A Little HELP

We have a problem.

Our second born is much too creative for me and my hubby.
Here is a project he wanted us to complete with him.

He just wanted us to help him build a nutcracker.
He had everything worked out (in his head).
He even had figured out what and how many parts we needed.

The PROBLEM is
we are not that crafty
and we are NOT good at shaping and painting wood.

We tell him this and his next request...
build a Buzz-Saw Louie.

It seems simple enough to him,
but much too complicated for us.

Everybody Get JAZZED

JAZZ tickets, lower bowl:

$ too much money $

Dinner at the concession stands:
$16.00

Spending one on one time with Son number three:
(or any of my children for that matter)

Priceless


We had a GREAT time at the JAZZ vs ORLANDO game,
even though we had to walk over a mile
in the frigid single degree COLD weather,
and even though we didn't get home till 11:30 PM.

The JAZZ won,
and it was fun to watch my son enjoying the game
LIVE
up close
and in person.

GO BYU

I got to go to the BIG game on Saturday.
BYU vs UofU

And an intense game it turned out to be.
First Utah was on and scoring,
then BYU went on a scoring run,
and in the fourth quarter
Utah tied up the game to send it into OT.

It was a great way to spend a holiday weekend afternoon
and I was lucky enough to spend it with

my OLDEST son,
father-in-law, brother-in-law,
my brother and two of his boys,

And this AMAZING man, my DAD.

In overtime,
BYU pulled off the win
and I went home
happy.

Sick?

I am not feeling well and neither
is my hubby.

This was NOT on my TO-DO list
the day before THANKSGIVING.

But sickness comes whether you are anticipating it or not.

After going to the DR.
it is confirmed.
We both have STREP.

So with our antibiotics,
and a car full of kids,
we head off to our Thanksgiving destination.
Hopefully the kids will all stay healthy.

This was supposed to be a post
about all the things I am THANKFUL for.

I guess right now I am THANKFUL my sickness isn't the swine flu?!?


Happy Thanksgiving

On Halloween Night...

We weren't much of a FRIGHT,

but we enjoyed the warm October night-
out in our neighborhood.



First we filled our tummies,
with these yummy pizza MUMMIES.



After the kids had been fed,
then into their COSTUMES they fled.

a POKEMON TRAINER was he,
and content as could be.

EDWARD our vampire in disguise,
could fool even the wisest guys.

Next up is our wrestler - NACHO is his name,
and dressing up is always his game.


Our little MINNIE wasn't quiet like a mouse,
but she cheered up when she got candy from each house.


And this young man, well I am not sure who he became,
but he went out and collected CANDY all the same.

12 YEARS

Happy Birthday

to my oldest son.


I thought that having him start MIDDLE school
was a big milestone.
But now he is TWELVE,
and leaving Primary,
and getting the PRIESTHOOD.

Now I know
he is becoming a YOUNG MAN.

Here are 12 random facts about our first born.

1 - Seven years ago,
for your first friend birthday party
you insisted on a BEACH theme.

I wasn't sure I could pull that off in November,
but at the time we lived in California.

November there isn't quite as cold as it is here in Utah,
so the party was a success thanks to the company of some great friends
and with help from a warm 70 degree day.

2 - Easter 2005 you finally got your first suit
and you were VERY excited.

3 - You waited over 11 years,
and watched 3 brothers
come into our family
before getting the SISTER
you always wanted.

4 - Right now you are MR. TECHNOLOGY.
You learn all you can about ipods and macs
and are looking forward to playing with that ipod touch
you have been saving for.

5 - In kindergarten, on (halloween)
BOOK CHARACTER day,
you were STEVE from BLUES CLUES -
a show you use to love to watch.

Now you enjoy seeing your little sister
and brother watch it.

6 - You became a BIG brother six days before your 2nd birthday.
You are a wonderful example to your siblings.

Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent you
to be the leader of the pack.

7 - You are a FUN boy. Your laugh is contagious
and those who hear you laugh can't help but laugh too.

8 - One cool December day

you decided that you were going to use
your newly acquired skill of making newspaper hats
to make a little money.

