December

In December we traveled a lot. First we went to Dynelle's house for Timothy's birthday. Garrett and Kirk went snowshoeing the next day. They really enjoyed it. We spent the rest of the weekend having a relaxing time and helping decorate their house for Christmas. 

He can already tell he's funny

Audrey got Bekah dressed for Church

We bought a gingerbread train kit and made our train while the Watkins made their gingerbread house. Tons of fun! Xander hung out on his play mat while Ross slept on the couch. Bekah just kept eating the candy instead of putting it on the train.

Xander and Bekah ready for our walk in the cold!

First haircut! Lookin handsome!

 Dynelle and Audrey came to stay with Chelsey. Bekah was thrilled to have a buddy! They played dress-up a lot!

Ross and Xander, Future best buddies

Garrett went hiking again. 

 I can never get enough pictures of my baby sleeping!

Tons of snow on our way to Montana for Christmas

All the kids got pajamas from Santa on Christmas Eve

Bekah and Liana got along well and had so much fun!

I spent Christmas morning with a sleepy buddy on my chest

Everyone went on a hike in the snow, but it was really windy, so Xander and I hung out in the car for an hour. Good think Crystal gave me an awesome book for Christmas!

After spending a week in Montana, we headed down to Vernal to visit the rest of our family. We are so blessed to be able to visit family for holidays and enjoy their love and companionship!

November

Bekah started coming up with her own style.

Bekah loved having blankets spread on the floor so she and Xander could hang out

I let Ally do the candles for Garrett's birthday

Ally and Garrett as we sang to him

My two boys having snuggle time. Poor baby scratches his face off, so he always has to have socks on his hands

Seriously, this girl has style!

Bekah laughed her head off at this for days

She can do puzzles pretty independently and didn't want to clean them up, so we took pictures

Baby boy at almost 4 months. So happy late at night while I do homework

Workin on his sense of humor. I just love making him smile and laugh!

We were in Vernal for Thanksgiving when Chelsey gave birth to Ross. It killed us that we were her next door neighbors through her whole pregnancy, then we were practically her only family not in town for his birth! Don't get me wrong, we were so happy to be in Vernal to visit my family, but couldn't the girl have waited a day or two for us?

So cute!

Brinker-boys enjoying an Aggie game.

My naked babies. (I think this was Bekah's impression of a baby)

I was on the phone taking notes about the call, so when I hung up, Bekah suddenly got a call and requested the notepad as well.

I titled this piece "Hoodlums" 

Handsome 4-month-old. 

October

I frequently find Xander with blankets and toys his sister has shared with him. I also walk in on Bekah hovering over him talking sweetly and patting his belly. He just stares up at her in awe and frequently giggles at her. It melts my heart!

Three boys born in one year! We were all able to get together to celebrate Baer's birthday. Dynelle told pregnant Chelsey to get over there so Ross could be in the picture, but for some reason she wouldn't. :)

Beautiful Lorna at the American Heritage corn maze outside of Logan. Josh came up for a visit and invited us and Lorna's family to go there and to dinner afterward. It was so much fun! We loved being with them.

The kids all got to ride ponies! We told her to say "ye-haw!" but she just did a cheesey shy smile. We also got to ride on a small train. Bekah was in heaven!

That night she was a bit wound up so we took our time getting ready for bed. This was Xander's first time in the bumbo and he loved sitting up where he could see what was going on!

Our little Aggie

Bekah wanted a picture of her with a flashlight since she loves them so much. We told her to do a big smile!

On the 25th, Dynelle hosted the Halloween party at her house. That girl is a party thrower! It was awesome. Everyone dressed up and we ate delicious food and played games till well past 11. All the kids were falling asleep in the basement while we stayed upstairs laughing and playing till we all almost collapsed from exhaustion. Then we crawled in bed and passed out!

This skeleton sleeper glows in the dark! Bekah is thrilled by it and we frequently spend half an hour at a time locked in the bathroom with the lights off so we can watch the little skeleton bones dance and kick!

Skeleton, Indiana Jones, Lady Bug, Peyton Manning

The next morning was a bit slow. The men went on a hike together and Sherrie got to go shopping with Abbie. It sounded like they had fun! The rest of us got to relax a bit then put kids down for naps. When they all woke up we went shopping. After dinner, Camille, Chelsey, Sherrie, Dynelle, Jess, and I all went to Cheesecake factory to celebrate my birthday. We laughed a lot and got to relax with no kids around (except Xander who slept the whole time).

                                                
 Grandma getting some love in before we all headed home on Sunday

After church on Sunday everyone put up birthday decorations and celebrated me! Dynelle prepared my favorite meal: Chicken Alfredo. It was amazing!! Then I got spoiled with cake, ice-cream, and gifts before we headed back to Logan.

On Monday the 28th we carved pumpkins for FHE. Bekah got bored and found her own way to entertain herself. She got interested later, when we started putting fire in our pumpkins!

Garrett's volcano and my cat

Cody and Chelsey's self-portrait (with Ross in Chelsey's belly) and Garrett's smiley face on Bekah's pumpkin that she abandoned. 

What's Halloween without fake mustaches?

Halloween night we had potato soup and rolls and pumpkin cookies with the Watkins. We watched The Mummy and got 0 trick-or-treaters. I'd say it was a success! Next year Bekah's going to be old enough to demand to go trick-or-treating, so I was just enjoying the quiet time indoors on a Halloween night!