Merry Christmas!

We're currently half way through our vacation and have had a packed few days already. We were able to spend a day with our good friends the Louds and meet their new daughter, Aubrey. Our Josh's sure enjoyed hanging out and playing with the boys in the snow.

Santa came to visit at Grandpa and Grandma Hallberg's house on Christmas Eve. Scotland sat on his lap and just stared up at him in awe and wonder. All the other little ones screamed and cried!

The boys sure loved playing with their cousins, probably more than all their new toys. In fact on Christmas Eve I tucked in the boys and told them to think about Christmas presents and stockings and German's response was, "But will Payton be here in the morning?"

Scot had his first "meal" and loved it! He eats the stuff up.

The kids had fun, but the adults also had a good time, mostly after the children were all asleep! We stayed up way too late playing cards and eating crab!

Happy 5 Year Anniversary To Us

My husband is awesome! I got home Thursday night (the 17th) from a church activity and Joshua asked, "Do you think you could find someone to watch the boys over night and all day Saturday?" He had booked us flights to San Diego, set up a cool hotel room at a hotel that was formerly a bank, and reserved us a table at a fancy restaurant.

Thanks to Tiffany and Treasure for their help with the boys - start planning your weekend get-a-ways now! These were some of the most needed and appreciated 26 hours of relief ever!!!

Gingerbread Houses

Glue-gunning the gingerbread house ahead of time was a great idea!

Eli lasted about 7 minutes.

German lasted about 20 minutes.

I think I could really get into gingerbread house decorating.

Crazy Boyz

These boys never cease to amaze me. German and Eli love to play together. Their current mischief involves a lot of dirt, water, and bath toys. But hey, boys will be boys!

Scot is learning to sit up and can almost support himself completely. He loves to play with toys, by mostly putting them into his mouth. He can also get up on his hands and knees and practices rocking back and forth. He is such a joy!

Eli - Our Big 2 Year Old

We had a fun birthday celebration for Eli with some of our Arizona friends. Eli insisted upon a "backetball cake" for his "burtday."

Has it Really Been Over a Month?

So I missed Halloween... The boys (and their parents) were pretty cute pirates, but those photos have been removed from the memory card and are now safely digitally preserved on our non-internet computer- sorry folks.

Thanksgiving was great. My parents, sister Annie and her husband Dennis, and little brother Adam drove down south and we spent 5 days together in the beautiful weather that Arizona is famous for. We feasted, Black-Friday shopped, walked downtown Scottsdale, walked a mall (just because it's a Hallberg thing to do), did some crafts, and of course - watched a lot of football.

I would never claim to be a master chef or even a great cook, but I will take some credit for making an awesome looking Apple Pie - it even tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Scot

Scotland is doing great! He's really a perfect baby. He's been sleeping through the night now for quite some time, he never spits up, and he's generally very happy. He has his spouts of fussy time, but I can't complain. This week he's started playing with toys and using his hands more - he tried to grab my taco last night! His brothers continue to love him and shower him with a lot of attention.

For the record, he's not always in a seat, these just seem to be the moments when the camera's out!

German's Soccer Class

The last day of German's soccer class was this week and they got to wear their costumes to class. German was really excited because another friend was also a pirate. German had a lot of fun with these friends during their 10 week class, but I think his highlights will be playing dodgeball (actually throwing balls at Coach Adam) and getting a sticker at the end of each class, or maybe standing on coach's foot in order to reach the drinking fountain.

Pumpkin Carving Time

Well it's now tradition to carve pumpkins with Clint and Marianne and Baby Jack (since this was the second year in a row!). Marianne's haunted house and Joshua's skull and bones tied for the coolest pumpkin and my moonlit night won for best use of a moldy pumpkin.

Eli spent the entire evening saying, "me do it" and so we finally gave him one of the little knives and let him do it, with adult supervision of course. German did a fantastic job cleaning out the pumpkins. And sadly, Scot went to bed about ten minutes after we got started.

Life is Full of Changes

Why we haven't been posting...

