Halloween 2011

Athena, Batgirl and Luigi totally scored major poundage of candy this year. I am trying to get them to sell some of it back to their dentist at $3 per pound, but I don't think I am going to convince anyone.

Girls Night Out/Rachel's 11th Birthday

11 years ago Rachel was born on October 24th. She is such an enthusiastic, friendly, fun, smart, strong girl and has been since the day she was born. We are so happy that she was sent to be ours. This year she decided she wanted to invite a few friends to a "Girls Night Out" to celebrate her birthday. We got pedicures and went out to dinner and then came home for cupcakes and presents. The girls had a great time and felt so grown up. I can't believe that my little Halloween baby is almost in junior high. I made Rachel promise that she will always like me and never be embarrassed to be seen with me and never think I'm lame. She promised, so I guess the next few years will tell if she was sincere or not.....Happy Birthday Rachie-Roo! Thanks for being born.

Vacation during an Economic Downturn

We haven't been immune from the financial downturn as I'm sure you haven't either. Lance's hours were cut significantly when he started working on his new TV show and we've been scrambling ever since. I had wanted to go to Southern Utah and take my kids to see a play at the Tuachan outdoor amphitheater for Fall Break. I figured it was impossible to do it but a few great things happened that allowed us to go. I have a friend in our ward that owns a condo in Mesquite and she offered to let us stay there for free. My parents generously offered to pay for our play tickets and VOILA, vacation on a dime (well, more than a dime.) It was a quick, rainy trip. The drive was long and included me getting pulled over for speeding between Las Vegas and Mesquite (the usual.) Thanks to Jackson's friendly personality, I got off with a warning. We hit all the hot spots, the St. George Outlets, Cafe Rio, Nielson's Custard and Smashburger, and the St. George Temple and visitor's center. We even went to Deseret Industries to buy blankets to keep warm during the play and I found a bunch of great deals on children's clothes. We took the girls to see Grease and they loved it. Thanks to my parents and my friend Yvonne for making it possible. And thanks to Lance for staying home and working so we could go in the first place.

Little Guys Preschool

My friend Tara and I decided to do a co-op preschool with Jackson and her son Trenton for this school year. We did it last year with four boys. It was pretty wild. This year the other two boys are old enough to go to "real preschool" and so it is just the two of them. They are SOOOOOO CUTE together!! On this particular day we talked about Community Helpers and they made Police Hats and badges. They ran around arresting me for the rest of preschool. When Tara came to pick Trenton up, it got really quiet upstairs as we chatted. We came to check on them and they were underneath Rachel's bed playing Candyland. Adorable. We remembered another time last year when it had gotten quiet upstairs and we went to check on them and they were drawing with markers all over Rachel and Allie's dresser. I guess our little guys are growing up.

Creative Endeavors

I'm not sure what it is, but lately I have felt the urge to learn new skills. I took a photography class and learned that f-stops, shutter speeds and depth of field are things that my little brain has a very hard time understanding and that the cost of equipment is something that my checkbook has a hard time funding. So, I decided to give my mind and wallet a break and take a class to learn how to make cake lollipops. This class was MUCH easier and the lollipops turned out pretty cute (at least my kids thought so.) Now, I'm taking a sewing class and learning how to make quilts. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out (seeing as how "sewing" was a four letter word in my house growing up.)

First Day of School

Whew! This is the first chance I've had since Wednesday to get anything done around my house. Who schedules 8 activities in one day???? I've been running around like a crazy person the past few days. Here are a few pictures of the girls on their first day of school. We made a breakthrough this year, Allie didn't cry even once on the first day of school. Progress. The girls got off to school in their Justice outfits, feeling very fashionable. I don't remember even knowing about brands and labels until about the middle of Junior High. They insisted that the just HAD to have outfits from Justice to be able to go to school and hold their heads up. Kids these days know WAY more than I did at their age and it kind of scares me. After they left, Jackson and I were sitting on the couch and he looked up at me and said "It's just you and me now, mom." Yep, it's just me and Jackson. Now I just have to figure out how to keep him from destroying my house without the girls to help me monitor him.

