Christmas With Six Sickos...

Yes, the week of Christmas was spent with much sickness in our home:(. Therefore, the lateness and lack of many pictures!

Yet, despite all the sickness, we really did have a wonderful holiday, and were happy to have our sweet babies here! Although the babies don't seem too happy in this picture!

So, once again, another belated holiday post... Someday I will be caught up! .... Oh man, I still need to post about our little Gracie's birthday!!!!

A Few of Our Favorite Songs

Sean & I were up until way too late last night searching for some of our favorite Christmas songs to add to our playlist. We were able to find some, but not all; such as The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's version of "Silent Night". "Silent Night" is our favorite Christmas song and that version sounds like there are angels singing in the background!

However, we did have lots of fun trying and found some songs that we had not yet heard, but really liked! Of course, there are some that maybe we did not agree on (i.e. Queensryche's version of "White Christmas"!).

Hopefully these songs will help us all feel the spirit of Christmas! If you have a minute, scroll down to the bottom and listen to a few of the songs! And if you have an even longer minute, leave a comment letting us know what your favorite Christmas songs are!!

...and have a very merry Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree

So last Sunday we finally decorated the tree! This event is supposed to be a wonderful time of family togetherness, holding and cherishing old ornaments and memories, and relishing in the Christmas Spirit....

So why is it that our sweet and precious children could not stop fighting?! Between all of the "this is mine", "no, I'm putting that one on", "she won't stop touching me", "she put that ornament in my spot"... all I could think of was that I really just want a fake tree that is pre-decorated so that we can avoid all of this "family togetherness"!

Somehow we all survived, still love each other, and have a fairly decent looking Christmas tree! Luckily the pictures did NOT capture all that was going on, so had I not been so incredibly honest, one would think that it was quite a lovely experience!

Family, Friends, Food, Fall, and, oh yeah, Football!

Now that I am no longer needing to pump bottles (yea!!!), it is much harder to find time to sit at the computer and update pictures! So, here are some belated glimpses into our Thanksgiving.... Please note that a new camera will be coming in the near future! Some of these are a little fuzzy.

Ruby was very excited about Thanksgiving... although she really didn't know why!

We usually cook 2 turkeys; 1 in the oven (mine), and then 1 fried in the backyard (Sean's). I only took a picture of mine!

We were blessed this year to have both family and friends come to Thanksgiving dinner. My parents and my sister, Heather, came. Also, our good friends, the Hamiltons. Melissa's husband had to work that day, but the rest of their family was able to make it! The more the merrier on Thanksgiving!

Sean and I love Thanksgiving! We love the Fall... the smells, the colors, the crisp air, back-to-school time! We love being with our family and just enjoying each other's company. We love cooking (and eating) the food! And Sean loves football... both the watching and the playing! Notice I said "Sean"!:)

Our family has been blessed in so many ways this year and by so many different people. We are grateful for all those who have served our family in big ways and small. And we are especially grateful to our Heavenly Father for allowing all of these people to be a part of our lives.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

What About Us?!

Since Cal Pal has been getting most of the photo love lately, I thought it was time to spread it around to the rest of them! Our friend Jeremy is taking up photography and so we have been more than happy to let him practice with our family! These are just a couple of the pictures he took of the kiddos. The other photos will be posted later when I'm not quite so tired!!

Oh Good Grief!

It's a Human Nest

We love the fall! The kids especially love when the leaves have fallen from the trees in the front and they can help rake them up and jump in the piles.

Yesterday while Gracie and Ruby were helping Sean in the front yard they both jumped in a leaf pile and then Gracie said, "Look Dad, a nest... a human nest!"

We sure are grateful that these 2 little chicks hatched in our family!

Sweet Cheeks!!

Our new term of endearment for Calvin is "chunky monkey"! I don't think an explanation is necessary!!

Kids, Costumes, and Candy

This "Halloween Week" has been quite an eventful one! Monday night Emma and Jackson had their annual Halloween piano recital which is always fun. The children dress up for this recital which is nice because it forces me to have Halloween costumes ready before the day of!! It also gives us a practice run to see how long it will take to get everyone ready!! We actually made it to the recital on time. Yea for us!!

