Happy Thanksgiving - kindergarten style!

The twins had some fun activities this past week with their school to gear up for Thanksgiving. They started with the "Turkey Trot" - a food drive where the kids ran laps. Parents were invited to run with the students; but since I'm four weeks away from having this baby, I stood on the sidelines to cheer them on.

The last day before Thanksgiving break, their class put on a little play. The sound quality is bad, and the kids were speaking softly. Anna had to repeat her line because no one could hear her. Then they sang Thanksgiving songs before enjoying their Thanksgiving feast for lunch.

It was fun to enjoy these activities with Will and Anna - and to have good friends who watched Josh for me so that I could enjoy these activities. This Thanksgiving, we're grateful for the good school and wonderful teachers and friends that the twins have been blessed with!

In other news, being a bishop can be exhausting, as evidenced by this Sunday afternoon photo:

Happy 6th Birthday, William and Anna!

Since Halloween was spent being sick, we tried really hard to make the next day better for the twins. We wanted to give them a fun birthday despite all the sickness. Luckily they were both feeling well enough (and were loaded up with enough antibiotics) to go to school on their birthday - which was perfect since Larkin and I were secretly signed up to be mystery readers in their classroom! Will and Anna were really excited when we walked in, and we got to read two of their favorite books to their class.

Then we took the kids out of school early to spend the rest of the day with them. We played board games, went shopping to spend their birthday money, went out for dinner at a restaurant of their choosing, and came home for a little party. They loved their individual cakes and all the presents from people who love them!

We're so grateful to have these two amazing children to call our own. They're smart, kind, silly, helpful, sweet, faithful, and loving. We're proud of the big kids they're becoming!

Busy October

October was a busy month! We started with a visit from Grandpa Brig and joint birthday celebrations for Dallin and Larkin.

Then the BYU football team came to Houston to play UH, and Larkin and Will got to go to the game! Will was super excited to attend his first ever football game - which was made even better by a last minute win by BYU. He keeps asking when BYU is coming back to Texas, so he can go to another game.

We went to the zoo with some friends one Saturday for the annual Zoo Boo (trick-or-treating, pumpkin picking, Halloween games and prizes). Will got to wear his Hulk costume, Anna was Rapunzel, and Josh was nice enough to put on an orange shirt. That's the best he would do for us. We've gone to Zoo Boo for the past couple of years, and the twins love it. Since our weekends have gotten more and more filled with other things, I didn't think we'd make it this year. I'm was really happy we did, since Halloween day was kind of a bust. Anna was getting over a double ear and sinus infection, and on Halloween day, Will stayed home from school to go to the doctor for his own ear infection. Needless to say, we didn't go trick-or-treating that night! Going to the zoo earlier helped the kids feel like they actually got to do something for Halloween.

And that was our October! We hope everyone else had a more exciting Halloween!

Imagination Movers Concert!

For the past four or five years, I've been a huge fan of the Imagination Movers. (Should I be embarrassed that I'm so into a kids' rock-n-roll group? Because I'm not embarrassed at all.) We listen to their music in the car all the time, and we used to watch their TV show on the Disney Channel. When I heard they were coming to Houston for a free concert, I was so excited! I even tried to talk the twins into coming with me instead of going to kindergarten. Yes, yes, I did. They opted to attend school, though, but now they regret it. Josh and I had a blast!


The concert was outdoors but under a big shaded area with fans going, so it wasn't too hot for Houston weather. The four guys in the group took turn coming off the stage and giving high-fives, posing for pictures (during the show!), shaking hands, sharing their microphones, etc. Josh got to give Dave (the one with the red cap, playing bass) a high five! All of the kids were dancing in their seats and having a great time.

Josh even listened to their instructions and danced like they said to. This clip (though sideways) shows him jumping when told to and applauding when the song was over.

It was such a fun time! I'm taking the twins with me next time the Movers come to Houston!

Josh-Josh Turns 2!!!

We can't believe our little snugglebug is already two years old! He is a ball of energy who still loves to snuggle and give his family hugs and kisses (while saying, "Awwww!"). He is recently obsessed with Cars 2 - as in watching it everyday immediately after dropping off the twins at kindergarten. So we went with that idea for his party.

Pin the headlight on Mater

Enjoying the decorations off his cake 

His response when I asked him to say "cheese" 

Putting together his new Lego Duplo set 

Here is the traditional singing and candle-blowing. Josh had already seen the Lightning McQueen car on the top of the cake, though, and very badly wanted to have it. Immediately.

He placed a couple of phone calls in the middle of the party because he had to try out his new phone.

The missile-shooting Mater toy was a big hit.

But in the end, we decided that we could have skipped all the festivities and just gotten him a balloon.

Good Things Come in Small(?) Packages

We got a box delivered yesterday, and Anna was very excited to see what was in it.

Wouldn't you like a delivery like ours? (We're keeping him, by the way. We kind of like him.)

Legos, Legos, Legos, and more Legos

These kids love Legos. All of the kids. Josh has finally gotten to the age where he doesn't try to eat the Legos the twins are playing with, so many days, the kids will play with nothing but Legos. I saw pictures of DIY Lego tables online and brought the idea up to my wonderful husband. He ran with it. In one day in his shop (in addition to attending meetings and teaching classes), he constructed a Lego table for the kids as a surprise. We got their reaction on video.

Here is the table in action the next day.

I think new piece of furniture is going to be well-used and well-loved for years to come.