While the weather has been relatively warm we have taken advantage of that to have family walks on Sunday evening.  We usually make the walk to the MS track, around the field, down to the ES playground, play for a while, and then head home.  Tonight the sunset was so beautiful.  

Today was my first time doing Insanity since before Madeline.  It was tough but I was able to finish it without too many problems.  

Grandpa Al and Lorene stopped by on their long road trip from Virginia to Utah.  They stayed the night with us but had to leave the next morning.  They brought new Christmas pajamas for the kids to open.  We wished they could've stayed longer.  

It snowed today for the first time this season.  The kids were super excited even though it didn't snow that much.  

Today I ran with my running group after not having run with them since March.  I was definitely in the back of the pack but at least I finished the workout.

Mike took Andrew and Peter shotgun shooting with the Milners and they had a blast.  They had so much fun it made Mike want to go out and buy a shotgun.  They learned that Andrew is surprisingly talented with the shotgun.  They are so excited to go back and do that again.

Peter loves to hold and play with Madeline.  Today before church I went into my bedroom and saw how cute he was with her.  He was standing with her by the window and just talking and singing to her.  It was so sweet.  

This month was the big breakthough with nightime sleep.  By week 10 Madeline was sleeping 6-7 hours at night pretty consistently and she finally took the MAM pacifiers.  Hallelujah! Her baby acne was gone and she finally grew out of the newborn diapers and into size 1 diapers.  The bigger diapers still looked a little big but they fit way better than the newborn diapers.  We started reading simple books to Madeline this month.  The kids loved to lay down next to her and read her books.  She seemed to love the Barnyard Dance book.

By Week 11 Madeline was sleeping 8-9 hrs at night.  She would usually go to bed @7:30pm and get up around 4:30am to eat.  Then she would go back to bed until 7:00am.  She is such a dream sleeper.  After nursing her at night for the last time she would be OUT for the night.  She still loved to sleep in her papoose sleeper.  

Madeline loves to get her diaper changed.  She loves it when I pat her naked bum and rub it a little without the diaper on it.  She enjoys the freedom from the diaper for just a little bit.  I try and let her have some time without the diaper.  

Madeline still doesn't love the pacifier but will usually take it if she is tired enough and wants to fall asleep.  It seems to be just a sleepy thing.  She will occassionaly fall asleep on her own after I put her down for a nap.  She has to be really sleep when I put her down though.  She loves to listen to the musical bunny we have hanging in her crib.  

This week we introduced the bottle.  I have been pumping at night before I go to bed.  She takes the bottle really well.  All of the kids got a chance to feed her from the bottle this month.  

The kids all LOVED decorating the Christmas tree. Everyone had their favorite ornaments to put on the tree.  ​Since the ornaments were organized so well from last year it was really easy for everyone to find their favorites right away. We decorated the tree over Thanksgiving break and while we decorated we listened to Christmas music and ate poppyseed bread. We love making and eating poppyseed bread this time of year not only because it is so delicious but because it reminds us of Grandma Candace. She always made her famous poppyseed bread during the Christmas season. It's nice to have something to remind us of her during this time of year.

The kids favorite ornaments this year were: 

Abby - emoji ornament, First Day of School ornament, the silver trees, and the Mickey Mouse wreath ornament

Emma -Santa's key, Merry Go Round ornament, the Vintage Camera ornament, Mike's old ornaments, and her personalized ornaments

Peter - the silver train and the wooden car

Andrew - the big metal snowflake and the Japanese Tori gate

This year we decided to stay put for Thanksgiving break and enjoy a low key week at home.   We did our Thanksgiving dinner shopping on Monday and just hung out around the house just being as lazy as possible.  Today we all slept in and then after getting ready for the day we got started on our fabulous dinner.  The girls and I prepped the turkey by washing it, buttering it, stuffing it, and sprinkling it with salt and pepper.  After the bird was in the oven Abby and I made the chocolate cream pie while Emma peeled the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.  Emma has officially been assigned as the family potato peeler which she loves.  Both of the girls helped out with rolling out the dough for the rolls and Emma helped with the pumpkin pie.  In between our messes Mike was there to help clean up the dishes.  The boys took turns taking care of Madeline so that I could be in the kitchen.  It was definitely a team effort today which made our Thanksgiving dinner no stress at all to make.  This year I tried two new recipes....a new roll recipe and a new recipe for the sweet potato casserole.  Both were absolutely delicious and ones we will repeat next year.  We ate around 2:30pm and then sat around for awhile just relaxing after stuffing our faces full of yummy food.  Some of us rested and others played games before gathering to clean up the dinner mess together.  One of the things I enjoyed the most about this Thanksgiving was how much we really bonded by working together.  I really couldn't be more grateful for my wonderful family.  

Family History has always been a part of our lives.  This year, we had the opportunity of putting on a family history fair in conjunction with the Pikes Peak Library District.  It involved an endless amount of meetings, emails, preparation, and invitations, but in the end, we pulled it off.  Over 3,000 people attended the fair from all walks of life.  There were vendor booths from Utah and local historical societies.  The best part of the fair was hosting it at the library and having the support of the library in doing the fair.  A lot of people came together to make this happen and it was a lot of fun.  In the end, we got a lot exposure and met a lot of great people who are now able to engage in family history thanks to all the great resources we have in the community and in the Church.  Family History brings people together in wonderful ways.