Giving Thanks for Family

This Thanksgiving we had everyone (except for Dean who is on his mission) come to my parents house. My sister, Terra, her Husband, Jeremy, and their three kids. My Brother, Neil, and his new wife, Amber. My youngest brother, Carl, and my Aunt, Kathy.

It was a great week. We spent most of our time eating, shopping, and playing Rock Band. The kids played great with each other and I got to meet my new little niece, Audrey. I am so grateful for family. I love just being with them and watching the kids play. The week just flew by. I'm so bummed I didn't take more pictures!

These are mostly of Ehlana with her cousins. So cute.

Here's sweet baby Audrey. She is the sweetest baby I've ever met. She is so easy going and loves to watch everything around her.

A Tea Party for Boys and Girls

My Mom has been wanting to have a Tea Party with her Grandchildren since before she had Grandchildren! She invited my kids and my sister's two boys to a Tea Party. My nephew, Paul, said Tea Parties are for girls.... but my Mom convinced him that everyone can come to a Tea Party. All you need is finger food, cute dishes, and fun hats.

Family Photos November 2009

My fabulous friend Heidi has done it again. She's taken some great family photos for us! Here are some of my favorites.

Thank-you Heidi! I love them!

Jaxson's 4th Birthday

I can't believe my Jaxson James is four years old.

It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny little baby in my arms.

And all of the sudden he is a little boy.

For his Birthday we went to an Inflatable Party Place which was totally worth it! We invited some of his Best Friends and the special treat was that my siblings and Jaxson's cousin's were here for Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast and Jaxson had the time of his life.

Ehlana also had a great time...

Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Including my Brothers who had a wresting match in one of the bounce houses.

Jaxson picked a race car cake out of one of my cake books. I'm really not good at frosting cakes so I tried my hand at making fondant. It turned out to be really easy and since his recipe was made of mostly marshmallows and powdered sugar it was really yummy, too. I completed the race car theme with stop light cupcakes and race cars made out of candy for their party favors.

Happy Birthday Jaxson James! We love you very much!

It is finished!

Our Primary Presentation is done! Phewww! The kids did great. They sang their little hearts out and did a great job with their speaking parts. The best part was when they sang at the top of their lungs,

"God gave us family. To help us become who He wants us to be. This is how He shares His love. For the family is of God."

It was so touching, most of the Mothers were holding back their tears. I just love those children.

Last week flew by. I felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. This week is just as crazy. It's exactly one week from Jaxson's Birthday and then Thanksgiving! Where does the time go? Someone once told me that when you are a child it seems like forever until Christmas comes and when you're an adult it seems like Christmas comes twice a year. I believe it!

How can it be Holiday Season already? My baby is turning four!?! We have lived here for over a year? Wow, I feel old. And a little tired. But, the part that scares me the most is one day I will miss this.

Arizona Vacation

Steve gets a certain amount of money and time off each year for Continuing Medical Education so this year we decided to head down to a PA conference in sunny Arizona! First we went to Steve's sister's house. We had a great time seeing Jill, Jason, and their twin boys TJ and Tyson. Tuesday we went to the Pheonix Zoo. It was one of the best Zoos I have ever been to. And the weather was perfect! Tuesday evening we checked into the Arizona Grand Resort. Very nice! This was the first trip we have gone on by ourselves as a family. Usually we stay with family so it was a different experience to have down time with just our kids. It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the vacation. Just being together without having laundry or dishes hanging over my head. The first evening we were at the hotel I sat on the bed and played dolls with Ehlana for almost an hour. It was so fun.

Wednesday we had Jill and the boys over to swim and after nap time we went to Tom and Emily's house. They were are best friends in VA and they are like family to us. The next morning I took the kids back to their house and we talked and talked while the kids played. Samantha and Jaxson are cute friends. Samantha was so excited to see Jaxson but he didn't really remember her. She was a little disappointed that Jaxson wasn't the sweet, mild 2 year old she remembered. But once they got used to each other's new personalities they played great together. Ehlana, Tommy, and Eliza Delee just toddled around after the big kids.

Thursday Night we went to my cousin Cami's house and two of my other cousin's that live in AZ came over for dinner. The kids played great and we had a wonderful time eating dinner and playing games. Family is so important even if you don't get to see each other very much!

Friday Emily brought the kids to the hotel to swim and we went back to their house when Steve was done with lectures. We hired a babysitter to watch all 5 kids and went to dinner. It was a nice break! We then put the kids to bed at their house and stayed and played games until 11pm.


Here's the kids ready for bed. Except for Eliza Delee. Yes, they love me so much they named their little girl after me. It was my first time meeting her and even though I don't have pictures to prove it she is adorable!

Saturday we went out to breakfast and then went to the hotel's water park. At Denny's the kids got balloon animals witch turned out to be a highlight of the trip. Ehlana's was as big as her and Jaxson was thrilled with his simple but practical sword.






Saturday afternoon we stopped by Jill and Jason's to play for a little while before we caught our flight home. Unlike this blog post the week seemed short. But, it was great! We made some wonderful memories!

A Dragon and a Fairy Princess

This year Jaxson had his heart set on being a dragon for Halloween. And Ehlana dressed up as a fairy Princess. They were adorable. Jaxson had a Halloween party at preschool and they got to trick-or-treat at his teacher's (my mom's) house. Ehlana got to tag along for the fun.

The day before Halloween we met up with some of our wonderful friends, the Browers, and went trick-or-treating at the YMCA. Jaxson and Ehlana dressed up as puppies. Too cute!

They had a circle time and Ehlana sat there all by herself and did all the actions. I wish she could just stay this age forever!

Here's Jaxson, Kaden, and cute Kennedi.

What cute little puppies I have!

Halloween day we went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat. We then went to our other wonderful friends, the Simpsons, for dinner and trick-or-treated around their neighborhood. Here's some classic shots....

Halloween is so fun. And having kids makes it even more fun!

The last couple weeks....

Steve has been working, working, reading, going to Football games as a Team Physician, and putting the kids to bed by himself a lot.

I have been doing hair, getting ready for the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation, doing Zumba (love, love, love it!!) and kickboxing, and trying to entertain the kids while it's raining outside.

Jaxson has been loving preschool, asking about his Birthday constantly, playing well with Ehlana, dressing up in costumes, and watching his Favorite show Wow Wow Wubzy.

Ehlana has been talking up a storm! She now says Please, Thank-you, Yes, Wow wow wuzzy, truck, Meg (our dog), ohh Pretty, uh oh I Poop, and sshhh Prayer. She loves to pretend to be a dog, play with her baby doll, and climb on everything. I found her standing on the kitchen table the other day. Yikes! And last Sunday she went to Nursery at church!

She's growing up so fast.

We've been crazy busy the last couple weeks. I've been gone a lot in the evenings and so this week I'm saying no to things so I can be home more. I also made 40 hair bows to sell at a consignment sale.

Big mistake. I always think I need a crafty project or hobby like other "Mormon Moms" but anytime I commit myself to something I end up dreading it. I would come home from visiting a Primary child or doing hair and have to stay up until midnight trying to get my hair bows finished. Steve was a big help this last week. I love coming home to sleeping kids and a clean house!

We did have a wonderful little weekend getaway to Portland last week. A family from Steve's mission was visiting from Japan so we went down and stayed a night with my wonderful friend Diane. It was really fun. Steve especially had a great time visiting with them and they were excited to see our kids.

Next up.... Halloween! :)