It is a Rowley tradition to make gingerbread houses every year. My kids look forward to this for weeks. This year they were each able to make their own. Abby then helped Leah with hers. They have loved sneaking candy off of their houses every day. 
Here is our Christmas Tree. I have loved it, and I think the kids did a great job of decorating it.
Merry Christmas, and I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!
This year we thought it would be a lot of fun to take the kids and cut down our own tree. Not to mention its cheaper than buying one from a lot. We bundled up everyone and headed out. It was so much fun. We had to get out a couple times and take closer looks at some trees, but in the end we found a great one.
I know they are kind of dark, it was getting dark fast out there. Abby is helping Rich pull the tree across the little stream that they had to cross. They loved helping Rich use the saw and Leah and I were content to stand and watch. It was so much fun and I think a new tradition for our family. As soon as Rich downloads the rest of the pictures you can see a final product. It fits prefect for our house and I love the smell of fresh trees. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!
I found this and thought it was good for a laugh!
1. We believe SUVs and minivans to be our form of transportation, and in knee length shorts -- which are always nice and, of course, in multilevel marking.
2. We believe that church ball players should be punished for their own fouls, and not for unsportsmanlike aggression.
3. We believe that through bread crumbs, cheese, creamy soups, and rice all casseroles can be saved through obedience to ward cookbooks and creativity in the mixing bowl.
4. We believe that the first layers and ingredients of the Dip are: first, beans; second, cheese; third, chopped tomatoes; fourth, the gift of sour cream; fifth, olives; sixth, salsa; seventh, guacamole, that is, if you have it.
5. We believe that a Mormon should have a distinguished or a cute name, that it's appropriate to name a child after a church leader or a historical figure including an ancestor, that alternative spellings and French prefixes only add to a name, and that when referring to the names of General Authorities, middle initials should be a part thereof.
6. We believe in the same wall decor that exists in many Mormon homes, namely, framed family proclamations, vinyl lettering, inspirational word signs, family photos, pictures of temples and Jesus, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of re-gifting, church books, crafts, family photos, baked goods, emergency supply kits, and so forth.
8. We believe in sparkling grape juice -- so long as it is nonalcoholic; we also believe in bringing root beer and sprite to ward and all other parties.
9. We believe in all that we have scrapbooked, all that we will now scrapbook, and we believe that we will yet scrapbook many great and important things pertaining to our family, friends, pets, and vacations.
10. We believe in the literal mixing of ketchup and mayo and in the generous application of ranch dressing; that CBAs (church-based acronyms) will be used to describe YM/YW, PEC, the Y, NCMO, and CTR; that Mitt Romney will get Mormons to vote for him any time he runs; and, that the Mormons will enjoy reading Twilight and The Work and the Glory.
11. We claim the privilege of trying to identify common acquaintances with any visitor at church, and allow all other people at church the same privilege; we also believe in name dropping the names of famous people and general authorities how, where, or what we may.
12. We believe in being subject to scoutmasters, pampered chef hostesses, and the writers of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings for professional schools, and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining Glenn Beck.
13. We believe in being above average, good at crafts, optimistic, and being fifteen minutes late everywhere we go. Indeed, we may say that we follow BYU football. We believe rumors about famous people joining the church, we hope to meet the three Nephites, we have endured many pyramid schemes, and hope to be able to endure all pyramid schemes. If there is anything cheap, free, sold in bulk, or given away when somebody is moving, we seek after these things.
I am getting so close to being caught up. Nate and Leah love the leaves, they spent hours outside one day building as big of a pile as they could. They were so cute, and both wanted action shots of them jumping in the leaves.
My sister brought the kids some good child sized pumpkins, and for family night we carved them. They each got to draw their faced on their pumpkins. Abby has a kitty, Nate a vampire, and Leah chose a silly face with its tongue sticking out.
For Halloween we had a Lion, Geisha girl, and Leah as she called it was a princess with letters. (the words on her shirt combined with her tu-tu I guess!) They were so cute, and got more candy then I could have imagined. 
Rich grew out his hair for at least 3 month just for this day. He had many people stop us while trick-or-treating and ask if that was really all his hair. He laughed and said yes. He wasn't going to do it, but at the last minute his dad convinced him, and his family quickly had him shaved and had gel in his hair. It was quite a sight. Our bishop, who is bald saw him and said "wow, what would it be to have that much hair!" We all got a good laugh.
