Happy Thanksgiving!

*** I am so thankful we made the trip, and then made it home alive after a nasty snow storm on the way home. This is probably the reason we haven't traveled for the last 4 years. I just didn't think I could stomach another Thanksgiving at our local Golden Corral. You would truly be surprised the crowd that goes there....never again for us! This year we were definitely due for some family time and it was sooooo nice and we had such a great trip ***

This little lady we like to call Mama Mags, (my sweet mom) and this is the reason we make the 10 hour trip! My kids adore her - I think she is pretty amazing also!!

These cousins don't get to see each other very often - and we sure miss them.

As you can see, these boys are pals and have so much FUN together!!

This is my favorite brother! I love him and his adorable family!!


I sure miss my dad. I have so many memories of him when I come back to St George. I took the kids to the cemetery, and Macie and Dalan had drawn him a picture. Dalan asked, "Mom, is grandpa Craig going to come out of the ground to get my picture and then go back in?" I could only wish. I wish I could see him, that my kids could know him. He truly was a great, great dad and I miss him badly.


Next stop: Las Vegas!! I wanted to do something fun - so we loaded up the kids and headed down to the strip to the M&M Factory...


Look at all those beautiful colored M&M's....and they only cost $12.99 / lb. ???


Dalan discovered this car....and we were laughing so hard because he just wanted to crawl underneath and check things out....so Dalan!


Macie was excited to find 'M's everywhere....she was so cute!


Little miss Paige was the best helper...she loves Khloe and was so great with her!


I love these 2 little girlies....although, could they look any more different!??


Now...for the moment we have all been waiting for! The feast!!! Jay and Kay were so excited to finally, have all of their children, all 7 of them and it was sooooo nice to be together!


Here we all are!


Dave and 3 of his brothers.


My sister-in-laws who are so fun! It is so fun to marry into a family and gain new best friends. Love these girls!

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday sweets! You are officially in your 30's....make them the best yet!

A Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

Macie and Dalan got to have a party at school today and have a special Thanksgiving feast. It is always fun to see the kids get excited and get to have mom at school with them for a little celebration!



Macie my little feast-er, who went back for 3rds!


Dalan - my cute little pilgrim boy, who was also named "Boy with many words and smiles" That truly was his Indian name given to him by Ms. Jenn! Is that her way of saying, the boy is cute, but he sure knows how to chat!!!!

Sweet Sisterly Love!

Love these 2 sweeties of mine! I really hope these 2 girls - with a 5 year gap, are still the best of friends. Macie loves Khloe and it is obvious the feelings are mutual!

Funny conversation with Dalan

Dalan said the following is his wish list for Christmas this year:

1. A real gun
2. Flying shoes so he can get to grandma's anytime he wants
3. Melted hot lava - check. Just got him a volcano kit!
4. A real live rocket ship! - ok a Matchbox Rocket Ship will have to do, but check.
5. Chocolate Eyeballs
6. A telescope to look at the crust of the earth

"Where did we get this boy" I said to Dave??? Dalan responded and said, "From Jesus!"

A typical conversation with Dalan tonight when I tucked him in bed:

Mom: Dalan if you are naughty, Santa brings little kids a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking.
Dalan: But, what is coal?
Mom: It is black rocks!
Dalan: But are they heavy?
Mom: Yea. They are heavy.
Dalan. But do they hurt?
Mom: No, they don’t hurt, but it's not something you can play with.
Dalan. But so are they heavy?
Mom: Yea they are
Dalan: But could dad carry the coal?
Mom: of course. Dad is the strongest man in the world.
Dalan: But could he lift our house!?
Mom: Yes he could totally lift up our house.
Dalan: But what is under our house?
Mom: Rocks and dirt.
Dalan: But what is under the rocks and dirt
DAD: More dirt Dalan.
Dalan: But where does dirt come from?
Mom: Dad you got this one!
Dalan: But mom... do you have bones in your body.
Mom: Yes Dalan.
Dalan: But are bones breakable?

And it goes on and on and on and on and on...

One question leads into another question, which then leads into another question. He plays 20 questions 20 x a day!

Happy Halloween 2010

The soon to be pumpkin creation on paper!

"Look kids!" Dad secretly LOVES to touch pumpkin guts!!! Hee Hee

Dalan was a little too comfortable with pumpkin guts!

Macie's face says it all!

Dalan was just so concerned about the "fire" that goes inside the pumpkin - and was devastated when we told him, the pumpkin was to small to light up. He even added "whiskers" on his special pumpkin. What a guy!

Khloe bug was just happy as can be crawling around on the floor - and discovered the open fridge door! She could care less about pumpkins and fire!

Celebrating 3 days of Halloween - thanks to the fact that it fell on a Sunday this year. First up, we had the 3rd annual Los Flores Spook Alley! Our neighborhood gets together for a dinner followed by games in several garages along our street. It really is a great time and the kids had so much fun this year!

The next night was our ward trunk or treat...

THEN....we celebrated Halloween by getting together with friends to trick or treat around the neighborhood.


This was the ONLY picture I got of the 3 kids together - wow! I will improve for next year's photo shoot!

Macie our little cowgirl!

She was a little bummed and told me the night of our spook alley that she didn't want to be a "dumb cowgirl!" She saw her friend Scarlett in her princess dress-up and Eliza as a cheerleader, and Macie wanted make-up on...and fingernail polish. I promise next year it will be totally up to her who she dresses up as....oops!


Dalan was batman one night - then spider-man the next!

Khloe was a sweet butterfly! Funny story - I didn't give too much thought this year about costumes and didn't want to spend $$$ so I remembered I had been given a butterfly costume by my friend Christina. In my head, I just imagined it was the right size...until the night of our first dress up event! I pulled it out of the closet and it was a 0-6 mos. CRAP! Good thing Khloe is a shrimp and it totally worked!!!!

Kid randomness

These pictures sum up my kids personalities perfectly!

First up: Macie and her major coloring habit! She colors the minute she rolls out of bed, will color right up until we are running out the door for school, and she continues to color after dinner, bath, and right before bedtime! She has been collecting her artwork and decided they needed to be on display! She took all her days coloring work and set up shop upstairs!

Ta-Dah!

Here she is blowing kisses to all her fans!

Dalan is my guy when I need batteries replaced or need any work around the house done. He is so good with tools it is pretty impressive! The best part is he knows right where the screwdriver is - and the batteries and he is my personal handy man around the house! He helped get Khloe's chair working so it can sing to her!!!

Khloe gives us 2 thumbs up for the "Monster Tracker" 100 oz refill mug that Dave seems to fill up daily with his diet dr pepper addiction - WOW!


She is getting a little busier - as seen here getting into the pantry! She is still so sweet and doesn't give me any trouble!! Love this girl :)

Barber to Boise 10k

Instead of doing a Saturday morning long run, some friends and I decided to sign up for a 10k. The entire course was running on the greenbelt - it was so pretty! It was fun to end at the BSU football stadium and I will for sure be doing this one next year.

All us girls!
(Nichelle, me, Rachelle, Kris, Kaidree, and Natalie!)

My amazing family!!

The kids thought it was pretty great too!

*** Running just keeps getting better and better for me. I feel like I am finally getting to the point where it is enjoyable - and so rewarding! For sure a lot of hard work, but it is in a twisted way, sweet sweet pain! ***