Christmas

Yes, I realize it's now February and I am doing a Christmas post. Sorry! But here are pictures for my family to see of Christmas 2011. We had a fantastic one!!!

Seeing Santa at the mall.

Isn't this the most precious sight?

We enjoyed meeting my dad at the mall and seeing the gigantic Christmas tree!

New jammies!!! Luke was thrilled to match Max.

Rachel's big gift--the Ultimate Disney Princess Collection!!!!

Luke's big toys--a remote control helicopter and a Little People pirate ship.

Max didn't get too many gifts this year, but he is just a baby. And he is the FOURTH baby. Poor kid. :) But he did get a few new toys and books, and BIBS!

My mom wanted to see a picture of the girls with these bags that she got for them. A young teenager in my mom's ward crocheted these bags! They are beautiful and the girls put their scriptures in them.

My only picture of the kids all dressed up in their Christmas finest. Better luck next year.

Little Max with his grandparents.

Max does this cute little scrunchy face sometimes and I LOVE it.

6 months!

This sweet baby is six months old now and absolutely adorable! Isn't he cute?

Some six-month-old Max facts:

Loves his Exersaucer and jumps and bounces in it all the time.

Is finally liking solid foods.

Never cries when he wakes up in the morning or after naps. Crazy!

Is almost sitting up alone. Emma takes it upon herself to give him "sitting practice" every day. :)

Favorite game is peek-a-boo.

Loves it when his siblings jump and play around him. Luke can make him laugh the hardest.

Is rolling around everywhere. I can't put him on a blanket and expect him to stay on it anymore!

Pees every single time in the bathtub.

Loves to pull his feet up to his mouth and chew on his toes. So cute!

Scrunches up his nose when he's happy. This is absolutely adorable! I can't get enough of it.

Grabs at EVERYTHING.





We love our little guy!

November

We are all just loving playing with Max these days. He's so fun and just content to hang out doing whatever we are doing.




Ben brought home a big box one day and you would have thought it was the best gift in the world! The kids loved playing in it and hiding in it. One day I was cleaning up after lunch and I couldn't find Rachel and Luke. They were so quiet! (Which usually means trouble...) Then I see two pairs of little feet poking out of the end of the box. So cute I had to take a picture!

Emma has been progressing very quickly with her piano lately. She is learning to play some Christmas songs now and is so excited about it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This Thanksgiving was one of the best we've had. The morning was a tad crazy trying to cook our portion of the meal and have everything hot and ready on time. But the afternoon and evening were glorious. The food was divine! So delicious! My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook. And Sue's green beans had me coming back for seconds and thirds! The rest of the day was filled with yummy pie, game-playing for grown-ups and kids, relaxing, and watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving while snuggling with Grandma on her bed. A good day, indeed.









I love Thanksgiving!

October Fun

Whew! October was a fun, full month! I'm quite sad that it's over--there's always so much to do in October.

Our annual canyon drive and picnic to collect fall leaves.

Rachel sported this cool spider headband all day long (made at preschool).

I took the kids to see the witches at Gardner Village. So fun, but so PACKED! I couldn't believe how many people were there.


I also took them to Pumpkinland. I love their selection of pumpkins. We got some cool ones!


My papa turned 80! My grandma had a little open house to celebrate. Love you papa!

Ben's Aunt Carol came for a visit from Washington and upon seeing my four children, commented "you must have a lot of energy!" Four kids is a lot, isn't it?!

Ben was kind enough to let me take a five-day trip to San Antonio to visit my family. I only took Max, who was so easy, and we just had a blast! We ate, shopped, ate, watched Alexandra perform with the band, ate some more, played games, took walks, and got to hear my dad speak in Stake Conference. It was a super fun, super relaxing break for me and I'm so glad I got the chance to go.
My dad and Max

Our "Modern Family" photo.

I got to see my bro Paul and his cute family too!

One of the highlights of my trip was going to a good ol' Texas high school football game! Friday night lights, anyone? It was fun and the best part was seeing my sister play in the band. Check out our cool Reagan Rattlers tattoos!

Ben took the kids to Cornbelly's while I was in Texas.


Carving pumpkins!


Rachel and Luke were invited to a little Joy School Halloween party and they thought it was awesome.

Made homemade rootbeer for the first time. LOVED IT! New tradition, for sure.

My cute kiddos on Halloween. We had a Mulan, a bride, a firefighter, and a pumpkin.






Luke's best buddy, Nathan, was also a firefighter and they were too cute running around together trick-or-treating. Love our little boys!!!

The whole Bergin-Familia clan. Seven total! Can't believe it.

Whew! And now we're onto Thanksgiving. I love this time of year!