Thanksgiving Utah Trip, loads of pics

We had so much fun in Utah, it went by way too quickly.  I got to bond with nieces and Nephews.  Here I am below with Bryan and Helga's oldest, Makyla.  She is a funny girl, she reminds me SO much of Peyton.

 We started a new tradition this year, kids got served and ate first, then they went to the basement to watch a movie.  The adults got to eat in peace and quiet without any disturbances, it was really nice.

 We took a little side trip to the cemetery in Salt Lake where Tyler's Grandparents are buried.  I had to try not to get all weepy, I miss Tyler's Grandma Williams, she past away when Micah was just a baby.

 We had a huge family reunion with Tyler's Dad's side of the family and the kids got to swim in the pool at my Father-in-laws brother's Apt.

 After swimming and dinner we went to see the lights at Temple Square, the kids got to touch the temple.

 It was freezing and our group got separated a few times but we didn't lose any of the kids in the crowd, not even Ben!

 It snowed just beore we came and of course melted for the most part before we got there.  We made the most of it and found a few piles for the kids to have a snowball (chunk) fight in.

 S'mores for dessert after FHE (out of order, this was our first night there).

 For our "snow" trip we ended up with the boy car.

 Hanging out at Bryan and Helga's beautiful home in Lehi (I think).  The cousins were so cute and really bonded with each other.

 Peyton latched on to Sophie again and Sophie seemed just fine with it.

 Aunt Becca did matching hairdo's for the cousins...

 Peyton had to really try hard not to smile, but she succeeded like always.

 Boys beat girls at Catch Phrase, BARELY.  They were ecstatic.

 Girls bonded, maybe a bit too much!  We were up the night before Thanksgiving until 6am.  Not the smartest thing to do, but it was well worth it, I mean, how often to I get to spend time with my sisters?

 We really do all love each other very much.

 One of my best friends was in Utah for her sons wedding and she came and found me at the visitors center, it made my night!  I love you Allyson!

 Can anyone guess who my new friend is???  After the lights at Temple Square we happened upon a Deseret Book store and I got to meet one of my most favorite authors!

 LeGrand and Becca's house was amazing and perfect for hosting a bazillion people for a week.  Thanks guys, we loved it and miss you all!

Mish Mash in a Flash

Ok, that title just means I'm going to cover a lot of territory in a short time.

Halloween dinner is starting to become a tradition, it happens sometime just before Halloween and it's something "gross".  This year we has Sheep eyes (turkey meatballs with olives) and worms (spaghetti that I used black dye on that turned the noodles purple) and we had blood (fruit punch)to drink, naturally.

 Jacob gets a spotlight in this post, just because he made me laugh.  If you want to see the rest of the kids costumes go to my facebook page.  Jacob and Ben got to dress up for Halloween at school for the first time EVER.  Jacob couldn't wear his Gorilla costume to school because it has a mask so he found a witch costume in our costume bin.  His friends at school didn't even know it was him.  Jacob is a pretty confident kid to wear a girl costume to school!

 I got all the stuff for this craft and cut and sanded the wood and invited my mom over for a craft day.  I love that my mom is retired now and that she's getting into crafting.  We plan on doing craft projects together regularly now.

 Micah's birthday has come on gone and now I have a deacon (church thing if you're wondering)!  I cannot get over the fact that I have a 12 year old 7th grade child, am I really old enough???  This year he requested cake balls, or cake pops.  I had made some with my friend Yolawnda a few weeks before his birthday and he loved them.  I also made a carrot cake in case the cake balls went to fast, we had lots of leftover cake balls and Micah was happy about that.

 I could not get him to just look at me and smile, but that's ok, I got about a dozen pictures similar to the one below, he just kept making all these different faces at me and moving his head.

