House is decorated!!

I sure love the twinkling lights in our home during this time of year.

The kids were really excited too!

Abe was so excited he thought that santa was coming and woke up real early!! Had to tell him that santa was not coming until the end of the month... might be a long month!

It was a beautiful November with LOTS AND LOTS to be grateful for.

This is one of my most favorite traditions that we do as a family.  It is so fun to see what everyone says each day.  I love the simple things that our children come up with.  And I love seeing what Alan writes.  This year Halle and Abel were able to do a good job coming up with things mostly on their own with little to no prompting.  Mom and Dad were able to do it all by themselves :)

Abel: going hunting,that I can walk, food, carson and grandma Blake, my cousins, train tracks, my keeps, playing golf, cereal, toast, able to play, my gym class, grammie and grandpa, ride my bike, food, Papa, food, Tommy, jumping on the trampoline, playing outside, daddy, and mommy.

Halle: my mom does great things, ride my bike, school, my cousins, the temple, swinging, clean house, mom and dad, the temple,grammie and grandpa, going to school, my mom, grandma Blake and papa, Daddy, holding the baby, Mrs. DeFrang, Tommy, my brothers.

Alan: playing outside, our nicely decorated home, the cabin, noah's cute face, Abel, Halle, good food, our park, building fires at the cabin, our home, good food, my wonderful wife,USA, our safe neighborhood, the big 4 wheeler, naptimes, 2 wheeled bikes, family, Autumn, snorts!, the Gospel, employment,  guns, scripture reading time, the park, my wife cooks,Noah, our 4 wheelers, sunshine, when the kids help me, this tradition, strong bodies, the Gospel, Halle's bouncing, Abel's funny cheeks, my beautiful children, the big truck, my tools, Tommy's chubby smiles, Thomas, bows and arrows, good health, the scriptures, and fun stuff in the garage.

Brittney: able body and mind, ability to learn, Thomas, the temple, strong and healthy body, family time, the cabin, the sun, reliable transportation, our ancestors, doctors, the country we live in, holidays, exercise, sleep, love, extended family that lives close, warm home, loving and supportive husband, our jobs, movies, scriptures, the Atonement, my Savior, family time together, loving husband, playtime with the kids, our freedoms, Halle, my mom and dad,  the freedoms we enjoy, Abel, The Gospel, Noah, Food, and grandparents.

So very much to be thankful for.. Grateful for our life!!!

Noah just LOVES being batman as of late.  He loves wearing batman.  He loves playing batman.  He loves watching batman.  It has been kind of fun watching him cling to something that he enjoys!

This sweet boys.. LOVES FOOD!!!

And this is real life... my bed covered in clean clothes waiting to be folded and put away.

Sometimes the mundane hanging out afternoons/evenings are MY FAVORITE.  We just hang out together and enjoy every minute of it!

Tonight included snacks, movies, and karaoke!

This buddy is 8 months old today.

Tommy you are such a great baby!!!

You love food!!! Anything and everything.  You are starting to rock on all fours.  You tolerate your siblings most days.  You love to talk and tell stories!  You also have a smile that lights up a room.  You still have 6 teeth but I think that you might have a couple more coming...  You are so sweet and we are so grateful to have you in our family.

KEEP GROWING!!!

And this is what a couple nights at the cabin will do to you.. make you pass out cold!

Good ride back home.

It was so nice to spend the long weekend together up at the cabin.

Making memories and just being together!

This is what waking up at 5am looks like.

Sometimes traveling with kids kind of stinks just with the sleeping wise, but I just remind myself that I am doing this for the kids because they LOVE going to the cabin!!! I love everything about being up here.  And I know that I will be able to take a nap around 7:00am!  

Our life is full of adventure, laughter, and craziness.  It is very far from perfect, but it is so beautiful and I would never trade it for ANYTHING!!!

Halle and Grammie played Old maid during nap time today and Halle ALWAYS had to win

We were headed in to spooner to go to a movie.. but Halle passed out on the way in, so looks like no movie and we will just head back to the cabin!

We are headed up to the cabin for a fun filled long weekend together!!!

Noah and his sweet smile.. Love this little boy of ours!

Whenever i see pictures of Noah I always hear in my mind him saying "cheeeeeeeeseeeeee." In his sweet low raspy voice!

So very thankful for this man and our life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent thanksgiving over in Austin and we had a great time with family.

Alan took Abe and Noah over early in the morning (Halle spent the night there so she was already there) because Alan smoked a turkey.

I stayed home with Tommy to give me a nice morning nap and also got a nice workout in and then I headed over!

It was a great holiday to spend just relaxing and having fun with family.

Alan's turkey turned out amazing!!!  Good job hunny!!

We ended the evening playing thanksgiving bingo and the kids had a blast!

The boys helping me make whopper pie!

They loved crushing all the whoppers and also licking the bowl and spatula!

And after dinner the boys wanted to dress up and run around.

They had a blast and I had a fun watching them!

Alan and the boys stopped and watched the snorts on their way back from running an errand.

The boys could sit there and watch them work for a while!

Halle brought home fun things from school today!

So grateful that she has a great teacher this year and is learning so much.