So you sat outside for a while
with your folded hats on your table
and waited for the customers to come rolling in.

Unfortunately, there were no buyers that day,
except for mom and dad.

9 - You get along very well with your DAD
and have always looked up to him.

10 - You love scouting.
You achieved GREAT things in cub scouts
and are well on your way to doing the same in boy scouts.

11 - You're a WELL-ROUNDED guy.
You make friends easily,
you enjoy sports,
you get good grades,
and you are talented on the piano.

12 - You LOVE hanging out with your cousins.


First and foremost,
YOU are my first born and so you see,
everything you do is special to me.
I LOVE you.

10 Years

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to my now
Ten Year Old son.


My how you have grown.



Here are TEN things
from then to now.

1 - You were so chunky as a baby that
I was afraid you wouldn't be able to move to crawl,
then as a child you were still stocky,
but this last year you have grown
to a tall young man
that no longer reminds me of that round baby.

2- You have an AWESOME imagination.
This was your creation 5 years ago
and you are still just as creative today.

3- You are who you are and
you don't care what anyone thinks about you.

4 - Right now, you are "all things" POKEMON
and so no matter what you are doing
your pokemon drawings are a part of it
(see first photo).

5 - From about the age of TWO
you started carrying around "guys" with you.
I thought it was cute.
It started out with your WOODY doll
but then moved on to little LEGO men.
It became not so cute when you had to take them
with you every where and you would set them down
then throw a fit because you couldn't
remember where you put them.

6 - You had the nickname BJ
for for the first five years of your life,
but when we moved back to Utah
you decided that wasn't your name anymore
and you corrected everyone by telling them your real name.


7 - This is YOU.
You were a climber.
You would scale anything and everything
to get what you wanted and usually you were pretty sneaky about it.
In fact, you still are a climber and you are still sneaky about it
getting into my stashed goodies,
or finding the toys or legos I confiscated.
Somethings don't change.

8 - You have a GREAT love for your grandparents and Ms Cindy.
When you are around them you want to be right by them,
sometimes right on top of their laps.
It is neat to see you love them in your own unique way.


9 - You ADORE your baby sister
and always mention her in your prayers.

10 - You are fascinating to me,
you started drawing at eighteen months,
you play really well on your own,
you have great drawing skills and
you can be so LOVABLE and yet so explosive.

But most of all YOU are mine,
and I LOVE YOU
just the way you are.

Gardens, Cornfields and Mazes, OH MY

We have been out and about
enjoying all the ACTIVITIES
that only happen this time of year.

Like this FUN gardening center,
that is nearby and always decorates for Halloween.


The boys favorite part...
this scary pirate ship you can climb on.


And Miss M couldn't resist picking out a pumpkin.



The other fun spot we found this year
was this CORN MAZE in Bluebell.
It had lots of activities for the kiddies to try

like this MINI MAZE,

a slide made out of PVC pipe,

a CORN shed,

a CORN cannon

a PUMPKIN launcher

and of course the main event the CORN MAZE.
We let the boys navigate us through
and they did a pretty good job.

We made it out before dark.

Harvest

I LOVE this time of year!

FALL is probably my favorite season
(with SPRING as a close second),
the sights,
the sounds,
the smells,
takes me back to good childhood memories.

For the past few years we have been sharing
a garden with the in-laws.
Because they just have a great spot for a garden
and well we don't.

It is a good idea,
many hands make less work.
And each year we are learning how
to improve our gardening skills.

Here is some of the loot.

Okay, so it is mostly pumpkins.
Pumpkins are my favorite thing to grow.
And we got such an interesting variety this year.

Plus, they were delivered by my
FAVORITE almost 12 year old.

Who, with the patience and help of his Grandfather,
fixed up the old riding mower just so that he could drive it.

He is now constantly reminding me
that in 4 years he will be driving a real car.
WHY do they want to grown up so fast?

I also tried something new this year,
CANNING.

My first experience in canning
was with PEACHES.

I can't say that I was all that helpful,
(I had a 14 month old wanting my constant attention)
but at least now I know
canning isn't as hard as I thought it was.
And it is definitely something I will try again.

Now I am looking forward
to what the rest of October has to bring.