Mary and Joseph

This is our second year of the awesome Nativity play. Sam once again was Joseph (due to the fact that he's the only one who fits in the cool Saudi Arabian outfit that Gary brought home for Jared from a business trip when he was a little boy...). The odds of him being Joseph are also skewed in his favor as on both sides he has a little girl cousin very close in age to him. This year, he's a whole 4 years old and is learning more about being a man. He very carefully and gently guided Mary to Bethlehem... when Mary was Lizzie...

and the next day when Mary was played by Cumorah.
Seriously, how adorable is that? More to come... I just have to process those pictures...:)

Snowman

Pearl is kind of a wimp. We all know this, and perhaps, love her even better for it. She absolutely refused to go sledding, instead, coercing Lizzie to hide in little snow depressions by the trees and pretend to be bears. But, Lizzie, being the daredevil that she is, wanted to go sledding, so that left Pearl with nothing to do. Lucky for her, her Aunt Mara was needing some help with the Snowman!

That smile on Mara's face is so genuine. She was so excited about her big snowball!!!

Max was sincerely wondering what everyon was standing around looking at.
This, of course! The master creation! He eventually ended up with a wife and a cat as well, lucky guy!

Sledding

There was a big hill and Sam was nervous to sled down it. He finally consented to go down with me. I'm not sure that was a good choice, as it was my first turn down and we fell 3 times and we forgot to put our gloves on, but it was fun! He went down again with Uncle Tim, and they had a better trip:)

Snow Cave

We went to Tahoe with my family to play in the snow after Christmas. We ended up only staying one night, but everyone else was there three. (I know, we're the party poopers... but we have too many kids, not enough sleep, you get the picture). Jared was on a mission to build a snow cave. As in, super dedicated out in the snow by himself until dark with my mother remarking that he should be a scout leader kind of cave. Here he is in his super stylish chi-com hat that he got on the great wall of China. It's missing the red star... he was sad about that.

Here are the boys. Once the cave was finished, it basically became a place for the kids to hide while the dads threw snowballs at them. Sam wanted a window, which turned out to be not such a good idea for him as the dads used that point of entry to aim their snowballs.
I left Max there for a bit while Jared was building, and all of the sudden, I turn around to see this...
He kept scooping down in the snow then raising his hands so joyfully, we think he thought he was throwing it in the air (as opposed to it snowing on him:)
Fun times were had, and we were so grateful that everyone had good snow gear, it kept the whining to a minimum!

Snow!!!

If all of the snowflakes were hershey bars and cupcakes, oh what a snow it would be!!!!

Standing outside with my mouth open wide....

PS this may be no big deal to some of you, but I just upgraded my photo editing software and now I can easily brighten just the face without brightening the whole picture - a must in these snow pictures. It is so fun and exciting!!!!!

Family Pictures

The last picture of all the Hulbert siblings was taken 10 years ago. It was time.

A friend of the family took pictures of all of the Hulbert clan this Christmas. Thanks, Ryan, you did a fabulous job!

Christmas Cheer

I have been a camera SLACKER this month. How does life get so busy? I get so tired, I don't even want to think about processing pictures, but when I do, I remember how much I like it, especially when I get that perfect shot.

So, I've been feeling badly about not taking enough pictures of Max as he's changing so much. So, here are a few I took at my nephew's birthday party that might make you smile. They sure make me smile!

A break.

Jared and I snuck away this week to go to Mendocino. It was fabulous. It was amazing. I was pretty sure I never wanted to come home. Thank you, Brianna, for taking such good care of the children. Thank you, Jared, for being the love of my life and someone I can lounge around with for three days and not get tired of talking to. I love you so much!

I printed out a picture of the beach, two 16x20's side by side that create a landscape picture (thanks for the idea, Ashley!). I can't wait to put them up in our room to remind us of the peace and togetherness we still feel when we can actually be alone!

traditions

Pearl and I went with our friends the Snyder-Oases and the Larsens and the Yoders to dinner and a play tonight. I think this is the 3rd play we've seen with some variation of this group - so much fun. It is fun to watch the girls get older, and I'm so grateful to have a daughter old enough to do girls night out with! I'm totally bummed that NONE of my pictures turned out, oh well, in my mind's eye I can see Pearl with her pin-curl pigtails and silver wrapping ribbons:) Thanks ladies, it was fun! Let's do it again!

Family Pictures 2010

Sara was gracious enough to take our family pictures for us this Thanksgiving. I have tried and tried, but you just can't do it the same with a tripod and the remote. Seriously, who is Max supposed to smile at?

Jared makes me crazy. I simply cannot get a good picture of us together. In this one, he's making a bug eye face at me. Yup. Can't be serious for the camera!

