Updated ... almost!

I think that I have almost caught up now. As you will see if you scroll down that I have posted 8 new posts of things that we have been doing. I hope to have our Christmas post up soon. I hope that you enjoy our adventures as much as we did as they were happening!!

Gingerbread houses

One of my favorite traditions at Christmas time is making gingerbread houses. I love keeping this family tradition alive. It is a LOT of baking but when everyone is together and laughing and having such a great time I can't help but feel blessed to have the ability to keep it going!

Sometimes they work beautifully and sometimes they have technical difficulties but they are always so much fun.
Everyone has input and the kids love all the candy and I think that they eat almost as much as they put onto the houses.
All of us have a great time and I will always cherish the memories that we are able to make!!!

Ballet recital

Abby at her ballet recital. She and her friends had such good time. She is such a cute girl. This is her third year in ballet and her teacher said that this year she is very serious during class and she concentrates and won't talk to her friends! (Anyone that knows Abby knows that this is a very big deal, she loves to talk!!)

They even got flowers for all their hard work. We love our little dancers!!

Christmas party

Our ward's Christmas party is "Breakfast with Santa"

Caroline

Hunter
Abby

Sugar cookies!

This is what happens at our house when our cute neighbor kids come over to make sugar cookies... Let the flour fly!!!

Carson was the smart one to stay clear!

Orchestra Concert

Caroline's fan club on the way to her orchestra concert!!

This is Caroline's second year playing the violin. I am so proud of her dedication even when it is frustrating to get started. She is a talented young lady and it was fun to sit and listen to her.

Christmas tree angel

Caroline got the honor of putting the angel on the top of the tree this year!

It is always a big deal for them to be able to help Daddy put her on the tree.

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! It was my family's year and we hosted at our house. It was so nice to have a house full of family. The kids loved being together and we had a nice time hanging out and watching Christmas movies after dinner. I am so grateful for the blessings in my life and I love my family!

Soccer Season Recap

Our Soccer Season

Caroline had a great season this year! They were a fun team to watch. They didn't win all the time (2 wins, 1 tie) but they were by far the most improved. They really learned the meaning of team work and made friends for a lifetime.

(Tracy was her assistant coach)

Hunter as always has a great time playing. He is a great team player and always is encouraging his teammates whether he is on the field or sitting a quarter out. He loves soccer and is determined to be the best he can be.

Abby is our most aggressive player. She loves to get out there and really get into the game. She was able to get several goals this year and was a great sport win or loose! She can't wait for next season.

In our family it is not only the kids that get into soccer. Tracy and I love it too. I always seem to be the team mom for at least one team. Tracy on the other hand is not only Caroline's Assistant Coach, but he has refereed for the last 5 years. He really loves to get out there with the kids and is really great at teaching as well as reffing. I love having something that the whole family gets involved in. We seem to be really busy during the season but I wouldn't trade the time with our kids for anything!!

Caroline's Birthday!

We have had another birthday at our house! Caroline just turned 11 and I can hardly believe it.

She has always been our sweetly content child. I have so many memories of her just hanging out with Tracy and I.

She is so much fun and she has a great sense of humor.
I think that her favorite person in the whole world is her Uncle Andrew. She loves to go visit him in Washington DC. I'm not sure she is ever really ready to come home!

She has such a love for life, school, and her friends. She is such a sweet young lady and we have been truly blessed with her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE, WE LOVE YOU!

Busy weekend!

Wow! what a weekend ... this past weekend was fun but busy. Some good friends of ours went out of town for four days and asked Tracy and I to watch their cute kids. We went to their house Thursday after school and came home Monday night. Friday afternoon Abby and Courtney had a birthday party to go to and Friday night it was Caroline who was off to party. So the boys got a night of almost girl-free video games with Tracy and Marissa (they were sweet to give her a remote too)!!

Saturday we went out to Joe and Sarah's for George and Jacob's birthday party. More fun and more food and cake! Jacob got a remote control boat so we all went to the park and watched it zoom around the lake. I think that was the kids favorite part (or maybe it was more time on the Wii)

By Saturday evening everyone was ready to sit and chill with a movie.


We had such a fun time and the kids loved being with their friends!

My future....

This is just the beginning...this is Abby talking on the phone to her best friend. They are trying to work out a play date on their own. She was frustrated because my plans for grocery shopping were getting in the way!!

Abby is 7!

I can't beleive that this silly, sweet little girl is now 7. I'm not really sure how or when that happened but my baby is not so much a baby anymore.

She has always been a little goofy and silly...

she has NEVER been timid or shy...


she has always had such a love for life and others...

now she is growing into a great kid, a sweet sister and a very loyal friend. I can't imagine our family without her. I always say how much she is a mixture of my personality and my mom's. She has so much spunk for one so small that it is hard not to smile when you are with her.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY WE LOVE YOU!!

Scentsy party

First of all thank you to all those who came to, or helped contribute to the success of my first Scentsy party. I was so relieved and thankful that everything went well. I am excited to see where this can go. Now I get to "pound the pavement" as they say, and find people who are interested in hosting parties. So here it goes.

