Marin Montana...

Our little Marin turned 7 a couple of weeks ago (don't ask me how she grew that fast...I have no idea), and to celebrate, she invited 7 girls over for a Hannah Montana party! Party agenda: color Hannah Montana pictures, dance along to a Hannah Montana concert video, play musical chairs, play Rock Star dress-up, get your nails painted, and eat a guitar-shaped Hannah Montana birthday cake! Oh, my goodness. have you ever seen that many little girls pretending to be rock stars at the same time? Wow! By the way, thanks again, Grandma Betty, for the rockin' party supplies!

Here is Marin's first album cover for when she really makes it big:

And our "fabulous" little Lorin blowing kisses to her fans:

I'm not always the best mom, but every once in a while I totally redeem myself:)

From Russia, with Love...

Jonah just returned from his trip to Moscow, Russia with the CEESA Middle School band. Despite the bitter cold, it sounds like he had some amazing experiences and good times with the band! We sent him with a small camera. I think it's the most brilliant idea I've had all year (of course, it's still early in the year:). This boy has some photographic skills! Check out what he came home with! Keep in mind, he's only 11...

Here's one of Jonah (with his baritone) rehearsing for the concert.

I think this one is my favorite. Can you guess why?

Only in Russia...

Christmas in Utah...

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Utah for Christmas! It was 2-weeks of action-packed, family-filled, snowy fun! Our kids think that Utah is the greatest place on the planet! Seriously, they would rank it above Disneyland...go figure.

Christmas morning was spent in our new, little townhouse. Here's a little preview of how it went:

The stockings (hung with care, of course)...

The oh, so dreaded picture on the stairs in the Christmas PJ's...


And they're off! Half a second after this picture was snapped, Lorin slipped and went sliding into the front door. Many tears...

But she forgot all about it once she found Santa's left-over Oreos...that's my girl!


Oops...time to go potty :)

Jonah tests out the new Pogo stick. (He was the Pogo stick champion of the 5th grade.)

That's some wicked bed-head, Ethan.

Lorin loves puzzles!

And Jonah loves games!


Long live Guitar Hero!

Marin rocks the show with her new Hannah Montana guitar.

And finally, this was the scene at Grandma's house afterward...all the grandsons huddled together oogling over their new game devices. Ugh.

A Thanksgiving Feast...

To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we decided to join forces with 4 other American families from our church, and together we cooked enough food to feed our missionaries as well! We ended up with close to 40 people in our house for a feast like you would not believe! It was so much fun, but I ate so much that I could barely walk for the rest of the night. My family knows that pumpkin pie is my favorite food...I could eat pumpkin pie all day. Between 5 families, we baked 14 pies! We all ate until we were sick, and then sent the missionaries home with the rest. Here are a few photos from our feast. Enjoy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The kids each came up with their own design for their pumpin and Wade helped them with the carving part. He is now suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. ;)

Marin is into Cinderella at the moment, so she chose to make her pumpkin into a coach!

Here is Lorin's pre-school class. There are only 2 Americans in her class, and Halloween is still a relatively new concept here in Europe, but these kids really got into the spirit of it!

Here's Lorin trying to do the "hula."
Marin struts her stuff at the school costume parade as Cinderella this year!Ethan had his own creative costume idea this year. Bonus points for you if you can figure out who he is (if you're thinking Peter Pan, you are wrong!)

The kids and I organized trick-or-treating for our compound this year. I'd say it was hugely successful! Just check out the "loot" Ethan and his good friend, Matei, brought home!Jonah picks out a few favorites first...he especially likes the American types.

I don't think there is any way she will eat all of that! Maybe I will have to help her out. ;)
Spooky.Lorin LOVES trick-or-treating...she was literally RUNNING from house to house, just giddy with excitement! As soon as we got home, she immediately ate about 12 pieces of chocolate, then curled up in a ball on the floor and fell asleep.

Wade doesn't know I'm posting this one on the blog. Shhh! Don't tell. Here he is giving us his best "Tiny Tim" impersonation. Nice.

And one more pumpkin picture...just because.