Janie and Jack

My in-laws got these adorable outfits for the kids from Janie and Jack and I just adore them! The kids looked so cute I just had to snap a picture. Ella looks like such a big girl in her poodle outfit and Gordon is such a loving big brother. THANKS G&G Earl!

Go Geochaching

It has been awhile but we went Geocaching on Halloween and I think it might be our new family tradition we will do every Halloween. The Hulbert's were kind enough to let us tag along and we had a blast! We did three different ones up on the UCLA campus. We found two of the three and the kids had so much fun on their "treasure hunt". If you have never gone gecaching, google it and do it you will love it!

Here are the boys with the tube we found on our second hunt. Don't let this picture fool you....they were so excited about it. Just not as excited to stop and take a picture :)

Ella LOVES Lori

My dearest friend Lori has really won a special place in Ella's heart! When Lori is around it is common that Ella will go to her and give her a hug or want to be picked up. Lori just recently was called to serve in the nursery. Now Ella get to hang out with her pal every Sunday.

Lori watched Ella this morning while I was helping at Gordon's preschool and when she came home her hair was done. Lori is gifted! It looked adorable!!! I hope that I will be able to make her hair look half that cute and that she will let me :) THANKS LORI!!!

Every other Friday....

Every other Friday we swing downtown get Taylor from work and go to Disneyland. It is so much fun! The kids love the Disney night life :) The above picture, Gordon ran over to this spot and said "Mom take my picture!" I went to grab Ella to be in it and Gordon said "No all by myself Mom." I am glad he is coming around to getting his picture taken.

The kids and Daddy waiting for the Tiki Room show to start (a favorite, we do it almost every time we go!) It was one of my favs growing up as well.

This is the shot I got to take with Ella in it :) Thanks Gordon.
Making their silly faces

Can't resist climbing in a car. Notice Ella's little sweatsuit outfit. She got it from a friend and was so excited about it. Total girl!

What a cutie! I can't wait till the next every other Friday!

Feeling Crafty

My sister-in-law asked for some ideas to make a home-made Christmas ornament. I hoped on-line and found this one by Martha Stewart. So simple and so cheap! And it is so fun to make. All you need is scrapbook paper, scissors, and glue. There are a few more I want to try. When I do I will post 'em up so you can see. :)
p.s. and yes, my Christmas tree is up already!!!

They are growing like weeds!

I love this picture. Gordon has been practicing writing his letters. He is getting better at his name. It is so fun to see him get so excited about it.

Ella has really zoned into being a big sister. She loves having someone else to get all dressed up with. She only has love for her "baby Eden".

A typical morning. Just Gordon and I hanging out waiting for the girls to wake up.

I was doing something and came in the room to find this. Making herself comfortable.

The other night Taylor taught Gordon how to shine his shoes. They had a great time together making their Sunday shoes spiffy for church.


I really can't believe how quickly the kids are growing. It makes me want to savor all of these moments because before I know it these moments will be gone. :)

Underwood Family Farm

We had a great time at the farm, although hectic at moments. The hayride was the highlight :)

Gordon being a good sport and smiling for me right into the sun.

Wow these boys have grown so much since last year when we went. They are so handsome.

Our own version of a Phil and Ted stroller. The kids love it. And maybe someday we will get a real one. For now this one is great! (you can't see but the girls match, adorable!)

Eden's Blessing

October 10th was the day of Eden's blessing. It was a wonderful day. We had family and friends there for this special occasion. The above picture has all the men that participated (minus the bishop he had to head out for a meeting). Thanks to all who came and helped we are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends! The dress Eden is wearing was worn by my Mom and also by me. Giving a child a name and a blessing is one of best things to listen to as a mother. I know how much I love this little girl and our Father in Heaven loves her even more and it is great to hear the blessings that are in store for her. We love you Eden JaNae!

The Dad's with Eden

The Mom's with Eden

Our newest family picture.

The whole gang.

Daddy and Eden just after the blessing

Eden giving Grandpa Earl a silly face. She is a doll!

Our Sweet Eden

Thanks to my wonderful and talented cousin Karly we got some fabulous pictures today. I posted my top three favs. The kids were great and Karly was amazing at posing and getting them all to look :) Thanks again Karly for the pictures and a wonderful morning.

M is for Mildred

Every now and again we get to go up and visit my Aunt Mildred. The kids just love it! I told Gordon we were going to go for a visit and his response was, "I want to go to Mildred's right now". When I was a little girl my Aunt Mildred had a birthday celebration for me and my two brothers. It was so fun. We each got our own birthday cakes. So yesterday we had another birthday celebration. She got the kids giant cupcakes. They LOVED it! A wonderful memory for them and for me. (in the above picture, Mildred is showing Gordon one of her art magazines- Mildred is an artist herself. I love that she inspires my kids to be artistic)

Both Ella and Gordon were very excited to light the candles and blow them out.

Two happy kids and two full bellies :)
Ella is our little social eater. After she finished hers she climbed right up on Mildred's lap to get a few more bites. And she did :) Who could say no to that face?
And before we left Gordon really had is heart set on painting. Mildred let him do a few strokes. We had such a fun time. I am sure we will be back again soon :) Thanks Mildred!!! We love you!

INTRODUCING....

EDEN JANAE EARL
Born: August 25th
Weight: 8 lbs. 3 Oz.
Length: 21 1/2 inches

Here is our first and newest family picture as a family of five.
Both of the kids were so excited to meet their new baby sister Eden. Gordon especially was excited to hold her. He is such a great big brother. Ella was also excited, she needs a little more monitoring than Gordon does but shows just as much love.

After a C-section you typically stay in the hospital for a few days....it gets a bit boring. Here are the boys laying in bed watching a little tv. Now we girls out number them :)

Oh. Funny story. When the kids met Eden for the first time she had a present for each of them (we did this when we had Ella too and it worked out great-so we thought we would do it again). we asked Gordon weeks before what he wanted baby Eden to bring him. His reply was a green shirt. A little random. I asked him are you sure you don't want her to bring you a toy? He responded no a green shirt. Then a few days later we were talking about it again and I thought for sure that green shirt answer was not going to come up again, but it did. And every time we talked about meeting Eden he would say that she was going to bring him a green shirt. So what did she bring him ...a green shirt.... and the green shirt was a hit. He was more excited about the green shirt she gave him then the pack of Cars dominoes she also brought. And you might have noticed in other pictures, Ella got a baby doll-her own so she can feed her baby while I feed Eden. (we also got Ella a green shirt) :)

The Skirball Center-Noah's Ark

The kids had a great time at the Skirball Center yesterday! We are for sure going back. My pictures do not do it justice it is a very cute display of Noah's Ark. I got great video, next time I will get better photos.

Camping

We decided that our yearly family vacation would be taking a camping trip. And no better time to go then when I am 8 months pregnant. :) But we had a blast! It was beautiful. We went up to Sedona, AZ where the red rock is amazing.

Here are the boys in our camp site. Gordon was in heaven!

As you can see from the two above pictures our camp site had A LOT of dirt and it was the consistency of sand, which made for lots of fun and constantly messy.
Playing down in the river was a favorite of the kids and the adults too. Nice to get in and cool off. We even went fishing on afternoon although the fish didn't bite at all. There were about 8 fish within our reach. They would come smell the bait and swim away. I think Taylor even poked a couple with the fishing pole....they just would not bite. Oh well, Gordon still had a great time.

Last trip to the Splash Park