We were so excited to have all four kids eagerly helping in the tree-building process. That excitement, however, ran out about halfway through the job. That's ok, I'll take what I can get!
Then the fun began! We enjoyed our dinner of popcorn and apples while we watched Charlie Brown Christmas.
Then we enjoyed the yummy hot cocoa that Daddy made.
The kids love to find their favorite ornaments that they haven't seen for 11 months, and I think Steve and I love it too. The smiles on the kids' faces are seriously some of my favorite things.
Decorating the tree while listening to Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa makes for a really special family time. All four kids are great at putting on the ornaments.
Here is a good example of the kinds of ornaments we have: some are from places we've been (like Sea World), some are homemade, and some were Steve's grandfather's. Most all of them have some special meaning.
This is the front and center section of our tree. Some people might think that these ornaments are a little too crowded, but the young people in our house don't think a thing of it. I have to admit that I gave in to the urge to spread them out a bit.We had a great day of getting the house ready for Christmas!
This is the Weber family with our tummies full of great food. It was a good afternoon for some races out in the greenbelt. That way, we could make enough room to enjoy some pie later.
We got to enjoy a second day of Thanksgiving with my side of the family. It seemed impossible to get all 23 of us in a photo, but this is my grandparents with 9 of their 12 great grandkids.
Our kids have been trying to save all their money to buy a Wii. They owe much thanks to family who have given money for birthdays, the tooth fairy who leaves them a little bit in trade for teeth, and a little thanks to their own hard work in doing some chores. They knew that mom and dad would pay half, but they were especially excited to find a coupon for $20 off. They counted it all up and had 17 cents to spare!
This is their first big purchase that they worked together to save for, and I think they felt good about it. Of course, they could only afford the Wii console, so that means that they only have the two games and one controller that came with it. Thus, much sharing is required, which can be very challenging, and, therefore, we have many new learning opportunities! The kids are also learning that playing a Wii is a privilege that can be taken away at any time. Just think of all the good that is going to come of this!
Tommy is quite the swordsman! He has worked up a sweat trying to ward off all of his opponents.
Allie had a Minnie Mouse party with all of the family. My kiddos really love their cousins. Brooklyn (who is 4 months old) didn't happen to be in this picture, but she was there, and Allie enjoyed lovin' on her.
Allie enjoyed serving donuts to her whole class in honor of her birthday. 
And we had to celebrate one more time with neighbors over for ice cream, just to make sure we had plenty of sugar for the day.
Allie was very happy to get a ladybug pillow pet. Its a pillow, and its a pet!!! And it makes for one happy girl!
It took a long time for fall to arrive here in beautiful Chandler, AZ, but it finally cooled off in the second week of November. This means that we play outside with neighbors at every opportunity. The best toy that we have on the street is Mr. Aaron's truck. In this photo, it is home base for a lively game of Hide-n-go-seek Tag, which I think they made up. We are blessed to share a street with some great families.
Jack is sitting in the cockpit of a 737. We took a special tour with his cub scout den, and his brother and sisters got to tag along as well. It was really cool.
We got to go as a family on a cub scout over-night camping trip at a boy scout camp on South Mountain. Of course, the smores are always a highlight!
Jack completed a tough hike with all the other campers. They found a snake, some real hyroglyphics and a nice view of Phoenix to boot!
We always create something to take away with us from Bible Study. One week, when we talked about how we are all sinners, the girls were given broken pieces of glass to represent how we are broken. And then two weeks later, we made our broken pieces into a new creation. It is God who does this in us. And the new creation is beautiful! These were some of the crosses that the girls made with their broken pieces.
This is the pumpkin carving crew! They did a great job making this year's jack-o-lantern. I didn't happen to catch a photo of their finished product, so you'll have to trust me, it looked cool! It said "Trick or Treat" and it had a moon, bat, and jack-o-lantern on it.
Good vs. evil. Jack is Obi-wan and Tommy is Darth Vader. It is funny how I was never a big Darth Vader fan until one of my own kids dressed up like him. Gotta love it!
Allie happened to have the same exact costume as one of our best buddies - little red riding hood. And they coordinate perfectly with Macy, the pirate girl!
The whole neighborhood, along with some additional friends and family, came out for the halloween potluck in the middle of the street. Only 19 of these kids actually live on our street (the other two are cousins to kids on the street)! Raven Drive is definitely one of our favorite places to be!
Here's the kiddos trick-or-treating with some of their best buds. Such a good time!
This is me trick-or-treating with one of my best buds too. We're dressed up as moms. I'd say we look pretty authentic! As silly as it may seem, I'm actually really glad Steve snapped this photo because we are so often busy taking photos of our kids, and their friends, but I want to remember the good times I had with my best friends too. Gabe is my neighbor, and I am so blessed to have her as a friend.
