Family Pictures

We took some family pictures when we were in Park Valley the weekend before Thanksgiving, and then we also took some more on Thanksgiving Day at Ross and Karen's house. I'm also posting the boys' school pictures they recently got back, and Whitnee's that we had done in August.

Weston - 8 years old

Walker - 5 years old

Whitnee - 15 months old



Family picure on Thanksgiving Day. We weren't really dressed for a matching family pic since we had just taken one the week before, but we snapped one anyways!

Grandma Shelly and Whitnee

Trent and his boys

Melissa & Whitnee

Family picture we took in Park Valley

My Family

Back - Elden, Katey, Devin, Braxon, Trent, Melissa, Whitnee
Front - Kaden, Jill, Kash, Mom, Dad, Weston, Walker

Thanksgiving

I'm not really sure what happened to last week, because it seemed to fly by so fast. One thing I do know, is that we all had a great time being with family and stuffing ourselves with food. The kids were out of school from Wednesday on....so we decided to get crafty and make some rainbow bright cupcakes on Wednesday afternoon. This is how they turned out....the boys got a total kick out of them and had fun just making their own creations! Whitnee was asleep, and to be quite honest it was a little easier without the help of a little 18 month old. Her cooking days are right around the corner though...don't worry!!

All ready to go!
The purple was more like a yucky gray color...it just wouldn't turn purple!!

Spooning in the batter!

Just a little lick to keep those fingers clean!

Ready to bake!

And.....the finished product!!

Later that night, we went out with Garth and Wendy to Chili's for dinner. The kids all stayed home with Kaeden, and so we got a night out with just the adults. It was great. We also got to decorate the boys' Christmas tree that Grandma Shelly has given them. They were so excited to decorate it one night with her. All of their ornaments are soccer balls, footballs, basketballs, and little leather baseball mitts. It is cute and they love sleeping with it lit up each night. Whitnee's tree is a pink barbie tree, but we have opted to wait one more year before putting it up in hopes that the decorations won't become toys each day. Thank you Grandma Shelly...we love you!!

Now onto Thanksgiving Day! Thanksgiving was held at Ross and Karen's house this year. We had everything from football, visiting, eating, family pictures, bingo, visiting, more eating, and of course looking at the black Friday ads! It was a great day, and we all have so much to be thankful for. Here are some pictures of how the day unfolded....courtesy of my Uncle Dan.

Stirring up my salad!

Whitnee patiently waiting for dinner!

The men doing what they do best on Thanksgiving....watching football!!

Whitnee finally getting to enjoy her dinner!

Walker & Kaden getting ready to eat!

Grandma Shelly helping Weston dish up his plate!

And then.....the BLACK FRIDAY ADS!!

Do you think we all like to shop?????

And then came Friday morning.....let me just say that I will definitely be doing it different next year if Walmart is on my list of stores!! What a flippin' zoo!!! I had a feeling that we should go at about 12:00 midnight so we could be sure to get a couple ITEMS....one being a laptop. Well, 4am didn't cut it when there were only 10 laptops to begin with, and I was less than happy when we got out of that store!! I did check quite a few items off my list at some other stores, but I was not a fan of Walmart on Black Friday. (Maybe I will feel differently next year if I'm the first one in line with 12 thousand people lined up behind me)!!!!! On a different note, Trent and Weston went on the traditional pheasant hunt with his Dad and brother on Friday. They had a great time, and Weston could have stayed up all night telling me about the stories they all told on the drive to and from Duchesne.....memories in the making.....that is for sure!!

Saturday we all got together with Trent's family for his Thanksgiving. I love that Melanie (Trent's mom) does Thanksgiving on either Saturday or Sunday of the same week. It makes it so we can celebrate Thanksgiving with both sides of the family each year. We had another yummy dinner and enjoyed watching BYU beat Utah....(sorry, I had to throw that in)!

On Sunday, we had another get-together with my family for Braxon's blessing. Katey and Devin blessed their little guy and it was such a nice day. We went back to their house afterwards and had a really nice dinner and enjoyed visiting and eating some more. I told myself each night that I would never eat again, but somehow I change my mind by the next morning. One thing is for sure....I won't be skipping out on exercising for no good reason this week!!!

