Ever slept 6 people in a hotel room?  We sure did!   I don't recommend it, especially when the baby throws up in the middle of the night.  Those are the moments when joseph and I promise each other that we will never travel with kids again!  (Yeah right)

Emmy on Thanksgiving Day.  I'm quite in love with this little person.  Ruth has nicknamed her "Em".  Whenever I hear that, I always think of my own sister, Emily.

The Wild Wild West

We traveled on Thanksgiving day from Phoenix to Tombstone for a quick experience of the wild Wild West.  Surpisingly, it really IS a different place:  if there is anywhere in America where cowboy life is alive and well, it would be here.  It is also in the middle of nowhere.  Our budding cowboy, James, keeps saying that he wants to live there when he grows up.  Really?!!

Tombstone was founded by a miner in the area who landed on silver. When he first began mining in the hills here, all the skeptics told him that he'd likely dig up his tombstone.... hence the name, Tombstone.  The funny thing about Tombstone is that there is a small fee for everything, including museums and historical sites.  After we paid the fee for the stagecoach, we were suprised to discover that they also expect tips!  All I had in my wallet was $1.00 and a $20.00 bill.  I don't think the driver was too happy with our meager offering.

The kids really enjoyed watching a staged shootout.  We chose a comical one and the kids thought it was hilarious.  Ruth cried everytime a gun shot and Emmy laughed.  It's funny to now have two girls with such different personalities.  

Our last stop was Boothill cemetery, which held lots of casualties from Indian raids as well as a handful of outlaws.  What I learned from our visit was that the Wild West really was wild.  I also learned that this would've been an aweful place to be a woman.

David

We made a big decision a few months ago to allow David to stay up later than the younger kids.  When everyone is tucked into bed, David springs off the couch and wiggles his way into our evening activities.  Tonight, he was eager to get involved in my journaling and blogging, hence our selfie.  To encourage him to read more, Joseph and I have been propping ourselves behind our books at his evening hour.  It seems to be working because he has suddenly become a book worm and has just completed all the Beverley Clearly books.  I have finished the Hobbit and am now reading The Lord of the Rings.  I am surprised to say, that despite hating the movies I love the series.. and totally understand how someone could become a Tolkien groupie!

Aaah, flag football.  Not sure if we'll be doing this again, but we finished the season and David celebrated with his two coaches on Friday.  I am realizing that we may not be the team sport sort of family.  I think my boys are athletic, just not in an easily defined way.  If you ask David what his hobbies are, he'll tell you that it is climbing trees and running fast.  This is true.   James is incredibly strong.  He and David play a sumo wrestling game where they try to push each other off a 5X7 ft rug.  Despite David's long limbs, James will push him off everytime.  

Happy Birthday Ha Hee

James gifted Ha Hee with a hat this year.  Supposedly, Ha Hee is 10 years old.  (That ought to give James a little more leverage over his older brother).

Kindergarten Feast

The kindergarten had their Thanksgiving feast on Friday.  Emmy and I came to watch the kids eat homemade muffins and make homemade butter.  They even sang a few good turkey songs for us.  I've decided that it takes a special person to manage 30 5-6 year-olds everyday.

My friend, Olivia, and James' friend, Brody.  :) Olivia was in TK with James last year and loves to dote on Emmy.

James turns 6!

James turned 6 on Wednesday.  Since all his siblings had their birthdays over the summer, he has been waiting very patiently for months.  Finally, the big day arrived!  James is on a cowboy kick, so he asked for an outfit.  We gave him some awesome cowboy boots and a hat, which he has worn off an on all week.  When he does have it on, he looks so darling!

Since cowboy was the theme of the day, I took the boys (Ruth was in school) down to San Juan Capistrano for pony rides.  They had so much fun.  San Juan is such a beautiful historic area that has preserved the feeling of the cowboy era.  The best part was that it was 70 degrees all day long.

Okay, the Reeses peanut butter cake looks good, but turned out to be aweful!  No one would eat it!.. not even our guests!  Grandma and Grandpa Larsen were out of town, so James invited a friend of his choice, who turned out to be Brody.  Brody has an older brother, too.  All four boys wrestled and jumped on the trampoline all night.  They even gifted James with Legos.  That night James told me that it was the best birthday of his life and that he wants to do the exact same thing next year (except the cake)!

Busy baby

And she's finally walking!