Sledding Season Begins

The snow is here and the kids are ready. Yesterday morning we headed out to the sledding hill.

Emily took Valerie down the hill a few times, and she loved it.

To add to the fun the boy's friends Aiden and Rowen were also there.

The sledding season has begun, and my kids can't get enough of it.

Fully Charged

You could see the energy coming off of Valerie today....................

Don't worry she put it to good use!

Fall Fun in Tooele

At the end of September my Grandma had knee surgery, so my mom came for six weeks to help her with her recovery. After the first couple of weeks my Grandma didn't feel good enough to venture out, but she was happy to have us come and visit and help her with a few things.

It turned out that the timing was great for us too, because the kids seemed to have quit a few days off of school while my mom was here . So we visited over fall break and then we spent the last two Fridays with my Grandma and mom.

The kids were happy to give up their days off, because they love Great Grandma's house, and the job my grandma needed help with was getting the leaves cleaned up in her yard. Something the kids also really like to do as long as they get to play in them.

The boys love jumping into the leaves

And throwing them at each other.

Valerie did not really like the leaves at all. She tried to get into helping for a minute, but mostly she just watched the other kids work and play.



Emily loves the leaves just as much, if not more, than the boys. The second time we went out she raked almost the entire front yard by herself, so she could get a nice big pile for jumping without it getting messed up in the process.

I think Emily was a little sad that Valerie did not like playing in the leaves. She even sat in the leaves for a minute with Valerie to show her how fun they could be. Valerie didn't buy it though and got out as fast as she could.

The first Friday my cousin Hannah (who is Emily's age) and the kids cousin Jaxson were also there visiting. Because it was the Friday before Halloween, my mom planned a special treat for the kids to have after the raking was done. They made Monster Eyeball cupcakes.

The weather was still nice so the kids spent most of the time outside. When ever Emily disappears at my grandma's house I know exactly where she has gone. Emily spends a lot of time next door at my uncle's house playing with the animals.



Valerie is obsessed with dogs right now and was happy to go with Emily to visit Sam the dog.

Joe and Josh love the animals, but they also love playing in the yard and orchard and climbing the trees at grandma's house.

For an extra special treat my Uncle Dean was home one of the days we were visiting, and he saddled up a horse and let the kids have a ride.

The boys were both a little nervous about it, but once they got on they thought it was great.

Valerie really likes to look at the horses and she was interested in watching the other kids ride, but she was not excited about getting on the horse.

She did end up getting on for a minute with Emily, but she only stayed on long enough for a picture.

Emily was in heaven. My Uncle let her take the reins this time and ride the horse for real. She was very timid with the horse and acted like she was afraid of hurting it. When my uncle told her to kick the horse in the side to get it to go she barely tapped the horse. Eventually she got the hang of it, and loved every minute of it.

This alone made the day worth it for Emily.

My Grandma is recovering well from her surgery, and my mom has gone back to her house. It was really fun to be able to go out and visit with my Grandma and my mom. It was also nice to have my mom close enough to see a little more often. I am grateful that we had so many chances to visit with them this last month, and it was a great way to play with the kids on their days off of school.

Catching a Moment

Did you ever see the Movie "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey? A movie about a person who had cameras filming his entire life. They never missed anything. Everything he ever did or said was captured forever.

Sometimes I wish there was a camera following my kids around so I could capture and remember not just the big things, but sometimes the small things they do and say. I wouldn't want it broadcast to the entire world. I would just want it for my own viewing and enjoyment, and maybe to share some of the funny, cute or sweet things with friends and family. But because it would not be mentally healthy for my kids to be under constant video surveillance I just have to be grateful for the moments I do witness and write down a few so I can remember them a year from now.

Today I over heard a conversation where I wish the Camera or even the tape recorder was rolling. I over heard it happening from the other room and I couldn't help laugh a little.

This morning while the kids were getting ready for school Valerie found an unsharpened pencil from Joe's backpack. When Joe saw her with it the conversation between Joe and Josh went like this.....................

( all said very seriously and a little panicked.)

Joe : Oh no Josh! Hurry and get that from her.

Josh: No Val!

Joe: Josh did she bite it because if she eats it she will die. That is poison.

Josh: I don't think she bit it. It doesn't feel wet?

Joe: No Josh this is the poisonous part, but it is not wet so she didn't eat it. That is lucky.

Josh: Yeah, she won't die.

I am sure that there are many more things that happen, and conversations had, that I will never know about, but I am grateful for the ones I do see and hear.

Trick-or-Treat

I love Halloween and taking the kids Trick-or-treating.

We started out our night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Where we went in and visited for a few minutes, and took a few pictures. After the night was over I was glad I got out my camera, because these were the only pictures I got of the boys all night.


