...and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Here is this year's Christmas Letter from us! Click on it to see it bigger! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm a little pumpkin, orange and round; Here is my stem and there is the ground...

These are the pumpkins we carved this year.  Allison's is the cat that she drew and carved (with a little help), Mine is Mickey Mouse, Chad's is the Scary Tree, Tyler's is the Bat Face, Drew is the Happy Face, and Jeremy's is the Ghost.  If you hover your mouse over the picture you can see what they look like at night! :)

We are pumpkins big and round...

I failed to post any of these Fall/Halloween Pictures, so I am posting them now. Enjoy!

Our Haunted Little House

I saw this and decided to try it for myself cause I thought it looked fun and I love playing around with Photoshop Elements... Below is my house turned into a haunted house!

Tyler... It's Your Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday, Tyler!  We love you! You are such a happy baby and laugh at anything and everything! We are so glad we have you!

White Tie Affair

Wish I would have known about this before Easter. Chad has tons and tons of UGGGGGLY ties we could have used for it. Here are some Easter Sunday dress photos...

There was a free easter egg hunt at our local park. They had different areas for different age groups (2-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12). Jeremy (wasn't quite 2 yet but most think he looks 3) and Drew (just barely made it) were in the same group - The moms nearby were kinda looking at me and my boys like, uh you are in the wrong age group. I was thinking, "Yes! My kids are going to dominate this hunt"... and they did. I was surprized at how much little Jeremy picked up. We took some video of the event:

The hunt was over in twenty seconds. (I'm sure it didn't help that parents were helping their kids):

Return to sender, address unknown. No such number, no such zone.

So back in September of 2008, I ordered this princess costume (that lights up!) for Alli online from Costume Express. Then about 2 weeks later, I still didn't have the costume and I was getting a little worried about not having anything for Alli to wear to all the Halloween festivities coming up. So I looked up the tracking number on UPS for the package and I noticed that the last time it was updated on it's current location was over a week ago. Now a little more worried, called up Costume Express and asked them where my package was. They said it was lost. I told them they had to send me a new one then cause I wanted the costume before Halloween otherwise cancel my order. So they sent me a new one. They told me that if I ever received the other package, that I should be so kind as to send it back to them. "Sure thing." A week or so later I got the costume. Halloween came and went and I completely forgot about the "lost package" that still hadn't shown up.

Today I answered the rude, loud pounding on my door (Do any of your UPS guys do that?) to find a package from Costume Express. I was confused and thought, "I didn't order anything from there. Did Chad? Maybe someone sent us a gift for no apparent reason. Yeah. That happens." So I opened it to find I have received a second lovely princess halloween costume. Then it all came back to me. I was annoyed that I had opened it and potentially had to put some money into sending it back. I am fascinated as to where this package was for 7 months and I am touched the person that "found" it went ahead and sent it to me after all this time. Now what do I do with it?

P.S. Happy Birthday, Kathryn! Do you want a princess costume?

You've Got a Cousin in Me!

We were so excited when Chad's brother Jon (Happy Birthday, Jon!) got married to Raina, mostly because we love the spunk she brings to the family but secretly because my kids now had cousins (Megan (7) and Brendon (9) - in picture above). Allison and Andrew (and Jeremy) are always so excited to play with their new cousins. Alli especially loves that she has someone to play princess and do girly stuff with - seeing that she has 3 brothers! Megan and Brendon came to our house for Valentine's Day and I did some fun crafts with all the kids. We made Candy necklaces with ribbon and saran wrap and we made some fun Heart Hats. Here are the kids modeling their fun crafts...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chad and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day date last night. We went to PF Changs and a movie. We were so thankful to Chad's mother Jolene for offering weeks in advance to watch the kids for us. Chad surprised me with beautiful Princess Cut Diamond and Amethyst earrings. He also surprised me with an amazing flower arrangement with Purple Tulips (my favorite), Blueish Hydrangea, and White Chrysanthemums... so beautiful! Thank you hubby for a wonderful evening!

