A Perfect Dozen

Our 12th grandchild arrived this morning. We are so happy he is here. He has had a little respiratory distress and here he is on a cpap to help him breathe. His name is Dallin Wardell Ames. He weighed 7 lbs. 11.5 oz and 19 3/4 inches long.

Brooke was so fascinated with him.

We are so grateful he is here!

Welcome to our family Dallin.

CHOCOLATE SATURDAY

This is the story of a long tradition.
37 years ago Brenda introduced me to the art of chocolate dipping. I have carried on this tradition along with Jill and now my daughters and daughters-in-law.
Here is a picture of most of the centers. This is the prep work that takes many ingredients and many long hours of making the candy and rolling it and freezing it until dipping day. This year we made vanilla creme, vanilla with cherry centers, coconut, caramels, and turtles. Heather made peanut butter centers and Jill made toffee (not pictured). Also not pictured is the 30 pounds of chocolate that we start with.
This is the time we got started....8:15 am.

Debbie getting into the spirit of Christmas chocolate dipping.

Tyler contributed by chopping the nuts.

Jill with little elves (Tyler and Natalie) helping out.

Heather and Natalie are part of the action.

Lunch break! I always like to have a crockpot of soup ready to take a quick lunch break.

Tyler and Natalie love to help. Debbie and Jill are the official dippers.

Tiffany joined in the "fun/work" this year.

Still going...........

Blake...keeping himself busy.....

I had to get in a picture......

Brooke came over and helped too......

THE CLEAN-UP!!

FINISHED!!

DONE! A 10 hour labor of love project!!!

If you think we eat these chocolates.....WRONG......well....maybe just a few.....but if you are lucky enough to be related to us or are friends of ours that live close by....you might just get some. However.....we could take orders!

A Day At The Mall

Since Dayna is on official bed rest until the baby is born I decided to take Brooke out for the day and experience the sights and sounds of Christmas at the mall.
She looked in all the toys stores and loved what she saw! She added everything to her Christmas list!

She had her pictures taken with Santa but they don't allow personal cameras so I will have to scan the picture and post it later.
The popcorn was a good treat while we walked and walked.

Watching how they made chocolate covered everything!

The Disney Store with all the princesses.

And finally....all tuckered out! What a fun day at the mall!

Tyler's 7th birthday was Nov. 19. His family birthday party was a Mario Bros. theme.

Heather had all the family over for a great celebration and terrific dinner.

A Child's Perspective

I was reading The Friend with Tyler the other day. There was this game. There were many pictures and in each picture there were family members making either a right choice or wrong choice to make the home happy. If it was a right choice...then Tyler was to circle the letter in blue. If it was a wrong choice then he was to circle the letter in red. In the end all the circled letters spelled a word.
So we went thru the pictures and this one was very obvious.
And this one was too....

Then we came to this picture and Tyler immediately circled the correct letter....but I asked him why. He said "The mom is making too much noice vacuuming while the boy is trying to play his video game."

He got the letter right....but what the picture is telling us is that the boy should be helping his mother vacuum instead of playing the video game.....A child's perspective!

Autumn at the Lake

A beautiful Saturday morning to experience Autumn at the Lake.

However...our main goal was to fit Debbie and Ryan's camper into the lakehouse garage...which we did.

While Jill is away.......

Scott will work. Raked and burned leaves....awwww....don't you wish you could smell the smells of autumn?

Too sunny to look up!

But not too cold for Kobe to go for a swim!

A good morning at the lake!

SPIDER

How does he do it....he's a husband, father, son, uncle, cousin, orthodontist, seminary teacher and much more....Bruce is one creative fellow! Isn't this a cool spider and web he made to decorate his home. I just had to share it with you!

Sonny Acres Pumpkin Patch

It was a beautiful Autumn day and we decided to take the kids to the pumpkin patch. They have lots of pumpkins and fun activities and rides for the kids. I tried not to post similar pictures that Dayna posted on her blog....but we were all snapping pictures at the same time.

This is Natalie on her pony.

Brooke on her pony

Debbie and Blake enjoying watching all the fun!

Natalie and I were the first to arrive at the pumpkin patch....so I took her picture alone.

Chelsea and Natalie on a ride together.

All the girls together....Chelsea, Natalie and Brooke.

The girls on a train ride.....

And then Drew too!

A great day....