Halloween 2016

I think this Halloween was a pretty successful one! Everyone had great costumes that they were happy to wear, so all of the work was worth the effort.

Marianne was the easiest this year. She wore at least three different costumes on different days (preschool, dance, trunk or treat), and settled on being a race car driver for the official night. (She's holding a little ceramic pumpkin statue that she painted with her friend Cate.)

 Beau's Award Winning Costume was SWEET! Seriously! His was a working, dispensing candy machine.

We poked a little hole behind each piece of candy and Beau had a pencil that he could hold inside of his costume. When someone put in a quarter, he would push out a little piece of candy and then the customer could get it out of the bottom.

Unfortunately we did learn that no one pays for candy when they can get it for free. But he did take the top costume award at the ward trunk or treat!

Jacob's costume was equally impressive - he was a boy being abducted by an alien. We paper mache'd the alien head as a family for FHE. When it was dry we found a long 1" square stick, covered one end with black felt, and then shoved it in a hole on the bottom of the head. Jacob wore a mini camel pack and we put the other end of the stick in it. Then we covered it all with a cape, stuffed the pajama legs and alien arms with stuffing, and after much effort, figured out how to manipulate everything so it looked right. Voila alien abduction! 

Bekah was a gumball machine! After Marianne, Bekah's costume was the easiest, just lots of glue and pom-poms. 

 Bekah had the day off of school because of parent teacher conferences (smart school! They always schedule P/T conferences for Halloween!) She went with me to the elementary school to watch the costume parade. We decided to be silly and wear tails...because you can on Halloween!

Since our ward trunk or treat was earlier in the week, we decided to do some real trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood in Los Lunas. Our own neighborhood is too hilly and few neighbors actually participate. My parents had a fire going in the pit in the backyard so the kids could roast hot dogs, and there was other delicious food for the adults. Jake, DeAnn and their kids came down too. After torturing the kids with stern "Finish your dinner first!" and "Ten more minutes!", we finally went trick or treating! The best house went all out with a haunted house - we took all of the kids through it and it was legitimately creepy! At one point a creepy psychiatric patient was coming down the stairs towards Beau and he started backing up! He didn't want to walk past that person, and I didn't blame him, but I did give him a little shove forward, and we all breathed easier (and shared some laughs!) when we made it out.
They certainly brought in the loot! One of my favorite parts of Halloween night is when everyone sorts out their candy! I loved it as a kid, and it doesn't fail to thrill me now!

I love that my parents were part of our fun night!

Rus and Keri Go to Monterey

Rus had a conference in Monterey Bay, CA in August and he invited me to go along! I don't know what I was more excited about - going on a trip with Rus to the CA coast, or having a few days to do ANYTHING I wanted while he was busy "conferencing." 

I was curious what kind of person I would be when completely alone. I haven't been alone EVER - not intentionally, but still...

And it turns out I enjoyed myself! I walked downtown from the hotel, rented a beach cruiser bicycle for the day, and rode along the coast to my heart's content. 

I stopped at a cozy solitary spot and did a bit of watercolor painting. 

I found myself on another main strip and did some eating and shopping. It was a great day!

That night Rus and I ate clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed the dinnertime show put on by the sea otters. After he wrapped up his conference the next day (in which I tried the bus system, shopped, found a delicious bakery and several great thrift/antique stores), we met up again at the wharf with some friends and we couldn't help ourselves - we enjoyed the chowder again! (Hey it's so fresh there!)

 The next day we had to drive up to Oakland for Rus to meet with a customer. While he was busy working, I spent the day riding the BART in to San Francisco and exploring the deYoung Museum and the Legion of Honor. I saw SO many beautiful things and safely navigated all of the public transportation I could handle...and at the end of the day when I was safely back in the car with Rus, I have to admit that I started crying. I guess it was just the release of a lot of tension and stress from being on my own for a few days. As much as I enjoyed the vacation from my routine, it turns out that I really like being around people I know.
Our last stop before catching the flight home was the Oakland Temple. We didn't have time to do anything more than walk the grounds, but that was enough. We really enjoyed the beauty of the temple...

