Friday, December 19, 2014

Cute Bentley

I love this boy so much - here are just a few things I adore:

-- his crazy, uncombed hair
-- his messy clothes
-- the way he sticks his tongue out when he concentrates
-- how he can't manage to hold still for more than a minute at a time
-- how he likes to give kisses, but only on his own terms, not when I ask him for them
-- his insanely contagious roaring laughter
-- the sound affects to all his play time
-- his independence (most the time I love this)
-- when he says things like "oh my gosh" or "oh dear" or even "that's not fair!"
-- how he prays, and how he whispers for others to fold their arms and close their eyes in between things he is praying for
-- how he helps Olivia to laugh and have fun
-- that he says, "I love you mom" more times a day than I can count
-- how cute he looks when he flies by on his balance bike
-- that he likes to sing and entertain




This is what Bentley called his "ABCD's".  When he wants to, he can really focus and work on something for a long time.  I love all the perfect little spirals.  So cute.






And right as I was finishing this post, my cute boy came in and the following conversation took place:

B: "Hi mom!"
Me: "Hola!"
B: "Noooo!  I'm not Olaf, I'm Bentley!  Silly momma."




Thursday, December 18, 2014

Eden's Fall School Picture

She is so precious...

Cliff's Amusement Park - Christmas party!

For Christmas this year, grandpa and grandma Justice bought our family 2015 season passes for Cliff's amusement and water park.  Hooray!  It doesn't open until warmer weather, but for the month of December they are open for Christmas festivities and we were able to go enjoy that a couple times.

In Santa's workshop we were able to hang out with Santa for a bit and capture this adorable picture.
It was fun to ride the train and see all the Christmas lights throughout the park.  Bentley hates the loud whistle though.


In one room Mrs. Claus was there and she told the kids some stories.

We also got to listen to come really good Christmas Carolers while we had dinner.







As the time went on it was getting pretty chilly so the fire pits were good hang out spots for Olivia and I while the others did a few more rides.

Overall, it was a blast and such a fun Christmas experience.  We are so excited and anxious for this summer and the time we'll get to hang out there.  Thanks grandma and grandpa for the passes!  

We love spending time with friends

We love spending time with friends!  We are so grateful and blessed to have such fun families in our lives that we can hang out with several times a week!

Olivia and Isabel May
Bentley, Makayla May, Eden, and Abby May
Claire Pickett and Bentley
We had a movie party at our house one afternoon.  I think we had somewhere around 13 kids in and out of the movie room and the moms ate lunch and visited downstairs.  It was a blast.
Olivia, Abby May and Bentley

Poor Isabel gets mauled by Olivia.  For whatever reason Olivia just won't leave her alone.  She goes after her and pulls her clothes, pulls her hair, and always tries to climb on her.  Poor Isabel was just trying to crawl by and Olivia snatched her.

Then Isabel took a seat and Olivia was really happy about it!  Cute.
Olivia is holding her like she is a big kid who totally knows how to hold a baby ha ha.
Eden, Bentley, Grace  and Claire Pickett

Eden and Bentley's affection

Sometimes these two just kill me with their cuteness.  Don't get me wrong, they argue plenty, but they are also such good friends and so good to one another.  I very often catch them being affectionate with each other and it's adorable.

Holding hands while eating their breakfast.

I'm still shocked that I just happened to have my phone in my hand and walk in on this perfect moment.


Then they turned and saw that I was taking pictures and they turned into scary ninjas...


This one is actually quite scary... well done ninja Eden.
I love these two cuties...

Baby toes...


I'm so grateful for cameras, for blogs and blog books that make it so much easier for me to remember moments like these.  They grow up too fast.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Brad's 34th Birthday

Brad's birthday is always lots of fun around here.  He had the afternoon off so while he was working that morning, the kids and I were busy preparing for his party.

He loves for me to make lasagna (his mom's recipe).
Obviously the kids were great helpers when it came time for cake baking.
Olivia was great at providing excuses for frequent breaks.

When we went to Disneyland a couple months ago, Bentley got a light saber and it's been kind of strange to have battles when only one person has a weapon.  So for Brad's birthday activity he really wanted to take the family out to the Disney store to get another light saber. The kids were so excited, and when we got home the real battles begun. What a great daddy.




Then I had to call all the jedi's to the table for dinner.  Brad said, "yup, it tastes just like it did every year when my mom made it for my birthday."  Success!




The kids made him some very cute birthday cards, and really enjoyed watching him open presents.


Happy birthday Brad!  We love you and are so grateful for all you do for us.