Here are the older 4 at the recital. We didn't dress up Calvin and Chloe for this one. Not because we didn't feel they needed to be, but because we still hadn't figured out their costumes yet! Jackson is Harry Potter and Emma is a beautiful Victorian Lady!

Gracie is a witch and Ruby is a Fairy Princess... not just a fairy, but a fairy PRINCESS!

Ruby had her Halloween party for preschool this week. There are some very nice ladies in our ward who wanted to do a little preschool together where we all take turns teaching one week a month. I told them that Ruby would not be able to do that this year because there was NO WAY that I would be able to take my turn teaching with new babies and that I couldn't gaurantee that I could have Ruby at their homes by 9:30 in the morning! They wanted Ruby anyway and are now taking turns being in charge of the week I would teach, and they pick her up and bring her home! There are special blessings coming their way!

Here is a picture of Ruby with a few of her preschool friends, Kenidi & Wyatt...

Thursday was our ward "Trunk or Treat". This is always a great activity. We spent all day Thursday making chili and pumpkin cookies to bring. Sean had a great idea of making tombstones for everyone and putting them in the back of his truck for when the "trunk or treaters" came to get candy. So, on top of the chili & cookies, we were also painting tombstones. Can you say "messy house"?

Here are Cal Pal & Chloe all cozed up....

We did decide on costumes for them... a bee for him and a flower for her!

One thing I have noticed with twins is how difficult it is to get them to smile at the same time! But we did it.... after I don't know how many tries!

We had originally wanted Calvin to be Charlie Brown because of his big bald head, but we couldn't find a Lucy costume for Chloe. And since we already had a bee costume from when Jack was a baby...


a flower would be perfect!

Friday finally came and it started with a Halloween parade at the kiddo's school. Here is Gracie with her class. She is on the right in her witch costume...

The kids got out of school early and we headed to the grandparents' homes for some trick or treating! This whole week was quite busy for Ruby, so when it was time for the Halloween picture she was completely zonked out!

But she did eventually wake up and was all ready for some fun trick or treating!

All in all it was a fun week with kids, costumes and candy! But now it is nice to have the kids clean, the costumes put away, and the candy hidden! So, until next year, Happy Halloween!!

I Know It's Been A While...

So, here's what's been happening since the last post...

Gracie had her last soccer game :(... She is in the white shirt on the right. Don't you love her hair flying in the wind!?

Ruby had been sick and was not able to go to preschool on Monday (very devastating). But, she was able to go back on Wednesday, and both she and I were VERY HAPPY!

Gracie's 1st grade class went to the Pumpkin Patch for a field trip. Sean was able to have the day off so we were able to go with her. Nothing says Fall like a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Chloe slept through most of it!

Gracie is in the back to the right. Her teacher is Mrs. Pachner! We really like her.

And lastly, I went on my first official walk with the babies! All I can say is something had better be toned after these walks... it took FOREVER to get all 3 of us ready and out of the house. Here the babies are all bundled up...

Calvin was NOT very happy about all of this!

I know that there was nothing very exciting to report, but all the grandparents care about are the pictures anyway!!

It Runs In The Family

So, how did Sean and I end up with twins anyway?

Well, I read somewhere that if your father is a fraternal twin then he may pass that gene onto you (the daughter). It just so happens that my father IS a fraternal twin!! His mother, Betty Quayle Orchard Cunnington, gave birth to my dad, Dennis Orchard, & his twin brother, Doug...

How could I not post this picture?!

However, I never did think that twins would be a part of our family... especially after the struggles we experienced in getting the other ones here! And especially after we had 4 children already! 6 kids?! Who knew!!

But it sure is fun having twins (after they have been fed and changed and are both completely content!!)! Having a boy and a girl has been especially fun because you can dress them alike, but different...

Doesn't it look like they are holding hands?

They were given these cute little onesies as gifts...

The cutest part is on their little bums...

Don't you love their rolls?

So, Sean and I ended up with twins because of Grandma Betty... and what a wonderful blessing it has been!

Grandma Betty with her Great Grandchildren, Calvin & Chloe