Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Each of the older boys had meals at their school that week and they each really enjoyed the special treat of having their family eat with them at school! Joel's Thanksgiving feast was decorated so cute! I wish I had pictures. Joel loved having his Daddy eat lunch with him, and was slightly pleased that Nate and I were there too. Ha! At Levi's "Generations Day" the whole first grade performed a special song about grandparents. I think all of us had the song memorized with as often he practiced at home the week before the show, so I wasn't surprised that he did a great job. He was so excited to have Pop, Moe and Papa there to see him sing and eat lunch with him.

best picture I got...Joel was amped.

It was my team's turn to work Thanksgiving this year (all the nurses are assigned to teams and rotate holidays on a schedule, next year I'll work Christmas Day). It was our year for a Knochel Thanksgiving and all my family sweetly decided to postpone the big meal until Friday so that I could be there. I really appreciated their flexibility and was glad I got to enjoy a super delicious meal with them on the day after Thanksgiving. The cousins had a blast playing together as always and my mom outdid herself with the table decorations once again. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family that truly enjoys spending time together. My siblings sure did marry well :)

Rubba Dub Dub, 4 cousins in a tub

This year, with all the unrest in the world I am feeling extra thankful for my family, safety and freedom. I pray for a more peaceful 2016 and thank God for all the many blessings I have when so many are living their daily life separated from their family and in fear.

Family Photos

My friend, Celice, took family photos for us near the middle of October, and I just realized I never posted any of them here. Celice does such a wonderful job and I am always impressed with how they turn out when it seems nearly impossible that she would have been able to get one good shot. This session was no different, the boys were wild and impatient, but yet again, she captured some great pictures! Thanks Celice!

Fun Run!

Levi had his first fun run at school a couple of days ago. It was a fundraiser for his school (and the only one he will have all year, yay!). They were raising money to update the technology center and to get a "listening center" in his actual class room. Levi was super excited to help his school and run lots of laps! He took the event very seriously and had me cracking up the whole time. When the run was about the start he got in his runners pose and sprinted at least the first 5 laps. He ended up running 40 laps and I only saw one kid with more laps than him on their shirt (44). I hope Levi continues to love running, like his Daddy does, it is such a great way to stay fit.

no time to stop and drink water!

So proud of all his tallies :)

Halloween 2015

We had another super fun Halloween this year! I'm starting to love this holiday even though in the past it was never a favorite. I think the boys enthusiasm is rubbing off on me. We have had family themed costumes the past two years, and I think we may have accidentally started a tradition...only time will tell.

On the Sunday before Halloween our church held its annual Trunk or Treat and as always it was a blast! Levi and Joel had our costumes planned out for a couple of months, and thankfully I was able to help pull it off pretty well. I made Joel's Yoda cloak and bought the beanie/mask. Levi's Jedi costume (he was Luke or Obi Wan depending on who asked and what day it was) was a hand-me-down from his cousin Kadin. We found Philip's Darth Vader accessories for super cheap online and I borrowed the Leia costume from a friend (she is a great seamstress and made it for herself a couple years ago!). Nathan's costume was my favorite and was a borrowed bear suit that I made a head covering for so that he could be an Ewok. SO CUTE! We received a bunch of compliments as we went from car to car and the boys came home with quite a candy smorgasbord. Our church also provided free hot dogs, drinks and chips as well as a bounce house. The boys has so much fun and were filled with glee. Philip and I enjoyed just watching them be so happy!

annual Gracie and Levi Trunk-or-Treat photo (7th edition!)

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2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

The night before Halloween Pop and Moe were able to come over for a chili dinner and some pumpkin carving. It was a fun night for the boys and a bit of an exhausting night for the adults. Levi and Joel requested Star Wars themed jack-o-lanterns, and that turned out to be a lot tougher than we anticipated. Sweet Pop and Philip helped Joel and Levi with their Yoda and Storm Trooper pumpkins, and they deserve extra candy for all their hard work! I think the pumpkins turned out great, and the boys were very proud! A big thank you to my Mom for helping so much with the clean up and for the men for the hard work carving. I had the job of Nate's pumpkin and the cute little bat we chose was much simpler and pretty easy.

They have grown so much since last Halloween!

 

Levi loved the shirt he made at school

Later, on the actual holiday, Aunt Molly and Uncle Ryan came over (we LOVE having them in TX!!!) for dinner and trick or treating. They surprised the boys by dressing up in an awesome costume that made them look like an AT AT (one of the battle vehicles from Star Wars). We enjoyed some yummy pumpkin soup and salad and then hit the streets of our neighborhood to trick or treat. Somehow us adults missed the memo that trick or treating occurs just before and right after sunset, so when we got on the road at 7:15 there were very few trick or treaters still going to houses. Lucky for the boys, that meant most people unloaded their "extra" candy on us, so we now have a TON of candy. Philip is a little too excited about this as well...the Boyer sweet tooth is strong with him :)

I'm glad I went ahead and went all in when Levi and Joel schemed up a family coordinated costume event. It was so fun to see how excited the boys were and I know we made a lot of other people smile as well. May the force be as great with you as it was with our family this Halloween :)