Time Flies!

I'm not sure if it's because we are having fun or just because we are super duper busy!  November passed by so quickly and December is following right behind.  Here is a quick recap of what we have been doing

• school
• mom being taxi
• Preschool
• Projects - Tyler had to make a diarama of a Biome, he picked a Swamp.  It turned out super good and he was very excited!
• homework - This is never ending and so very, very useless! 
• Scentsy stuff - I've had quite a few open houses to keep me busy
• Christmas Shopping and Decorating
• Getting some things organized for moving and trying to figure where exactly we should look for a house
• The Christmas Party at Church - I was second in command and helped with the food.  Our Christmas morning theme with Breakfast Casserole and Cinnamon rolls was a big hit.

Thanksgiving was also a big event.  I cooked my first ever Turkey!  Yay me!  It turned out great as did my stuffing and all the other yummy treats we ate.  We stayed home and invited our Friends Quinn and Aubrey Young over with their family.  It was a wonderful relaxing day. 

I think that would about sum up our activites!  At the Ward Christmas Party Santa came.  Of course Ty and Brooks were happy to go say Hello, but Josh was Terrified.  The kind of terrified that if I had made him go up and see Santa he would have been ruined for life!  Haha - Noah wasn't a fan either, but who can blame him! 

Ok - don't judge he totally has a Mullet ok!  Haha, he is so funny.

On The Move.......Soon!

It's Official - like really official - like Holy Cow is this really gonna happen real.  We will soon be on the move.  Steve got a new job with the same company that will take us to the beautiful state of TEXAS.  After 2 whole weeks with this knowledge I still can't believe it.  I am excited, but overwhelmed.  I keep thinking of all there is to do, all our wonderful friends that we will leave, all our kids Adorable friends that they will have to say goodbye to and the adventure that lies ahead.  The next few months will be chaotic as we figure out all the nitty gritty details of Making it all happen. 

As you can imagine the kids have mixed feelings.  Sometimes they are excited, sometimes they are sad.  Josh is especially confused - this is the only place he has ever lived.  He doesn't want to go and he doesn't like that there are snakes in Texas and he is super sad he will have to go to a new pre-school when we finally get there.  Brooklynn has a million questions, they usually start with, "I have a question about moving......"  Tyler is well, Tyler - he is taking it all in, but not saying too much! 

So if any of you amazing wonderful family and friends know anyone in the DALLAS area - rat them out and send me their info.  I need to talk to/email anyone I can to find out where exactly we should go......It's a big place I hear. 

Fourteen Months!

Noah is getting so BIG!  I love watching his little personality develop, he always brings a smile to my face with his cute grin and his Attitude and boy does he have a little attitude.  Here is a run down of him:

• He LOVES outside and is often banging on the back door so that we will open it so he can go wander. He can even sort of say 'Ouside'
• He EATS tons!  This kid is always hungry and is also always happy with some food to munch on
• He is starting to play with the kids and thinks they are funny
• He doesn't say very many things - OK he really doesn't say anything at all
• When I ask him if he would like something he will go 'ah' kind of like 'yay' if the answer is yes and bounce
• He LOVES his little tiny 'snuggly' or blanket and walks around with it much of the day
• He follows instructions better than my 10 year old - haha, not really but he understands and follows simple instructions
• He gets excited when it is time to go bye-bye
• He keeps us laughing and smiling.
• Thankfully he is not climbing yet, but he is trying to! Yikes
• I had to put locks on all the cupboards because he is THE DESTROYER and gets into EVERYTHING!  
• He will snuggle me sometimes - which I love.
• It is nearly impossible to get him to hold still long enough for a picture!

Noah is so sweet and cute and brings so many smiles and laughs into our home!  How super blessed we are to have him!

Change!

You know how sometimes you just need a Change. Just something to give you a boost.  Something to make you feel more like - YOU!  I needed one of these changes and so I treated myself to a Hair Makeover.  I've never been much for Long locks and although I have tried to grow my hair and do the Long thing, it just doesn't work for me.  So, this is what I came up with.  I feared it would turn into MOM hair, but I think it is pretty cute and maybe even a little sassy!

Tater took this one and I'm not sure what is up with the lighting, but you get the idea!

Halloween!

This year I will say that Halloween was a little - dare I say Lame!  We did not do the whole trick-or-treating thing and just went to the Trunk-or-Treat at church instead.  I was the super lame mom and made all of the kids just pick a costume out of the costume box!  So, here they all are - although I will say they are super cute no matter what.



Our pumpkins. Tyler carved the middle one, The one on the right Tater designed and the last one our friends did.



This is what most of the pictures of this guy are like - he NEVER stops!

