Time for an update

Yup. It's been a while since my last post. Everything has been so crazy busy! I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Didn't used to be like this. Used to be just love, and still mostly is, but I don't mesh well with the "worlds" take on Christmas. Leaves me feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and it's hard to break away from it all when your constantly being bombarded with it most places that you go.
I recognize "these" feeling most when I'm feeling the exact opposite, otherwise I'm just sucked right in to the whole thing and think everything is normal (made for some deep thoughts on the importance of "opposition in all things", but that's a discussion for another day). This realization really hit me the other day when I was reading the December issue of the Ensign. I was enjoying it SO much! After reading the Christmas stories from different prophets I was feeling so good and "Christmasy".
The REAL "Christmasy" feeling, not the fake!
This was the way I should be feeling!
This was the way it used to be!
I started craving and searching for these feelings more. I found them when listening to certain Christmas music, when reminiscing about certain memories, when visiting with some special elderly people in my ward, and when being with Jason and all my kids for some family time. Still not the same as I remember from years past (less consistent maybe?) but it's a start.
What I know now is, gone are the days when those good feelings would just naturally be there. I have to consciously seek them out.
Is this a sign of the times or just a sign of me getting "old"?! (Can somebody "old" answer that for me, please?) 
Okay, this post was not meant to be like this. I started it with the ONLY intention of updating events and posting recent pictures but it "evolved" didn't it?! So sorry....but it feels good to voice these kinds of things every now and then.
Moving on.
Thanksgiving in Idaho was fun and such a nice get away.

Yummy smoked turkey!

All bundled up while Christmas tree hunting in Kilgore.

Gotta love the cute Weston face even with the drool!

Corinne got to wear Robyn's old, coveted, sexy, pink and purple snow boots. Lucky:)

Love these boys!

 After the Thanksgiving break, Jason was back to long days of work but at least he got Sunday's off. We went Christmas tree hunting for ourselves on a Sunday afternoon drive after church.

Found our best Christmas tree yet!

Wyatt wanted to try his hand at cutting it down.

 In other news, Wyatt had his first orchestra concert. It was so fun to watch him play and I couldn't help but giggle at Mrs. Wheeler the conductor as she tried to keep everyone going at the same tempo and coming in at the right time. Looked like a real workout!

 

Be aware that this is 6th grade orchestra and these kids have only been playing since the beginning of September. Also, sorry for the sound cut outs. Apparently my little camera doesn't do sound and zoom at the same time. Sorry for my giggling in the back ground, too. I just couldn't help myself.

So proud of my awesome cello player!

Weston is now crawling and has had his first cold. 7 months old and had never been sick (did have a fever once from shots but that doesn't count)! The poor guy seemed so confused by it and would look at me as if to say, "Why do I feel so crappy and what is this stuff coming out of my nose that I constantly have to wipe all over your shirt, mom?" I've had to try to stay away from dark colored shirts, always have a tissue handy, and keep my hair up in a pony tail because of this. Oh, well. Love the sweet boy anyway.

Where's the real baby? Millie and her friend Olivia love to play 'babies' and Weston's their favorite one!

Bath buddies! One of Millie and Weston's favorite places to be. Tip for other mommies: throw a bottle of lotion in with the kids (as long as the lid is tight). Weston likes to play with it and then it's nice and warm after they get out to help combat the dry skin of winter. I hate putting cold lotion on nice, warm bodies after a bath. They hate it, too!