Getting ready for Christmas

To get in the Christmas spirit, we decided to set up our tree, even though we won't be here to celebrate.

The kids had fun setting it all up and decorating it.

Reina really likes the stockings and she has been getting alot faster at crawling so we've had to block off the tree a bit (although not in this picture).

She also has this new trick of balancing on her tippy-toes and hands.

We also recently went to Eva's school Christmas concert. Like others of these events, it provided some amusing moments. Eva's class sang two songs, this is her singing "Reindeer Love to Boogie" I think she was feeling a bit self-conscious with me taking her picture. I was going to put up video but I couldn't get it to work.

We also had our ward Chirstmas party. It was "A Night in Bethlehem". If any of you have ever done this for a party it is great fun. We enjoyed semi-authentic food, made dredels and candles, and visited the baby Jesus in a manger. We also were supposed to dress up, so here we our in our bed sheets, bath robes and ties. Actually we were dressed a little better than that but not much.

Last Month's Adventures

It's been almost a month since our last post so this will be a power post as I have a bunch of pictures and videos. Hopefully no one will get too bored.

Here are the girls. you can get an idea of how much they have grown.

We have been getting out the warm clothes as winter has hit here in Dartmouth. Enoch was quite happy to don his Spiderman coat. He constantly gets comments on it.

In this little bunting bag Reina looked like an little Inuit but sadly it is too short for her so...

...we had to resort to the Blue Blob! Many of you will remember Alita wearing this. It is in surprising good condition for this being the fifth child to use it. It still looks really cute!!

Reina is growing up fast. She loves playing with her siblings and they adore her.

Paul recently tried growing a beard just to see what it would look like and Reina thought it was great fun to play with.

Paul lasted for about a week and a half before he was aching to shave.

Reina has also grown two teeth in the last month although in this clip you can only see one.

We also went to see Santa at the mall.

The girls enjoyed this and spent quite some time on Santa's knee telling him what they want for Christmas.

Enoch wasn't so sure.

We also met Frosty the Snowman.

Santa gave them each crayons and a coloring book, which they had fun coloring.

Enoch also kept a close eye on Santa to make sure he didn't do anything naughty. (You can just see a little bit of Santa's knee in the picture.)

Reina didn't get to meet Santa as she was sleeping but woke up in time to enjoy coloring.

On December 1st they have a Tree Lighting Celebration here in Dartmouth. It was -6 and quite windy. We had flurries all day but decided to go anyway so we bundled everyone up.

The kids went on a little train ride they had. (Sorry it is so dark, hopefully you can see them.)

We enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate, while Reina enjoyed a warm bottle.

The tree was lite but the fireworks were a bit of a flop. Too windy.

The kids also got to go in a firetruck.

Enoch was excited about his but got a little worried when he thought we were leaving without him.

All in all it was a good night even with the cold.

Our last exciting news is that Reina has begun to crawl. Just a little at a time but by the time Christmas comes she'll probably be pulling stuff off the tree and eating giftwrap faster than we can stop her.

Trying to catch it on camera is tricky though because whenever she sees the camera she stops doing what she is doing. So I had to put the camera on the ground for her to crawl towards but I think you can tell she is crawling in this clip.

Enoch and Reina

Reina is growing up fast. She has learnt how to get up on her hands and knees and rock. At 5 1/2 months we think this is pretty good. (The yelling in the background is Lauryn, she and Eva were doing the dishes and having a "slight" disagreement.)

She also has just cut her first tooth, which may explain why the drool and fist sucking (and I do mean fist) has been so prevalent. It may also explain the crazy sleeping. Although she now is doing these things she is still lacking somewhat in the hair department. Although she is not quite a bowling ball as Grandma so kindly put it recently, she definately has been the most follically-challenged of all our babies. So this picture is for Grandpa and Grandma. See, she does have hair. You just have to see it in the right light.

Enoch is growing up as well. He has over come his sleeping issues as well which were a combination of being afraid of the dark (we think) and getting his two year molars. They are still coming in but don't seem to be bothering him as much. He is quite a funny little boy and enjoys making us laugh as you can see.

He really likes the camera.

He still loves his superheroes and was quite excited when I got out this new shirt for him to wear. He knows who everyone is on it. (Sorry for the angle, I forgot you can't take video on a camera on its side, but I thought I would load it anyway so you can hear him tell who are the characters are.)

Welcome Home Jeffrey!! We can't wait to see you.

Happy Halloween!!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween. Our kids certainly did. We carved pumpkins although I'm not sure that Enoch understood what we were doing.

Each of the kids had their own.

The kids also dressed up. Enoch was a tiger.

Lauryn was a cheetah.

Eva was a princess.

They had a good time trick or treating.

And came home with plenty of candy....

and for some reason lots of chips. I guess chips were the treat of choice this year (or maybe just the least expensive.)

We love NY!!

Since we finally have a camera that can take pictures that we can actually view, I thought I should post pictures of Reina in her "I heart NY" onesie. She has worn it a couple of times but I guess we waited too long to actually take pictures in it as it appears a bit snug. I think Reina is a bit of a monster compared to Anya and David as their onesies from Jay and KJ fit a lot looser, although the picture of David was taken when he was 4 months not 5 like Anya and Reina. Anyway, thanks so much Jay and KJ it was really cute while it lasted.

Reina has abs of steel under all that chubbiness though. She is dying to learn how to sit up and when placed on her back she will constantly do curl ups as seen in this picture. She holds her head off the ground for as long as she can, even until her face turns red.

We're Blogging Again!!!

After fixing our van, buying a new table, waiting for new shipments and lots of research we have finally bought a new camera. So if anyone still checks our blog we are posting again.

We meant to buy a camera a long time ago but something always seemed to come up. First our car died in a rainstorm, twice. So we had to figure out why it didn't work when there was lots of rain and then get it fixed.

Then our kitchen table collapsed (it was already broken but the quick fix wasn't working anymore) so we had to go get a new one. It is hard to find a table big enough for our family that doesn't cost a fortune. Fortunately we found a good deal at Liquidation World.

So after a month we were finally ready to buy a camera. We had figured out the one we wanted and it had already been reduced in price since we had started looking. So we went to the store but they were sold out. This happened twice. So then we tried again and they finally had it at Walmart $10 cheaper than anywhere else. So we bought it. With all of the trouble we had, it actually ended up saving us over $60 on the camera so I guess the wait was worth it.

Anyway, we are still figuring out how to use it but here are some new pictures of the kids.

Eva has started Grade 2 and is enjoying herself immensely. (Almost too much since her teacher tells me she talks alot so we'are working on that). She is not wearing her glasses in this picture as she was just going to get them fixed. The lens fell out.

Lauryn has started preshool and went all on her own. This is a big deal as she is my most introverted child. She usually takes a long time to warm up to people so we are very happy with this progress.

Enoch still love his superheros and loves to play with Spiderman, Superman, Wolverine, etc. He likes wearing a cape (blanket) and running around saying "Superman, Superman", although I doubt anyone but us can tell that is what he is saying. We also have a repetoire of superhero sounds to help him to eat. Instead of train or airplane sounds, he likes swinging Spiderman, or flying Superman or Batman or pounding Hulk, each have their own sound. Those of you coming home for New Years may get to hear these if he hasn't grown out of it by then.

Reina is now almost five months old. She is growing fast and is no longer a skinny little thing. She is now quite chubby.

She smiles alot and has learnt to roll onto her back. She also squeels very loudly and high pitched (like Scott used to when he was little if you can remember).

We are so excited to see everyone at New Years. I'm so glad you are all coming. I finally will get to see my neice and nephew.