Ward Christmas Party

Nathan did not want to see Santa or get his candy bag. He may be a little braver next year.

I think Joseph was completely amazed that Santa came to our party. I tend to believe that he thought all this talk of Santa was just a fun story we shared with him and that Santa's not a real guy. He is the definite proof that Santa came to our ward party. Joseph's expression says that he's not too sure about this bearded guy.

Decorating the Tree

Joseph is becoming quite the little Christmas fan. He loves talking about Santa coming to our house and says that Santa will bring him a train and dinosaurs.

Shane loves to have a live tree. We haven't had much luck in trekking into the wilderness to find a tree the last few years. This year we went to our friendly neighborhood Lowes and picked this beautiful Noble Fir. It smells wonderful and is a lovely shade of green.

This is also the first year that Joseph was excited about decorating the tree. He put on a few ornaments then turned the work of hanging ornaments over to me end enjoyed being the ornament delivery boy instead.

 Nathan tried his best to be helpful and was more interested in getting the boxes than decorating the tree.  So far he hasn't displayed much interest in the tree.

This is what happens when a little boy finds a Hershey Kiss.

Thanksgiving with the Stocks

Steven has become quite the artist with making cakes. He made a turkey cake to celebrate Thanksgiving. The feathers were made of fondant and the turkey was made with a mold that can double as a baby duck.

I think the turkey cake turned out well.

This is the only picture I got of the table before everyone arrived.  Grandma Stock had her dining table refinished and extended.  It went from a standard dining room table with two leaves to this enormous banquet style table.  The wood grain is beautiful and the finish is amazing.  

Thanksgiving Snow

Thanksgiving was especially exciting this year as it snowed enough that we were able to play in it and attempt to build a snowman.  Joseph, Ella, and James also found the snow to be especially thrilling because they discovered that they could eat it and run like crazy people in it.

After taking this picture, Joseph told me that the snow was cold and then ate more snow.  Hopefully there weren't too many leaves mixed in with the snow.

I think James was especially frozen from playing in the snow.  His cheeks were red and he was eager to go inside to play with toys.  

 Ella shared the same opinion and was not a fan of staying outside very long.  

With rosy cheeks and worn out kiddos, we adjourned to the fabulous playroom and spent the next little while trying to figure out how this delightful toy worked.  The cute thing was that James and Ella played together.

This is the little kid's table.  I think a little table like this would have been especially delightful.  Sadly, the little kids were more interested in playing with each other than admiring the nice table.

Kevin and Shane waiting the festivities to begin.  Kevin looks to be a little tired of waiting.

William (black shirt) was in an accident with a wood splitter and was blessed to have his injuries limited to the pinky on his right hand.  Since the accident, he has not been able to straighten the finger and will need to work with the finger over the next several months to retain mobility.  As a way to show their support, the boy cousins from left Richard P, William P, Eric P, Debra (cousin Wedda), and Richard H decided to pose with crooked fingers.  

Mother's Birthday

My mom's birthday was a delightful event. The menu included enchiladas, beans, fresh fruit and Pepsi. Nathan was a fan of the Pepsi.

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Joseph is becoming more adept at blowing out candles, but needs more practice because he tends to get too close to the flames before blowing them out. Luckily, he hasn't friend his nose.

October Things

We takes walks in the early afternoon and usually stop by the haybarn. Normally, there are several tractors parked under the barn. Those are definitley the highlight compared to the hay. On this particular day, Joseph noticed that there is hay stacked under the barn and got his first lecture about not climbing the hay for the reason that it will fall and he will get squished.  I heard that same talk more times than I can count when I was younger.

Nathan, at 7 months, has his two bottom teeth. We jokingly called him "Sharp Tooth" because he had one for a while and we're into watching The Land Before Time. Sharp Tooth just doesn't fit now that he has two. He likes using the Little People characters to sharpen his teeth and coax others to pop through.

The first weekend of Octorber is General Conference. Getting Joseph to watch any of it is a feat. Shane decided to try hanging out under the precious blanket with him during the Saturday morning session. Joseph stayed for about thirty minutes and enjoyed the Tabernacle Choir. Luckily, we recorded all the sessions, so we were able to go back and listen when the kiddos were asleep.

For our fifth anniversary, my mom asked if we would like dinner or a piano bench. It took about a millisecond for me to reply that a piano bench would be fabulous. My Uncle Jimmy gave us the piano. It belonged to his mother and had been sitting unplayed in his home for years. He decided to clear some space and thought that we might like a piano. We were thrilled to get it and love playing it. Shane especially likes that we can stand around it and sing Christmas carols in October.

