Friday, January 7, 2011

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward Christmas party on December 1st was a fun one for the kids. They all got to meet Santa and do some games and crafts before the rest of the ward arrived later for supper and a program.

Megan, all set to head out to her first Christmas party.

Megan and Caleb

Dallin and Caleb with Santa. Dallin declared that he was a believer this year, "but only for this year", he told us. Better safe than sorry. Nothing to lose by believing! Caleb's still playing it cool.

Taylor and Megan with Santa

Megan and her cousin, Teren, pose with Santa for the cutest photo of the night.

Taylor knew that his cousins, Elania and Brayden, are firm believers in Santa and so was very enthusiastically playing it up for them while waiting in line. Caleb had a different solution: "We won't tell them that Santa isn't real. We will just tell them that Santa is fake." I can't believe I've raised such a kill-joy three-year-old!

Caleb, the non-believer, works on his Christmas craft.

Caleb, Elania and Brayden

Taylor joins in to help.

Caleb went a little overboard on the stickers on his Christmas card. I think there were three or four layers at least.

Taylor shows off his finished card.

Dallin Turns Six!

Dallin turned six years old on November 24th. He was so excited to have many of his Raymond cousins come over for cake, presents, and a light sabre duel! The kids all had fun with the usual dry ice too.


Caleb was as excited to give Dallin his present as Dallin was to receive it!

Dallin and Noelie

Dallin had another volcano cake this year, but this time he wanted it to be a volcano from the lava planet of Mustafar where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi had their epic duel in Star Wars: Episode III. Mom did her best on short notice (he changed his mind a number of times leading up to the birthday) and it seemed to please Dallin. Uncle Greg said that he thought it looked like a very tasty 'chocolate mousse-tafar'. Anakin and Obi-Wan are on top with light sabres drawn, but it's hard to see in this picture.

Dallin and Taylor on Dallin's sixth birthday.

Megan, Ballet Princess

A small (trust me) sampling of Megan's recent ballerina pictures. She fits her little tutu swimsuit now and looked so adorable, we had to take pictures. Some of her poses were pretty close to the real thing, so we made a special ballet book for Aunt Chanelle for Christmas, starring Megan.















Halloween 2010

We're playing some catch-up now that we've hit the new year. This is looking back to Halloween. Our boys were all Jedi Knights and Megan was a strawberry. We met up with cousins Elania (Minnie Mouse), Brayden (a "normal knight"), and Teren (an adorable spider). Chanelle is lurking in the background as herself.

Light sabres are always drawn. You just never know.

I like that Brayden, the Normal Knight, has joined in with the Jedi Knights and has his own sword raised.

Mardi and Megan with Teren and Mike. We were lucky to have such a warm evening for Halloween. The babies were actually allowed to emerge from their blankets for pictures.

Mardi and Miss Megan Strawberry

Dallin wanted to show off some Jedi moves.

The wide stance is his favourite.

Megan has had enough of her first Halloween!