A day or two before my birthday Joshua came home and told me that he'd officially been transferred to work in West Phoenix (Tolleson) and that he would be starting the next Monday. We're pretty sure that things were meant to be because our apartment lease was coming to a close and we were unsure about what to do next. After much searching and many sketchy neighborhoods we found a house to rent that cut Joshua's commute from an hour to 4 1/2 minutes! We've only been in the new house for one week, but we already see the benefits. Joshua comes home every day for lunch and then he's home by 5:15pm. I LOVE IT!!! (Can I tell you how great it is to be making dinner and not have the boys standing at my heals yelling at me for one thing or another?!)

These are the only two pictures we took of our entire move (I'm sorely disappointed with myself on that one):

Ten points to anyone who correctly guesses what's inside this box!

Our Trip to Utah

Two weeks ago we made the long drive to Utah to spend a couple days with both the Clark and Hallberg Families. We made it to Provo in time for dinner at Brick Oven Pizza - a college classic - and a tour around BYU. Saturday we were able to be at Cousin Haddon's baptism and then go to a pumpkin patch with the Clark family. Saturday night our families joined for Scotland's baby blessing. It was such a short trip, but wonderful to see everyone (We missed you Aunt Melissa).

Thirty

I turn the big 3 - 0 this week. This post isn't meant to solicit birthday greetings, but rather to express my awe at this new journey in my life. I'm not afraid or embarrassed to be thirty, I just never really thought I'd be thirty years old, so the idea is mind boggling. Weird.

We're Still Here...

... but our computer won't read our memory card.

Update: Scot is growing, Eli is talking a ton (we call him our parrot), German loves to play, I'm learning to can more and getting excited for Halloween costumes, and Joshua continues to work hard and play basketball every Tuesday night. That's about our life! Pictures to follow soon.

What's the Dealio, Mighty Cougars?!

We couldn't be more disappointed!

Go Mighty Cougars!

We couldn't be prouder!

AZ Museum for Youth

For anyone in the Mesa area... Some friends and I took our boys to the AZ Museum for Youth last week and I can't rave enough about it. We were there for over three hours and the boys probably could have gone a few more. They weren't scared at all by the monster exhibit and if anything it may have solved some of German's looming questions about monsters. I'm seriously debating on the purchase of a year pass!

The Latest Update...

I can see why third and subsequent children have fewer photos of them. They aren't loved any less than the first two, it's just with so many more things to remember now, the camera isn't always on the priority list! I guess I have plenty of room for improvement.
Now that I have my own car during the week my need to get out of the apartment on weekends has dwindled, so we spend most Saturdays relaxing at home, building gas stations (or whatever) out of duplos.

My boys love their new toy... err brother. German looks forward to when Scotland will talk and hold toys. Eli will be glad when Scot can take bites of the food Eli is always offering. And of course, both boys will be ecstatic when Scot can growl back at them!

My first attempt at Mickey Mouse pancakes!

We love this little boy! He is so full of smiles and sweet little giggles. He's already so different than his brothers were and I'm loving getting to know his personality.

Bunk Beds!

Wish us luck- thanks to a co-worker of Joshua's the boys received a set of bunk beds, complete with drawers, desk, and a book shelf (now we're definitely too big for this apartment). The luck is needed because German's up on top and Eli is out of a crib! I'm not sure I'll sleep tonight for fear that someone will get hurt. I guess it's time we let them grow up a little!

And yes siblings, that is the Benji blanket! German has claimed it and requested it be on his bed. Jealous?

Art 101 - Ooey Gooey Mixture

I've been inspired by my artistic friend Jessica to implement more art into our repertoire of activities. I hope she'll keep blogging her ideas - hint, hint! [I tried to find that book at our library and there were no results:( ]

We mixed 2 parts corn starch with 1 part water. Then added lots of food coloring! German really liked exploring how the different colors mixed to make new colors. Both the boys enjoyed having oddly colored hands for the remainder of the day! [And the clean up wasn't that bad either!]

Four Weeks Old...

Our little Scot is such a sweet baby. I'm really enjoying his kind countenance and his searching eyes. Each time I look down at him (and he's awake) I can tell he's exploring some of the sights of this outside world. I love it! I'm so glad that babies come out helpless because by the third boy there isn't lots of extra time to just sit and hold him. German and Eli sure love their brother. I can't leave Scot on the ground or anywhere within their reach unattended because he'll get attacked with kisses and hugs or nose honks and Eli trying to help Scot clap. I love being their mother - I wouldn't trade this time for anything!