Clara's 4th Birthday

Clara turned 4 on December 19th. She brings such a sweet spirit to our home. She is creative, caring, and gives the best hugs and kisses. She is a great sister and is always trying to help others be happy.

We pampered her here at home that day and then had a little get together at Grandma Packer's house a few days later.

Breakfast in bed was her favorite food - hootenannies, aka German pancakes. And she got a Rainbow Brite Doll.

Followed by a few more presents.

Clara likes anything pink, sparkly, or pink and sparkly so she's pretty easy to shop for.

And her pink birthday ice cream cone.

At Grandma's house Barry made her a Dora pinata. It was a big hit. :)

Cousins Connor, Johnathan, Triston, and Mackayla with Quinton and Clara.

And Grandma Packer made her a rainbow pony cake, which just melted her little girl heart. She was in heaven.

She plays the princess role very well. 

Overall, she was pretty pleased with all of the attention and sugar.

Clara's Dance Recital

On December 18th, Clara had her first dance recital. She did a great job and was so cute. She was the smallest girl in her class whenever she was concentrating hard (which was most of the time) she stuck her whole tongue out. We have it on video, but here are a few pictures.

Waiting to begin. She loved spending time with the other girls.

This girl just cracks me up. 

Clara's teacher closed up shop after this recital so we're done dancing for a while, but maybe someday she'll pick it up again. She looked forward to it every week and asked all the time if today was the day for dance class.

Santa

It's always fun to see the kids' reactions to Santa each year. At our ward Christmas party Clara was so excited she was right a the front of the line to see him and let him know she wanted a mermaid for Christmas.

Quinton was a little shy as he told him about his fire truck wish.

And Warren just wanted to know who the heck was holding him.

And maybe get a taste or two of that beard.

Christmas Card Pictures

One Saturday morning in December I was so excited to see some snow on the ground that I hauled the family outside for some pictures. Our neighbor was nice enough to help out at the last minute. This first one is my favorite. 

Quinton at 5 years old

Clara at 4 years old

Holiday Preparations

We get pretty excited when a holiday is coming, and of course December is full of celebration.

Warren was pretty excited to feed himself a banana for the first time.

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Of course we had to drive into the mountains (Idaho City) to find a Christmas tree. Lugging a baby up a steep hill is no easy feat!

Nor is it easy keeping these two in one piece going in and out of the trees.

But we found a good one this year! Barry makes a pretty good looking lumberjack.

This was our advent calendar this year. We would take turns each day poking a hole in the paper and pulling out a treat and a scripture.

The kids begged to make gingerbread men cookies!

Someone gave us a bag of cranberries at bountiful baskets and so we strung some for our tree. It takes a great deal of concentration.

Warren was just hoping to eat some of the decorations.

Quinton's 5th Birthday

Quinton is 5 years old! Time is just zooming along. He's such a special little guy and we're so glad to have him. We had a really fun day for his birthday. Barry even had the day off for Veteran's Day so we went to the aquarium in Boise and had lunch at Carl's Jr. where they got some energy out in the play place.

The aquarium was a pleasant surprise. It was very hands on and they could touch all sorts of animals.

The kids even got to feed and pet some sting rays and sharks. I stayed far away. Barry was the lucky one to get bitten by a fish.

Here are Quinton and Clara feeding the Larakeets.

Nemo even made an appearance.

It wasn't quite as hands on for Warren.

Barry made an awesome Diego pinata.

Warren observed with delight.

The birthday boy with his fish cake.

Can't you just see the pure joy on his face?

And breakfast in bed with blue crepes!

Halloween 2012

We love Halloween at our house. This year we had a Peter Pan theme. Quinton was Peter Pan, Clara was Tinkerbell, Barry was Captain Hook, Warren was the crocodile and I was supposed to be Wendy. Unfortunately I ended up having pneumonia that week and could hardly move off the couch so I had to miss out on the fun. The kids had a great time at the ward party and trick or treating, though. The kids had a good load of candy - we used the leftovers in Quinton's pinata for his birthday, we'll probably use some for Clara's birthday, and some may even end up in our Christmas stockings!

These pictures were taken on a freezing and very brief field trip with Quinton's preschool to the pumpkin patch. Quinton got a pumpkin and went on a hayride, but Clara, Warren, and I stayed in the car most of the time!