Thanksgiving Weekend

My brother happened to have a soccer tournament in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend. My mom drove down with him and spent some time with us. We ate lots of food, had lots of fun, and watched lots of soccer.

They had games during the morning and at night. It was fun to watch and made me miss my soccer playing days. Here is my brother, the one with the nice long legs :)

We also went to the Auto Show. The boys LOVED every minute. The highlight for them was FJ Cruiser. Ethan and Cole are obsessed with them, as is their Dad.

The tree is up, and we even have a few presents under it (thanks grandma).

Thanks mom (and Matt) for visiting, and Patterson family for making the drive all the way to Las Vegas to see us :)

Wishing you all a ....

2009 Christmas Ornaments

Shawn told me I couldn't post anything about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, so I guess I am breaking the rules, but I wanted to post our 2009 Christmas ornaments (don't worry, our tree isn't up yet). This is definitely one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Each year everyone gets to pick out their own ornament so our tree is covered mostly with superhero's, cars, and a few princess's. Here are the new additions......

Shawn: Homer Simpson and the snow plow (Shawn laughed for 5 minutes straight while in the store playing with this ornament. I never thought Homer Simpson would grace our Christmas Tree, but I should have known better)

Jenn: Minnie and Mickey Mouse (in honor of our first Disneyland Trip)

Ethan: Harry Potter (for some reason the boys have been watching Harry Potter a lot lately)

Cole: Soccer Player (Cole had his heart set on a soccer player from the second we walked in the store)

Liv: Tinkerbell (She liked all the girly/princess ones, but ended up settling on Tink)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby!

I love that you work so hard to take care of us,

I love that you make me laugh,

I love that you drive really fast and screech around the corners so the boys will think your cool,

I love that you brush Liv's hair every night before bed,

I love that you call me "querida" (it means something sweet in spanish, I don't really know what)

I LOVE YOU!

First day of Basketball

Ethan had his first day of basketball today. I think he had a lot of fun. Shooting is not really his thing, but he sure can dribble like a crazy man.

Liv and Cole kept busy during Ethan's practice...

I had another baby shoot this morning and if I keep doing shoots like this I am in big trouble. I just don't think my womb can take it anymore :)

Halloween Costumes

We had our ward trunk or treat last night, but I didn't even bring my camera. So, here are some pictures of the kids in their costumes from a Halloween Party earlier this week.

Ethan choose a scary Zombie Skeleton costume. I tried really hard to talk him out of it, but all he wanted was a scary nasty costume.

Cole is obsessed with cars and wanted desperately to be a race car driver.

I thought that Liv would make the cutest Minnie Mouse in honor of her first Disneyland Trip this past spring.

The kids enjoying their goodies.

Carved Pumpkins

For my boys

Last week the boys colored these pictures. Every day this week when Ethan got home from school he asked me if I had posted his picture on the blog yet. So, this is for you boys.

Pumpkins and Soccer

They really don't have much to do with each other, except that it is what we did this weekend. We got our pumpkins and played lots of soccer.

Here are the pumpkins...

Here is the soccer....

this is what Liv does while the boys play soccer

I bet you didn't know we were this tricky

Lately I have been watching the temperature in Wisconsin, trying to get prepared for the coldness that await us. I'm sure we are going to freeze the first winter up there so I am trying to take in every bit of warm October weather that I can get right now. Next October I'll probably be sitting inside wrapped in blankets and sweaters :)

Cole's First Soccer Game

Cole's first soccer game was this morning. He was so excited!! His uniform has been out on his dresser ready to wear for the past 2 days. I told Cole to smile for the picture and he posed like this...

...and don't forget the most important part, the treat. After all isn't that why 4 year-olds play soccer??