Christmas Time 2010

We had a great Christmas with Grams, Grampa, Uncle Ryan, and Auntie. It was freezing cold but we enjoyed the warmth of family. We missed those who weren't with us, but thought of you often.

In the afternoon Michael took the kids and the dogs to the park. You can tell from the picture below that it was very foggy and cold. It felt a little like the Christmases we spent in Sacramento as children.

Auntie Lindsay was the super helper. She helped all of the kids with their presents including several science experiments, putting together Legos, helping set-up MP3 players, etc
Jonathan got his long sought after pillow pet. He was in heaven.
Evan gives Grams a big hug after receiving some fun Transformers and the Lego set he wanted.
Grampa took on baby holding duties once Emily fell asleep during all of the present opening.
Lindsay my little chef got some new cooking tools to use.

Evan wanted Spy Gear this year. He especially liked his decoy listening phone and motion alarm to guard his room.
Laurel is the newest owner in our family of an MP3 player. She loved being able to pick through our music and decide what she wanted on her player.
Jonathan in his Christmas Eve pajamas. I love the cheesy grin.
Here are all 5 of the kids in their Christmas Eve pajamas. It is hard to believe that "they are all mine." The love these pajamas and a month later they are still trying to coordinate all wearing them at the same time minus Emily who has grown out of hers.

December 2010

We visited Grandpa Higbee in December. He loved seeing the kids and meeting baby Emily for the first time.

The kids love making gingerbread houses. This one had a lot of candy on it and they loved eating each and every bite.

Thanksgiving Time

These are pictures of baby Emily at 2 months. She is a delightful baby and we are all really enjoying her sweet spirit and her cute baby smiles.



Thanksgiving was kind of quiet this year. It was only our little family but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed being together. I had lots of help from the girls and Michael so it wasn't too much work for me.

Blessing Day

Emily was blessed on Sunday November 7th. It was wonderful to have Grams, Grampa, Auntie Lindsay, Grandmommy, and Grandpa Higbee with us. We are so blessed to have such a loving and supportive family. Below are some pictures of Emily in her blessing dress. It is the same dress that little Lindsay wore for her blessing day.

I love her sweet little face in these pictures. She is such a doll. She is now smiling at us and trying to make sounds.

Here are all of the people who were there for Emily's blessing. What a good looking group!

We had to get a shot with Auntie. The kids were ecstatic that she came to visit. They miss her already and can't wait to see her again. I was so happy to see her as well. I am hoping she can move to Utah soon!

We are so glad Grandpa and Grandmommy could travel out for the blessing. Grandmommy just spent the last week helping us. We are so grateful for everything she did while she was here.

We are also grateful for Grams and Grandpa. It has been wonderful to have Dad retired and to get to see them more often. Mom was a great help while she was here. She even stayed the night when Emily wouldn't stop screaming to give Michael and I a much needed break.

A picture of the proud mommy and daddy.

This was the best picture of our whole family after the blessing. It is hard to believe that we have 5 kids.

Michael should win an award for Father of the Year. He is so helpful with baby Emily and all of the kids. Even his mom had a hard time getting Michael to let go of Emily so she could hold her. I am so thankful to have him as my husband and the father of our children.

This was just before church. It was challenging getting out the door. Emily was overtired and screamed while Michael put on her dress. I was trying to hurry and get ready.

Halloween 2010

The kids did Trunk-or-Treat on Friday night and then Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood on Saturday night. They were thrilled to have so much candy and I am worried about my future dentist bills. Each of the kids had somewhere between 80 and 100 pieces of candy by the time they were done with Halloween. They haven't really wanted to share with mom and dad though.Laurel was a detective this year, Lindsay a witch, Jonathan was Batman, and Evan was Luke Skywalker. They were super cute and had a lot of fun dressing up and getting lots of candy.

Pumpkins and Caramel Apples

Our family is continuing a Stewart family tradition. For Family Home Evening on Monday night we carved pumpkins and I made caramel apples. We did this when I was a child and it was such a good memory that I wanted to continue the tradition with our children. The kids did the majority of the carving all by themselves.
Jonathan used some small carving tools that helped him to do most of the work on his own.

Michael helped Laurel to use a pattern to make her ghostly pumpkin.

I think Jonathan's pumpkin resembles his grin a little bit.

Evan did his pumpkin all by himself. I was really impressed.

Lindsay poses with her pumpkin. Doesn't she look pretty here? She loves to wear her apron any chance she gets.

New Pictures of Emily

The kids love to hold Emily as long as she is happy and not wiggling too much. They love to shower her with kisses and lots of love.

She took a snooze on Uncle Ryan one afternoon. She loves to curl up.

She makes a great O shape with her mouth. We have started seeing a lot more of her eyes now that she is awake more often.

Of course when she sleeps we are always glad to get a little break.

Michael has been really good about remembering to take pictures. If it was up to me then we wouldn't have very many pictures of these first few weeks.

You can see a little bit of fat starting to stick to those cheeks.

She has finally decided to enjoy her baths. It took awhile but they seem to be more soothing to her now.