It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December is always full of fun and festivities. We had a wonderful month attending all of the fun holiday events that we could.  We sure love to have fun!

Chocolate Dipping Party at the Tingeys. 

These are my absolute favorite people here in Hillsboro and I will miss them terribly.  We have had so many great times together and I hope we have many more. These ladies are fabulous!

(I didn't realize I was so much shorter)

Fondue Party with our local family - The Nielsens

We're going to miss living by them too. We have had so many fun adventures together and the cousins always have a great time. It will be hard to not be so close to them anymore. Thank goodness you have family in Denver so we'll hopefully see you quite a bit.

Christmas Party at the Jackson School House  - Block Party

The boys and I attended this party so we could sit on Santa's lap and go on the hay ride. It was a bitter cold night, but we just bundled up. We waited all night for our turn and ended up being one of the very last ones to make it on the wagon.  It was definitely worth the wait. We caroled to the neighborhood as we sang carols to our neighbors. Did I mention I love this time of  year?

 

  

Evan's School Holiday Party with all the 1st graders

This is Evan with his pal from Kindergarten, Sean. Evan the cute nosed reindeer!

 

  Evan and his best pal Joe. They were in Kindergarten together and now Mrs. Buck class together. Such cute little buddies. Joe made Evan a duct-tape wallet that he loves. What a great friend!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

December - Our Magical Christmas Tree

Matthew has Mondays off so we picked Evan up from school and headed to the hills to find ourselves the perfect Christmas tree.  It was a super foggy day so we were missing out on a gorgeous view up there. After quite a bit of hunting and lot of running around and squawking we found ourselves a beauty. It was our biggest one yet. We usually buy little pip-squeak trees, but we splurged on a 6+ footer and it was so worth it. 

Dallin thought he found the perfect little tree for us all, but we convinced him to keep looking.

Evan found himself a comfy little chair to sit and relax from all his hunting. 

 

Everyone wanted to help chop down the tree!

Our little elfs trimming the tree. They did a beautiful job and it was a fabulous night!

 

 

I LOVE Christmas trees. They are my most favorite Christmas decoration. I love to turn all the lights off and just bask in the glow of the tree lights. It's so relaxing to me. I use to drape Christmas lights around my bedroom year round while in college. I would study and sleep with them on.  They make everything wonderful! I love sharing all of this with my two little elves and hopefully making wonderful memories for them. I just love this time of year!

November 2009

Our November Memories 

Matthew is sure getting good with his camera!

Our primary presented their Sacrament program. I was pretty proud of all the kids, it went beautifully.

Dallin attended a super fun class called Hop, Skip & Jump. 

Evan is learning SO much in school and getting SO smart.

I had a fabulous Girls Day with my sister-in-law Sarah and our friend Jen.  We got pedicures, I got a hair cut, watched New Moon and grabbed some grub. It was so Wonderful! The next day the talented Jen took pictures of our family. Of course they were pretty amazing!

We completed our Homestudy for the adoption.

The boys and I enjoyed the falling leaves and crisp Autumn days.

Drove down to the Nielsen homestead in California for a great Thanksgiving. We were able to see everyone but Mike, Heidi and boys. It was so fun to visit our beautiful San Francisco, although there wasn't enough time to enjoy it all again. Of course, we had to go for a hike in the beautiful Brentwood hills. Matthew has so many memories there and it's so fun to watch him make more with his little rascals. 

We had a FANTASTIC November!!!!

October Highlights

1. Matthew flies all over the country interviewing for an Orthodontic Residency.

2. My little sister has her 3rd little boy, sweet little Nelson.

3. The boys and I drive to Idaho to "help" with the new baby and spend time with all our Boise cousins. Absolutely Wonderful!

4. Dallin starts a Hop, Skip & Jump class where he LOVES to dance.

5. Evan and Matthew finish up their soccer season.

6. Bethany discovers the wonderful world of Yoga.

7. We hit some happening Halloween and birthday parties.

8. Evan (the master ninja) and Dallin (the cutest bat) fill their pumpkins full of candy while trick-or-treating the night away.

9. Poor Evan gets the nasty fever and cough and we're all down and out for a few days.

September Highlights

1 - Bethany completed all treatment for the cancer issue and started thyroid supplements moving towards normalcy again.

2 - Evan goes back to school and is a Fantastic 1st-grader. It's hard to believe he's so BIG!

3 - Dallin starts a Wee-bounce class. He's CRAZY for trampolines and jumping!

4 - Dallin and Mom fly to Vegas where they hang out with all the grandparents and visit with lots of family.

5 - Matthew and Evan hike Saddleback Mountain, a great feat for such little legs.

6 - Matthew and Bethany celebrate their 7th anniversary.

7 - A visit from the Barrett Bishop family which is always a wonderful occasion.

8 - Evan starts soccer with Matthew and Bethany (mostly Matthew) as his coach(es).

9 - A very beautiful and memorable family outing to the coast for a gorgeous sunset.

10 - We select an agency to work with and begin the process of Domestic Adoption. We're all super excited!

Rounding up the Boys

So A few weeks back I headed out to Boise to gather up my kids, cause they had been shipped out due to their mother being radioactive and all. I drove to Boise and spent the night there then the next morning we headed to Kaysville to see the Grandparents and some family, as there was an impromptu gathering of Nielsens going on. It was fun, the boys especially liked it cause Uncle Josh had brought his Wii.








We spent one morning taking an excursion up some nearby canyon and found some pretty sights.



And pretty much just hanging out with Uncle Joey and Joshy.





Finally we had to go home so we headed back up to Boise and got in late and crashed at G and G Bishops. The next morning we headed out to the lake for an hour or so to see some other Uncles and Aunts on the Bishop side. Here he is driving the boat with Uncle Brett.




Then it was back to Oregon through some pretty country. It was good to get home and let Bethany see her boys for the first time in a week and a half.




Here is one for fun.



And finally Boys will be boys.