Some photos of the kiddos

I tried to snap some cute pictures after church on Sunday, but I had four hungry and not so willing participants...and we had to stay inside because it was rainy and yucky, the lighting is off, and they are a little blurry.  I like outside shots so so much better, but the kiddos are still cute!   here they are:

and boy--I just love them!!

D got a short hair cut...

I took J to get his hair cut and D says to me, "Mom, Dad says MY hair is too long."  Me, "D, do you want your hair cut, too?"  D, "Yes!"  So we did it.  I of course would have been happy to let it grow for a few more months. :)

Isn't he so handsome!!

**********

BREAKFAST

And D get's his breakfast of sliced oranges....

He really enjoys them.

...and a few chocolate chips, too.

Spoiled??

We have...

deer around here.  Reindeer even. :)  CUTE reindeer, too!

Unfortunately, we also have hunting around here...

while you can't see the toy rifle, you can definitely see the hold and the stance...there is for sure a hunter stalking that cute, cute buck!

Can you even believe it...

I am posting before the end of the month. hahaaa!  Mainly because I know this next week is going to be a doozy and I wanted to keep sort of up to date.

We had a low key first week of December, but last week was pretty awful.  I cried a lot on Wednesday (just being honest), and was feeling very exhausted and overwhelmed.  But today I think we are all in pretty good shape. :)  Feel free to skip to the pictures if you want to skip all the details of pneumonia, sinus infections, sugar cookie making, night in Seattle, strep throat, Young Men's Activity at our house, etc.  ( I know, Dad, too many words... just skip to the pictures and the end comments and you'll be good! )

 The happenings...

in a timeline sort of way...

*Sunday (Nov 28)  

     all our extra family return home after Thanksgiving.

*Sunday night- Monday morning 

     sweet A wakes up in the middle of the night and throws up. 

     Repeat six times

*Monday (Nov 29) 

     One sick child at home with a fever...luckily no more barfing.

*Tuesday 

     Sweet A stays home because she has to be fever free for 24 hours to return to school

*Wednesday & Thursday 

     fairly normal days---busy with Activity Days, scouts, swim lessons, etc

*Friday

     My A, again, has a fever and is getting a yucky cough.  Doctor's office is already closed so wait we will.

*Saturday

     J's first basketball game, and a little holiday decorating.

*Sunday

     No church for dd-A and Mike stays home with her.  

*Monday (Dec 6)

     Doctors office visit.  The verdict: dd-A has pneumonia.  

     Our fabulous doctor checked out Dustin, who was uncharacteristically grumpy while there and he, sure enough, had a sinus infection.  

     Left with two prescriptions and two, tired, grumpy, and sick kids.

*Tuesday 

     Two sick children home.  Me...trying to clean for a Young Men's activity that was going to be at our house on Wednesday.

     After school, J has a sore throat and fever...SWEET!

*Wednesday

    Crazy cleaning,  sugar cookie dough making (for the Young Men's Activity with the couple watching our kids).

     Doctor's appt for J (and then S while we were there, too).  

     The verdict:  J with  strep throat, and S with a pretty nasty sinus infection.  

     Me getting ready for a night out in Seattle with Mike and his fellow Washington Administrators and wives.  

     All that before 2:30.  (This was the day I cried multiple times.  Overly stressed and tired and a little sick.)  

     In the end it was a fabulously fun night out.

     Thank heavens for good friends who were willing to watch our kids even while being sick.

*Thursday

     Everyone went to school by noon (after having antibiotics in them for 24 hours)

*Friday

     I am about as sick as can be and sleep for 4 hours.

SIGH!!!!!!  

Today we are all feeling much better!   And looking forward to Holiday parties and concerts next week.

D making his silly faces

sunset--gorgeous!

and the sickness begins.  Well, actually it started on Monday with her.  

J's first basketball game.  He missed the first two due to his heart dealio, but he didn't miss a step out there on the court.

another sunset.

D loves his little ties.  I love that no matter what he has to wear it out where it can be seen by all.  Even when he wears vests he pulls his ties out .  Love it!

just J, posing for me!

heading out for a night in Seattle with Mike and his coworkers.  We had a blast...it was just what I needed.

The medicine of one day!  Seriously!!

