Snow for Christmas!! We got around 7" last night and the kids were out in it by 7am this morning.
You get a rather clean driveway when you jump on it and clear it off. We should have sun later this afternoon and will dry it all up...so no ice for us!
A good snow....just perfect for a snowman or two.....later today I'm sure.
So my parents surprised us with a quick visit to show off their new wheels. Fun to drive!! Later, the kids were in photo mode, so I was able to get a few cute pics of them. Poor Daisy got in on the action too with her Santa hat...not by her choice. 
We headed to town to see the light parade. We arrived early to then learn that the parade would be delayed 1 1/2 hours later. So off to dinner we went. Wouldn't you know, as soon as we got our drinks, the parade started. Phooey! So we watched from our table in the warmth and darted out at the end to see Santa pass by. After dealing with traffic, we made way to a local hotel to check out there decorations. A few pics were in order and of course, play time on the toys.
One would think getting the right picture would be easy.....haha...not with kids and a puppy. We had a fun time taking the pics....then the pizza was done in the oven and the shoot was so over.
Snow: This was our first snow...the kids so badly wanted to play in it in their new snow suits. So at 9pm at night, I finally caved in. They didn't about the lack of snow, they still had fun! 
Our community has an annual Thanksgiving dinner for all the local churches. Each church is responsible for bringing a set dish to share and then our church buys all the turkeys. We all gather at a local church camp in their gorgeous dining hall to sing, eat and fellowship together. All the churches sign up also to help with the set up and clean up. This year, our church was selected to lead worship on the stage. Wow! What an honor. We had a blast!
The next week, a family from church had us all out to their ranch in the pines. We had another potluck (always great food!!), tractor/hay rides, bonfire equipped with marshmallows...another great evening.
Kaleb wanted a mohawk...or foe-hawk....anyways, he tried really hard to do it himself. Mom ended up cleaning up a few spots, but overall he did a great job.
The last pic is of the kids reward charts. I've been working really hard with Kaleb on his reading. He gets a sticker for every book he reads, as many as he wants per day but no less than one. Today he finished filling his chart and got a pizza hut coupon for his very own pizza. Klara had been working on a chart as well. She is working very hard on NOT sucking her fingers. So without complaining, she wears a sock on her hand when she sleeps and yucky cream during the day as reminders to not suck on those fingers. When she does good, she gets a sticker and if I catch her sucking then she removes a sticker from her chart. Her reward is a Cinderella doll that she proudly earned today as well. I'll keep both reward charts going since I've seen a huge success with their earned rewards. I'm very proud of them both!!
This was the best I could get with the pumpkins lit up. The 2 on the left belong to my parents and the 4 on the right are ours.
(P.S.) You can click on the collages to make the pic larger if needed. 
Kaleb will be 7 on Oct 23rd. 
And I will be ** on the 23rd as well. He is my special birthday gift. Happy birthday to us both!
Then for dinner we made Carrot soup with all the ripe ones we had in our garden. We used sour cream to make the "web" and green onions for the "spider". The kids loved their web soup. It wasn't until after they were done eating that I told them what it really was.
We stopped at a few scenic overlooks and the view was worth it. Sadly, it was time to go home. Clif got us thru the reservation as fast as we could and then quickly home. Once home we unloaded the car, reload for 1 more overnight as we headed back down to Phx to get the doggies. We were glad to see our pups again, but sure missed our vacation. The kids still love looking back with fond memories and can't wait until their next vacation. They both did excellent in the car for so long and we only had to put out a few fires. Otherwise, they got along really well. So well, that I would love to take another vacation with them now.
Grandpa took all of us on a tractor ride and daddy showed the kids (and I) how to blow air across a blade of grass to make it whistle. What a great time we had....I think this was the best part of our whole vacation. Great fun and extra great company!
Then it is only 60 seconds to go back to the ground and yes, we did it....we bought the souvenir picture at a 300% mark up....but it was a great pic of the 4 of us standing on the ledge together with Kaleb's death grip on my hand.
Oh, mug shots too...but Clif wasn't supposed to laugh.
However, I thought these came out pretty good.
What I pulled from the garden in a day. Not a bad return. I currently have at least 5 butternut squash growing too!
Clif took this pic of the dogs. They sure are good friends.
The kids and I went to church for the clean up day. I was the only working female and they were the only kids. It was good for them to do and they worked pretty hard. We had a nice lunch and got to take home all the leftovers for helping out. I recorded this for their homeschool activities. We are super proud of them.
Artichoke lovers just like their mom!
The kids had a blast. Kaleb loved wearing his orange ear plugs...Klara didn't so usually stayed back. They did pretty good on Sat, but by Mon, mom had food. Always seems to make life better. Kaleb was a HUGE help today. Klara sure tried hard. See her bow and arrow?
Here she is helping load the trailer as Kaleb poses for a pic.
Daddy loves his chain saw.
Today's results. Under the blue tarp in the back is the other wood. Thanks to the church for allowing us to borrow the trailer. Any guesses on what we are doing next weekend???
Yummy brownies for "cake". Now most of it is leftover and in the freezer now.
Finally, a hummingbird. This is looking out the kitchen window.
This mornings garden pickings. Yummm
