A-W-K-W-A-R-D

I am not one to take my kids to see Santa. I don't know why it's just not my thing. Well Ok, one time when Brad and Hailie were like 2 and 1 we happened to be at the mall so....there was that one time. Now back to my story, Santa is always at our ward Christmas party and this year a very kind photographer in our ward took pictures. Keep in mind this is an early morning pajama party. So I go on line to download the pics and I was dying laughing. My kiddos wandered over and waited in line on there own while I was visiting with friends so needless to say I had no idea what the pics would look like. I also have to say that these were the out-takes and there were good pics too but these just made me smile.

Jeffys is obviously still tired this early.

While Jason and Trent are very comfortable giving Santa the low-down.

Not to mention Jason's great style.

Candy Constuction

It's that time of year once more. We started this tradition about 5 years ago and my kids love it. I love to see what kind of creations everyone comes up with. This year John and Hailie built a tee pee complete with totem pole, canoe and buffalo. Jason chose to do a modern house while the other kids stuck with traditional homes. Johns sister Amy and her family happened to be here so they joined in on the fun. I think Kendra ate as much as she put on her house...all part of the fun of course. Amy built a sweet ski run but I didn't get a pic of that.

Thanksgiving 2010

It was a great Thanksgiving week here at our house. Of course playing in the leaves....a fall must! Jason, Trenton and Kelsie has a blast covering each other and then jumping out to scare anyone who happened by...or was summond into the trap. ;)

Then just a couple days later this is what we woke up too. So beautiful!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner this year. We were supposed to have some family but due to the weather we were all alone. It's been a long time since we've done it all alone.

We had a great day. We had great food which takes 6 hours

of pretty much non-stop cooking...

...And about 10 minutes later this is what it looks like...

Then it was time for a movie and later on some balloon volley

ball and dodge ball in the basement.

So we had a fab day taking it easy together and loving every minute!

Kelsie goes around the world!

We finally had Kelsie's birthday party...just 3 months late. But worth the wait. We had a great time! We did a "cruise around the world" This is her invite. We boarded and did bon voyage streamers.

Our first stop was Switzerland for a little yodeling competition.....Thanks Katie your awesome at yodeling!

Then off to England where Shirlock Holmes sent the girls an urgent letter requesting their help in recovering the stolen crown jewels. Here is their 2nd clue.

Here they are dividing up the treasure.

Then we were off to Australia for kangaroo races.

There was a pinata waiting for them in Mexico

Then in Hawaii we had a luau that included food from everywhere we visited. We also had a great competition in China where we picked up Swedish fish with chop sticks.

I think Keslie really enjoyed her party!

Thanks to all her wonderful friends and to Katie for helping me!

Trenton trip to Oregon

Johns brother Jeff and his wife Katie live in Oregon. Their son Jake invited Trenton to come and spend fall break with them. Trenton worked really hard all summer cleaning the Real Soccer stadium and earned the money for his plane ticket. I was so proud of him. Well of course when it was time to go mom decided he can't go with out her so we had a mother and son week. We had so much fun with cousins and Katie kept us busy doing lots of fun things! This was Trent's first airplane ride and Trenton really wanted to meet the pilot . Well we did more than that. The pilot was awesome and had Trent come into the cockpit and sit and wear his hat and tell him all about the new controls they fly with. This plane has a joystick and petals they fly with. He took about 10 minutes with Trent and was so cool. So here is our future pilot! Katie took us to an amazing pumpkin patch that included a ride on a boat past sharks and pirates and also a train ride once you chose your pumpkins.
Here are Jaquelyn, Jake, Tent and Samantha on the boat.
Katie and I trying to stay warm in the corn maze.

T-bone and mama.

They also had lots of old farm equipment.

Trent's candy scare crow.

Katie had a Halloween party to go to and guess who showed up to escort her...

We had such a great week. Many laughs and great times! Thanks guys.

Trick or Treat

I can hardly believe it but Halloween has come and gone....of course my children (most of them) are old enough they are off and running before I get pics. They already have plans and are out the door before I can say, "say cheese". Jeffy was a 'spooky' skeleton. He kept saying "look at my spoooky face!"

Kelsie was a masquerade maiden.

The candy aftermath on Sunday....and who might this belong to?

The candy ninja of course!

Raspberries...

I know this is silly but I love Raspberries so much. Maybe it goes back to my Grandpa Bruno's home made raspberry syrup with 7up which is our favorite and always on hand when we go to his house. Just as our Raspberries at our other house were starting to produce a good amount we moved. And after 3 years in this house we got a great crop this fall. We had a few delicious fresh raspberry pies and of course mouthfuls right off the stems. Yummmmmm.

Mothers + Daughters + California = Fun

Hailie's friend and her mom invited us to their vacation home in California for fall break. We had a fabulous time swimming in the pool, going to Six Flags and the Maritime Museum in San Diego. We also spent some time at the farmers market in old town Temecula. It is always fun to get away and see some new places. We went on some crazy fun rides at Magic Mountain.
Then we toured some really cool ships from the 1800's

Hailie and her friends, Alyssa and Alysha

It was a great time to spend with the girls and they are all so fun.