Hmmm.. Well Since January

It is hard to even begin to catch up from an 8 month break but here were some of our highlights...

We had one of these... (It was a fun/crazy/wonderful/sad/happy DAY!)

We enjoyed a pirate dinner/show in Cali

We took a trip to Disney and some of us had a blast!  (not being tall enough to go on Indiana Jones is not very fun!)

We did a lot of swimming.  Some in San Diego, some in Phoenix and some in Bountiful!!

We celebrated a little boys birthday while dressed as pirates and... well... eating pirates!

We got some new bikes and are enjoying them tremendously!  17 stitches later.  

(Poor Nick was taking the kids to school on their bikes and one of my children decided to slam on his, I mean their brakes and Nick crashed into him, I mean them.  :)  the sad thing is that Nick had just gotten his bike 2 days before and we were leaving that night for a cruise!  Good times!

We took a LONG drive up to Seattle and on the way decided to check out the Oregon Trail.  (It is my favorite computer game and all so we couldn't pass it up.)  And of course Sam does not have shoes on because Pioneers DID NOT WEAR FLIP FLOPS MOM!!!

And finally we reached Seattle where we headed out for ALASKA!!

We hit up some Skagway and Juneau 

Did some hiking and discovering

(my boys trying to imitate some discoverers)

Saw some castles in Canada...

And some lumberjack men in Ketchican!

My favorite show might I add! :)

And lots and lots of sight seeing!

Snuck in a trip to a cowboy cemetery and of course found some gold.

And we even had time to do a little shopping.  he he

We were able to spend a lot of time on the ship just relaxing too.  This was formal night with the fam.  The kids were in heaven that they got dessert every single meal.  And so was I!!

For the most part the weather was amazing but one day we decided to watch a movie on the outside screen.  It got a little chilly!

Sam was even able to become a chef for the day!  She did a wonderful job and they even delivered her cake to us that night at dinner!

Cooper trying to eat an iceberg we saw as we were floating by.  No this was not Coops idea, it was my fourth child!  Yes I married a kid!

Before we headed back on our LONG road trip we spend a couple days touring Seattle and hit up a Mariners game!  It was an amazing adventure we were able to go on and I am so glad we decided to go with the kiddos.  They were a blast with a side of crazy!

And when we got home life went back to normal... Whatever that may be!

I can't believe she is 8...

Really? didn't we just bless her....

And take her to Disney World...
Didn't I just change her diaper...Didn't she just eat some Puffs for a snack...Didn't she just turn 3 here....And now she is EIGHT????

I can't believe she is 8!

And although I MISS my little baby girl, I AM LOVING MY 8 YEAR OLD BEST FRIEND.

(Especially since the other night she told me that I was such a great mom and wife that even Jesus would say "Man, I wish I had her as my wife." :)

LOVE THIS GIRL!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

FALL.. the season I longed for and never got for the last 5 years!!

Fall is what I missed most while living in Arizona. Not the snow but the leaves. All the beautiful colors, the breezy afternoons, the smell of it. Yes there is a 'Fall Smell'! I missed it so much, so you better believe that we took every chance we could get to enjoy it. One weekend my sister, Brooke, invited us up to their condo in Midway. We had a blast carving pumpkins, launching pumpkins, and just rolling in the leaves. We loved every minute of it.

Cooper trying to mimic the pumpkins face that he just carved.

Over at the Homestead up in Midway they had this HUGE slingshot that the kids put mini pumpkins in and launched them as far as they could. It was so fun to see the pumpkins soar and then split into a million pieces! It provided hours of entertainment and made me start to wonder how I could build one of these at home.

Back in Bountiful we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. It was a lot of fun because we always got our pumpkins at Wal-mart in AZ, but I decided that I officially have the most indecisive kids in the world. From picking out a pumpkin to picking out a treat at the store it takes FOREVER!! I bet Cooper picked up every pumpkin in that patch and ended up with the first one he saw. I totally blame this indecisive quality on their dad. :) It all goes back to him being rushed to pick his candy bar for the movies when he was 5. he he

Paxton decided on the warty pumpkin that I LOVED until we tried to carve it. Word of advice... YOU CAN"T CARVE PUMPKINS THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS. Don't even try it because you will end up with bent knives and a sad little boy who just wants a carved pumpkin. Thank heavens he was only 3 and I could convince him that drawing a face on a pumpkin was soooooo much cooler than carving one. :)

Loved the Leaves, Loved the smell, Loved the memories. Now off to Winter!! Not so much love there! :)