Even though it is hard to not have her here during the day, it is so much fun watching her grow up!

Noah, Tommy, and I had a great evening enjoying popcorn a movie and snuggles!

While Halle and Abe were over at Grammie and Grandpas house making turkeys and having fun!

50th day of school calls for a 50's dress up day!!

Halle was excited to go in her leggings, jean jacket, and hankie!

Tommy is frustrated on the floor.

He is getting closer and closer to being able to crawl.  Currently is rocking on all fours.  I am sure it will not be long until we have a mover on our hands!

Funny story from Halle.

She brought this family picture home from school.

She had drawn everyone and was so excited to tell me about it.  She was pointing out everyone and then she pointed to me (im on the far left).  She said you are the one with the big belly mom... She could tell that I was a little surprised.  She goes "well mom, you ALWAYS have a baby in there."  Then thinking to myself... most of your life Halle I have had a baby in there.  How grateful I am that I am able to have a baby in there and that we were blessed to bare and raise these kids.  So so blessed to call them ours!

Alan signed up to run a 10K.  It was pretty cold, but HE DID IT!!! And had a good time running! 

After the race we decided to celebrate with ice cream sundaes!

They were quite yummy and it was fun to have some time to enjoy each other and laugh while watching the office!

And this morning we headed off to the temple and to have a morning full of fun in the cities.

Alan and I were able to split an initiatory session.

The kids had a fun time hanging out at the stake center while we were in the temple.

Tommy was not too enthused but the whole thing, but he did keep it together!

After the temple we headed to the children's museum and the kids HAD A BLAST!!!

Alan parked really far away from the museum, so we had a chilly walk in downtown st.paul, but it did not damper an spirits.  The kids got inside and enjoyed themselves for the couple hours that we were there.

After the museum we headed to chick fil a for lunch and it was DELICIOUS!!!

We headed home with tired happy kids and with parents that are grateful for these opportunities!!!

The face you make when you get your final grade back from your final paper from your final class from your GRAD PROGRAM!!!!!  So so so happy to be done.  I can hardly believe that I started this journey 18 months ago.  It went by so quick and I am so grateful that I had this opportunity.  I am grateful for my best friend Kelsy for asking me and then kind of just telling me that I had to do this with her.  And then being able to work together through the 18 months!!! It was so more fun and bareable completing this program with her! I am grateful for a supportive family.  They love me and knew that this is what I wanted to do and they supported me and helped me get through the tough 18 months.  I am most grateful for my Father in Heaven.  There were tiny miracles throughout these 18 months that I know were from him.  He gave me the extra strength, confidence, brain power, and endurance to complete this program and also manage the rest of my life.  Thank you Heavenly Father... I am so grateful for your influence in my life.

Grad school... it has been real... it has been fun... but I am so glad that it is DONE!!!!

Megan and Ella came over to play!  We again were able to enjoy an afternoon at the park and the kids had a BLAST!!! These two buddies enjoyed their time on the swings!

And after dinner tonight I got the legos out and I made a motorcycle and the kids thought that I was the coolest!  I was just grateful for the directions that told me exactly what to do!

Hyvee parking lot. Stopped traffic.  Temper tantrum. My favorite 2 year old!

This for sure happened today.  Noah was not having it and was not in to listening at all.

There were no carts around, so Halle and Abe ventured off to find one in the store.  Cars were waiting and staring at me as I hover and protect my little guy and have Tommy on my hip.

There are times when I think.. oh my goodness, this can not be happening to me.

But tonight.. as I ponder what happened... I am truly grateful for this little guy and for his budding personality.  Noah you really are sweet, kind, and loving.  You know what you want.  You fight to get it.  I know you will go places in life fighting that same fight.  I love you Noah.  Thank you for continuing to teach me patience, and love, and understanding.

Faith.. I have been reading ALOT about faith lately.  Tonight I was reading a talk by President Uchtdorf and it was all about faith.  A favorite quote from the talk was this: "The purpose of faith is not to change God's will but to empower us to act on God's will.  Faith is trust-- trust that God see what we cannot and that He knows what we do not."  So wise and the exact words that I needed to hear this evening. life in general has its up and downs.  Parenting lately has been hard.  Struggling with a certain child and not knowing what to do to help him and to teach him.  I have prayed for him. I have attended the temple with a prayer in my heart for him.  The answer that I keep getting is to show him unconditional love.  Let him know often that he is loved and that he is of great worth in our family.  I will continue to act in faith on these prompting that I have had as his mother.  I will put the trust in my Heavenly Father that he really does know so much more than I will ever... and for that I am eternally grateful for. 

And we conquered target tonight.  The kids are doing better and better with listening and acting good when we have to do shopping with all of us.  Target and Costco are really the only stores that we can go to that has big enough carts for kids and for the stuff we are buying!

These kids of ours truly are blessings in my life.

They make our life so much sweeter!

We have been having BEAUTIFUL weather! And we have been spending out afternoons our at the park.  No one else has been there and we have had it all to ourselves!  Tommy has been having a good time too.

And Halle got to another medal for reading!  She is doing so good with her reading and working hard at school.  Proud of you Halle!!!