Christmas early because of a book?

I am not normally a Christmas person. Christmas time is filled with with crazy shoppers, inconsiderate people in parking lots, and everyone worrying about what they get. Not this year. It will be different because of this book. About 3 weeks ago, I was at a book signing, and I asked the author for some suggestions on children's books. She suggested " I Believe in Santa Claus " by Diane G. Adamson. I didn't even flip through the books she recommended, I just bought them. When I got home, I read the other books first, probably because they have pretty covers. This book is very plain. It is green, with the title in gold on the cover. That's it. But when I opened the pages, it was amazing. I am not going to go through it. Instead, go to the bookstore, and get the book for your home this Christmas.
This year our tree was up by mid-November.


Mike and Marcus, making my bows look pretty for the tree. What good helpers.



Justin and Talia adding ornaments. Talia hung them beautifully. Justin on the other hand, didn't grasp the concept of the hooks. He tried to make them stick to the tree, but eventually he was just throwing the silver balls into the branches, and hoping that they didn't roll back out.



Almost finished...



The final Product...
This picture is from a few days later, notice all of the spots down low with no ornaments? Yes, Justin's new favorite game is called "Strip the tree and throw the ornaments down the stairs." I am sure it is very exciting to play, but I can tell you that it's not nearly as fun to clean up.

MY PRINCESS

I want to start off by saying that Talia NEVER got into any of my makeup. Justin, however has done this numerous times...

He started with mascara first. I am sure he wanted it to dry while he put on some foundation, and then went for a second coat.

Next came the colors...A huge dilemna, I'm sure for a 2 year old to choose, so why not use them all?

And he models the final look. It's the new style. Makeup EVERYWHERE!!!

Cray's Blessing Day...

Here are some pictures from Cray's blessing. My mom bought him this gorgeous Tuxedo, cummerbun and all! Doesn't he like like an angel?

Talia's Baptism

On Nov 4, 2006 Talia was baptized. What a special day. This is a picture of Talia "glowing" before the baptism. For some reason, though it was light, the picture kept looking like night around her. So I figured she was meant to glow.

Here we are!




Don't they look holy? I love the photos in baptismal clothing.
The spirit was so strong during and after the baptism that it brought tears to my eyes.

HALLOWEEN!!!

Justin LOVES Buzz Lightyear, and of course Buzz is so old, that no one carries his costume anymore. Just by chance, while we were in Ridgecrest a few feeks go, we found this Buzz costume in the K-Mart. He was so excited to wear it! I think Halloween might be his new favorite holiday.



Our little monkey. Cray is now 6 months old, and FINALLY has a nickname. It is "Chiquito" Really after the chiquita banana, but it also means very small. Since he is MUCH smaller than any of our other children were, I think it fits perfectly. Soon Halloween Cray was our Chiquito Banana Monkey!



Here is Talia at her school Halloween parade.



Talia and her best friend, Allison Hanks. It feltlike about 8 degrees because of the wind chill on Halloween, but we did the Trunk-or-Treat anyway. The candy is all grouped close together, so we actually braved the cold.



This is a blurry picture, but it's the best one we have. Happy Halloween!