Utah

We love January Weddings/Sealing in Utah!  Last year we got to take a trip up there for my cousin Tara's wedding and this year we got to go for Mallory and Bradee's sealing!  We are so happy for them, they are a wonderful match and we pray that God will bless them with faith and strength that they can enjoy a happy life together! They deserve it! Love that girl SO much!

I totalled my car right before Christmas and we still had not bought a new one by the time we were going to leave for Utah.  We were going to rent a car and then Spike said we could all ride with him.  It was a lot of fun to spend that much time with him.... crazy..... but fun!  He was a great sport, luckily he loves my kids!

Bradee's parents were nice (CrAzy) enough to let us stay in their amazing home so we could all be together. Other than the trip to Salt Lake for the sealing and the boys day trip to go snowboarding we hung out at their house together.  We had a blast riding horses and snowmobiles, talking and playing Kinex in the warm house!  Us Arizonans are not use to below freezing temps! 

 After the sealing.

Christy, Mom, Mallory, Me

 Patrick, Bradee, Eddie and Spike.

 Karsten and her BEST friend!

 My family does not know how to all make a good picture face at the same time:)

Here's a goofy one.

 Karsten and Blaine LOVED riding the horses around in the snow.

Bradee's parents were so sweet to take them.

And then there were these three MEN....

they did not have the nicest snowball fight.  

                             

Fun with Grandpa! 

 Can you imagine why my kids both came in crying?

   

  

 Bradee pulled us behind the snowmobiles!!

Camryn, Karsten and Blaine!

                                      Camryn and Mom!                                     

My lovely sister Christy!

Camyrn and my Dad!

Blaine, Mom and Cami.

 Mallory and Bradee.

It was Blaine's Fifth Birthday while we were there! Mallory threw a little party for all my kids there since she will miss their birthdays later in the month. 

 So sweet! 

She invited cute little kids over to play with them, they had so much fun!

I can hardly believe another Christmas has come and gone! I love Christmas, and this year did not disappoint!  We had many fun filled days enjoying family Christmas activities. It is always busy with both sides of the family living in town but it really wouldn't feel like the holidays without them and the busy schedule! The older I get the more I appreciate the traditions from my childhood. One of my favs is making doughnut holes and listening to Christmas music while we decorate the tree together. Not to mention all the reminiscing of old, usually ugly, ornaments with some sentimental value (they go on the back of the tree!).  I love that my kids are getting old enough to participate and hopefully remember these time together.

I was not good at pictures this year, most of the ones I am posting are from someone else's camera:( 

 So, I am too cheap to pay 25 dollars for a picture with Santa! 

Sonjia stole this shot with her camera and proceeded to get dirty looks from all of Santa's helpers:( 

Not the best pic but it is cute!

 We went up to McCormick Ranch Park the night before Christmas Eve with my family.

It was a blast! We had HOT soup and coco in the cold weather and walked around enjoying the lights!

I would definitely recommend it!

 Mallory and Bradee sent all the boys coordinating Sesame Street shirts for Christmas....

it's funny how the shirts fit their personalities:) 

 Mallory also made all of us girls necklaces. WE MISS YOU MAL AND BRADEE!!!

 We enjoyed an impromptu slumber party at Grandmas on Christmas night.  It was so fun to ALL be there together.  We stayed up late working puzzles, playing cards, EATING and laughing! 

 I think it might become a tradition:)

The week after Christmas Antie Suzie had the girls over for an American Girl doll Tea Party! 

The girls have so much fun being together and playing with their dolls!

Thanks you Antie Suzie!!

HaLlOwEeN

We had a fun Halloween with good friends and family.  We had everyone over for a hot dog roast and trick or treating.  It is so fun when these kids are together. I love watching them interact with each other! There is a big age gap with most of them but they love to hang anyway. :)

It was fun to see everyone out in their costumes and meet new people in the neighborhood. 

 Darianne, Karsten, Dalton, Blaine, Tayler, Paityn, Camryn

Darianne and Karsten

Spike handing out candy... or eating it!

 Camryn and Paityn Trick or Treating!

 Checking out their candy! :)

 Ken and Sonjia

 Eddie and Me

Christy, I didn't get a picture of you! :(

Beginning of Fall!

It is November now and it is just beginning to feel like fall is here! 
I should NOT be over 100* in October! 
We are loving the nice weather and being able to play outside all day.  I Love the busyness that is coming so quickly with Thanksgiving and Christmas and 3 birthdays in January. I am always more productive when I have something to look forward to! 

