Our little GHOUL is TWO-oul!

Sara had a birthday yesterday! I can't believe it! Sara is such a sweet little girl who freely gives out hugs and kisses and "luv loo"s. Her siblings spoil her and give into her pouty lip as if it's the saddest thing they've ever seen. Sara also loves to be chased and squeals with delight (mixed with a little fright) as she races through the house looking as though she just might loose control and tumble...all in an attempt to escape a tickle or a nibble or a tummy zurbit. She also has the most contagious laugh...I love to hear her laugh! We love our Sari so much and we're so grateful she's part of our family.

Beginning the TERRIFIC TWOS!

So pretty.

Sometimes we call her "Tink" because she reminds us of our favorite little Pixie Tinkerbelle.

Sara also has a fiesty/sassy side!

For her birthday dinner Sara had 2 slices of a Veggie De-lite pizza from Papa Murphys with Root Beer. Her fave! Topped off with dark chocolate cake :-) (I think she may have inherited her mommy's appetite)

Stephanie's girls sing!

Claire and Jane sang a lullaby for their mom with Mindy Gledhill at a concert benefiting the family. Here's the link:
Golden Slumbers

Here's another article about Stephanie's recovery:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2008/10/27/20081027liv-stephanie1027.html

It's Carvin' Time!

Last night we carved our pumpkins! Everyone got their very one pumpkin. Can you guess which pumpkin belongs to which one of us?

Zions National Park

After we spent 2 nights at Bryce we headed to Zions.  The weather was perfect!  The HUGE orange mountains of rock are incredible!  Again...it was like nothing I'd seen before.  I'm convinced that Utah is one of the most beautiful states...now that I've seen the northern and southern parts.  I am always so content when I'm out camping or hiking with the family.  I love nature.  I love to watch the kids run around and find joy in the simple (yet truly amazing) things.  Here are some more pictures:

Dinner after a long day of hiking...YUM!

Sara, loving every minute on the shuttle bus!

Little mountain goats!

Those who know me well know that I'm a bit of a pyro.  Here is my tee-pee fire going up in flames.

Beware of GHOSTS!

We saw this sign a lot on our hikes.  Rylie read it out loud to us and said, "Be careful!  There are GHOSTS!"

Bryce Canyon National Park

Last week we went down to Southern Utah to camp as a family.  We camped at Bryce Canyon first.  What a beautiful area!  The land formations are really cool and like nothing I'd ever seen before.  If you've never been...you must plan to go!  We figured that since we were in Southern Utah that the weather would be just perfect for camping in the Fall.  Little did we know that Bryce Canyon is at 8-9,000 feet in elevation.  We were a wee bit cold.  Actually the kids slept really warm, it was mostly me who was cold :-)  Luckily, a kind retired couple from Seattle (they were camping right behind us) invited us into their RV to warm up in the mornings.  We ate pretty well on the trip but the desserts were my favorite...smores and peach cobbler!  Our second night in Bryce Aaron and I added boiling water to our water bottles and put them in our sleeping bags by our toes.  It helped for most of the night, but by morning I was freezing again.  It just happened to get down to 19 degrees that night...brrrrrr!  Here are some pics of our hikes:

Stephanie's Story

Read this story when you get a chance! It will really touch you and if you've been following the Nielson's story this article answers a lot of questions. After you read the article watch the video on the right of it:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/10/26/20081026sisters1026a1.html

The Great Pumpkin Hunt!

It's Pumpkin Patch time again! Today was the perfect day for it! We set out in our sweaters to find the perfect pumpkins. The sun was shining and we ended up taking off our sweaters and enjoyed being in t-shirts again (probably our last time for awhile). Oh how I LOVE this time of the year! The kids have the next three weeks off (here in Utah we have year-round school with funky breaks throughout) so we plan to do lots of Fallish things. Here are my ADORABLE PUMPKINS!

Sara is cheesin' it up!

Above (L to R): Sam (8), Sara (almost 2), Kaeli (7), & Rylie (4).

Our best attempt at a four-kid pyramid! Sara is hanging on for dear life and Sam looks squashed!

I want to be a MOMMY when I grow up!

The kids in Rylie's preschool class dressed up for show and tell this morning. The theme: What do you want to be when you grow up. Rylie is wearing mommy-like clothes (a long skirt with a blouse tucked in) and an apron. What a cute mommy she is...and will be :-)

A MUST SEE!

I have been following the Nielson's Story with so much intensity! I have fallen in love with their sweet family. You must watch this video: click here!

This weekend was our Ward Halloween Party.  Aaron and I weren't planning on dressing up, but were begged to by the ward activities chairperson just a few hours before it started...she didn't want to be the only adult dressed up.  So I dug out Aaron's hockey stuff for him (what else?) and I stood in my closet thinking, "what on earth can I dress up as with such short notice?"  Well, it just happens that I have everything a scarecrow could ever dream of!  So I taped some rafia under my hat, in my sleeves, at the bottom of my shirt and pants and VOILA...I was a scarecrow.  It has been years since I've dressed up so we had to get a picture since it'll probably be years before I do it again :-)

 

What's wrong with this picture?  Well, actually nothing is wrong with it because I live in Utah.  If I lived anywhere else it might seem strange to have snow in mid-October..., but I live in Utah.  

  

Only in UTAH!

GOATS, WITCHES & FRIENDS...Who could ask for more?

Rylie's preschool class went on a field trip this morning to Gardner Village. It was so fun to see all the pumpkins and whimsical witches. After touring the village we had a snack, fed ducks, and visited the petting zoo where we saw goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, and funny looking chickens (I think they were chickens anyway...)!

Claire, Rylee, and Rylie (believe it or not there are 3 "Rylie's" in the same class. I guess we aren't as original as we thought we were...)

Rylie and her new friend, um...lets call her Hilga.

I've decided that this is Billy. Does he look content or what? He was laying across the foot bridge completely oblivious to the fact that all the kids had to try to figure out how to get past him without stepping or falling on him. He didn't budge. I couldn't help but think of The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. I guess this billy doesn't need to worry about trolls, just excited preschoolers trying to get to the other side.

Rylie being brave!

Sara isn't sure what a goat really is. She's perplexed and monkey just looks concerned about the whole situation.