often take for granted. It really is the promised land! We are truly blessed!

Could it really be????

If you look closely, you might just see what we saw today...SNOW FLURRIES!!
Though it was far from what we are really hoping for, these teeny white flecks got us all excited, and we sure hope it is a good sign of things to come! (If you can't spot any snowflakes, click to enlarge the picture and look against our van window in the driveway!)

Last year we never got enough snow to sled even once, and our only snow that produced a snowman was gone three hours later! Here Bekah is wishing for days and days of sledding and enough snowmen to fill a stadium! That's what I'm wishing for, too, Bekah...I'm going to add a big canister of Hot Chocolate to the shopping list so we'll be ready for sure! (See the snowflakes against the black of our neighbors roof right by Bekah's head?!?!? Look really closely.....)
LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

Leaves are Falling all Around....

OK, so I went to post our fall leaves pictures, but they were so super cute, I had to make them into a new header!
Hope you all are enjoying plenty of autumn enjoyment in your own leaves, too!

Night of Stars!

Kamberlynne was a "star" at our ward "Young Women in Excellence" program tonight! The YW leaders did an amazing job honoring each girl and their efforts at completing some Personal Progress goals. They very literally rolled out the red carpet, had everyone dress up in their fanciest dresses, and recognized and awarded each girl an "Emma Award" for excellence in the Personal Progress Program! They even had each girl give an acceptance speech! Super cute and lots of fun!

Our shining star!

Kamberlynne presenting her 10 hour value goal for "Good Works". Over the course of a couple months Kamberlynne completed over 20 knitted hats to be donated to the needy! In her "acceptance speech" she shared how much of a humbling experience it was to realize how many blessings she enjoys when others out there don't even have a hat, and how glad she was to be able to serve! What a sweetie!

What a blessing to have other stars to help light your way!

Ahhh, the glorious "Emma" award! Way to go, Loo!

Hanging out with our theatre friends, Betsy and Cami...we girls are doing a show together right now, the younger ones on stage, the momma' s working behind the scenes!
More posing with friends...here is Kamberlynne's sweetest friend Nikki with her mom, our YW President! We are blessed to call them dear friends, and would hang out together everyday if we could!

Kamberlynne and her star...all the girls had autographed and had their handprints on their own YW Walk of Fame Star! Isn't that so cute? These YW leaders did such a great job, they each deserve a week at the spa!

A true star always takes time with the little people! Thanks, Kamberlynne, for letting your love shine so brightly! It lightens up each and every one of our days! Shine On, sweet girl, shine one!

Reverently, Quietly....

Can it really be true?!?!? My sweet baby is ready for nursery!?!?!? HALLELUJAH!

We've been practicing folding arms and being reverent...Briella can do it for almost 5 seconds, now!

Isn't she a sweetie?!?!? Of course, this is NOT how she looked after the first three minutes of nursery...she was brought to me in Primary with red teary eyes and a big drippy nose, poor thing! Dad has been taking Ellie in for the second hour of nursery for the last few weeks, but she wasn't prepared to be left there! It'll take a few more weeks (not months, I hope) to have a successful transition, but its gotta be better than being passed back and forth between Daddy in YM and Momma in Primary, don't ya' think?

How in the world did 18 months go by so quickly? We are so grateful for our darling daughterl, and can't imagine what life would be like without her! We are reminded more times than we can count of the sacrifice that was made by Briella's birth mother in placing this darling girl in our home! We know Heavenly Father worked miracles on our behalf, and we will always carry a deep love and gratitude for the wonderful way Ellie became a part of our forever family!

Arg, me hardies....mom finally finished Halloween!

"Yo Ho Ho, A Pirates Life for Me"....and Me and Me and Me!
This bunch of scallywags came ashore to plunder for confectionary treasure! I heard one of them say to an innocent land dweller "Give me the candy, and no one gets hurt"!

Hmmm..., I'm not convinced this pirate would frighten anyone!
































Ok, a little scarier...

















Well.....not really! But the eye patch is cool!














































Now I'm feeling the teeniest bit scared!



Ok, not really! The only thing frightening about these sea farers is how adorable they are! They are so cute, it's scary!

Hangin' up her boots.....

After wearing her cowboy outfit for days, Bekah decided for Halloween day to try out her wings...fairy wings, that is!
This darling smile is sure to bring in extra treats!

"Neverland, here I come!"

This magical fairy sure has spread her pixie dust all over our hearts!

Sweet as Honey!

I could just eat up this little bee!
Just helping pollinate the flowers! (aren't' those wings so adorable!)

So pretty...and so are the flowers!

Ohhhh, sooooooo sweet!
Briella learned to say "BZZZZZZZZ" in preparation for going out to gather candy! Imagine our surprise when she started saying "drick -n- dreat" at all the doors?

Any holiday where I get to dress up my cute kids even cuter is a good holiday in my book!
We hope you all enjoyed your little darlings, too!