We went to the D-backs game with my Gram and Pop for labor day. I am so grateful that my kids are able to know and LOVE their Great Grandparents so much.  They are always up to doing fun things with my family and I love them for that.  I know my kids will always cherish their memories with them. 

 Hope they stick around FOREVER!:)

Karsten and Grammy

Camryn and Poppy

 Blaine and Eddie

Me, Karsten and Blaine

 Camryn is the youngest of the kids.... but she is also the mother of the kids!

She loves to make sure everyone is doing what they should.  When I picked her up from nursery on Sunday the teacher told me that Cami had wiped a few kids noses and held a boy that was crying. She is so helpful?  Sassy (our dog) is one of the few that will do what she says! She loves her lately and is usually pulling her around gently by the collar or wrestling with her. 

 Cami, Sassy and Blaine

Blaine has to do whatever dad is doing. I love it!

Lake Powell

So here I am catching up again! 

We were lucky enough to get invited to Lake Powell the beginning of September with a group of fun, fabulous people!  It was so amazing, I feel so blessed to have had the experience. My wonderful Mother came and stayed with the kids. We had never left them for that long so I was a little nervous but my mom did raise all 6 of us so I knew they were in good hands:)  It was so fun to be kid less and hang out with grown people! We also had never been to LP, it is beautiful! Gordan and Marianne have us an educational day tour of several beautiful sites and a trip to the yogurt shop on the water! 

I am still counting my blessings to have been able to go!

On the tour at Rainbow Bridge

The Whole group... well most of us!

The little gas/gift shop where we got Frozen Yogurt.

  Boys jumping off The House Boat!

 Jennifer, Lucy, and Me

 My attempt at surfing. It was fun!

 Aimee, Marianne and Me.

 Eddie making breakfast/lunch! Brad, Selina and Max.

Catching up and recommiting!

My last post was in March.... what happened to the blogging world? 

Oh ya, FB!

I have been overwhelmed by the fact that I had 5 months to catch up on so it kept getting put off.  I finally decided to just start with summer and recommit from there!  I really enjoy having all the events and pictures documented.  I don't scrapbook or keep a very good journal so I think my kids will rely a lot on this blog to look back at what went on.  It is also so fun to see what's going on in everyone elses lives too!

So, to all you other Blogger drop outs.... Post something!

First day of school

Once again the Summer ended and School began!  And once again I forgot my camera on the first day of school so here are some 

slightly blurry pictures from my phone:( 

 Karsten started 3rd grade and was exited with the teacher she got!  She is getting so grown up.  She looks like a pre-teen in this pic. 

It really scares me for her to get any older! 

 Love you girly!

Blaine started Preschool with Ms. Jones this year!  He has been exited about this for almost a year now.  He is loving it!  He would love to go everyday if he could:)  It is hard to believe that he will start Kindergarten next year.... how did that happen?  Camryn is enjoying having Mommy to herself, she is a treat to have when there are no other kids around to bug!

Wishing my kiddos a great school year!

Another fun trip to the Cabin for the 4th of July! It was a blast, almost everyone got to come at some point over the long weekend. Which makes late nights, lots of laughs, good food and great memories! The fireworks got canceled due to the fire hazard.  But there was a fun parade down the only street in town. It was the longest parade I have ever been to and the kids got more candy thrown at them than they get for Halloween.  

The cousins had fun playing together and surprisingly got along really good all weekend.  They love it that they can run free and do their own thing.

Tayler, Karsten, Patrick, Paityn, Blaine and Cami.

The kids roped Patrick into being in there very own 4th of July parade!

It was Classic!

Patrick, Spike, Eddie and Blaine.

This is always the highlight of the trip for Blaine...  probably all the boys! 

They went on some fun rides to an old abandoned fire tower and to the pond to do some rock skipping! 

I took Cami and Karstie with them once but I could not keep up. 

Me and Ed:)

Me and Camryn ready for a little ride!

Patrick and Eddie

Dad, Mom, Blaine, Spike, Paityn and Jordan just hanging our

Eddie, Karsten and Tayler on our walk to the pond to let the dogs swim.

Every one enjoying the cool weather and pretty scenery.

Tayler, Christy, Paityn, Cami, Blaine, Me and Dad.