Family Pictures

We had our talented friend Wendi take our family pictures on Saturday morning.  Besides it being freezing, I would say it was a success!  We got a couple pictures with all of us smiling and some really cute ones of the kids.  Sam was especially cheesing it up for the camera.  Wendi's old truck in her yard definitely helped keep him happy.  He would stay in there all day.  Merry Christmas!

I can hardly believe Abby is less than 2 weeks away from being my 4-year-old girl.  I keep telling her to stop growing (which inspires all sorts of funny responses as we fake-argue about it), but really I am so proud of this smart, gorgeous girl who speaks her mind, bubbles over with enthusiasm, and constantly surprises me with what she knows and what she can do.

This boy is pure joy!  He is a handful at times and leaves a path of destruction in his wake, but his delight in everything around him is infectious.  Sam's latest phrase is, "I'm funny", which he has learned to say after doing something funny and when he needs to get out of being in trouble.

My happy family!

Christmastime is Here!

We got back from our trip just in time to set up our Christmas tree, attend the Christmas party at church, and decorate. We all love Christmastime! We love the treats, listening to music and singing along, and putting up all our fun decorations. The kids dressed up for the Christmas party at church. Abby was an angel and Sam was a puppy from the stable.

Both kids had a rough time adjusting back to our time zone, but we have thankfully all adjusted now. We threw both kids in between us early one morning and this is how they ended up. So cute!

Abby had her ballet recital this week. Roy video-taped it, but it's 15 minutes so it won't be posted on our blog. She did a great job and loved it. They performed a couple tap songs and a couple ballet songs. My girl loves the loud tap songs the best...and I'm not surprised.

My good-looking crew was so coordinated today for church that I just had to take some pictures. I love these people!

Post-Thanksgiving in St. George

It was really wild to go from the cold of Lehi to the warmth of St. George, but it was a very welcomed weather change. We went out in just our long-sleeves and it was great! We had a great time with Aunt Samira, Uncle Steve, James and Miriam. Abby loved all the attention from both cousins and the personalized art lessons, dance lessons, and tea-party-planning lessons she got from Miriam. Sam fell in love with all the motorized toys, monster trucks, Legos, and armored vehicles.

See? Sam loved all the boy toys! He's thinking, "We don't have anything like this at my house!"

We went to see the lights at the St. George temple. Of course the kids (and Roy) had to walk up the 20-plus stairs to the top of the temple doors. And of course I had to take a picture.

After we saw the lights and the displays at the Visitors Center, we headed back to the cars. I cracked up laughing when I saw Sam join the ring-around-the-pole game the older three kids were playing. They started going pretty fast around the pole and Sam suddenly stopped. All the kids were brought to a screeching halt while Sam looked back and laughed at them. He has such a funny, teasing personality.

Aunt Samira and the kids took us to the dinosaur museum and the dinosaur tracks out in the dessert. We got to touch real dinosaur footprints, bones, and other fossils. It was awesome! Abby is now going to join Miriam's Pink Paleo firm as one of the paleontologists when she grows up. We talk about dinosaurs everyday. I've about reached my limit on knowledge so I better start researching!

We went to this great park where everything spins and twirls and moves. It was so much fun! Even the grown-ups had a great time playing. :)

Thanksgiving in Lehi

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving and met up with all my family (minus my missionary brother) for 10 days. It was so fun for all the cousins to get together, have playtime with grandparents (who came out from CA), and spend time doing holiday things. It was a fun-filled and relaxing vacation!

Abby and cousin Brynne got along so well. They love all the same things that are important to 3-year-old girls and were quite happy to have each other. They had matching hair for several days. Abby was thrilled to get to go to preschool with Brynne for two days and came home doing the turkey dance and with several cute art projects that will be displayed at our house for future Thanksgivings.

Abby all ready for preschool with Brynne.

The bed the girls made to watch a movie.

Sam was thrilled with the attention from cousins Holly and Logan. He loved Tyson's car rug.

It snowed one day that we were there, but was gone after a few hours. The kids loved it:

Alli showing Abby the ropes of making snow angels.

We took the kids to BYU campus and showed them the library, the Bean Museum, and the Wilk. We decided it would be a good idea to begin teaching them early the virtues of a BYU education.

Abby being an elephant and Sam roaring like a lion.

Goofy pose in front of the giraffe head, one of the things Roy loves about the Bean Museum.

We explored the Bean Museum with Uncle Neil and Aunt Dani, who will soon welcome baby Brylie to their home. We're excited for another girl cousin!

We went up to Salt Lake one afternoon and evening and explored the Church Children's Museum and saw the lights at Temple Square. Most of the Freebairn clan and a few friends came up to see the lights with us and it was so fun (and freezing!). We went on the night the lights were turned on and it was so crowded! Sam got to drive a car at the Children's Museum and Abby learned a few dances from Mexico.

The lights at Temple Square were beautiful! It was fun to be there with family and friends. We loved getting a little extra time with cousins.

Heartbreakers

When Roy leaves in the morning, the kids love to stand at our bay window in the kitchen and wave goodbye to Dad. They happened to be in their matching pajamas (BYU shirts) and it was too cute to pass up!

We have a tradition to take pictures of our kids with all the fall colors. We can usually go out and take pictures for 30 minutes and end up with one or two good ones of each kid. This year was a different story. Three dedicated, shorter sessions produced nothing so I decided to just bring our camera when we were out and about. And I finally got some cute pictures. While they weren't what I was planning for, they still turned out cute. And now...for my cute heartbreakers!

Fall

Fall in truly upon us here in Virginia. The leaves are mostly all changed into beautiful hues of red, orange, and yellow, with the occasional dark purple tree. It's gorgeous! Luckily it's still warm enough to zip up a hoodie and run around outside for a little while. The beautiful colors and cute kids make for some really great picture-taking opportunities!

In case you couldn't guess, Abby is at the other end of the playground microphone contraption being as crazy and loud as she can be. She is obviously hilarious. :)

Our most exciting news of the week is that our baby is healthy and a girl! We're thrilled for both kids to have a baby sister to love!