FALALALALA...!

For family night we went to the Christmas Carol Sing-a-long at the Energy Solutions Arena. I had heard about this on the radio and it's a completely free event. It's free to get in, free parking, they give you free hot dogs and soda, then we got free tickets for other things. So, we decided to try it out and see what it was like. We had such a great time (when i say "we" I mean Josh, Kylee, and I; Chase was a little bored). They had an orchestra and the whole arena sang Christmas carols for an hour. We had a great time and I think we will try it again next year. We also met Emily and Scott and her sister Michelle there so it made it even more fun to have friends there.

IT'S SNOWING!!

I hope this means we will have a white Christmas!

Thankful Turkeys

I got this idea from my cousin Ashley, thanks Ash!! For Family night we talked about Gratitude and what the Thanksgiving Holiday is all about. Then we made these turkeys and everyday until Thanksgiving we will think about something we are grateful for and write it on a feather and stick it on the Turkey! We have so many things to be grateful for and it's nice for the kids to be able to think about those things, although it's pretty funny to hear some of the things they come up with!

Go Figure..

I would love to be able to tell you that seeing this means that Winter is over, Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner. Unfortunately we all know that is not the case. We have had some very unusual weather this year and my iris's are a little confused it would appear. I went outside the other day and this is what I found. This iris plant is blooming!! The funny part about the whole thing is that it didn't even bloom this summer when it was suppose to. We had all of that snow in October and the very next week we had 70 degree weather, so I think it tricked my flowers into thinking it was time to come to life. As happy as I am to see this, I'm not sure they will actually open as it has gotten rather cold outside again. Oh, how I wish that Spring was here already. I do love fall and all the beautiful colors and I don't mind snow, but this cold weather is something I really don't love. I am ALWAYS cold and it is so hard to get warmed up sometimes. I AM getting very excited for Christmas and for some reason I don't mind seeing all the Christmas stuff out already. So, I guess I can just deal with being cold for now, I guess I will have to go tell the flowers! :-)

Halloween Fun!

We had a good Halloween this year. The kids had no school and so they were very anxious all day to get out and go trick-or-treating. Kylee chose to be a Hula girl and Chase was Indiana Jones. They looked so cute and the weather was great so they didn't have to wear coats or jackets with their costumes. Josh takes the kids around the neighborhood while I stay home and pass out candy. It's fun to see all the kids come to the door in their costumes. The kids made out pretty good, they got a ton a candy and we had quite a bit left over, so if anyone has a craving, you know where to come!

This is Chase eating a warhead! He didn't realize they were so sour. He didn't like it and threw it away!

Carving Pumpkins

SO, I'm a little behind, I know, I know. We carved pumpkins for family night last week and had a great time. The kids are really getting into it now that they are a little older and they like to do most of it themselves. They turned out pretty good and hopefully you can get the idea from these pictures. I'm still trying to figure out my camera and everytime I turn the flash off the pictures go blurry, so this is the best that I could do.

Albertson's had these mini monster cakes and I thought the kids would love it for dessert. I was right!

My Dad has a tradition every year of painting pumpkins this is my creation this year!

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

So, last weekend 9 of us girls went up to Park City for a girl's get-a-way! It was so nice to have a little break and spend some time with some amazing women! We had a great time just relaxing, laughing, playing games, and shopping! It was great to get to know some of you better and it's nice to know that I am not the only crazy, competitive game player (Angie & Janelle :-)!! Thanks to Kim and Janelle for putting this together, I can't wait to do it again! I feel really blessed to be surrounded by so many great women on a daily basis. I think the Lord has truly blessed my in my life to have this on a consistent basis. He must know that I need it! I know that I would not be half as good as I am now without all the examples of all of you fabulous ladies that I have had the privilege to know!

Snow What??!!

So, this is what we woke up to Sunday Morning and as the day went on it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. I think we ended up with about 14 inches of snow!! Can you believe it? Is this October or January?? Now, I think that the snow looks beautiful and I love the way it looks when all the trees are white, but this is a little crazy when it is happening in the middle of October and the leaves haven't even come off the trees yet. It definitely has made me excited for Christmas, but let's get through Halloween and Thanksgiving first please. And I don't think i'm quite ready to let go of the warm weather yet, I really don't like to be cold. At least it will be 70 again by the end of the week and hopefully all the snow will be gone for a while!