Mission Memories

I did not serve a mission for our church, we are Mormon, although I'm sure the majority of you know that.  But I guess if you didn't, now you do! Steve did serve a mission.  In fact he served a mission in England/Wales about 15 years ago.  (Wow, that means we are getting really old)  Anyway,  while on his mission he had the priviledge of baptizing two amazing young men, Nathan and Matthew.  Their Mum was a recent convert and Steve spent a lot of time in their home.  Through the years he has often wondered whatever became of them, there have even been times when he has attempted to contact them. 

About 2 years ago I got a random message on Facebook from long lost Nathan!  Steve and I were both pleasantly surprised and even more excited to find out that he and his brother were both still Active in our Church! 

Nathan got married in August to a cute Welsh girl and for a Honeymoon they came to the States in October.  It just so happens that Nathan's in-laws have a home about 2 1/2 hours from us!  We had a chance to take our brood and drive up to see Nathan and his wife Zara.  It was Wonderful!  We had so much fun visiting and Steve and Nathan had so much fun getting caught up!  I was so excited to meet them both and thought Zara was just adorable! 

For me it was like I had always known them both.  It was one of those times where you just click with someone.  I was so grateful for the opportunity we had to visit with them! 

The Rest of Disney World

The Rest of the Week was spent with just as much fun as the first few days! 

We hit Blizzard Beach.  The kids loved it, as did the rest of us.  We even got Brooklynn to go down the Summit Plummit and she loved it!  Josh enjoyed the little kids area and the family slide. 

We took most of the kids to the Hoopdee-do-revue, ok I'm not really sure how to spell that.  It was great and the kids all loved it and so did us adults.

The Magic Kingdom was awesome.  What can I say I am a sucker for the classics.  The day started off with us sending Spencer, Annie, Jackson and Tyler off all by themselves.  Yep, they are all big - Spencer had his cell phone with him so they could check in periodically and then they were to meet back up with us at a certain time.  They had a lot of fun and because it wasn't a super busy day they were able to go on a lot of rides.  While they did that we took the little kids to Fantasy Land to do all the 'little' rides.  It worked out perfectly and just when the dad's arrived from Golfing it was time to meet up with the 'older' kids.  I have to admit as we sent off the kids, I watched them walking away and burst into tears.  Then I started to laugh because I was crying and then Julie and Marilee and my Mom started to laugh at me.  I was sad - sad because they are growing up way way way too fast.  At any rate the day was fantastic. 

The Animal Kingdome was great too!  The Everest Rollercoaster was a huge hit as was the Safari. The river rapids ride (can't remember the name) was also alot of fun - Josh and Brady got soaked the second time they went on it.  I mean soaked - like drenched all the way to their undies soaked.  It was super funny.  Top the day off with Date night and it was fantastic! 

Friday we all headed for home.  Marilee and Adam left EARLY, then Julie and TJ.  Mom and Dad and our crew didn't leave until late in the afternoon - so we were able to hang around at the pool for a few hours enjoying our last little bit of vacation. 

We had so much fun and I love that my kids are old enough to enjoy themselves so much!  They are so great to hang out with and I love to see them happy.  A huge thanks goes out to all those who made it possible! 

Grandad and Tater after Blizzard Beach

All the kids with Bridgette

Tater convinced Nana to get him some EARS - he loved them and didn't take them off all day!

My boys and Bridgette (LOVE HER)

Marilee, Me and Reecey - she is the cutest little girl in the world!

Brady and Tater after they got soaked!

Noah swimming - he had so much fun splashing!

My handsome boys!

Natalie and Brookie with their new hairdos!

Disney World and The Tower of Terror

Monday morning started bright and EARLY, especially for us West Coast Dwellers.  A 7:20AM reservation at Chef Mickey's got us up and moving before any of us really wanted to be, but you can't sleep to late when your at Disney World.  The kids had a great time dining with the Characters.  Well, most of the kids, Noah was not so sure about those Characters, he liked them from a distance and was curious, but get to close and Not so much.  The breakfast was fun and after filling our tummies it was off to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  For me this name is hard to remember because way back when I used to work there and it was The Disney MGM Studios.  Anyhow, we were off and rolling for a great day! 



Noah Checking out Mickey Mouse from afar



Let me preface this segment of our post with a little background information.  My kids DON'T DO SCARY, I mean really.  For example, Steve went to Walgreens the night before we left, he had the boys in tow.  I avoid Walgreens around Halloween because they have their Freaky decorations up and my kids freak out.  So, in they go with Josh saying the whole time, "Not scared, not scared, not scared' Trying to convince himself all was well.  It finally got to the point that he was scared and he started saying,'Getting scared, ok scared!'  You get the idea.  My 3 oldest are all like this to varying degrees, the older they get the better they get. 

