Brayden's Big Day

Brayden turned 7 on November 16th and we were able to celebrate it while at the cabin in Lake Cuyamaca.  It was fun to enjoy his birthday with friends and while on a weekend getaway.  We brought all of his presents up to the cabin and we opened them there.  Brayden wanted pumpkin pie for his cake because that is his favorite and it works well being around Halloween and all.


I can't believe Brayden is already 7 years old and that we have a child of that age :)  We have loved having Brayden as our first child.  He has been a great example to our other boys, very bright, obedient, always tries to be the entertainer, and loves to play and watch any sport.  We love you Brayden!!

Christmas 2012

As our boys grow Christmas becomes more enjoyable.  As they grow up their faces seem to glow with more and more excitement through the Christmas season.  This year we enjoyed our favorite Christmas traditions: reading out of our Christmas story binder each night, decorating our Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music, visiting the temple lights in Arizona,  wrapping a gift for Jesus with our service acts for each other, opening our new pajamas on Christmas Eve, and the latest and greatest...waking up as early as possible Christmas morning to enjoy the excitement of opening stockings / presents and seeing what Santa brought our children.

Each year this time of season is a great balance for us as parents to keep the magic of Christmas alive while ensuring that our children understand the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Although it is a time of service and giving it is also a time of worldliness and selfishness.  We just try as often as possible to ensure we focus attention on our Savior.  Each year I feel such a closeness with Him during this season and feel such a gratitude for the knowledge I have of His existence and all that He has done for us.  

On Christmas Eve we had a visit from someone mysterious who put these bags with lit candles out all along our cul de sac.  Then Santa Claus came and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.  Christmas day was so much fun.  We stayed in San Diego to enjoy a quiet day together as a family in our pajamas.  That way we can play with all of our gifts all day as we lounge around lazy.  The kids woke up this year at 5:15am, which is a personal record for us.  We had a lot of fun playing with remote control cars, helicopters, all different shaped sport balls, and watching Connor ride his scooter.  

The other gem we received on Christmas day was a live Google + chat with Elder Jared Curtis from Bolivia. So the whole Curtis family got online and had a video chat with Elder Curtis together.  It was so much fun to see him and see how he is doing in the mission field.

Overall Christmas was a huge success.  We were able to visit Arizona the week before and see our entire family and then spend a quiet Christmas day together just as a family together.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Connor's Blueberry Obsession

Connor has been loving blueberries.  The pictures say it all.

             He goes in for a taste...............

                                                  

   Mmm that tastes pretty good.....

The feast is on.........

YES!!

Trip to Lake Cuyamaca

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed for a close get away and stayed at a cabin with the Fisher's on Lake Cuyamaca. It is about a 45 minute drive from our house in the mountains. It was a beautiful location and we had so much fun. We got to go fishing and actually caught a fish!!  Catching a fish while fishing that didn't happen very often when I was growing up.  Sorry to bring up that sore memory Dad :)  We also got to take a hike around the lake, eat at the restaurant on the lake, and enjoy Julian (a city close by). Our kids enjoyed playing with the Fisher children and we had some nice adult time when they went down at night. Overall it was a nice weekend away!

Brayden's Team Wins the Championship

Brayden's flag football team won the championship game 28-6.  They also each got a really cool big championship trophy.  It was a lot of fun for Brayden to play flag football on this team and for me to help coach.  We had a team party a week later and presented all of us coaches with a framed picture of the championship team with the kids signatures around the picture.  Really cool!  I bet one of them will be famous one day and I will have the earliest signature on record from them:)  I also posted a video with them celebrating after the final whistle.

Thanksgiving with the Curtis Crew

The Curtis side of the family came and visiting for Thanksgiving weekend.  So in total we had about 20 people for Thanksgiving dinner.  That is a LOT OF TURKEY and a lot of fun!!  We enjoyed flying remote control helicopters, playing frisbee and football at the park, and just being with family.  Of coarse the women in the house had to do a little black friday shopping :)  What is a Thanksgiving weekend without a little shopping.  We had a lot of fun with our family and cousins.  Thanks for coming to visit Curtis crew!!

Camille's 5K

Camille and some of her friends did the Color Run this year. It was a 5K around the Chargers stadium where they were blasted with colorful powder. It was a lot of fun!