Our lovely Christmas

We started out the Christmas season by picking out a beautiful tree from the Ashley National Forest, now a Felsch family Christmas tradition.


Then we topped it off by eating naughty foods,

like pumpkin pie (made from a pumpkin from our garden), apple pie (made from apples from our orchard), and creamy pear pie (made from pears from our orchard),

decorating the tree and our home (how do you like this Christmas garland? Can you tell how I made it?),

dressing up as something different every day (okay, every hour)....

... and then dressing up baby sister,

(oh my!)

making Christmas cookies of all shapes and sizes (Abram arranged this plate of cookies.. isn't it beautiful!?),

spending quality time together as a family (this picture was 100% candid/not posed. They're always kissing Miss Heidi),

being rock stars,

reading together,

reliving the Nativity,

and playing with our toes!


And when the Christmas Angel came, oh! it was so magical!

(and, of course, it was so fun to open our presents!)


(Happy Holidays!)

Love,
Abram, Maggie, Elijah, McKay, and Heidi

Birthday boy!

The Brave Cowboy...

...turned 3!

McKay is all cowboy these days. He and his brother could hardly wait for his birthday, counting down for weeks! And when it finally arrived, the anticipation was so overwhelming...

...that even a bag of pretzels was thrilling!

But don't worry. That's not all he got. He got pretty spoiled with all his cowboy duds. And The Brave Cowboy book, which he reads every day.

It was a fun day for all of us.

......

Thanksgiving at the vacation house

We got to spend Thanksgiving in Ivins with Mol, Gompy, and Sam. What a cozy, enjoyable, fun, relaxing vacation that was! The food was delicious, the weather was lovely, the scenery was splendid, and the company was delightful!

(But if you want more pictures, you'll have to get Mol to upload her pictures from her camera.)

1 little, 2 little, 3 little Indians...

We had three extra little people at our house yesterday. So, six people 4 and under.

The boys loved playing (and constructing) with Sonny.

And Lala was just delightful and happy the whole time. What a darling girl.

And all of the "big kids" were excited to have Mac 'n Cheese and apple slices for lunch. Easy to please.

But the baby wasn't happy unless she was being held.

Thank goodness Heidi was so happy and easy all day.

Ann Dee pointed out that my blessing for helping out a friend was realizing how easy and nice my baby was. Very true!

I love my little family so much!

Bunny Slippers

Thanks, Aunt Bec!! Hee hee, these are too cute. And perfect for chilly mornings. And somehow she reminds me of her mother in these...

Siblings

Today marks 3 months since "baby sister" joined us. Wow. How can that be? Wasn't it just yesterday that Elijah was our baby?

And how did McKay change from "baby brother" into "tough cowboy"?

Now little sister is figuring out how to wrap each and every one of us around her finger. She's talking (gooing), smiling, even chuckling now and then.... and of course, she has figured out that we'll run to her every time she starts crying. With two smitten big brothers and two adoring parents, this one's gonna be spoiled.

Who does she look like? Elijah? McKay? A mix? Or is she just a brand new mold?

Either way, we love them all.

Boo!

Abram went out to start his truck on the morning of Halloween, and when he came back in, Elijah asked with big eyes, "Was it spooky out there?!" That wasn't the last funny thing he said that day. On the way to get flu shots at the health department, he said, with sobs, "Mamma, I would like to get a hamburger instead of a flu shot, please." And after trick-or-treating, he said, "I love Halloween so much more than Sunday!" Ha!

But backing up... The boys dressed up all day as whatever they wanted to be. Sometimes they had to explain to me what exactly they were dressed as. Space alien:

Cowboy (maybe my personal favorite):

Police officer:

Cool police man and Pirate:

Knight in shining armor and Lasso-roper:

And more.

But at the end of the day, when it was time to go load up on treats, they were....

Mountain Men:

And the whole family went with the theme:

Abram cut out the boys' shirts and I sewed them up. I made my dress and Abram's shirt. He made all the leggings. We each made two pair of moccasins. Abram made three of the possibles bags and I made one. Oh and we each made two belts. And on Halloween morning I whipped up this little dress for Heidi. I'd say we make a good team! (The moccasins were some that Mum found at the D.I. for $2!)
After the kiddos loaded up on sugar, Abram started carving pumpkins with the boys. Elijah was so fascinated! McKay just wanted to eat more sugar.


Abram carved FOUR pumpkins! I only carved one, but we both agreed that it was our favorite, because Elijah drew the face on, and I cut it out exactly the way he drew it. Can you tell which one it is?

(Far left. Hee hee, too cute.)