Anyways, we all had a great Thanksgiving and we have so much to be grateful for!! Here are some of the top things on my "thankful list" this year:

*My good husband

*My 3 great kids

*My wonderful family

*The best inlaws ever!!

*The gospel

*Trent's job

*The holiday spirit that is all around

*A warm home with food in my fridge and cupboards

*This free country we live in....thanks to all those who have and continue to fight to keep us free!

And the list could go on and on and on!!!!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. I will be honest....Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I hate dressing up, and therefore you never see me in a costume. I do have fun getting the kids dressed up, and they seemed to all have a good time. The boys both had Halloween parties at school on Thursday as well as a parade. Sorry...no pictures. Why is it that your camera dies at the most inopportune times???? On Friday, there was no school and it was trunk-or-treating that night. I spent most of Friday cleaning the house like a mad-woman for 2 house showings, and then spent the rest of the time with Jill so the house would stay clean and the agents could show it. We flew home at 5:30 that night to throw on the kids' costumes and head to trunk-or-treat. It was a perfect night. We ate chili and hot dogs, and then let the kids get all their candy. We got home at a decent hour and enjoyed all the candy. YUM!! The next day was Halloween of course. We all slept in, (I can't even remember a Saturday when we all were home like this), had a nice breakfast, and then Trent and the kids headed outside to clean up the 2nd round of leaves. (Still one more to go). It was such a nice day and we enjoyed being outside. We came in and got the kids cleaned up, Whitnee took a nap, and then got ready and did a little more trick-or-treating so the kids could dress up one more time. I think we went to a total of 7 or 8 houses since we had already done truck-or-treating. We finished off the night big with dinner at Chili's and then came home. It was a great day, and the kids got far too much candy. I am now dealing with the after effects of Whitnee whining at the cupboard every other minute for the candy bowl.

Our BIG pile of leaves!

Dad even got in on the fun!

Whitnee starting to disappear!

Weston's hand is the only thing left showing!!

Mario - Weston

James - Walker

Pink Poodle - Whitnee

The kids all ready to go!

After trunk-or-treating!
(sorry about the lighting....not a great picture)

The latest from WALKER!

Walker has came up with some pretty good ones lately. I had to record them for my own records.

The other day we were in the kitchen. His kindergarten reading chart is hanging on the fridge. He gets to put an "X" on each day that we read. Well, there have been a few weekend days that we haven't done so good because we have been in Park Valley, and therefore no "X" is on them. After studying the chart he said,

Walker: "Mom, we can't go on vacation anymore." (love the term vacation for going to PV!!)

Me: "Why not?"

Walker: "Because I am not getting my reading in."

Me: "Well, we can take a book with us, and try to get the reading done there."

Waker: "Does Grandma Shelly have books?"

Me: "I'm pretty sure she does!!"

What dedication.....most kids would be happy for a day or two off!!! I know I am!!!


Then, just last night we were sitting in the living room, and Whitnee walked in with a bunch of balls stuffed inside her shirt. I asked her what was in her shirt, and Walker quickly replied as serious as ever:

Walker: "I think she is growing a baby inside!"

Me: HUGE outburst of laughter!!

Oh, the innocence of kids!! I love them!!


Last but not least......Walker has decided he wants his name changed to Austin. There is no exact reason why. He doesn't even know an Austin. I guess he just likes the name. So there you have it!!

Random Happenings!

Here is a catch up on a few things that have happened lately. We went up to Park City on Labor Day and had a BBQ with the McFarland's. The weather was beautiful and the kids swam and swam. It was so nice to sit and just visit with good friends....especially since I had just canned all my peaches that morning. (Can I just say that I'm glad canning season is over....corn, salsa, tomatoes, peaches, and pears! We are sure going to enjoy the yummy food though, so it is all worth it!!)

Anyways....back to the story!! Here are some pics from Labor Day!

Cute Whitnee...she had so much fun playing with the water bottles, that her pants were soaked!!

