November

These are just a few of the fun things we did in November.

We had our first BIG snowfall which gave us a SNOW DAY! We loved having the day at home to play in the snow. It was also a Friday, so our dad got to be at home with us too!









I took the three younger boys sledding and we all had a great time!!







Levi got to bring the Estimation Jar home and fill it with anything he wanted. He filled it with some of his favorite toys. Miss Erin let all the kids estimate how many things were in the jar and then she put them out to count. Levi absolutely LOVED this experience! It made him feel so important and special and to show off some of his favorite things!







Benjamin was introduced at Pack Meeting as a new cub scout. He is excited to be a cub scout and all the fun adventures that he will get to be a part of.



Nathan decorated another tree for the Festival of Trees for St. Al's. Sarah and Andrew went with to "help". I think the tree turned out beautiful and it was definitely my favorite one there!











So much of our family came for Benjamin's baptism. It was such a wonderful baptism!





After the baptism everyone came over to the barn for Thanksgiving. We were so grateful for our family who traveled a long ways to celebrate Benjamin and Thanksgiving with us!

















After the lovely meal and visiting with our family, we tried to get a family picture for our Christmas cards.





Nathan and several people he works with volunteered to do Rake Up Boise which was postponed due to our big snow storm earlier in the month so after all the snow melted, they were able to get out and rake up all those leaves.








We got more snow near the end of the month after all the other had melted. Benjamin was determined to make a snowman. He built this one all by himself and we think he used ALL of the snow (and leaves) out front to make it. Love it!!



Having so much snow so early in the season got everyone thinking about hitting the slopes. (As you can see from the background, Nathan was very busy putting up our Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving.)



What a wonderful month FULL of fun times and fabulous memories!

It's GREAT to be EIGHT

In our family, we have a tradition that the eight days leading up to our children's baptism we celebrate them every day in a different way.

On the first day of Benjamin's "It's Great to be Eight", Benjamin got to go to his first Pack meeting as a new cub scout. Afterwards, we went to Dairy Queen for a yummy Blizzard to celebrate.







On the second day, we went to a movie, Dolphin Tale 2 and out for pizza as a family.



For the third day, mom and dad took Benjamin on a date. We stopped at Toys R Us for something and just happened to be there the same time the Marines were their with a tank. Benjamin was very excited that he got to actually go inside and stand on top of it. Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Benjamin and Nathan shared a Chinese Chicken salad and Macaroni and Cheese balls and then we all split the Oreo cookie cheesecake for dessert.









On the fourth day, Benjamin got a new set of scriptures from mom and dad. He was SUPER excited and had looked forward to getting them for quite some time.


The fifth day we celebrated Benjamin with a special Family Home Evening with talking about the importance of following our Savior and getting baptized like him. We played fun games for the activity and had a yummy treat. (Too bad we forgot to take any pictures!!)


On the sixth day of "It's Great to be Eight", Benjamin got a new lamp for his bed so he can read at night and so he can remember to be "The Light of the World".


For the seventh day, Nonnie gave Benjamin a special "comforter" for his bed so that he can remember how the Holy Ghost will always be a "comforter" for him.


The eighth day of "It's Great to be Eight' is always the most special because that's the day you get baptized. Benjamin had a lot of family members and friends come for his special day. Nathan conducted the baptism, Alexa (his cousin) gave the talk on Baptism, I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Sarah and Andrew played a duet for the musical number, Sarah played the piano for the other songs, Palmer (his cousin) led the music, Grandma Smith and Aunt Angie offered prayers and Grandpa Smith and Uncle Jon were the witnesses and stood in the circle during the blessing. It was an absolutely wonderful service and we hope Benjamin will remember it forever. We are so proud of his choice to be baptized!! We love you, Benjamin!!