 ...And the view of the city from above.

 Such a handsome fella! I'm so glad he took me with him, and for the memorable trip that we had!

Balloon Fiesta 2017

I think it's common knowledge how much I love the Balloon Fiesta. Bekah has inherited my love, so the two of us snuck out opening morning and picked a new spot (for us) to watch the balloons go up. We settled in a nice little spot and waited for the sky to fill up.

 See? These are the happy-early-morning-faces that happen when hot air makes the colors rise.

 And rise they did! It was a beautiful morning!

 As magical as that morning was, I needed my time at ground zero. So the next week while the older two kids were hunting with Rus, Beau, Marianne and I headed over to see it all up close. We saw my favorite firetruck chase vehicle, named "The Gentle Tripper," (although the first time I saw it I swear there was an "s" in there somewhere).

 Beau and Marianne LOVED it all! Marianne had been planning to go to the "balloon festia" for a month, since the excitement of her birthday passed.

 We went on Special Shapes day and there were at least a dozen new special shapes, like this owl. The balloons sat for a while waiting for the wind to settle, but eventually they went up.

Hooray for another successful Balloon Fiesta!

Beau and Rus Go Backpacking

Whenever one of our children turns eight, Rus takes them on a one-on-one overnight backpacking/fishing trip. Beau lucked out because the weekend that was set aside for the trip was also the weekend that we were watching Jason and Joy's kids while they ran off together (literally...they were doing a triathlon together). His cousin Wesley was able to go hiking with Beau and Rus up in the San Pedro Parks wilderness. They started off strong!

 They hiked about four miles in...a little rough but they made it.

There's nothing that Rus loves more than taking his favorite kids out to his favorite places!

 The boys fished in the Rio Puerco. At first they would just walk up to the stream, plunk the line in, and then wait with disappointment as no fish chose to bite. Rus educated them on the best ways to elude the fish, which included sneaking up on them "ninja style"! The boys ate this new information up...

 ...and then they caught some fish! Oh he was so excited!!

I think all three of them considered the trip a success!

Marianne Turns FIVE!

How can my baby be FIVE?!!

Somehow it happened, my little Sparkler larger than life and SO excited that her big day was finally here!

 Marianne decided that she wanted to go to the trampoline park with her friend Amira. We went and had a fantastic time! Toddler time at gravity park is GREAT, it's so empty and the little people have full run of the place. Could they be any cuter?!

Bekah really wanted a barbie dream house, but her room has absolutely no space for such an extravagance...so Bekah made her a smaller barbie house out of a box and some wood scraps. It was a very sweet thing for Bekah to do and Marianne loved it.

 For months Marianne had been musing over what kind of cake she wanted. Then for weeks she was perusing cookbooks and changing her mind, and for days she had her heart set on this castle cake.

I always feel like I dodged a bullet when it looks halfway decent!

 My mom was out of town but my dad came to dinner. Marianne loved having his attention...and I don't think Grandpa minded too much.

She really, really wanted a new bike helmet, so Grandpa got her one! 

After dinner we went out and rode bikes - she even rode without training wheels for a hot second until she got too nervous.
I love my Marianne! She is so smart, so bright and cheerful, inquisitive, competitive (just try besting her in a punch-buggy war!), thoughtful and kind and determined. I'm surprised by her on a regular basis and I've learned to never think I know what she's thinking. She loves mac and cheese, playing on the ipad, having a friend over every second of every day, writing notes to others, jumping on the trampoline, going out for sodas with dad, being tickled and snuggled, and having her hair curled and anything sparkly applied to her face. She's a force and I love her.

A New School Year!

Bekah started seventh grade this year! (Just imagine a disbelieving yelp as I announce each grade...) 

 Jacob started 5th...he said if he didn't get Ms. Grady for 5th grade then he wouldn't go to school at all. She was his second grade teacher and had just moved to 5th grade. Prayers were answered...he got Ms. Grady!

 Beau started 3rd grade! He has Miss Hipolito, the same teacher that Jacob had in 3rd.