And then of course, I got it.  I spent a good 4 hours in this VERY spot on Friday.  I needed it, and felt quite a bit better when I woke up!

Let's hope the rest of the month goes much healthier for us.

One totally awesome thing about December is that I am doing sharing time this month.  The month's theme is "I know that my Redeemer Lives"  and each week focuses on a different aspect of the Savior's mission.  I feel so lucky that I get to plan, prepare, and study up on his life so much extra this month, and teach and testify of the Savior to His children.  It definitely adds a bit to my Christmas season, and as a ripple affect, my family's Christmas Spirit as well.

With so much going on and all the holiday hustle and bustle I am grateful for the reminder I have of the true meaning of the season, to remember our Savior's birth, and his important and eternal mission.  "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift," for without the gift of His son, we would all be lost, eternally lost, and separated from our  Father in Heaven.  It is only through our Savior that we can return to the presence of our Father physically and spiritually.  What an incredible,  definitely unspeakable, and incomprehensible gift!

November...

has come on gone in a blink of an eye...

Here's a quick recap...

*Mike came home from a 10 + day hunting trip in Colorado.  With a nice deer...

*I got a long awaited and much saved for present...a new camera!

*Finished up A's soccer season with a few good wins and it was super fun to watch them start playing as a team.

*My sweet S has turned 6.  WHAT?!?!?! 6 really?!?!

*The kids and I drove to UT for J's cardiac ablation (his heart procedure to get rid of his tachycardia)

*Raked and played in a huge amount of leaves from Grandma Clegg's front yard.

*Luis (our extra "child" who is now 19 and soon to go on his mission to Brazil) and I tackled the mission paper/Visa TO DO list.

*Saw Grandma and Grandpa Clegg's tombstone (they bought it and have it laid in their plots).

*Mike joined us in UT a day before J's procedure.

*We celebrated S's birthday.

*Spent two days at Primary Children's Hospital in SLC for J's procedure (which went perfectly); really felt the love of our Heavenly Father and His tender mercies.

*Had a fabulous early Thanksgiving in UT with Mike's family who is around.

*Traveled home in multiple snow storms (Mike drove the whole way).

*Spent two days unpacking (or NOT unpacking and just trying to recover) to prepare for our Thanksgiving guests...Chris, Vanessa, and their two little ones and Misty, Phil, and their two little ones.

*Did the Thanksgiving thing here: ate too much pie, stayed up too late to play games, watched fun movies, and enjoyed lots of time with family.  We were bummed that Chris and Vanessa had to leave early, due to their baby getting sick, but we are glad he is aright.

*Then, we recovered from Thanksgiving.

Here are the photos...

D loves to sleep with J and will sneak into his bed any chance he gets.  And he is not a good bed sharer...

 wahoo!!  I LOVE it!

Snow on our drive to UT, luckily, since I was sans Mike, it was just on the side and very pretty to look at, none on the roads.

D truly enjoying the fun of fall leaves

This is my nephew enjoying a snooze and some creamery ice-cream.

Love these guys!

Mike and Luis... I believe this is at around 1:00 a.m.  They had a really great time reading over all the mission stuff and talking.

Grandma Clegg made this birthday girl a very special cake, topped with marshmallows (her wish).

The reason for our UT trip.  After years of dealing with tachycardia for my oldest, he decided to have the ablation procedure done.  Here he is distracting himself before they take him to put him under.  Wii bowling.  Which after the Doc saw the vigor in which he bowled, she said that it was definitely on the list of activities he could not participate in for a week.

Her concentration while folding the napkins cracked me up. :)  She took her assignment VERY seriously.

Three days after J's heart procedure it snowed it UT.  He proceeded to have a snowball fight with his siblings, in which, I stood in the door and yelled repeatedly, "J, you can't run..." or "Don't throw THAT hard..."  etc.  He was feeling fine!  

Modern medicine is amazing.  and his doctor rules!!

We were greeted with MORE snow upon arriving home.

With all our little house guests coming I figured I needed to stock up.

Pie making.

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are our itouch/iphone junkies!

Coloring at the table...properly dressed and all! :)

You know you have kids when your living room decor consists of pet shops and stuffed animals.

They have since all been put back in their "proper" homes.  

Hope you all had a marvelous November!