Christmas Festivities

We had a busy Christmas this year because Holly (Eric's sister) and her family came to town. That meant all the Walker grandkids were together again! We started off Christmas week with Santa visiting and then the kids acting out the nativity scene. Scarlett and Shayla were adorable shepherds.  

All the kids played their roles as good as can be expected for ages 6 months to 4 years old. 

Christian was Joseph and Kinsey was Mary. Kinsey was the cutest Mary because she took her job very seriously. She did not take her eyes off baby Jesus aka Kate. 

Then we all had pizza for dinner. I love that the kids are old enough to be at their own table. It makes my job a lot easier and they are just so dang cute!

The next night we all went up to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square. My girls had never been to the SLC Temple before so it was a first time for us! It's a fun tradition to do when you live in Utah, just very cold! 

We spent Christmas Eve at my Mom's house eating treats, opening presents, singing songs, and watching the nativity. My girls are obsessed with the piano so I love how they sat on the bench when Grandma Fullmer was playing a song. 

The next morning the five of us had our own Christmas together at our home. We went small this year because, why spend a ton when your kids don't know the difference, but they still got tired of presents before we got to the end! 

My Scarlett showing off the goods from her stocking. 

I love Shayla's "excited" face. She loves chocolate. 

Kinsey was happy to find gold coins in her stocking, too! 

The girls giving Daddy his present. 

After giving the kids a break, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Walker's house for brunch and more presents. 

Everyone was a little spoiled this year!! 

Walker cousins! 

Shayla and Scarlett are going to have so much fun riding their tricycles in the Spring. 

There were so many presents we didn't even get to the stockings until we went home, took naps, then came back again for dinner! It's convenient living two streets away.  

It's great being back in Utah and spending the holidays with family. We're grateful to be so close to many of them! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! 

Santa Came to Town

We didn't do the typical picture with Santa at the mall this year. Grandma Walker arranged for him to come to us so we could have a picture with all the Walker cousins! Most of the kids were intrigued from the get-go. 

Phil was chosen to be Rudolph for singing time. He did a great job! 

 Kinsey was enthusiastic about her one-on-one picture with Santa. She's never been afraid to sit on his lap...until the group picture later on. It must be her 3-year-old moodiness. 

 This sums up Scarlett's thoughts about sitting on Santa's lap. Good thing Daddy was there to help out. 

 And then we have Shayla. This girl cracks me up. She's so ticked about the thought of sitting on Santa. 

 This is the "best" group shot we got with just our kids. Right when we placed Scarlett and Shayla on Santa's lap they slid off. They wanted nothing to do with him. Kinsey also refused to sit on his lap. Apparently crying has a snowball effect with our kids. 

 This is the picture of our twins after we traumatized them by trying to get a picture with Santa.

 But if they aren't touching him then everything is okay!! 

Thanks for the Santa experience, Grandma Walker!! 

Pumpkins, Carving, and Costumes

Halloween is starting to become my favorite holiday. For starters, Kinsey is obsessed with it so I love seeing Halloween through her eyes. Then there are so many pumpkin patches and farms to go to in October that are either free or super cheap. That's a bonus with three toddlers! 

My sister and her family were in town, so on the first of the month we headed out to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch in Springville. The kids loved seeing the small animal farm, including a giant pig that could eat all of them in one bite. 

Wendy with two of her favorite nieces! 

Getting a picture with my three girls looking at the camera is getting harder and harder these days. But they make up for it with their cuteness! 

Obviously my family is really good at making girls. It's difficult to get a shot of all five smiling, but this is as good as it gets. 

Kinsey, Savannah, Amora, Shayla, and Scarlett on the hay mountain.

The best part of this pumpkin patch is the giant corn pit. The girls love it. We stayed in the pit until closing time. 

Kinsey burying Amora. 

I don't remember the name of this pumpkin patch, but it is close to our house. We took Scarlett and Shayla one day when Kinsey was at a birthday party. They have ridiculously expensive pumpkins but great photo ops. Scarlett is our little pumpkin this year. She reacted to pumpkins a lot like Kinsey did at her age--wanting to sit on all of them. 

Shayla didn't care about the pumpkins too much, she just really wanted to climb that mountain. And she did. To the very top. All by herself. 

They loved the tractor races. Their legs are too short to pedal but Eric and I pushed them around and they had a lot of fun. 

Eric moved his head from pumpkin to pumpkin and Scarlett would find him and give him kisses. 

This next place was pretty cool. It's a big farm in Spanish Fork that we went to with Grandma Walker. They had a small corn maze, lots of animals, a pumpkin farm, bounce houses, and a few booths of activities. Scarlett was obsessed with looking at the animals. She loves them so much. 

Enjoying the turkeys. 

All of the girls had their first pony ride during this trip! Kinsey and Shayla were champions. I even let go of Shayla a bit and she just enjoyed bouncing along. Scarlett, on the other hand, did not like riding the horse. 

 She preferred to pet it instead. 

 We took Kinsey out to the pumpkin patch area so she could pick out her pumpkin. She immediately chose a green one and wouldn't even consider getting an orange pumpkin. Silly girl. She sure knows what she wants. 

 The girls had a good time, but honestly, I think their favorite part was the popcorn we bought them. They sure love their snacks!

 The next fun October activity we did was carve pumpkins! Here is the traditional "pumpkin gut" picture. 

 Eric, Kinsey, and I carved while Scarlett and Shayla colored on paper and pumpkins. Shayla carried her pumpkin into the house and kept calling it her "baby." 

 Kinsey cleaned out her pumpkin all by herself, which she loved because she's an independent little thing. 

 Then I gave her a marker to draw a face on so I could carve it out. She did really well. I had to be a little creative to make it look like eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but overall it was Kinsey's vision. 

 Her finished product! 

 Kinsey also enjoyed lifting the tops of the pumpkins so Eric could light the candles. She loves having special jobs to do. 

 Our family of pumpkins! 

Left to right, top to bottom: Kinsey, Eric, Cindy, Scarlett, Shayla

 Next on the list of fun was our ward Halloween party. The girls got all cute in their costumes and we headed to the church for dinner and treats. Kinsey wouldn't stay still long enough to get a good picture. She was either dancing, jumping, or running around. 

Shayla=Snow White, Kinsey=Tinkerbell, Scarlett=Rapunzel 

I sure love these little girls!! Not that I'm biased or anything, but they were the cutest kids at the party!