Home for the Holidays

Our family has been so fortunate to be able to travel home and spend the holidays with family. The Christmas Season is such a wonderful time to reflect on all of the many blessings we have been given by our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. I truly feel that our FAMILY is one of the greatest blessings we have.

We had such a wonderful Christmas...thank you to all of the family and loved ones who were so generous with our family.

Jemma and "Nina" being creative with their gingerbread house!

Jemma and Aunt Jade...and baby Trey!

Carter in his lego dump truck! He was so adorable Christmas morning...If he wasn't eating wrapping paper, he was just observing the excitement!

Jemma was super excited this year about Christmas...it was the first year she really understood what was going on.

The kiddos...Jemma was kind enough to help Carter open his gifts too!

We made my Mom a scrapbook of her mother's life this year. (Grandma Packard passed away in June of this year.) We were so glad to be able to preserve these memories for her. WE LOVE YOU MOM!

The girls...Jemma and Daphne...playing with there dolls.

Sharee, Emma, Jemma, and Jenny.

Working on the Christmas FEAST!

Carter learned to crawl up STAIRS while at my parents' home!!!

Me and Mom!!

Carter, headed up the stairs!

Jemma eating her DELECTABLE pie!

Grammy and Grandpa Stone with Dad, Carter, Jemma and me.

Just a few of my FaVoRiTe shots from the last month...or two or three!

Carter!!!

Man, he's growing up so fast! We're already prepping him for his driving permit! :o)

This bottle is his most favorite bath toy. We can't get a shot of him without it!!!

At the beach. He really loves to be outdoors!!!

Goin' for a ride at the Portland Zoo. (We are "official members now...Jemma and I even have special cards to get in and out of the park! Oh, how we love the animals!...especially the baby elephant and the tigers.)

Jemma and Carter on Halloween. A lot of folks thought Carter was a lamb, but he was actually a little bunny, the idea was for him to be one of "Snow White's" forest friends. Oh well. They both looked AdOrAbLe!!!

One morning, Jemma and Carter were just chillin' on the couch together, and he seriously couldn't take his eyes off of Jemma...always a very serious expression...must have been wondering how he got so lucky and ended up with such a super big sister! :o)

Jemma all geared up for the snow. We got a TON over the last 3 or 4 days, but that didn't keep us inside!

Brandon and Jemma headed out on a walk in...the snow...whatelse!

Jemma at the Zoo.

Jemma is a fearless little explorer when it comes to the outdoors. I sure wish it made her half as nervous as it makes me to be far from the rest of the family. Here's ione of her and the stick she found on the beach.

Our little family on the beach at Seaside, Oregon.

Just a fun fall photo...Thanks Jewels and Eric for taking it for us! We can't wait to see you again over Christmas!

What a fun Trip!!! We will miss all of you! (Including those I didn't have pictures of!)

Oh The Memories!

So, Monday was Jacob's birthday, but with Nathan's being on Friday, we went ahead and celebrated both with just family...they're having their "friend party" Friday. Anyway...my dad's parents were here and my Grandpa Stone was doing all these things with Jemma that I remember him doing with me and my siblings when I was a little girl. Neither one of these videos REALLY captures the full effect, but I had to put them on here for my other siblings' sakes if for nothing else. This first video entitled "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" is the tail end of Jemma running around in a circle (along with her awesome uncles Jacob and Nathan) to this little ditty Grandpa used to play EVERY time he came to our home. Us kids would run around in a circle and at the end of the song we would all say "AGAIN, AGAIN!"

Grandpa also used to do these little coin tricks with us. We could never figure out how the quarter got into our ear or in our toes or whatever...this time, it magically falls from the sky :o). Whenever the money would re-appear, Jemma would say "I got the money!"... Grammy and Grandpa got a kick outta that.

Grandpa Stone also always held his children up in the air with one hand, and my dad did the same with us. My Grammy was holding Carter and commented on how strong his legs were...he must be ready for the family trick! So, my dad gave it a whirl. At first Carter seemed a little in-secure (although full of smiles)...

But he DID IT! What a talented little 5 month old! (Gotta get 'em trained before they realize how high they are and how scared they schould be!)

