St. George

This little trip to St. George was sooo needed! Mike has been working for what seems like 24/7. It was nice to be able to get away and spend some time away from responsibilities and connect again as a family. We also enjoyed having our friends the Lucas' along for the fun! We hiked in Snow Canyon, played in the sand dunes, did some shopping, had great food and played lots of fun games! We left early afternoon on Sunday to get back to spend some time with the Gibson's since Evan & Jamie were scheduled to leave the next day. The traffic home was incredible! Just a long stream of cars, so it took a little longer than anticipated. But, we made it and were able to spend an hour or so with my family. It's so hard to come home from fun vacations!

Just a few photos from our adventures at the sand dunes....Mike, Brad and Rian had a sand jumping competition.....

Let it snow!

We had a little snowstorm come through one night and as I looked outside, I loved how the snow looked on some of our trees.......

Happy Thanksgiving!

November FLEW by! Before I knew it, we were at Thanksgiving dinner with the Arveseth's! It was great to see everyone. We missed Steve & Hillary as they had just moved to PA. But, dinner was delicious and we had a great time visiting. Grandma had this little craft for all of the children. Sydney wanted a picture of hers. It's a turkey made from an orange, gumdrops and marshmellows!

Early that morning, Mike played paintball with some guys from the neighborhood. It was his first time and he said it was great fun! They played in an open field somewhere close. When he came home, we had to pull burrs out of his clothes!

We left Arveseth's and headed straight for St. George! We were so excited to get away! We invited our friends, the Lucas' to vaca with us. They weren't coming down until Friday afternoon, so we were able to go visit with Bud & Kay Friday morning. Staci & her family were there and so was Jeff and his fam. The kids got to swim which made their day. Bud & Kay are always so sweet to have us over. We miss seeing them! I really enjoyed reconnecting with my family this weekend.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

Evan & Jamie and their cute kids came into town for Thanksgiving this year. It just happened to be a free zoo day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so we all got together for a zoo party! (minus D&Kat...). Everyone was excited to see the baby elephant, Zuri. Amanda thought it was pretty cool that she was born on Mike's birthday! What handsome boys! Aidan, Issac and Brandon!

Issac, Carsyn, Sydney, Kate, Amanda, Ari, Chase, Elyse, Brando and Aidan

Amanda wanted to get all the cousins on the elephant scale. Together they didn't even weigh what a baby elephant weighs at birth!

The weather was great and the crowds weren't bad! We got to see a lot of animals. We stopped for lunch and Brandon and Elyse loved climbing in this 'window' They are so cute!

Kiddos posing after riding the carousel. Brandon is ready to throw another snowball at me! We had a great time!!

Halloween catch-up

Has it been that long!?!?! Time seems to be speeding up and I get further and further behind. I was so greatful when Mike did all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen this morning, because I knew I would be trying to catch up all day! Here it is 11pm and I'm still doing laundry. I just don't want to face another week behind.......so, I thought I would attempt to update the blog, too!

Here are the kiddos dressed up for Halloween 2009! Sydney was a pink ninja, Amanda a 50's girl and Brandon was a black stormtrooper. All 3 kids picked their costumes early and so I got them ordered fast. I thought they looked so cute!

We headed to the Hollingsworths for our traditional neighborhood potluck dinner. Then, all the kids leave from there and the trick-or-treating begins!! Here are the girls with Amanda's friends. L to R: Ellie Butler, Suzie Smith, Amanda, Susie Eams, Maddy Lloyd, Lizzie Wilson, Hanalee Hollingsworth, and Sydney in front!

Mike usually goes out with Brandon and some of our neighbors. I love to be home handing out the candy! This year was pretty warm again and so I sat out on the porch waiting for friends to come visit! It's so fun to see all the cute kids come by for candy.

Brandon didn't last long this year and was back in time to help me hand out candy. He was so cute! He would run to the door when he'd hear the bell ring, grab the candy bowl and hand out the candy! I think he had more fun doing this than going door to door himself. I guess it probably helps that he isn't a big candy eater. It was a lot of fun to watch him! Happy Halloween!

Gratitude

I have been thinking lately, that I am really, really enjoying being a mom and a wife right now! I'm finding joy in the mundane tasks. I'm finding happiness in having my children need me, but not be completely dependent on me. Don't get me wrong. I loved having little babies, but it was hard. I didn't do well without sleep. I didn't do well keeping patient. I didn't enjoy the little things when I should. I didn't do well without a little break now and then.

But, I have turned over a new leaf! I love the little things of each day. I love ironing Mike's shirts for him (ok...maybe not the ironing part, but I enjoy knowing that I'm taking care of him). I'm enjoying making food for my family. Again, something I wasn't really good at for a lot of years (I was great at 'going out to dinner'), but I'm really enjoying making dinner, etc. I guess I don't enjoy when the kids tell me they don't like what I made. This happens every night. I think it's an automatic response. They really do eat what I make most nights.

I enjoy hanging out at home with my family! I don't have that nagging need to go somewhere anymore. I'm enjoying chats with my friends. I don't feel like I need to be the center of attention or to be heard. I love to just listen to what is going on in their lives.

I love that my kids bugged me until I put up our 'Give Thanks' on the back door, so we can write down all the things we are grateful for. I love to read what the girls write down. I know these are random thoughts. But I wanted to write down how I've been feeling lately. Is this what happens when you get old? Contentment? All I know is I'm feeling pretty great!

Brandon's Halloween Program

In line, ready to go perform! Brandon was sooo cute! He knows all the words and would sing them out at home all month long. Daddy had to work, and the grandparents were out of town, so the girls and I went. The barn was so cute and the perfect place for a little program!

Lots of actions!

Sydney took this picture of B's teacher, Mrs. Evelyn, leading the songs

Singing all the words!

Brandon in the line-up.

Amanda and her friend, Ellie, playing in the barn.

May the Force be with You!

Xtreme!

XXXtr

EEEme

Xtr

Eme

Gooooooo, Xtreme!

Once again, Amanda's soccer team was undefeated! (well, one tie, but they didn't lose). She loves this team!

I'm back!!

Yea for computers! Seriously.....we limped along with my piano laptop, but it is soooo nice to have this computer back! Thanks, honey for getting us up and running again!

Let's play catch-up!

Brandon's preschool went to the pumpkin patch! Sydney was 'sick' that day. I think she had a cold and a cough and the school's are soooo paranoid lately, that I kept her home. Sydney went to the same preschool and so she was excited to see her old teacher.
We took a hayride out to the pumpkins....

We had a great time. We also picked up a pumpkin for Amanda! Great job, kiddos!