Ho Ho Ho!!!

Not sure we have ever had a smile on Santa's lap at this age.

Mikey was no exception.

Merry Christmas to all!

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Happy 12th!!!!

a happy happy 12th birthday to haley

where is this thing called "time" going??

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~~~~Halloween 2009~~~~

what a fun bunch!

jason and his buddy nico while trick-or-treating. they are usually all smiles together...

ashley and her two buds from our ward at the trunk-or-treat


getting the "trunk" ready

the cutest monkey ever

the bride of frankenstein at a friend's party. (had a great time!)

gramma's annual halloween party. our children (and cousins) look forward to this every year. thank you!!!!

before the storm ...

one scary scarecrow---- aka as grandpa

also celebrated jake and grandpa's birthday this week. scary spider, huh???

grandpa and mikey on grandpa's birthday. hope u had a great birthday dad!

Halloween is over. (Yea!) Now on to Thanksgiving.

What a wonderful time of the year. We have so much to be thankful for.

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3 Girls----1 clogged drain

3 girls. 1 clogged drain.. need i say more????

(Yes, that is exactly what you think it is.)

We didn't call a plumber...but mikey was walking around with a plumber's crack. close enough!

--dad

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"City Beautiful"--- Nauvoo, Illinois

A long awaited trip to Nauvoo... Kids voted for Disneyland over October break, but they lost the vote!!






Started out in St.Louis... That is us under the Arch. Can u see us wayyyyyyyyyy out there??? (Gotta look close. We are lined up with the silos across the river.) Wayne thought he could get a family photo under the arch but didnt realize how far back he would need to go to get us in.. Duh???

A great trip to Carthage Jail on Sunday. Joey pointing to the hole in the door where the bullet that killed Hyrum Smith went through.. He thought it was sooo cool that it was still there in the door after 165 yrs.

Outside the jail and under the 2nd story window where Joseph Smith fell.

The beautiful temple...

Some chilly fall weather... And some cute kids!

On the steps of the Mansion House.. One of the Prophet Joseph's many Nauvoo homes.

Learning how life worked in the 1840's. Was a great learning experience for our children as we visited the old shops & houses.

Had to take some fall pictures. (Temple is in the distance over Ashley's shoulder.)

What a wonderful place for a family to visit!!

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I am pretending that it is fall...

Well it was 104 degrees out today, so we are pretending that it is fall, the beginning of all the holidays. I love this time of year and I really love Halloween. It is all fun. No real meaning to worry about, no gifts to give, no parties to get to, just all fun. I do love all of that, but I really enjoy just having fun with the kids.

I am really excited to wear my Halloween necklace. I just need to find me an orange shirt to go with it. If you can't tell, there is a haunted house on it.

My favorite find as I was out looking for Halloween decor is this cake plate(those of you that know me know I love a good cake plate). I really like my new vulture up in my window too.

Happy Haunting!

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Cupcake fun!

My girl Kate turned 10. We had a cupcake theme party. We kept it small to keep it under control. Katie is blessed with really great friends. Andi, Brynn, Kourtney, Navy, and Emma. Aren't they all so cute?

I love to have parties and make the kids day special.

We started out tie-dying...

did cupcake crafts....

more cupcake crafts.....

decorated cupcakes....

and ate LOTS of cupcakes......

What a great day!

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This one is for you Grandpa!!!

Tonight my dad told me that he looks at our blog everyday to see if I have a new post. Like many other fellow bloggers, I haven't been blogging as much. I have missed it. So I am going to try to do better.

1st DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

I was so excited.....



Ashley grew up this summer. At 5'9'' now she is now a freshman. She is enjoying seminary, AA classes, friends, and boys. She had a great summer going to Washington D.C., EFY, cabin trips, and Hawaii. Now it is time to get back to working hard and start planning for college.













Haley started Jr. High. WOW 2 teenagers is making me feel old. She has a new found love of the Violin. I love to listen to her play. She is enjoying going to school an hour later than the other kids, and having more time to decide what to wear to school (it takes about five outfits tried on to finally decide what she will wear.) I am enjoying watching her experience a whole new world at Poston.

Katie is in 5th grade...going on 11th grade..... She loves her friends, talking on the phone, and SHOES. What more can I say. She has been having a really hard time deciding on what to do for her birthday party. Anyone have any ideas?


Joey is so happy to be back to his 3 recess of the favorite sport of the week... he is doing so well in Math and working hard in every other subject. He is so much like Wayne in so many ways it is amazing to me. I am enjoying him sooo much and I really miss him during the day.


Well it finally happened.... Jason after years of yearning FINALLY gets to ride the bus. He was so excited. He was excited about every part of Kindergarten. He loves it so much and is already counting to 60. He has been our most outgoing and has been telling me all about all his new friends. His only problem is he has to wait till 11:45 to go which makes a long morning for him and for me.:)

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The Chocolate Monster...

Happy 1st Birthday Michael!

6 kids and this is definitely a 1st... Do you think this kid likes chocolate???

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"Mom, I am ready for Kindergarten!"

Happy 5th Birthday!! I was sooooo worried that Jason wouldn't be ready for Kindergarten this year since he has an early summer birthday (July) and would be just barely 5 when he started (Wayne kept saying, "He'll be fine.") but..... he has grownnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn sooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhh this summer in soooo many ways. He is such a sweet boy with such a sweet disposition. He is also our 'class clown' always trying to make people laugh at home and wherever he is. (He usually succeeds.) We love you.

Anxiously waiting....






1st swim team ribbon. He carried it around for a week.









Look Mom.. no hands!



































A beach bum. He always asks, "But, why do they put all that salt in the ocean? I don't like it."

We were all wondering where Jason was at dinner one night and then he comes back to our table with an ice cream cone so big that he needed a plate and an escort back to his seat by the gal at the restaurant. The gal said she watched him make it and knew he would never make it back to the table alone. He loved every minute of it. (the ice cream and the attention)

Even a small fish makes him happy. He is soooo proud of every catch.








I have never met a treat I didn't like.. (I wonder where he gets that from??)

Dancing at the bowling alley. Entertaining all of us and anyone that would watch. I guess every family has at least one "ham."

"Hang loose" is his new favorite thing...

We have now declared him 100% ready for Kindergarten.

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