Epic Summer Vacation Pics

We just finished a FOUR-WEEK vacation. I don't think I've ever been able to say that before. The day after school got out, we welcomed my brother and SIL Shelley and their three girls to our house. We went with them for two days to Disneyland. I remember now why I always say, don't go to Disneyland in the summer. The words hot and crowded don't do justice to how hot and crowded it was. It was fun, and often annoying and sometimes embarrassing--like the time Jackson was getting his picture taken with Goofy and when I finished taking the picture, he reached up and slapped Goofy across the face. I guess I don't wonder why that guy dressed up like Tigger snapped a few years ago and beat up a guest.
At the end of the week, we all drove to Vegas where we ate swam and ate several more times. Then we drove to SLC where we spent the next three weeks at my parent's house. Lance had been working in SLC since May 1st so we were extremely glad to see him again. Here is a list of some of the fun things we did so my kids can read it, appreciate it and stop saying that they are bored:
Memory Grove
Temple Square
The Mayan Restaurant for Morgan's Birthday
Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum and Petting Zoo
Hiking the Hidden Falls Trail up Big Cottonwood Canyon
Lagoon/Lagoon a Beach Water park
Fourth of July Celebration, BBQ and Fireworks
Gateway Discovery Children's Museum
Tour of Sweets Candy Factory
Veteran's Park
Cars 2 with Daddy
Several sleepovers at Uncle Jim's house
Several Sunday dinners at Granma's house
Morgan's Baptism and luncheon
Grandpa's Birthday/Retirement Celebration
Dinner at Hires with Grandma and Grandpa
Mom getting to have a sleepover at Krista's house
Mom getting to learn how to dip chocolates
Farmers Market
The Pie and Yogurtland

We are so thankful to Grandma and Grandpa who made our trip possible. I know we were loud and oftentimes obnoxious but we are so thankful for you allowing us to stay at your house, use your washer and dryer and eat all your delicious food.

Is Allie getting Baptizes?

As you know, Allison turned 8 in March. Her birthday fell just a few days after the scheduled Stake Baptism they do once a month in our stake. So, Allison got baptized on April 9th, the next available date. Grandma and Grandpa M. and Uncle Boyd came for the week to help celebrate and help get ready for the big day. We went to Disneyland, the new temple visitors center, out to dinner at our favorite Cuban place and Allison got to have a special afternoon with Mom and Grandma to pick out shoes and jewelry to go with the beautiful white dress Grandma had brought for her from SLC.
Allison looked beautiful in her dress. Just before we left for the church, Grandma and Grandpa S. arrived along with Aunt Jill and Jamie and Uncle Dave. They brought accessories to go with Allie's dress and she looked like an angel. We went to the church and had a wonderful program put on by the Stake Primary and Allie took the plunge. She was so happy afterward. She was then confirmed by her Daddy. It was such a great experience for our whole family. Jackson kept asking all day "Is Allie getting baptizes?" "When will I get baptizes?"
After the baptism family and friends came back to our house for a celebration dinner. Everyone ate, talked and we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came to support our family that day. We are so thankful to have Allison in our family and we are proud of the decision she made to get baptizes.

8 is GREAT

Yesterday Allie and Lance had their 8th and 41st birthdays, respectively. Allie was so excited to open all her presents and had her birthday cake and dinner all lined up weeks ago. She has even talked about what she wants for her NEXT birthday several times if you can believe it. Because of the church policy regarding stake baptisms (and the fact that they actually enforce the rule in this valley,) she will not be getting baptized until April 9th. We are so lucky, happy, and grateful to have such a beautiful, feisty, loving, smart little girl as part of our family. Lance had a great birthday with the day off work, lunch at Rubios- followed up by a trip to BestBuy for electronics. Thanks to all of you for your presents, calls and good wishes.