Ok, so I tell you all that because one of my Favortie Rides of all time is the Tower Of Terror, I remember the first time I went on it, I know that the one at Disney World is WAY better than the one at Disneyland and I love it.  The Tower is at the Hollywood Studios.  Oh, I also love going on it with my husband because he loves it and he gets the greatest laugh while on it.  Brooklynn and Josh had never been on it, Tyler had.  None of them wanted to go, but Brooklynn gave in and said she would give it a whirl, Josh reluctantly agreed to go because while scared of things like that he is still super curious, Tyler DID NOT want to go.  He does not like that ride AT ALL!  Of course we made him go.  It was as great as I remember it, Brooklynn wasn't a huge fan, but thought it was ok, Josh will like it more the bigger he gets, but Tyler still does not like it.  WE, being the AWESOME parents we are and because there was no line late in the day and with a little bit of bribery got Tyler to go on it with us a few extra times, but still he has NO love for my favorite ride.

Including the Tower, our day was great, we hit the Rockin Roller Coaster, The backstage tour, Toy Story Mania, the Car Stunt show (Awesome and a must see), Muppet Vision 3D, just to name a few.  We really had fun, even with our big group and the heat everyone was happy.  Even Noah was a Rock Star and Enjoyed the day.

Disney World........... The Beginning

I have been putting off my posts on Disney World for a number of reasons. #1 - I am Lazy or busy, you pick, #2 - I was super super lame at the picture taking while at Disney World.  You see, my sisters have these 'fancy' cameras and had them out a bunch, so I left it up to them to take lots and lots of pictures.  I know they did, I just don't have all the copies yet. 

Despite my lack of pictures I will blog about our wonderful vacation to Disney World.  It puts a grin on my face just thinking about it. 

The kids and I left Fresno on Friday September 17th.  We left after school and Tyler's cross country meet.  We stopped at McDonalds to grab some food and then due to some car issues, got Stuck in the drive thru.  I blocked the drive thru for a good 20 minutes.  The long and the short of it is this.  There is a release switch when you push the break that allows you to shift the car out of park.  The switch in my car was broken and decided to pick that particular moment in the drive thru to not work at all!  I was mildly freaking out and called Julie who had the brains to check online and suggested how I might remedy my issue.  Surrounded my all the McDonalds workers, I was eventually able to figure it out and we went on our merry way.  We did not realize until after Disney World and we took the car in to get fixed that the issue also meant that the whole time my brake light were not working - OOPS! 

Back to our trip..... we met up with Steve in LA and crashed at a hotel for the night.  The next morning we headed off to the airport and onto our Non-stop flight to Orlando.  I mention the non-stop because we took Noah with us and this was a blessing.  The kids, including Noah, were amazing on the plane.  Noah slept a lot of the time and when he wasn't asleep he was super mellow.  Once we arrived in Orlando we took Disney's Magical Express right to the Resort - Disney's Old Key West Resort to be exact.  It was a pretty slick shuttle system and we didn't have to haul our luggage through the airport which was nice. 



This is Josh being a pirate with a 'parrot' on his shoulder. When we checked in he got his pirate hat and balloon sword and we found the bird folded and ready to go in our room.

 All in all it was a great beginning to the trip.  We spent the evening waiting for Mom and Dad and Marilee and Adam to get back from their excursion to the BYU game and for Julie and TJ to arrive.  The kids were so excited of course! 

On Sunday we took a very long time trying to get it all together and then finally took the boat to Downtown Disney.  We got some food to eat and wandered around for awhile.  Most of our time was spent with the kids (I say that loosely because the Dads were also involved) making cars and other vehicles at the lego store to race.  Despite the fact that Steve was scolded by the boat driver on the way back to the hotel, the day was great.  Actually that was great too - Haha - he got in trouble!  Add in a little swimming and a great dinner and we were ready to hit the ground running bright and early Monday morning......


My cute sisters with Tater on the boat



Brooks and Natalie they were so happy to be together



Ty at the Lego store, he was in heaven



Tater Time!

It has been awhile since I have posted a Taterism, if you will.  Sometimes there are just so many great things he says that I can't remember them all. I try to write the best ones down, so here is my favorite one of the day.

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a knock on the door.  In my mind I was thinking, 'Oh great, what will he need right now!'  He always NEEDS something when I am trying to get ready.  After the knock our conversation went like this.

Tater: 'Mom'
Me: 'Yes buddy'
Tater:  'Don't forget to scrub your armpits really good!'
Me: 'Ok, Thanks!'