Elves Gone Country!

Classic Elf Dance

Disco Elf!

Elf Yourself once again!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Hallowling, Mann!

Happy Halloween! Allison was a fairy princess. (Her costume lit up with red lights with the push of a button) Drew was Buzz Lightyear. (The whole day everyone called him Buzz - he was starting to think that he really was Buzz) Jeremy was a monkey. (Although, he was called a dog, bear, lion more often than a monkey.) Tyler was the famous Lingmann Blue Monster. (This costume was worn by each of our kids when they were babies. Gotta keep up the tradition!)

Boo-oo-oo! Jack O'Lanterns are we!

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening. The kids actually were able to help this year, especially with getting all the nasty goopey stuff out, which I loved. Alli and Drew also helped poke the patterns into the pumpkins.

Chad's pumpkin was the Ickabod Flaming head, Mine was Bones the Skeleton, Drew's was the happy face, Alli picked the cat and Jeremy's was the ghost. Tyler's pumpkin was rotten and couldn't be carved... so we just put another pumpkin out that Alli had decorated on the outside for his. (We used our new camera's night shot mode. Glow pumpkins, glow!)

Pumpkin, You're Hollow Within

Chad graciously took Alli and Drew to Pack's Pumpkin Patch (where Drew's fieldtrip group went this month.) They had a fun kids hay corn maze, huge pumpkin patch, "scarecrow" picture gallery, and they got to pick their own pumpkin to take home!

Open up a present, may your day be pleasant, just for you!

The last (but definitely NOT the least) birthday this month is Chad's. I always feel so sad when it gets to his birthday because at the end of August, our families are so sick of coming to our house for cake and ice cream that Chad usually just celebrates with us - how boring, I know! :( But I will remind everyone of the surprise party I did for him 2 years ago - so he doesn't get the shaft EVERY year.

I got Chad a new digital camera ... that we took back because he decided on a newer, cooler, BUT cheaper one and so far we love it! It takes really nice pictures... and I get to hear all the good things about it instead of all the bad things about our old one. If anyone's interested in a really good camera that takes fast pictures in focus even when kids are running around everywhere and won't even stop to smile - this is the camera for you... the Canon Powershot SD1100 IS 8MP Camera! It even has a Kids/Pets mode that has a faster shutter speed so you don't miss that perfect shot. (No, I don't work for Canon - but I probably should get something from them for how much I have been talking up their camera.) Chad also got a few DVDs, a shirt, some new pants, and of course always the favorite gift of his - the birthday chocolate bar(s).

We are so thankful to have Chad in our lives. He is a really loving, thoughtful, intelligent man who so kind and giving to his kids and wife. We are grateful to have him at home so much to spend lots of time with him, especially when I am about to have another baby. It's no wonder to me why Heavenly Father is sending us our 3rd Boy. Chad is such an excellent role model and father to them that I would be proud if my boys grew up to be exactly like him. I love him so much. Happy Birthday, Chad!

Guess Who's Back?

Well, I'm Back! I decided to put an end to my 6 (ok ok 8) month hiatus, and start blogging again! The Whole World I'm sure is jumping up and down right now cause you all are soooo excited to see what posts I'll make next! No, but for real I have A LOT to do to catch everyone up on what the Lingmann Clan has been up to. So I'll be making some back posts of activities and adventures we went on this summer.

As some of you know, I am expecting a boy end of September (yes, i know crazy - my fourth child, and I just turned 30 this month!) and he was definitely a surprise! Our third child, Jeremy kinda wore us out but I guess we are going to have to deal with that and get over it fast, cause here comes another! Jeremy and this baby will only be 17 months apart, so it's going to be rough for us for a little while. But obviously there is someone up there that thinks we can do it, so wish us luck!

This month our family has 4 birthdays - Drew, Alli, Mine and Chad's... poor Jeremy is the only one that doesn't have a birthday in August right now. So it has been constant cake, ice cream and an overload of presents. It's kinda like Christmas Day but really like a whole month of Christmas Day. The kids get so many presents (mostly from extended family and friends) that I started something new this year and only let them open one present every day or so to help the chaos seem not so chaotic. It gives them something new to look forward to.