Here is all the cute kids before we headed out to do our trick-or-treating. When one chooses a costume, it usually ends up that we have doubles, which we love. All the little grandmas and grandpas couldn't resist just filling their buckets for them. They were to cute to resist!
Leah was invited to her first birthday party. It was for her favorite cousin Emily. They went to Build A Bear, and it was so cute to watch how excited they were for each little thing.
They are making their wishes for their bunnies. Then to the bathing station. They had their bunnies all fluffed and washed!
I was making dinner one night and I heard the water running in the bathroom. I finished up what I was doing, and walked into the bathroom and this is what I found. Abby had filled up the tub and bathed both Nate and Leah. I walked in when she was washing Leah's hair. I was surprised that she would do it without even being asked, but it helped me so much. I love that she enjoys helping me. It was so cute, and I was so proud of her.
There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?
This week, I found out.
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'
Merry Christmas Everyone
He loves to ride his bike and is upset that it is put away for winter. He continues to tell me he is big enough to go to school by himself. I told him I wasn't ready to let him do that yet!
Abby is in Second Grade. She is reading so well and is enjoying school. She is quite the chatterbox I am told and so we are working on staying on task. She loves to hang out with her friends and is constantly asking to play with someone.
Our camera was dead when we tried to take pictures for the walk to school, so we had to do it after. By the time we got home the girls were all hot and sweaty, but that didn't stop the picture taking. We just had to bribe them with a popsicle! Abby has grown up so much, she keeps asking how old she has to be before we let her have a cell phone, and we contiue to tell her she can have one when she can pay for one!
One afternoon this summer, my cute neighbors called and asked if we would like to go out on their canoe. Their grandson was here and they wanted other kids around for him to play with. They also took my kids bowling and had all kinds of fun with them. So we loaded up and went out. I took the first turn with them. There are no pictures because I was afraid of tipping us over and didn't want to ruin my camera! It was a lot of fun, and something we had never done. Abby and Nate each got a turn to paddle, and then enjoyed splashing and feeding the ducks. It was crazy while we were out on the water. The kids pulled out the bread and we were suddenly surrounded by at least 30-40 ducks and swans. It was so much fun!
Tyler Lorenzo August 20 & Cortnie Ann July 28
Here they are making their wishes for the animals, they were so cute!!
The end product, Batman Horse! I was a little sceptical of his choice, but it has grown on me, and he absolutely loves him, and sleeps with him every night!
Happy Birthday Nathan, we love you!!!!
I am still playing catch-up, so bear with me please. My brother John, we call him Johnny, returned home from serving an LDS mission in Louisville, Kentucky on June 27. I wasn't able to go to the airport to see him, so he decided to come to the park where I was doing a booth and surprise us. Leah, who is a little shy with everyone at first, took to him right away and ran up and gave him a great big hug. She was not quite a year old when he left. It was so fun to see him. The kids were thrilled to see him, and still just hang all over him.
They couldn't get enough of him, and he walked around the whole day like this. Always with one or two kids attached to him. We spent the day and evening at the park, and that night they had fireworks and the kids played on the playground. It was a good day, and we love having him home! He is number 6 of the 11 kids. I can't believe I am old enough to have a little brother home from a mission!
Build A Bear with Abby and Ben
For Abby's Birthday this year, I let her pick either a friends party, or she could choose one special friend and we would go to Build A Bear. She picked Build A Bear, and her cousin Ben, because he had never been before. This is the kids with my cousin Julie, she joined us for lunch in Ogden. The day was a lot of fun. The kids had so much fun deciding what to get.
At this point we had spent 5-10 minutes picking animals. The two that they have were what the REALLY wanted, but by the end of the line, they each had a different animal.
They are getting their animals fluffed, and making wishes with their hearts. It was so cute to watch them, Ben kept stopping his because he wanted his floppy, but she had to tell him to keep going because there still wasn't any stuffing in his arms and legs. They both made cute choices, and had fun picking out their accessories.
This is at the fluffing and washing station. This is what Abby was looking forward too. You give them a "bath" with blow dryers, and fluff their fur. We spent a good 10-15 minutes here, they didn't want to leave.
Here we are back at the car, on our way out, it started pouring. If you have been to the Gateway, you know its all outdoors, and we were soaking wet. The kids and I kept ducking under awnings, and trying to wait it out, but it didn't stop. So we just ran for it. The had so much fun, and definitely a memory they will never forget!
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