nov. events & thanksgiving

we had 15 people at our house for Thanksgiving! we had to set two tables for the first time. it was tons of fun. i adore these turkeys the boys made in preschool. i hope i have them forever. they are my favorite thanksgiving decoration.

my mom (grammy) is the most thoughtful human you will ever meat. she had a gift on every plate for each person that was at thanksgiving. it was so sweet.

this is what my living room looks like everyday since grampy comes up every morning before school for breakfast and games but here it is on thanksgiving. there is always a game going on in the living room!

daddy and emery! have i mentioned how fun and smiley this sweet baby girl is. . we are all head over heals with this happy baby girl. ready for the turkey bowl. . . aaron plans a turkey bowl for the morning of thanksgiving each year.

maryn and kehne are here!!! our dearest friends Taudd and Mandolyn had their twins. they were huge and healthy and sooooooooo cute! grammy celebrated her actual birthday babysitting for us! she said there was no other way she would want to spend her birthday. she let the kids put 63 candles on the cake she brought. here is the picture i came home to on my camera. i am glad my house was still standing. thank you grammy for celebrating with us we love you! the day after grammy's birthday we all went out to dinner at red lobster and the highlight was when our hostess actually took a real lobster out of the cage since all my kids wanted to touch it. where did we get these kids????? then grammy and i and the boys went to the browdway production of Lion King. . it was fabulous! I highly recommend it. they boys were the perfect age at seven.

so thankful!

Here's to what the McMurrays are thankful for 2009 Thanksgiving Day! Emery is not quite talking yet. . . but boy is she getting loud with squeals and lots of snorts! Here is what I think she might say -
1. So many crazy humans to constantly keep me entertained.
2. Tons of kisses and cuddles.
3. Avocados . . this kid LOVES avocados!

Kinkade is thankful for -
1. his friends
2. Lucia
3. Emery

Keagan is thankful for -
1. Acorns
2. Lucia
3. Emery
Lucia is thankful for -
1. Play dough
2. Mommy
3. Daddy
4. My kitty Murphy
Daddy is thankful for -
1. His bride of his youth. . I hope that is me:)
2. His hilarious children
3. Gonzaga Basketball

Mommy is thankful for -
1. Her intentional loving husband
2. My silly tons of personality kids
3. the best parents in the world
4. Gonzaga Basketball!

pictures by - whitney tampien http://tampientandem.blogspot.com

that's our girl!

welcome to my life. . . . it is this. . . or it is this. . . . changing each moment as we go through our day!

my dear friend whitney did a family photo shoot. . . that is where the family photo came from at the top of the blog. she is an aspiring photographer and has definitely found her calling. she is artistic, has a great eye , relational, i could go on and on. i am so excited for this new adventure she is on. you can view more of her work or contact her through her blog http://tampientandem.blogspot.com/ i ADORE the pictures she got of my family. she captured every child and their personality perfectly. i was going to do a huge post but i think i will gradually reveal my favorites when it is appropriate like today.

the top photo could be one of my all time favorite pictures of lucia. she has the biggest personality of anyone i have ever met and is enthusiastic about most everything. for example in costco i have my own cheering section as i make it through my list. "mom, you found the cheese good job mom!!!!" in the most enthusiastic voice you have ever heard. then she starts cheering on the other shoppers "you found your cheese too. . way to go!"

we have met almost everyone by the time we leave and if you have not met us you have heard us.

then there is the second photo. . .yep she swings big as my husband says. oh boy this little girl is sassy! she is in a 'i will do everything by myself stage.'

we are beyond blessed to be lucia's forever family. my prayer daily is that she navigates life with the same joy she has always had since the first moment we met her as a newborn.

first snow

the first snow of the year. . and the boys rushed home from school got on all their snow clothes and raced outside to play and build a snowman. isn't he so cute. you can see from the picture that it was not very much and is not going to stick but was fun while it lasted.

Then of course in my opinion the very best place to be in the snow THE HOT TUB! after playing in the snow we always jump in the hot tub. some of my favorite memories from my childhood are sitting in the hot tub with snow everywhere and white lights all over. now that is Christmas!

always with their tongues out!

a favorite tradition with the first snow is candy cane hot chocolate. . we save it for the first snow of the year! miss lucia is loving every sip. of course there is tons of pink and green Christmas tree marshmallows on top!

so it was quite the afternoon. . snowman, hot tub, cocoa, and frosty the snowman another first snow tradition!

welcome to our house with snow. . the drill is throw your wet clothes in the house and jump in the hot tub. . . . then we throw them all in the dryer. here is lucia watching the snow fall and surrounded by tons of wet snow clothes. . oh boy here we go winter.

Happy Birthday to our first babies!

love how their invite turned out this year. . i know i have mentioned it many times before but if you are looking for the hippest most fun cards for b-days, announcements, or Christmas they mango ink is the best card company on the planet - http://mangoink.com/we had a wonderful birthday weekend for the boys. it always feels really crazy with their birthday falling the day after halloween. these two boys bring so much joy, ENERGY, fun and laughter to our life. they challenge us in parenting daily but it is always so worth it. twins are amazing i have never seen any two humans have such a special bond. they are truly the very best friends. they still have to do everything together yet they are so different. i am so proud of them in school, sports, and most of all for being the most adoring, loving, attentive, protective and fun big brothers i have ever known. i thought these two baby girls we have added to our family in the last year and a half would really cramp their lifestyle but i was completely wrong. they love their sisters so much and it brings a tenderness and sweetness out of them that brings tears to my eyes. they have never once complained about the two babies holding them back. they waited for lucia at every house trick or treating and helped her up and down the stairs and would of held emery if we would of let them. happy 7th birthday my sweet, competitive, strong, happy, energy filled, creative, loving boys!

this picture below is one of my all time favorites. .
the days have not gone quickly with twins but the years have flown by. . how did they get so big.

here is kinkade at our family party! could he be any happier!

and our HAM keagan!

Boo! 09!

we had such a fun halloween! here are my two sweet bumble bees. . . the kids spent all october making construction paper decorations. . . so i tried to display them all together.

i came home to this one evening kinkade thought we needed some outside decorations. i think next time he needs to use just a little bit more tape.

all ready for trick-or-treating - 2 bumble bees and 2 star wars guys.

every year my dad "grampy" is big bird and every year we get a picture with the newest member. this is the last year of that tradition. . the newest member part! we have all the members we can handle!