I am so excited to post all the cute pictures and memories of this summer. I am also excited to catch up on what everyone else has been doing this summer. (Not only did I stop posting, I also stopped reading everyone else's blogs, so I have a LOT of reading to do.)

So let's hear 3 Cheers for Blogging!

Another year older, and hopefully wiser too!

Well, I am now officially OLD! I turned 30... please no applause. This is a very sad moment. I will never again be known as young. I am closer in age to gray-haired people than the cute little bouncy teenagers. :( Very sad!

For the record, Chad does deserve major, I'm talking major huge big brownie points for years to come for making my birthday filled with the least amount of tears possible. And the only tears I did have were happy ones. (I am going to blame that on being pregnant too, where every day is an emotional day! lol)

For the past year, I have been bugging my husband to death about how he better make my 30th birthday party something spectacular or ELSE! The week prior to my birthday, I was in tears threatening him with the wrath of doom if he didn't get busy planning my big party. He kept saying, "We ARE having a party. Your family and mine are coming over to have some cake and ice cream!" I proceeded to tell him that THAT was not considered a worth party for my 30th birthday and I didn't want to hear anything more about what he had "planned" because I didn't want to cry anymore.

So along came my birthday and he simply stated we were going to dinner and movie and that his mom was coming over to watch the kids for us, then the family was coming over for cake... blah blah blah. I was already crying inside and the night hadn't even started.

On the way to the movie, Chad missed the exit for the theater and started getting really mad and upset. I was thinking, "hmm.... ok I guess we aren't going to the movie. He's just trying to trick me into thinking he's really mad, and then he's going to surprise me with a huge party somewhere." Turns out he really IS mad and we have now missed about 20 min of the movie. So that sucks AND I am bummed there's no surprise party.

After the movie we head to one of my favorite restaurants, PF Chang's. That was yummy! On the drive home, I forced myself to lower my expectations for the "party" and just be happy that the fam is coming over to celebrate me getting really old. So I come inside and Chad mysteriously disappears somewhere (and I think, "He has been doing that A LOT lately... I wonder why?") and my mom is here with Sam and Sarah and of course the kids and Chad's mom. We start watching some Olympics on TV and I figure I guess we will be having some cake/ice cream/presents a little later. I am casually talking with my mom about something and glance out towards the front door and see a guy (who I'm sure wishes to remain nameless) from our ward just standing there in the front entryway. I'm a little puzzled since I for one didn't even know the front door was open and was just curious as to why he decided to randomly stop by. So I walk over and say hi and out pops his wife from our living room. "Oh... Hi!" So I could tell now the 2 of them where feeling a little bit awkward and in walks Chad and says, "Come on in!" They start to say, "I hope we didn't ruin anything." Chad says, "No, you're totally fine!" and then he opens the blinds to our sliding back door. There are about 20 people outside sitting in chairs.

I was like, "WOW! I guess the party started and I better go and greet my guests." HE DID PLAN MY BIG PARTY! YAY! I was so excited and happy, I couldn't hardly contain my happy tears. I felt so terrible remembering how I had acted the week before and all the pouting I did the past year. Chad did so good pretending to do nothing, and I couldn't believe I didn't figure it out. He was so sneaky!

Chad had an outdoor theater set up, complete with projector, surround sound, caramel & buttered popcorn, candy, the works! We played some Wii on a huge screen (courtesy of my brother Sam). We watched "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" when it got dark enough. It was like a drive-in movie in my own backyard. Chad is so clever!

It was so nice of everyone to come. I was so surprised, it's going to be hard for Chad to top it. (But I'm sure he will) My friend even showed me the cute, funny email he sent out to everyone - It was so adorable, he made me cry. Before cake and ice cream, Chad read me Top 10 List of why he loves me so much - again with the crying! It definitely is the best birthday I have ever had!