FAMILY PICTURES

Last Sunday we all met over in Lehi at Buds Place (a friend of my dads) and had family pictures taken. It had been quite awhile since the last time they were taken so were figured it was about time. It was alot of fun and the kids loved playing on all of the old farm stuff in between pictures. Hopefully they turned out, these are just some of the ones I was able to take with my own camera. Our family is getting so big but it is so fun to have everyone around and be so close that we can do fun things together!

Posting Slackiness!

It has been awhile since my last post! Yah I know I am a slacker, but it is partly because I have not taken the time and partly because our computer fried and all of my pictures were on the other computer and I have not gotten them back yet from the computer repairman. So I am not 100% at fault here! I promise to do better for anyone who is reading this. If not for anything but myself and my children who one of these days I hope will like reading these entries!!

HALLOWEEN SPOOKIES AND FUN!!

For Halloween it has now become a tradition to have a Halloween party each year and take turns who is the hostess. This year it was my turn so everyone got to come over to our house to have dinner and then we go trick or treating together! Everyone came over arund 6:00 and we started by taking pictures fo the kids and everyone in their costumes. It was so cute! Even mom and Jeff dressed up, and they looked so cute together in their costumes. Jeff was a pirate and mom was a cat burglar. Spencer and lindsey dressed up and Spencer was a farmer and Lindsey was a momma piggy! Shannon and Nate were spoiled sports and didn't dress up but they still looked cute! I dressed up as a 50's girl and Jeff dressed up a s a pirate also. We couldn't belive that Jeff and Jeff dressed up! They never do!! It was awesome!

After pictures we ate chili, corndogs, donuts, apple cider, had a veggie tray and hot wassial. then it was off for the real business at hand, Trick or Treating! Off the kids went with the younger ones being supervised and in tow with the grown ups! It was lots of fun and everyone got loads of candy! We came back home and had a Monster mash dance off with Makenna bug, she of course won!! She can dance so cute and she loves to dance and play with electronics! She had more fun turning off and on Ashleys cd player than anything else. It was a long tiring night but it was fun to have everyone together. I am thankful that my family lives so close by so we can have fun and spend time together!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!!

Thursday October 22nd was my sweet Zach's birthday! He is officially now 11. I can't believe it how time flies and how big he has gotten! He is my sweetheart and loves life and learning. He would rather do homework and study than go out and play! Where did he come from? I am thinking he must have been zapped by aliens or something when he was little! He surely did not get it from me. For Zachs birthday we ordered a hamburger cake and had cake and ice cream for his birthday. The next day which was Friday we decided to take him and the kids over to a new place called Pirates Island. It was so neat and the kids had such a good time. We ordered a "Kracken" which was a huge 24" pizza and shared it. We ended up taking most of it home because we were defeated by the "Kracken." After eating they had a game room so we let the kids go play games and play for an hour or so. It was fun but since it was a Friday night it was very crowded and very noisy. I am just glad we went early to eat because the line was over an hour wait time when we left! The kids got their toys and momentos from the tickets they had and we decided to go to the mall and walk around for a bit. the mall was empty since it was almost closing so it was nice to wander and not hurry through the crowds. Zach opened a couple of his presents when we got home and we went to bed tired, but it had been a fun family night together!

Sunday we had the cousins and grandmas & grandpas over for cake and ice cream and Zach got to open all of his presents from everyone who came. Zach got a Lego set and some new scout things he needed sicne he was now a "Boy Scout" and some new shirts! It had been a great birthday and another chance for mom to remember to make the little things matter because the kids grow up way too fast!!

Witches Night Out!

Witches Night Out was so much fun this year! The weather cooperated and it turned out to be a terrific evening. Ashley and I got ready for our Witches Night Out event up at Gardner's Village in W. Jordan. After we were ready around 3:30pm, we picked up Diana and Lexi at their house and we all headed to Springville to meed Kim Head and her girls, Aubry and Ashley (I work with Kim at the school) and we started on our way to moms house in Orem where we had to meet mom. When we got to moms my Ashley said she didn't feel good and had a headache. So I gave her a Tylenol and a piece of bread because she said she was hungry too! She was so excited that she had not wanted to eat her lunch because she wanted to wait until we went to a restaurant with everyone for Witches Night Out!

After we got mom and started on our way to Lehi to meet Makenzie and Kaylee, Ashely started throwing up before we had even gotten to the freeway! I pulled over and Kim's girls ran into Alberstons and got some towels and bags to help clean up everything. Poor little thing, we got her cleaned up and decided to head up anyway and see how she felt as the night went on. I knew she had just waited to long to eat something and that she was not "sick." Ashley had thrown up on her dress and couldn't wear it so she had to change her cute little witch dress and luckily Katelynn had a witch costume she borrowed instead! After we had finally picked up everyone we went to Applebees to eat dinner! It was alot of fun and good food.

We got to Gardner Village around 6:30 and it was packed!!! They had opened up a field for parking that they had never opened up before because there were so many people! This was the first time Diana and Lexi had been there and Lexi loved all the costumes and the outfits everyone was wearing! We danced, window shopped, ate caramel apples and walked around all night taking pictures and laughing. Towards the end of the night it started to get a little chilly but it had been a very nice warm night for the most part. A nice change from other years when we have froze to death. We finally left around 10:00 and headed for home! It had been a long, fun, exciting, exhausting night! Can't wait to do it again next year! Now to try and make the hat bigger and better!!

Zach's 5th Grade Field Trip

Zach and his 5th grade class with Mr. Teuscher got to go on a field trip up to Park City to the Olympic Park. yesterday for the entire day. We left the school at 8:30 and Zach and I rode up in our van because the bus was full and several other parents and kids drove their own vehicles as well! We got up to the Olympic Park and toured the museum for awhile, then everyone piled on the bus and we drove up the mountain several miles to the Bobsled venue.

The kids got to see the runs and where they start from and they took turns sitting in one of the actual bobsleds that were used during the Olympics that they have there for decoration. After everyone had a turn in the bobsled, we piled back onto the bus and went back down the hill a little further and stopped at the Ski Jump venue! What an amazing and incredible view! You could see for miles and miles from the top. The wind was cold and blowing so hard that we didn't stay to long. We rode the bus back down to the museum and went into another lodge building next door and ate lunch! It was so fun! Zach and I stayed a little bit longer and walked around the museum again and went up onto the 2nd floor which we had not seen earlier. After about an hour we decided to head home, I had to pick up Ashley at 2:45 from school and I didn't want her waiting. It was a nice day and I was so glad I had the chance to spend the day with Zach and do something together that we had never done before!