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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10 yrs and counting.....

Just 10 yrs until he walks on the sacred ground (aka Toro Stadium) for real but his 1st Toro camp was a huge success.

Look at the form... Wow, a chip off the ol' block. Nice hit, son!

He'll be ready...

The "Toro Tradition" talk by Toro legend Todd Shell . I had goosebumps..

It's gonna be a long wait...

-Dad

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My aMaZiNg daughter

Well it all started 1 year ago today! We made a challenge to our kids that if they didn't eat candy for 1 YEAR that we would give them $100 dollars. Ashley said no way (she is like me and addicted to chocolate). Katie lasted about 4 days (money just doesn't interest her yet). Then there is HALEY! I am so proud of the . SHE DID IT!!!! Haley is 1 disciplined person. (Yes, that meant NO Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's or Easter Candy!! Amazing!!) I already knew this about her, but this shows me more about her. GREAT JOB SWEETHEART!

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2 Years Later :(

I can hardly believe that it has been 2 years since my brother Michael passed away. It is like he went on a mission and I am ready for him to come home. I miss him so much. There is nothing better than a good Michael story. For those of you that knew him, you know that Mike was one of a kind. He was so funny and did crazy things. One thing that helps when we are feeling sad about him is to talk about him and tell funny stories. So I am asking all that knew Michael to leave a comment, tell a story, share a memory, or anything would make this week a whole lot better. (Please!!) It would be much appreciated! Help us keep his memory alive. You have no idea how much my family would love this (especially my mom). THANKS!!

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Charity

I have been thinking a lot about this quote lately. I try to read it everyday with the hopes of being a better person. I really do feel this way, but it is easy to let my mind and mouth do otherwise.

" Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisiting the impulse to become offended.... Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and be willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other." (author unknown)

Just a little something to think about :-)

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TRADITIONS

I love this time of the year. We have established a few traditions in our family. One of those would be the Easter Pageant. We figured out that this was our 16th year of going . (One of our 1st dates was to the pageant.) I love it so much that I have decided that next year me and my girls are going to try out. I am so excited about it! Wish us luck!This is Ashley's bff Karen. She was in the pageant. She was the one sitting on the rock when Jesus was telling the story of the 10 virgins. Pretty cool.

This is Haley's bff Chantel. She also was in the pageant. My girls are blessed with great friends.

Saturday the Easter Bunny comes to our house. After the fun, we go to eat breakfast with the bunny and have a great Easter egg hunt. Mikey wasn't so sure what to think.

Jason is petrified of the bunny. When we were eating breakfast and the bunny came by, Jason headed straight under the table.

Sunday is our day to think about the Resurrection and what Our Savior did for us. We love that day to enjoy church and spending time with our families and of course.....to eat.
Mikey loves both of his Grandmas. He is such a pleasant little guy and full of love. What a joy he is to us. We are all so in love with him.

HAPPY EASTER to all!!!

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