 My sweet mom came over to babysit so we didn't have to worry at all about the kids.  Micah (Jacob) usually watches his siblings and everything goes well, but we wanted to be able to have a night to just focus on each other and not have to check in on kiddos.  My amazing and wonderful husband took me to dinner at PF Changs, we had gone there for our anniversary a few years back and I loved it but it was too pricey for regular dates, so we saved it for a more special occasion.  Then we rushed over to the William Saroyan theater to see Kristen Chinoweth!  We were in the VERY back row and could hardly see her but we could HEAR her and that was the important thing!  She was amazing and I like her even more now.  She has a great personality and is a Christian woman.  Great night with my best friend.

 Lastly, this has been the big thing in our lives lately.  Our little girl got her ears pierced!  She was so brave and didn't cry or hesitate at all.  Daddy had previously said that 12 would be the age she would be able to get her ears pierced and I thought that was RIDICULOUS, so we compromised and said she could get them pierced when she asked (but I couldn't prod her).  She has been asking for earrings since she was 2.  I would tell her that she couldn't wear them though because her ears weren't pierced and she would just say that when she was older she wanted to get them pierced.  Tyler somehow finally decided that he liked the idea and HE was the one to ask her if she wanted to get them pierced.  We were at Fashion Fair Mall and she wanted to go into Clair's and Daddy asked...she was ready and she picked out these cute little Rainbow Daisy earrings.  She even lets me do her hair now without a fuss so you can see her ears.  Just in time for Santa to bring her some earrings in her stocking!!!

Tagging Along

At the end of September Tyler had to go to the exotic location of Bakersfield for work and we went along with him.  Friday evening we had dinner at John's Incredible Pizza and then hung out and relaxed in the hotel room.  The boys played on their i pod touches...

 Peyton slept and Tyler and I watched House Hunters.

 Saturday morning we checked out of the hotel after Tyler left for work and I took the kids to Moo Creamery, they make their own ice cream and a friend of mine that used to live there said we should try it.

 So, the kids ate ice cream for lunch, and then I took them through Jack in the Box drive thru for dessert (burgers and fries).  On our way home we stopped at Bravo Farms, very cool place, they make their own cheese, which I tasted.  They also have lots of animals and a really tall tree house.

 We climbed up all the way to the top, it's filled with all kinds of funny sayings inside and the kids and I had fun reading them all.

 I know this is kind of gross, but it's too funny not to mention.  In the women's restroom they have mother daughter toilets...

Is anyone still here?

I guess things have been busy lately and i just haven't been to keep up with life!  I am going to be blogging again, and the order they come in will most likely be pretty random!  I have a kid in jr. high this year and he's loving it.  He'll be 12 in less than 2 weeks and he is so ready to be out of primary.  He got all A's and is still playing the piano (level 4) and taking violin lessons from my mom.

 The first day of school we dropped him off and this is the best picture I could get of him.  We also heard the "F" word within about 3 seconds of him getting out of the car, here we go.

 Jacob is in fifth grade this year and in the best class.  His teacher is amazing and helping him come right out of his shell.  He's in band and chorus, he had his play tonight which he had the lead role in, he ran for student body (didn't get elected) and he'll be starting basketball in about a week!  He also, like Micah, got all A's on his report card.

 So far all of my boys have had the same teacher for 2nd grade, we like her, Ben is doing great.  He is loving gymnastics and doing really well at it and in school, all A's as well.

 Peyton is sure something, I don't even know what to saw about her.  She is stubborn and strong willled and funny and she really knows exactly what she wants.  She is still shy but not as much as she used to be, sometimes she doesn't turn away from people when they talk to her, and sometimes she even smiles.  She is also in gymnastics but I'm not sure she loves it like Ben does.

 This is Jacob with his campaign poster.

I had this little chest at my grandma's and she gave it to me, I changes the pulls and used it to organize my small pieces of upholstery fabric. It's right by my sewing machine.

 I love how the fabric looks in the drawers.  It makes me want to sew.

 This drawer also has the regular fabric scraps I just can't part with.

 My boys all love each other very much, they hang out together even in a stinky bathroom while one of them is pooping.

 I have a date every few weeks with my little girl.  Her date place of choice is a frozen yogurt place near our house.  She likes spinning on the stools.

We got a very sweet and cute dog and then 4 months later, got rid of a very cute and sweet dog that loves to dig and chew.