This is so Jared... what a fun dad!
Thanks, Sara! I owe you one!

Baptism

Pearl got baptized on Saturday. She's so big, and she was so happy! She really understood that she was choosing the right by being baptized:)

Maryann got these pictures of all of us for me. It was a very good day!

Horses at Apple Hill

Every year we go to High Hill (apple hill) to ride the horses. We've gone and ridden the horses in the same spot since Pearl was one year old. Luckilly, Auntie Maryann lugged her big camera to apple hill that day, or we'd have no pictures ( I haven't been in the picture taking mood lately. I know. Weird.)

Sam loves the horses! And, he knows how to cheese it up for the camera pretty good by now:)
Looking at these pictures makes me realize how big Pearl is. She looks like she fits on those ponies now!
Max... Watching... waiting...
Ahh, this looks interesting!

This is great, Dad! I love it!
This was right before Jared left on one of his many business trips this year... so glad he could come with us!

Fall Feast

Sam goes to a private preschool that places emphasis on the arts. They have singing teachers (he's always singing the songs they learn) and they have a little theatre in their class where they perform for the parents. This was the Fall Feast performance. He took it fairly seriously, and sang his loudest. My favorite part was when he got to be a turkey that popped out of the curtians (it was almost impossible for him to stay hidden, he kept having to check things out...) and sang "stayin' alive" with some very groovy hip action. It was quite hilarious, and he looked like he was having a good time:)
These are the turkey cookies we brought. I am not that creative, I think I've done these cookies with the kids every year since Pearl was 2. They're cute and easy and I like eating the leftover nutter butters:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Witches Fingers

So, we had what I sense will be the first of many grandkid halloween parties at mom's house, complete with games and spooky food. I did take some pictures, and I will get them up, but I have to write this down before I forget.

Last week Mom was having Pearl make the place cards and write up the menu. When she wrote "witches fingers," Pearl was getting a little nervous. When she was about to cry, I said "do you really think Grandma found some witches and cut off all of their fingers?" As Pearl was about to agree that this would be ridiculous, Mom says, "no, of course not. I told you I dug them up from the graveyard." Pearl begins hysterically crying as Annie and I hysterically laugh. My mom sure is a fun Grandma!!!

PS the witches fingers really were yummy. Max highly approved:)

PPS I am really really really getting tired of my husband not being home. I was feeling guilty for not helping more at mom's house tonight, then I realized that I had my hands full keeping tabs on Max and Sam (who barfed early on in the party, after saying he was feeling "guilty," then quickly recovered. Hopefully it was just too much candy this weekend...) and I didn't have a husband to give that job to. Come home, Jared, and please stay for longer than 2 weeks this time!

Pumpkin Carving

So, this is us, carving pumpkins.

Or I should say, me carving pumpkins. The little kids did put their order in, but refused to touch the guts and were most unhelpful with their knives. But, they sure did have fun!


I love how Pearl drew her own face this year and it is so her style. Love it!

Of pumpkins and things

I was feeling nostalgic today. I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the cousins for christmas, and I realized how fast they're growing up, and what a short time this young family thing is. It sometimes feels like forever, but today it felt too fast. So, I took the boys to the pet store, just becuase. Then, when Pearl got home, I ignored the mess in the kitchen and carved pumkins with Pearl, Sam, and Cumorah in the garden. (pictures soon, as soon as I get them processed...). This means I was up until 10:00 working in the kitchen (I think I just sat down for the first time today, except when I was in the car), but it was worth it. How many more years do I get to scoop Sam's guts out while he tries to cut the retaining wall with his pumpkin knife, then stab his poor pumpkin repeatedly so it has tiny little cuts all over? And Pearl, already so big that she wanted a scary face pumpkin.

Love my kids. So glad I get to have this time with them (even though I'm pretty sure my body will be completely worn out by the time I'm done and I won't be good for anything else...).

Funny

Last night after I got Max in his PJ's he toddled off, then fell over once he noticed the monkeys on the feet of his pajamas. He sat and looked at them and pulled on the little monkey ears for a full thirty seconds. I always wondered why they do that, I mean, do they really think kids care? Apparently, they do. It was pretty funny.

Farmer face.

We went to Apple Hill when Auntie Lora was here, and she LOVES to take pictures. She actually puts me to shame. Really. So, we had to sit Sam on the tractor (it's too dangerous for her 1 year old Maya, or I'm sure she would have been up there. Sam, give us a farmer face!

Ok, Sam, a real farmer face!
Sam, why is that a farmer face?

"because he's holding the straw in the corner of his lip"
"like this."
Ok, I guess I AM funny! (as Lora and I burst out laughing...)
Little boy, even though you're a terrible listener and I might not survive you, I sure do think you're adorable!