 Marianne is the precocious preschooler! She is at a preschool offered at the high school, so we can say we have a child at elementary, middle, and high school this year!

St. George 2016!

Once again we were delighted to find ourselves in St. George this summer, although this year our numbers were greater! We moved the date up a bit so Amanda's kids (who attend a year round school), could come along with us. Also Tyler and Gina and Layton came, and my dad! (Joshua was working, so he didn't come...and neither did Amanda's oldest, Taylor).

Here are a few pics that we took from the dam on the way to St. George:

The only evidence that Amanda, Amy and I were all together...we're so cool in our shades.

 Beau, Jacob and Hayden. Something about this picture...I love it!

The kids were so happy to be out of the car...Marianne especially loves spending every second with her cousins! I think she even rode with Amy on the way up so she could be with Luke...and Jacob rode in Amanda's car with Preston or Hayden

We had a great week, the majority of which was spent (as the pictures attest to) SWIMMING! 

I tried to get a picture of each kid...

Bekah's big muscles; she's utilizing her birthday gift: a snorkel!

Jacob is showing off how deep he had gotten into the pool...it may have been a bit chilly the first time. Jacob would say that his favorite part of the trip was waking up early every morning and exploring the city with Grandpa. My dad would leave before seven each day, stop at Maverick for breakfast and let Jacob pick anything he wanted. Then they'd drive all over the city and find cool things to see. He came home full and happy each morning!

 Amanda is super fun in the pool! She plays keep away, volleyball, and gives shoulder rides and back rides to anyone who is willing!

I can identify Beau here only by his minion swimshorts! He was so much braver this trip - look at that flip!

Mikey is ALWAYS daring! He's quite an acrobatic kid!

Preston specialized in diving (although I think he was doing a cannonball in this pic)

Marianne made huge strides in swimming this trip! She even got brave enough to take off her life jacket and swim across the short end of the pool. She loved that she could stand on the steps and make little dives to get things she dropped.

I think this picture was taken at the beginning of the week...by the end we were all much tanner!

Miss Madison! She really loved swimming underwater.

Sarah and Bekah were sweetly instrumental in helping Marianne get over her fear of jumping into the pool.

Amy and Leo! He didn't love the water a ton, but sitting on the side and playing with his mom was okay.

Hayden was a champion splasher!

As always Luke came through with coolness points! He's the funnest kid to get action diving shots of!

Layton loved the water!

Especially with Mom! I found this barely used polka dot swim suit at the thrift store but the torso was just a little too short for me...so I gave it to Gina and it was stunning on her!

I lucked out one afternoon and got to have some one on one baby time while everyone else went out. They loved playing with blocks and reading books. Leo is a momma's boy so I was especially happy that he was not sad with me.

We did pull everyone away from the pool (and their phones/tablets) once for a hike. We took this picture as we headed away from the house for my brother James because it was his birthday!

Sarah especially loved all of the pictures.

Aren't Marianne's pants snazzy? She found them at DI. Bekah was worried about her getting lost, so she took really good care of her.

This trip to St. George was Bekah's first trip to the temple as well! St. George Temple will always have a special place in her heart.

We took a picture similar to this one the first time we all went to St. George. It is extremely unnerving to have that many children sitting on the edge of a rather long drop!

 Tyler with his number one buddy Layton, and with his too-big-for-carrying-around nephew Beau!

My Uncle Leon and Aunt Jeanette came by to play and swim one afternoon. Leon and my Dad were loads of fun in the pool, as each of the flipping, splashing kids they launched can attest to!

Leon and Jeanette watch their granddaughter daily for their daughter, my cousin Melanie. She happens to be less than a year younger than Marianne, so they had a great time playing together!

I think my mom especially loved having both of her grandbabies together!

I'm grateful for family trips and adventures! We stopped in Jacob Lake on the way home for lunch, and cookies of course! Look how grown up all of these kids are getting, all lined up in birth order...Joshua would go between Preston and Hayden. (And notice how Tyler is trying to sneak a bite of Marianne's cookie?! He didn't get away with it!)