New Pictures of the kids

With the camera safely found I decided to seize the moment and take them down to the temple grounds, while we waited for Tracy to get home from work, and take some pictures. I love that they will still humor their mom and all sit without complaint while I take pictures of them. I seem to be in a little bit of shock with how grown up they all seem to be. Where did all the time go? I hope all of you near and far enjoy these as much as I do.

Caroline, Hunter and Abby

This is what makes my life so full and rewarding. I love waking up to them everyday. Who wouldn't like to see those faces forever!!

Camera Found!!!!

I can finally breathe again. I found my camera yesterday morning. I have been so worried about where it could be and if I would ever find it and all the pictures that are on it. Thankfully it had just gotten pushed under and behid my printer table.

I am glad that I found it now because I reall wanted to have pictures of my scentsy kick off party on Saturday. I am so nervous and hopeful that this event goes well. I feel that I have done all that I can to make sure that it is a success. Well one more shot at getting info out there... for any of my friends that are here in Mesa that would like to come I would love to see you. Please leave me a note and I will get you the address and other information. The party is from 4-6 pm. Well I have to run kids to school before they drive me nuts;)

Something New

OK, because I think that I have nothing better to do in all the stress of life, I have started a new business for myself. I have become a Scentsy consultant. I really love their stuff and so I have found myself wanted to sell it. For those of you who know me really well, I am a fairly confident person but this takes me completely out of my comfort zone and it makes me a little nervous. Here we go though, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If any of my friends that are here locally would like to come to my kick-off party it will be on Saturday Nov. 15th from 4-6. If you are interested leave me a note and I will get back to you with the details.

Back to a 8-5

Tracy has found a new job!!! With the housing market the way it is any extra money is a blessing. The down side?... back to an 8-5 with a commute. I have found in the last week that I am really missing the lifestyle that having and running your own business gives Tracy and I as parents. It is a real adjustment for us that he is back to a commute that is longer than 10 minutes (on a busy day).

In my world I am facing a busy week of work and then the HUGE job of putting the house back together since we finished the remodel. I have a few tuch-ups and then it is on to getting the kids back to their own rooms for the first time in a year!! The remodel has been 98% done for a couple of months but we had some good friends and their family stay with us for a couple of months, we will miss them.

I am still going through pictures of the remodel on my computer and my camera is still lost so as soon as I get things settled down I will do a post of all the before and after pictures that we have taken in the last year.

What a week!!

OK I know that I am not the most consistent blogger in the whole world but what is one to do. I have had a good week with only a couple of things that went wrong. Last Friday night Tracy took Hunter camping over night and I stayed home to go to an awesome evening with the girls from work and to take the girls to their soccer games. I was really bummed when Tracy and Hunter left because my camera is somewhere in la la land and I have not been able to find it for about 3 weeks. I am down to one more room to turn upside down. So I wish I had cute pictures of Tracy and Hunter camping and riding quads, I have to find the camera soon or I might go crazy.

As far as soccer goes ... (for those of you that I have been less than faithful in keeping in touch with my kids have been playing soccer for about 5 years now and LOVE it) Abby's team tied their game she played hard and was a great sport. Caroline's team actually won their game 5-4 she always seems to be on teams that are full of girls about her same size (short) and play teams that are much bigger than them. This week though they didn't let the size of the other team intimidate them. We were really proud of them. (first win in three years, they have tied but not won)

Friday night with the girls was so much fun. It was great to get to know them on a more personal level. We laughed so hard that our cheeks hurt. Thanks ladies for a great night;)

Caroline's idea of Heaven

I would have to say that this is Caroline's idea of heaven. This is her and the next door neighbor's baby. She loves to play with and hold the little ones. It is sometimes hard to beleive she is that old because there is no way that I am old enough to have one her age.

Sometimes I wonder!!

Sometimes I wonder about my kids! They have this very silly game that they play with Tracy. He has a small nerf basketball and they will all line up and wait for him to yell, "GO". Then they all take off running in a straight line and he throws the ball at them. The kid that gets hit then is out and the rest all line up again. The last one out gets the one on one,if he throws it that last time and misses they win. After all that do you think that they stop? Oh, no they all get back up, line up, and then taunt him that he won't be able to get them this time. Personally, sitting on the sidelines, it is really funny to watch but I think that they are a little crazy for doing it. You gotta love the daddy!!

Lilyann

We have some very good friends with some really cute kids. Thier youngest, Liliann, was wandering around the house and found Abby's soccer uniform and convinced Tracy (not that it was very hard) to put it on her.
HOW CUTE IS THAT!!!
A little saggy but she was lovin it.

I love being a mom!!

I love those little moments that make you say Ahhh! Last week while I was driving Abby to soccer practice, just the two of us, she piped up in the back seat and told me, "Mom, you're so lucky to have me." I tried hard not to giggle and told her that I agreed but I wanted to know why she thought so. She took a deep breath and then told me, "because I love You." I love being a mom so much and those little moments make the job all the more precious.

Grapes Anyone?

Is he a boy or a chipmunk? Maybe Hunter thinks that he needs to stock up for winter. This boy makes me smile!!