8 Years and counting!!

Josh and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this weekend. We went up to Park City and stayed at the Stag Lodge! Very seldom does Josh get any perks with his job, but he was able to get us a free night stay and it was fantastic!! I am really bummed because as we were driving up I realized that I forgot the camera so I didn't get any pictures. The lodge is gorgeous and we had a great time. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, we only saw one other person while we were there. It was great to get away and have some time to ourselves, we haven't been on a date for a while because our schedules have been so busy.
I can't believe it's been 8 years! It seems like yesterday that we went on our first date. I feel so lucky to have found someone like Josh. He is such a good man and he loves me so much. He is a hard worker and always does what he has to do to take care of his family. He supports me in everything that I do and all the crazy things I want to do. It's crazy how much life changes in 8 years and I can't wait to see what happens in the next 8!

And more vacation!

We went and stayed a few days with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin Ashley and her family. Right when we arrived at their house Kylee starting throwing up and didn't feel well the rest of the day. We weren't sure if it was something she ate or if it was a bug, but Josh got it that night! We took it easy the next day and didn't do much. Ashley and Sheri ended up getting it and Chase got it the day we headed home. It was a fun drive home worrying about him throwing up the whole way!! He did great and didn't have any accidents in the car, I was so proud of him!! We went hiking one day with Robert and Mitchell (some friends from our old ward). It was sooooo cold up in the mountains (45 degrees) and Josh forgot to load up the kids hiking shoes, so they ended up hiking in their water shoes that we had in the car. It wasn't too bad until we ran into snow and then their little feet got pretty wet and cold. Josh carried Kylee most of the way back and Mitchell carried Chase!! Thank heavens for Mitchell because I wouldn't have done it! When we got back to the car Josh and the kids had a great time feeding some birds that would come right up to them and take it out of their hands.

We also got to spend some time with some old friends. We had a great time and it was great to see everyone! I wish we would have had more time and got to see everyone that we wanted to! I guess it just means that we have to do it again!! Thanks to everyone for helping us have such a great trip!!

The Bird Whisperer!!

The Kids just loved this! They didn't want to leave.

more vacation!

We went and spent a couple of days with Josh's dad and his wife Becky. We love their new house and the kids loved all the space to run around and play. We took the ferry over to Seattle and had fun walking along the water front and up to the market. It was a little cold and overcast, but we had a great time and it brought back so many great memories of all the times we've been there.

the view of downtown Seattle from the ferry

The kids at Pike Place Market

We got some great fruit from the market!

Summer vacation!!

We had such a great time on our vacation this year!! Our first stop was to Ridgefield, WA for the weekend to see Nina, Steve, and the girls. We had such a great time and we loved Ridgefield!! If we decide to move back up there, we are definitely going to consider that area! We went to the Portland Zoo and out to the beach at Seaside! Rielly, Chase, Kylee, & Mckenna at the zoo

Gotta love the hippos!

The beginning of Josh's sand art!

More of Josh's sand art! Isn't he talented!!

Thanks Nina and Steve for a great time!!

Running in slow motion

I feel like I have been on auto pilot the last couple of weeks and it just seems like I can't get back into the swing of things. We had our family vacation that was a ton of fun (I will post pictures soon). Then I had a day to get ready to head to girls camp for a week and then this past weekend was Youth Conference. I am exhausted!! I haven't felt this tired in a long time. In the midst of all that Josh managed to take me out for my birthday! We went to Mcgrath's and I had a really great salmon dish!! Thanks honey!! Now I have to worry about finishing up swimming lessons and try to get the kids ready to start school in a week. My house is dirty, laundry needs to be done, my yard needs to be rid of the weeds, a lesson to be prepared, and a book I want to finish. Hopefully I will be back to full speed soon, there's too much to be done!

We love to camp!

We went camping this last weekend with my family and we had a blast!! We went up to Mantua Reservoir. We didn't realize that the reservoir was going to be closed for "Mantua days" so they could have some boat shows on the water, however they still would allow you to go swimming but due to the "swim at your own risk" sign posted near the beach and the sign below it that said "swimming prohibited by the health department" we decided against the whole swimming idea. The kids had found a little rope swing down at the creek by our campsite that they had fun with so we just decided to let them hang out there instead of getting some disease. They didn't care as long as they were able to be in the water. We even got to enjoy a few fireworks from the firework show Saturday night.

The Whole Group

Me pushing a log out of the way so the kids could swing

Gregor, Brendan, Kylee, Chase, Sadie, & Riley

Zach getting dinner going

Zach and Josh getting ready to do some fishing

This is the great fun they had on the rope swing. I don't know what we would have done without it.

"big" Chase on the rope swing

Laura's attempt a the rope swing