Floyd Lamb FHE

We went to Floyd Lamb State Park one Monday night for Family Home Evening. It was a treat because Lucas had taken the night off work and we finally had some nice weather. We only live about 5 miles from this beautiful park which has over 2,000 acres. Every time we go, which is rare, I ask myself why we don't get a season pass to go there more. There are several lakes, where you can fish or have a picnic or barbecue. There are walking and bike trails also. They also have lots of geese and swans, the kids enjoyed seeing. The highlight of our outing was that the kids got to play in the leaves. They rolled in them, threw them up in the air, threw them at each other. We don't have those kind of trees in our yard, so they loved being able to have that many leaves to play in.

Merry Christmas!

Ethel M. Chocolate and Cactus Garden Wonderland

One night we went to the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory to see their brilliant Christmas lights in their cactus garden. There are about half a million lights covering their cactus garden. It is truly beautiful and wonderful to see. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the pretty lights and different decorations all around the gardens. Before we left, we did the quick Chocolate factory tour and got our free sample of chocolate on the way out. We were quite the crowd with all the Abbott cousins. Afterwards, we went to Grandma Abbotts house for Hot Chocolate and Texas sheet cake. It was also Aunt Cindy's birthday. She passed away almost 2 years ago, but we still celebrate her birthday because she always looked forward to her birthday and loved celebrating it.

9 Year Wedding Anniversary.

Lucas and I were 9 years married on December 5. We were able to go out to dinner at a lovely Mexican Restaurant. Then we did some Christmas shopping and went to see the latest James Bond movie; "Skyfall." It was a memorable day. I can't believe it has been 9 years since Lucas and I walked out the doors of the Las Vegas Temple as man and wife. We do have some things to show for it; 9 years, 4 kids, 5 moves, shift changes at Lucas' job, lots of trips and lots of ups and downs. I couldn't ask for a better partner in life. Lucas is such a cheerful person. He is rarely moody or down. He is constantly making jokes and making me laugh. He is an amazing father to our kids, he plays with them, teaches them, loves them, makes them laugh. He is a hard worker and never complains about going to work, even when he doesn't get a lot of sleep. He is my rock and I don't know what I would do without him. I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life and eternity with this man. I love you Lucas!!

 

 

Family pictures

We went to Red Rock last Saturday to take some family pictures for our Christmas card. I just figured we would set up the tripod and take a few pics of us. The day was perfect; overcast and cool. Red Rock is beautiful this time of year with the colors of Autumn against the multicolored mountains. We just let the kids run wild and tried to grab them when we saw a photo opportunity. Then out of nowhere it began to snow. It was pretty cool, the snow was not wet or cold but more like perfect little balls of styrofoam. It didn't ruin our play time. When we were done we got in the van and headed further up the driving trail. Then it began to snow pretty hard and was covering the ground. It was 34 degrees at one point and we were happy that we were in our cozy van. We did let the kids out for a minute to run around in the snow. It was a perfect fall day. These are my favorite pics:

 

 

Happy Halloween 2012

We had so much fun this year for Halloween. We decided to dress up as Cowboys and Indians. We went to our ward Trunk or Treat the Saturday before Halloween. There was tons of yummy soups and chili's and lots of desserts. The kids had fun going around to everyone's trunks and filling their bags with candy. Then on Halloween night, we hosted a Halloween party at our house. We had chili, vegetable soup, ham & cheese rolls, chips & salsa, Nevada Day cookies and cinnamon roll pumpkin sheet cake to eat. We also had Root Beer and Apple cider to drink. Everything was so good and everyone seemed to have a great time, eating and hanging out. Then we took all the kids trick-or-treating. At one point there were 21 kids in our group going door to door for candy. Quite the mob. We have started a tradition for Halloween and look forward to next year and all the fun it will bring.

 

 

Jason, Lucas & Jon

Kim & Sam

 Tyrone (Indian) & Waylon (Werewolf)

Gavin(Cowboy) & his friend Tatum (Ghoul)

Me & my Mam 

Gavin, Owen, Niamh, Chucky & Tyrone 

Niamh is 4

Niamh turned 4 years old on October 20th. I was in California on the morning of her birthday and was sad to miss the tradition of waking her up singing Happy Birthday to her. Lucas and the boys and Isla sang to her and she got to open her presents. She got 6 barbies, and lots of Hello Kitty stuff. Niamh wanted a Hello Kitty tea party with her little friends from Preschool and some of her cousins. Lucas was a trooper and handled the tea party like a pro until I got home. I did leave everything prepared for him so he wasn't too overwhelmed :) I got back in town in time for the end of her party. We played musical chairs and watched Niamh open her presents from her friends. She had a lovely time at her tea party. Right after her tea party, we had a family birthday party with our relatives. Niamh was in heaven with all the attention and the fact that she got to have 2 parties back to back. She is such a little diva. She knew exactly how every aspect of her birthday would go and it seems like she grew up over night. She is extremely smart and doesn't miss a thing. She is very aware of how things are supposed to be done and has no problem telling you the way it is. She is full of sass and spunk. She is a princess one minute and is wielding a battle-ax with her brothers the next minute. We love her so much and she is such a bright spark in our family.