With all the reflecting I did that night...it really brought me up to speed on how OLD I'm getting...YiKeS! I can't even tell you how many things I've told Jemma not to do or to stop doing since we've been here that I did ALL THE TIME when I was growing up in this house! It's been just a little trippy.

CoRn MaZe!

So, I just spent like 20 minutes trying to make a slide show, and I must be half asleep because I finished it and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get it onto my blog...hmmmmm. So, here are a few photos of our trip to the corn maze last Monday. There were so many things to do! The older guys did the corn maze...I don't know that Jemma would have appreciated it. We also shot mini pumpkins out of these air cannon type things..very cool! Even Jemma gave it a shot.

Jemma experienced her first pony ride! She was SOOOOO excited. She did really well too. I really thought she might get a little scared, but she didn't at all.

We rode a little train around through the corn maze (those stalks are SuPeR TALL!) and visited the petting zoo.

Because I'm so tired and, frankly a little annoyed with the wasted time I spent trying to get that slide show together, I'm just gonna call it good on this post. Hope the pictures are worth scrolling through...there is a link to just a basic slide show at the bottom if for some reason you wanna see more than 10 photos! (Ha ha ha.)

To see more photos, visit the following link. http://www.slideshow.com/galleries/3570-corn-maze

It's Harvest Time!!

Me and the kids are still here in California visiting family (we sure miss Brandon, who due to the rigors of school had to return to Oregon). We have been playing hard and the kids are loving all the attention.

I love this time of year; the crisp air, sweaters, pumpkin patches, the changing leaves, and the beginning of the holiday season.

Today we went up to Apple Hill with my parents and siblings Emma, Jacob and Nathan. We had no idea how popular the place was until we arrived. WOW!! The number of people there was unbelievable! It must be because the Fall season has begun and it's Harvest Time! There were lots of fun things to see and do. Tons of craft and art booths, a fudge factory (YUM YUM!) pony rides, a duck and fish pond, and of course APPLES, APPLES, APPLES!

When we finally got past all of the traffic and parked, we were all famished! It's a good thing we packed a lunch, 'cause as soon as we got out of the car we all sat down on the grass and chowed down! Here's a shot of Jemma enjoying her chips with Aunt Emma.

Grandpa, Jemma, Nona and Carter. He needed a little lunch too! :o)

Jemma, Jacob and Nathan. Jemma has, of course, become quite attached to her aunts and uncles here. They are so good at playing with her and attending to her needs.

Me and the kids

Jemma with her Uncle Jacob, Aunt Emma and Uncle Nathan in front of the duck and fish pond.

Mom, Jacob and Dad showing off a few of the delectable items purchased.

It took a lot of encouraging to get Jemma to turn and give me a smile...she was super interested in the fish she could see swimming around. Too fun!

Carter was such a trooper. He even fell asleep toward the end of our adventures!

We left with a couple pounds of Fuji apples, an apple pie, apple turnovers, a gallon of fresh apple juice and...fresh kettle corn, and a box of fresh fudge...not made of apples, but still very delicious.

Jade & Taylor's Wedding

What a day October 4th was! Brandon and I were up at 5:30 am, in the car with both kids and lots of luggage by 7:00 am, in the air on our first flight with the kiddos at 10:15 am (what an adventure that was all by itself!!!) and in Turlock California at 3:00 pm. Just enough time to shower and get our family ready to attend Brandon's sister's wedding at 5:30pm!
Jade was a BEAUTIFUL bride! Jemma kept referring to her as "the princess". Can you blame her?
A shot of our family at the reception. Brandon's mom bought Carter this little tux...SO CUTE...but the little chunk was too big around the neck to button his top button so we had to fore go the bow tie.
Me and Brandon. Ya know, I couldn't help but reflect on my own marriage that night and let me tell you, I wouldn't trade my husband for the world! It's been a little over 4 WONDERFUL years and I just love him more every day. I am so grateful for him and all the depth and joy he brings to my life. I definitely scored when I said yes to him!!
Jemma couldn't wait to get out on that dance floor. Even before the music started, she was out there all by herself waiting and wanting so badly to GeT HeR GrOoVe On!!!
Jade and Taylor. (Sorry the quality of this photo is so poor.) We sure are happy for you guys and wish you the best of luck on this exciting journey!