Ben is 10!

Ben is an absolute sweetheart. He loves everybody and everybody loves him. He can turn a stranger into a new friend before you can blink. He is a great big brother to Emma & Mark. One cute thing about Ben - last week we put up our Christmas tree. We have gold ornaments and we have some plastic balls and some glass. As we were decorating the tree I kept hearing balls bouncing on the floor. After the fourth time I tuned around to find Ben bending over and dropping two balls simultaneously six inches from the floor to hear the sound they made when they hit. This was to see if they were glass or plastic. He would then know whether to hang it up high or low on the tree. Thankfully none broke before I caught his very discerning experiment. I love him so much, he makes me laugh. Our family would be so boring with out Ben here to keep us laughing. He is always full of interesting facts. I love when he shares his new-found knowledge with me.

We are so blessed to have Ben in our lives.

Abby is 12!

Abby is a great gift to our family. She is always willing to help and even volunteers to help do things. She is also extremely creative. She makes the cutest games for Ben & Emma to play. She made them a whole packet of original games to play during General Conference. I think I am going to submit one of the really cute games to The Friend magazine. Her creativity goes to crafts as well. She makes the most darling cards and gifts. She is always making us encouarging cards.

Abby has a very sweet spirit. I find her up in her room reading her scriptures or her personal progress books. I could not ask for a better big sister and role model for her younger siblings. We are extremely blessed to have her in our family.

November

November brought Ben's 10th birthday and a trip to Connecticut to see our dear friends the Scharmans for Thanksgiving.

All Ben wanted for his birthday this year was a new bike. So we went out to dinner as a family. He picked Red Robin. We then went and got him a new bike. It was relaxing and fun to spend time together after a crazy season of sports. I am really enjoying having a more flexible schedule.

Our eight hour car ride to Connecticut went very well. The children, especially Mark were very good and we did not hit any real traffic. It was so good to see the Scharmans again. We hiked at a nearby park that has a waterfall on Thursday while the the turkey was cooking.

Mike & Clark trying to relax:

Mike didn't get too wet afterward:)

On Friday we went to an old cider mill and got the most delicious cider and apple doughnuts.
Then Mike, Abby, and Ben got to go on Clark's submarine. Mike loves submarines. He reads (on purpose) books about them.

On Saturday we went to Boston. I had not been to Boston since I was a little girl. I LOVED it. It is a beautiful city. It is clean and pretty. There is a lot of historical things to see and yet it still is in a big city. We got to see the USS Constitution, which Mike also loves. He has a big painting of it in his office.

Doesn't Mark look happy?

The children saying,
"Yeah, we are on a really old ship!"

We then went to Bunker Hill monument. We (as in four adults and eight children) then climbed the tower that has 294 steps.

We then went to the Old North Church and Paul Revere's house. We got there too late to go inside his house.

That is the Old North Church in the background.

October

I thought I should post before the end of the year!

By the way, here is a picture of Abby, Ben & Emma on their first day of school. It was raining that day so this is the first picture I have ever had to take inside on the first day of school in 8 years.

Abby turned 12 in October and Mark had his first Halloween (technically his second).

Abby's birthday was really fun. She got to have a friend birthday party this year. She planned inside and outside games. It rained that day so we had to do the games inside. She wanted cheesecake again for her cake and I got a recipe for stabilized whip cream so it would hold it's shape for days, from a friend (thanks Krisanne). We even used the left over whip cream to squirt on top of their strawberry drinks to go along with their pizza. I got her a basket of "big girl" stuff a couple of days before on her real birthday. She got razors, shaving cream, lip gloss, mascara, and some more chlorine shampoo and conditioner for swim team.

She also got her traditional birthday gift of assorted hot chocolate and a box of 80 creamers.



Here she is the morning of her birthday with Ben.



She was a really sweet big sister and let her little brother and sister hang out with her and her friends.




Here are Mark and Mike at the Church's "Trunk-or-Treat".


He's a monkey (I'm talking about Mark not Mike).


Here are the children on the night of Halloween. I could not find my camera so I had to use my iphone. Sorry for the bad lighting. Emma is a table, Ben is a robber, Mark is a monkey and Abby is a black-eyed "p" (with the help of makeup - not anyone's fist).