Where does he come up with this stuff.  I'm not sure I will ever scrub my armpits again without thinking of this!

A Decade Already......

I'm not sure how this little one has grown up so fast, but on this week my Tyler turned 10.  He has now been apart of my life for what seems like forever and I hardly remember what it was like before he came.  I am grateful he is mine. 

This year for the birthday post I have decided to ask some questions and then record the answers.  I thought it might be fun - mostly for me and for Ty, later in his life, to see what his answers were.  So.........

How Old Are you? 10
What Do you want to be when you grow up?  A football Player
What is Your favorite Sport? Football
What is your Favorite NFL Team? Denver Broncos
What is you Favorite College Team?  BYU Cougars
Who is your Favorite Player? Brett Favre
What College/University do you want to go to? BYU
What is your favorite subject in school? Reading
What are your 3 favorite books?  Tough to Tackle, Harry Potter, 39 Clues
Who do you look up to and why? Dad because he teaches me how to do sports and plays with me
Do you want to go on a mission and where? Yes, Hawaii???
What is your favortie color? RED
Who is your best friend? Trevor
If you could have anything in the whole world, what would it be and why?  A big house, so I can have my own room.  (I couldn't agree more)
What is your favorite band? Don't have one
Do you like girls? NO
Do you think girls are icky?  NO
What is your favorite sport to play? Cross Country (of course because this is what he is doing right now)
What is your Favorite Food? Spaghetti
What is your favorite desert? It is too hard to choose just one!

So there you have it.  Straight from Tyler.  He had a great birthday and I even got to take him on a lunch date.  All day long he had the biggest grin on his face even when he had to get up early to go to the vineyard for the grape harvest.  I really love this kid and I feel super blessed to be his mom, he is so kind and considerate and just a great kid!

Ty requested a football field cake, so this is the masterpiece that Steve and I came up with.  It wasn't exactly pretty, but he loved it.

 

The Birthday Bash!

As a Mother I do ok, but there are some things that I completely deserve the 'Worst Mom in the World' award for - One would be potty training, I hate it and it makes me mad and frustrated and that translates into grumpy mom and sad kid.  Thank Heavens I am not there yet.... TWO - I am awful about birthday parties.  I don't like to plan them, I definitely don't like to PAY for them and basically I just would rather keep it small and easy and intimate.  This doesn't go over so well for my kids.  I try in everyway to make the day special for them and I LOVE to torture ;-) them and make them wait ALL day to open their presents, but the big party thing is not for me. 

Why do I tell you all this?????

Well, for Noah's birthday we had a HUGE party, it included Me, Steve, Ty, Brookie and Tater.  HaHa.  Like I said I keep it simple.  I made something for dinner that included one of Noah's favortie things to eat - Beans in this case it was Pinto beans.  We opened presents, Grandma and Nana had even sent stuff for Noah. and then we had cake which my wonderful friend Emily made. The cake was soooo very cute.  That's it.  No big party with friends and clowns and ponies and all that stuff and it was Perfectly Perfect! 

My cutie on his big day.  I love those teeth!

Our Self Portrait

The Presents

The way so super cute Cake! 

He loved his cake and while I took the tray away he kept grabbing handfuls to shove in his mouth.

My baby is ONE!

Wow, I can't believe my little baby is ONE.  It has been a crazy fast year, but a good one too.  Some of it seems like a blur as do the first years of most of my kids lives.  The time moves so fast and the lack of sleep just makes it all a bit fuzzy, but it has been wonderful.  Noah is such a sweet, funny, fantastic little boy and I feel so lucky to be his mom.  He is the perfect mix of a baby -  He isn't super fussy, but has just enough attitude to keep you on your toes, he sleeps good - most nights, and although he does not laugh too much his smile is always there to melt your heart. Here is a run down of month 12

• He is a daddy's boy through and through.  He prefers daddy to anyone else and hovers around him if he is home, he also cries when he leaves the room and gets bugged if daddy does not immediately acknowledge him when he walks in the door (Daddy of course can't stand this....Haha)
• He is almost walking full time. 
• He is a monkey and loves to open any cupboard he can
• He waves......sometimes
• He has started talking to himself more and more and tries to say some words
• He says 'Uh-oh'
• He had surgery to put tubes in his ears on Aug 31 because like his brothers he has had chronic ear infections
• He really inspects his toys, he checks out all the details, he also loves to take things out of his bucket and put them back in
• He LOVES to be outside and to get out of the house to run errands.  This is a good thing since he will be my sidekick until he starts school in 5 years.
• His top teeth are finally showing, but he still only has 4 teeth
• He keeps us smiling and is completely adored by all of us!

Happy Birthday sweet baby, we love you!