A Sunday Afternoon

This is not the greatest picture of Joseph with his nursery ears.  He was watching a "show" and could not be disturbed.  Sister Pierce taught a lesson about ears and had each kiddo decorate a set of ears to take home. Joseph is not big into coloring, as seen in the lack of crayong on his ears. He loved wearing them around the house and pointing out his ears.

Grandma Great sent over a pair of monster slippers and froggy slippers. Nathan is ready to go in these dazzling green amphibians. He is also a big boy and can sit up without being propped up.

Kevin Read to Joseph

The sign of a how much Joseph loves Uncle Kevin, Kennan as Joseph calls him, is that Joseph selected him to read him a book at bedtime. Kevin searched through Joseph's book collection and decided that if he was going to read, he would read a book that he would enjoy. Joseph listened intently and happily went to sleep at the end.

This was the first time that Joseph and James rode a tractor with Uncle Scott. Joseph was excited to get on and help rake the hay. James refused to get near the tractor until Uncle Scott turned it off and then stayed on long enough to get his picture taken.

Giant Cabbage

The county fair had several enormous vegetables that were awarded ribbons. I fail to see how a giant, flaccid, grasshopper chewed cabbage qualifies as a winner in its category. Its like saying,"My garden grows huge plants, but its also full of bugs." I just don't get it.

The Caterpillar

A caterpillar crawled up under my bedroom window and decided that it was his spot.  I'm not sure what kind of a caterpillar he was or what kind of a butterfly or moth he metamorphosed into.  What I do know is that he looked nasty and gave me creepy crawlies when I first saw him.  I took his picture and decided to document as best I could his metamorphosis.

The next day he had changed drastically.  His body was now entombed and his body systems had started their work of turning into a beautiful butterfly or moth.

I watched him everyday for more than two weeks just like in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  I even held off spraying for bugs so as to not disturb this little fellow's processes. Watching something metamorphose is dull as there are not conspicuous changes from day to day until the day that it decides to emerge.  Unfortunately, I missed his exit from his cocoon and found an empty shell.  The shell is still under my windowsill.  When we play in the backyard, Joseph remembers to look at the shell and announces that the butterfly is gone.

The Turtle

 My dad, being a kind hearted guy, called my sister to rescue a turtle who was trying to cross the road.  He said it looked like a rock, but realized that it was more lively than a rock when he saw it move.  Rachel saved the little creature from a fate of being squished and brought him home for all to see.

 I figured Joseph would get a kick out of seeing a turtle in person, so we rushed over to see it before they released him.  Joseph wanted nothing to do with our reptile friend and told the turtle "no, no" as it scampered across the kitchen floor.  He was more entertaining than the turtle.

"No no!"

After observing the turtle indoors we made the little drive to our family park and let him go by the river.  Now when we visit the park Joseph asks,"Where turtle?"  He quickly answers his own question and says,"He's home."

Joseph recently discovered that the farm has tractors.  I think he knew we had them, but did not think they were interesting.  Uncle Scott started the first cutting and he was amazed when the winrower cut the fields around our house and the field below our house.  He runs to the window each time he hears the tractors drive by and loves to sit and watch them do their work.  A huge highlight was riding on the backhoe.  Grandpa cleared the path between our houses to clean up th pathway.  Joseph assisted on the project.

This is where Joseph says, "The sun is blinding me, but I'm really have a great time."

Our house is on the other side of the overgrown trees.  They make a wall on the side of our house that blocks the evening sun and help our yard to be pleasant in the evening.

Joseph and Becky stomping around in Grand Great's yard.

What should one do with Oreos that one does not want to eat?  Smearing them all over the face and shirt for safe keeping is an excellent plan.  After this feat, Joseph said,"Face! Shirt!" and desperately wanted his face washed.

What does a two year old do with flour?  Scoop it into a bag for soda cans.  Normally just the cans are recycled though, but Joseph figured that he'd try recycling the flour right along with the cans.  Grandma Great said,"Hey!"  Joseph replied,"Oh no! What happened!"  Then he ran to the other side of the kitchen.

 How do you get closer look at fish in an aquarium?  Try pushing on the glass really hard and saying,"Oh no!" I'm not sure why he said "Oh no!"  when the fish swam by him.  My best guess is that he was a little nervous over how large the fish were compared to him.

Why should a garden hose only be used to water flowers?  In this little guys case, running water does wonders to deepen the color of khaki shorts, add weight to shoes, and lower body temperature.  He found the hose running and decided to spread the joy of water all around the yard.  He had lots of fun until he got cold and started to shiver.  Aunt Rachel had to coax him inside with cookies.  Once inside, he switched to wearing one of Grandpa Greats old T-shirts.  I thinking wearing one of those shirts if a rite of passage for all the grandkids.

I think he pulls off the oversized shirt look pretty well.  He was too mesmerized by his 'show' to pose in his fabulous shirt.