Christmas Season

I love this time of year! I was super excited to get our Christmas stuff out, listen to Christmas music, and start planning what to get people.

Tonight the boys wrote their letters to Santa. Jackson wants a batman setup (what the heck is that?) and a remote control helicopter...

Josh wants a remote control helicopter and monster truck...Saturday we put our tree up, yes it looks tacky but we let our kids do it!

My mom made this snowman at some relief society activity a million years ago and Tyce loved it when I pulled it out of storage..Today Tyce and I went and had lunch with Jackson and Josh at school. Tyce thought it was so cool to be at their school, but kept asking to ride the "ellow bus." Jack and Josh were proud to show Tyce to all their friends, who thought he was adorable of course!

Fun Outside

Sunday while I was taking a nap Parker took the boys outside to play. The weather has been SO nice outside, like high 60s! He got some cute pics of them playing...

Of course Joshy's tongue is out.. This was Jackson's reaction when Parker told him they couldn't go any further into the forest...Crossing the "lake"...Brody followed them, he loves to be outside...Brody is so tolerant of Tyce...Tyce playing t-ball...Playing catch with daddy...Jackson's ball rolled down the hill and then somehow bounced into a drain pipe and they were trying to figure out how to get it out. Parker was bribing the boys "I'll pay you a dollar to go get it." Haha, they wouldn't do it, wusses.So in climbed daddy...
He had to go pretty far up to get it out, and he came out pretty dirty. I'm so glad my boys have such a fun daddy who loves to play outside with them. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year, despite being without family. Parker played in the Turkey Bowl and we all went to cheer him on. In the afternoon we headed out to Leesburg to have dinner with out friends Rich and Ashley.

Here's the boys at their table...

The highlight of their day was playing on this swing...
Rich made them balloon animals which they loved...Ashley and I...Relaxing...Rich, Ashley, Parker and I...Our attempt at a family picture, if only Tyce would've cooperated...

We have so much to be grateful for and I tried to dwell on that instead of how much I was missing family. When I asked the boys what they are grateful for Jackson said, "I guess I'm grateful that I'm not living in an orphanage." Hahaha, hilarious. In one month we'll be on a plane to Utah!!! :)

My Little Artists...

This is the scene at my house almost every day after school... Jackson and Josh LOVE to color, cut, tape, glue, etc. They spend hours at the table creating dinosaurs, robots, animals, etc. They rarely play with their toys anymore because they'd rather be doing art or reading. I am amazed both at their creativity and their love for art because that did NOT come from mommy! They must've inherited that from the Morrill side because the Barraclough side is far from creative and talented when it comes to art. I have stacks and stacks of artwork and creations each day all over my house. I love watching their imaginations go wild!

Here's Joshy hard at work...

Jackson hard at work...

Josh and Sarah

Between the twins, Jackson is definitely the more sweet and sensitive one. However, Josh really seems to have a soft spot for Sarah. Ever since she was a baby he was really interested in her. He is always bringing her toys, talking to her in a cute voice, holding her hand, feeding her, cuddling her, entertaining her, etc. He is always very concerned for Sarah if Leah or Tyce takes away her toys. I love watching this side of Josh, it melts my heart.

On Sunday we took Sarah home after church to nap at our house while David and Traci went to church meetings. Josh sat right by Sarah the whole time she ate, feeding her and making her laugh. Sarah loves Josh too (although you can't tell from this picture). She always kicks her legs and waves when she sees Josh. So precious!!! Nothing else too exciting going on in the Morrill household. Lots of sickness, everyone has been sick except Parker (knock on wood). He took two days off last week to take care of Tyce and I. Friday night we had family movie night...

Tyce was SO cute during the movie, which surprised me that he could sit through a whole non cartoon movie! I think he just loved eating skittles and cuddling with his daddy.

We are looking forward to going to Utah in a month to see our families!!!

Jackson Thinks He Can Dance

Just thought you would all like to check the moves of our talented son ;)

Grandma and Grandpa Barraclough Come to Visit!

My parents flew in Wednesday night to stay with us for 5 days! We have all been so excited for them to come! As always, we were go go go the whole time and we are all absolutely exhausted from fun and lack of sleep!

Thursday morning when the boys woke up they went downstairs and woke up grandma and grandpa. My parents brought them each 3 surprises which they loved. We asked them to close their eyes to wait for their surprises and Tyce couldn't quite get it...Excited about his new caterpillar toy...LOVES this adorable ABC tower toy...Jack and his new book...Grandpa helping the twins with their new pirate set...
One of their surprises was that we were going to Great Wolf Lodge that day! It was a late birthday present for Tyce! Parker got the day off and we packed up and headed down to Williamsburg! My parents got us a two room suite which was so spacious! The boys were SO excited, they love staying in hotels. Here they are out on our balcony..

Getting ready to swim!

Tyce wasn't sure about everything for a while, but liked the kiddie pool and LOVED the hot tub...
I was happy to see how fast they picked up on their swimming that they had learned over the summer...Tycee wanted to take a break so grandma cuddled him in a towel for a while...
Of course when it was time to leave grandpa had to dress them up silly...

After dinner and storytime Parker took Tyce back to get him down because it was late and he was exhausted...When asked what their favorite thing at Great Wolf was, they both responded...COLORING!!! They had these cute easels set up with big pictures and crayons for the kids to color. We now have 8 of these, hanging proudly in their room! Grandma got them each a new book which they loved reading with her...Friday morning we got up, had a yummy breakfast, swam until 2, got showered, headed home, hit terrible traffic, and made it home JUST in time for the twins' friends' birthday party! Big day!

Saturday we went to the mall so my mom and I could do some shopping! Our wonderful husbands watched the kids while we shopped for about three to four hours. It was super fun shopping with my mom and, thanks to her, we got some great deals! I'm excited about all my new clothes! Now if only I could lose some weight and actually look good in them!!!

After the mall we stopped at Chick Fila for dinner...Daddy and Josh...

Saturday night we put the kids down and watched the Oregon Stanford game! Go Ducks!

Sunday after church we just relaxed. This has fully entertained Tyce over the last couple days...Joshy working on his school project...Jackson hard at work...Grandpa reading the newspaper (the only time all trip!!)...Daddy and Tyce watching "daddy's show" which is, of course, football...

Today my parents went and had lunch with Josh and Jackson at school then we dropped them off at the airport. I am, of course, so sad to see them go. They are so good with my kids and Parker and I love our late nights filled with food, games, and lots of laughs. The only good thing about them being gone? WE CAN ALL CATCH UP ON OUR SLEEP! The adults never went to bed before 1am and so we're all exhausted and getting a little sick. Hopefully we can catch up soon. Thanks mom and dad for a fantastic time!!!

Next thing to look forward to? GOING TO UTAH FOR CHRISTMAS! I'm so excited to see my fam and Parker's fam and...MY TWO NEW NEPHEWS!!! Kai and Luke, here comes Auntie Jenn!!!