After Grandma's we headed to our friends house for dinner and Trick-or treating. Emily's friend Tiana joined us, and this is about all I saw of them too. I am a little sad, because I loved Tiana's costume and I didn't get a good picture of it. She is an Oreo cookie.


After dinner we headed out. The older kids were going so fast that Valerie and I could not keep up. This was the last I saw of them. Ryan and I decided we better split up. He took the marathon runners and I stayed with Valerie.

Valerie didn't seem to mind getting left behind. This was her first time Trick-or-treating and she caught on quickly that if you knock on the door people give you candy. She tried a few pieces right away. (So much for the costume.)

A few houses into Trick-or-treating we stopped by Valerie's friend London's house. London was all ready to go out, so we decided to go together. London and her mom were a lot better pace for Valerie and I.

The girls were really cute together and didn't want to miss any houses. They also loved the houses with dogs, and stopped to pet a few.

Valerie let me know when she was done and we headed back home.

I was impressed with how long she lasted.

Now we have more candy at our house than we know what to do with.

Yesterday I sent the boys into their rooms to get dressed for church. A few minutes later Valerie ran into our room in just a diaper with a sucker in each hand squealing with delight.

When I looked in the boys room they had their candy spread all over their floor. They were sitting in the middle of it eating in just their underwear . They didn't even notice that Valerie was taking some too.

It was not surprising to me that we were fifteen minutes late to church.

There was a report on the news last night about how candy does not make kids extra hyper. That the highs and lows of Halloween are just imagined by the parents. I would like that expert to come spend next Halloween and the days following with us!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkins Carving Pumpkins

Last night we carved our pumpkins!

Emily took this very seriously. She decided to do a scene on hers of a werewolf.

Joe loved digging out the goop, and being able to carve his own with the safety knives.

Josh was having lots of fun, but would not carve anything until he saw what Joe was doing. Then he tried to do the same thing.

Valerie and I made ours girly. She was not into it while I carved, but after it was finished she loved taking off the lid and sticking the shovel inside the mouth.

Ryan carved one too. He did it really fast, and when he turned it around I couldn't help laughing. I love it because it is simple and happy. (his is the one in the middle)

Now we are ready for Halloween!

Halloween Costumes

I can't say that I do much around my house for Halloween. We carve our Jack-O-Lanterns and buy the candy. (usually more candy than we need.) But as far as decorations go not much happens around here. However the costume department is another story......................


Costumes seem to be a big deal at our house and take months of planning. The costume catalogs start showing up in Grandma's mail box by the end of July or early August. Ryan's mom and the kids begin looking through them and deciding what they want to be. Sometimes the costumes are ordered and sometimes we (Meaning Grandma does the sewing and I give my opinion and input) end up making them and by the first of October we usually have the costumes and are ready for all of the Halloween festivities.

This year was a little different, because last year about a week before Halloween the kids came up with the idea of going as the characters from the Disney Cartoon "Phineas and Ferb." This was a great idea however being the week before Halloween it was too late so I told them to remember the idea for next year. They all Happily celebrated Halloween in their chosen costumes and there was no mention of Phineas and Ferb costumes.

As usual in late July the catalogs started showing up and the kids began looking through them at all of the wonderful costumes. There were many that interested them and they were starting to get an idea of what they wanted. Then someone (I can't recall who) remembered the idea of Phineas and Ferb. As soon as it was mentioned they all dropped their other costume ideas and the decision was made. They are big fans of Phineas and Ferb and when it comes to Candice, Emily can relate.

Even though these were not costumes you could order from the catalogs I loved this idea, because it was perfect fit for our family, and the costumes seemed really simple. With the help of a couple of awesome Grandma's and a lot of looking around at a lot of different stores we were able to pull it off.

My mom was visiting for a couple of days and took on the job of the purple pants. I bought some fabric and a pajama pattern and my mom used her sewing skills to change the pattern. I know if I had attempted this they would not have turned out anywhere near this good. (did I mention I do not love sewing.)

The only white skirt I found that would work was a size 11, and we needed it to fit Emily, a size 0, and the Orange and cream striped shirt was long sleeved and we needed them to be short. Once again I was saved from sewing though. Ryan's mom happily took on the assignment of alterations and she did a great job.

To be honest the most difficult item to find was the red t-shirt. I thought that would be a no brainer, but apparently RED is not a fall color. After searching many stores (at least 5 + the DI) I remembered that Hobby Lobby sold t-shirts and the search was over.

So with the help of my great team here is

Phineas Ferb, and Candice

Even though it was a little more work, it was really fun to put together the kids costumes this year and have them turn out so well.

And What about Valerie

The kids really wanted her to be Perry the Platypus, and I know it would have been fun, but I wanted cute and girly so she is a......

U of U Cheerleader

To balance out all of the BYU spirit Grandpa has created in our home.

(Ryan and I need at least one kid on our team)