trimming the Memory Tree. I love Christmas ornaments! Good thing, too, because several of our beloved family members give us each new ornaments every year! We all anxiously anticipate what they will be and can't wait to find a spot for them on the tree. 
We all LOVE the ornament tradition!!!
Mark with Livi and Shiloh. The only girls!
My mom and me. Thanksgiving was at her house.
My sister and her husband enjoying turkey and cider.
The 2 girls have their very own princess table! Shiloh loved it and couldn't wait to show her cousin!
The boys table--where goofiness abounds!! They had so much fun together. Tried to get pictures of them playing football with Grandpa D, but they didn't turn out. :(
And here are those adorable twin faces!! They are both walking around and getting into everything! Though they are identical, Kenny (right) is always full of smiles and Ryan is a bit more subdued.
My sister asked me for my gingerbread cookie recipe, so I decided to share with all of you.
A couple of years ago we had a little gingerbread house-making party. Hard to see, but in one of those green bowls are a bunch of those tiny, homemade, gingerbread men. They are so cute!!
If you guys are like me, then you want to know what's in a movie before you see it. I don't want to pay $ for a movie and have to walk out of the theater, or rent one only to have to stop watching half way through due to inappropriate viewing material.
Don't panic! It isn't December yet--still just the middle of November, but we are a little excited about putting up our decorations this year since we weren't able to at all last year. My mom has wonderful decorations, but it just isn't the same when they are not your own!! I usually like to wait until after Thanksgiving, but really, putting up decor a little at a time is a lot less stressful, at least for me anyway.
We even turned on some Christmas tunes, and Shiloh wanted to dance with Daddy. Oh that face--it's adorable!
Lincoln was in charge of putting on the very top part of the tree. 
Daddy and Mullin check to see if the colored lights still work. Most of our white lights didn't. The ones that did, Mark decided to put on a tree outside.
Silly Shiloh. Lincoln calls her "Samanthaclaus". I have no idea why? She is cute whatever her name is, though!
Lincoln holds the chair still while Daddy strings the lights around our tree out front. Mullin helps with light hanging. What a team. Momma's inside giving Shiloh her bath.
That's it for now. Will post more as we continue the decorating process...Linked to Raising Homemakers
Sword Fighting has been such a blessing for me and my kids, so I thought I would share it with you all.
Following the suggestions in the book, I wrote the temptations on an index card. Then, I wrote the matching verses on swords, which I cut out in the shape of Sting, Frodo's sword. The boys really liked that!
*If you do click on the above link, it will take you directly to Karyn Henley's site. She is the author of the book. You can just type in Sword Fighting in the search box on her site.
To read more great tips visit RocksinmyDryer.
One of my friends has asked from where the name "Autumnfawn" comes.
They shared so much in common, even their love of American Indian culture. Mostly, it was just an infatuation with the romanticized version of that time period in American History. They read lots of books, fiction and non-fiction alike, and imagined that one day dark, handsome Indian Braves would carry them off into the sunset upon beautiful, wild horses. They even learned how to speak a few Cheyenne words and went to local Pow-wows.
To make their vivid imaginations come even more alive, they decided to give themselves "Indian" names. The blond was given the name, Sky Dancer, because of her dancing, sky-blue eyes, and the other was given the name, Autumnfawn, because of the shape of her face, coloring, and freckles. Such fun times--they even began signing all of their notes to each other with these names. To make it even more fun, they gave their other friends and even all of their secret "crushes" Indian names, too. "Wounded Doe" was one of their sisters who always seemed to have some sort of ailment, "Flaming Hair" was a red-headed friend, and I believe "Tall Oak" was one of their secret "crushes", just to name a few.
Many years passed and Autumnfawn and Sky Dancer eventually went their seperate ways, but Autumnfawn kept her name in order to keep her cherished memories alive.
Ate lunch at a park last week with my friend Staci and her 2 cutie pies, Benjamin and Kaiya.
So glad God has blessed my with an Arizona friend. Well, acutally she isn't from Arizona--she just moved here from Colorado. We met at church and found out that we have so much in common. I am used to being the youngest in my circle of friends, but this time I am the older one. :( 