Zander, Weston, & Walker

Zander, Walker, Jonah, & Weston....after a fun afternoon of swimming!

Then comes the fabulous season of Fall!! I can't believe it is already here. I pulled out a few decors and threw them up. I put some Halloween pumpkins up, and the boys are loving them. I figure Halloween will be here before we know it, so why not put Halloween up while I'm at it!

Last but certainly not least....here are a few pictures of Whitnee. I feel like she is changing and growing up so fast. I did her hair in piggy-tails today because it is getting some length to it. I decided this was a good time to snap some current pictures. She is not at the most cooperative age, but with Walker's help we got it done.

I actually took this picture last, but I thought it was funny. Check out the Christmas bib (all her other bibs were in the laundry)....and how about that handfull of binkies?? Not to mention some good old string cheese!! What a funny girl!

Where did my baby go??? Is she looking all grown-up or is it just me???

Piggy-tails from behind!


She thought this picture taking was a funny game, and refused to hold still!!

So CUTE!!

1st Day of School

Well, summer came and went and soon we found ourselves on the 1st day of school. Brand-new outfits and backpacks were all laid out the night before, Father's Blessings were given, and we were ready for the 1st day. We woke up early and got everyone ready! Weston wanted me to drive him so that he made sure he could find his class.

We ate a yummy breakfast of pancakes!

Then we posed for a few quick pictures before rushing out the door. Here is Weston in his new attire and all ready to start 3rd grade!

(Really???....do I really have a child already in 3rd grade??)

Here is my cute Walker all ready for Kindergarten. He doesn't go until the afternoon, but he wanted to be up and ready first thing!!

We found Mrs. Hunter's classroom without any problem and Weston

let me snap a quick picture of him.

He found his desk and settled in for the 1st day.

A few hours later, we found ourselves back at the school for Walker's 1st day of kindergarten. We got to know his teacher Miss Van De Graaff, and she told us what to expect for the year.
Afterwards, I got to take Walker on a scavenger hunt so he would know his way around the school. He found cute prizes at each stop. We signed up for a testing time later in the week,
and then we got to go home. His first real day of school will be Monday the 31st, because of the testing that took place this week.


We headed outside to go home, and school was just getting out for the day. We found Weston, and both the boys wanted to ride the bus home. It worked out perfect, since this will be their daily routine of getting on the bus together.


The bus finally arrived.


Onto the bus they go!

All in all, it was a great day. I think it will be a fun-filled year, and Weston and Walker are sure excited. I'm sure Whitnee and I will fill our days somehow and enjoy our time together!!

Summer.....Where have you GONE??

I can't even believe that summer is over. It has gone by so fast, and we have sure enjoyed all the fun things we have got to do. Here are a few more of the happenings that I haven't blogged about.


OUR LAMBS

We raised lambs this year....a tradition that the kids and I love to do!! I like that the boys have a little summer job, but I have a hard time completely turning it over to them. I love it as much as they do....(okay probably even more!)

Happy boys doing their chores!

Whitnee liked getting in on the action!

Whitnee...wanting another turn!

All done feeding for the morning!

WHITNEE

Our good friends from New Zealand sent Whitnee this darling little outfit for her brithday. Charly wanted some pics of her in it, so I took some pictures and sent them to her. I still need to take one of the cute little dress they sent! Thanks Shane and Charly!!

I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Love this little girl!

SWIMMING LESSONS

Weston and Walker just finished swimming lessons this week. I put them in the session that runs for 1 week, and each lesson is 50 minutes. I loved it much more that the 2 week/25 minute lessons. I felt like they had enough time in the water each day to really get into it. Weston made huge improvements, and is doing great at floating on his back and his front crawl is getting much better. Walker is getting very comfortable in the water and learning a lot of the basics. I loved watching them improve and pass off their levels. An added bonus was that their cousins Garrett and Melanie were in their classes. That made it even funner! Good job boys!!

Walker and his class



Weston



Yay....we passed!!



Weston and his teacher Liz
(sorry about her eyes being closed...oops!)

Walker and his teacher Ricky