Thanksgiving in Oregon

   What a fun Thanksgiving and trip we've been having.  We had a great drive here with dry and clear roads, fairly well behaved children and a well running car.  Our Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and it's been great having my entire family together for nearly the whole week.  My brother Tad even went the extra mile and took our family photos for us.  Putting 31 people in one photo and getting them all to look at the camera and be happy is no small feat but it happened and and even the 18 grandchildren were cooperative and well behaved and I'm confident there are going to be some great photos to choose from to make a fun collage.
    We also got together with more extended family the day after Thanksgiving for a potluck and my Uncle Brent gave all the kids rides on his buggie and they loved that.  My boys had the most fun on the four-wheelers my brother-in-law brought up.  Carter won't stop talking about it.
    Now I'm going to attempt to put up a few photos but being on my dad's computer might make it hard to do since I'm not familiar with his set up but I'm going to try.

    Ok, I don't have that kind of time, photos to come next week.

She Did IT!

    Don't worry, it's a good thing.  Kayli had the chance last school year to earn her own cell phone by getting straight A's for her entire 8th grade year.  This dream was dashed early and hard when she barely pulled her grades up to passing the very first term.  I will say this, the girl can bring up failing grades pretty quick and easily but it's definitely not a good feeling getting a notice in the mail informing you your child is on the verge of failing her math class.  (That's just one of the classes she was struggling with last year.)
    So this year the dream was back in place and SHE DID IT!!  After telling me last year it was impossible and "no one" can get straight A's, she did it.  She was a little bummed about the A- in one of her classes but I'm counting it!
    Here's the magic report card, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time, the beginning of her High School career, now lets just pray she can keep it up for the rest of 9th grade!  I actually hope she does it and I'll be happy to give her a cell phone for her 15th birthday.  (I need all the leverage I can get to keep her in line anyway.)

   
   So that's my bragging moment for Kayli now on to the miracle I experienced on Sunday.  As you may or may not know, I've recently been put in the primary presidency in our ward as Secretary, something I'm happy to do most of the time.  I have a weird love of typing and organizing so this call is right up my alley, but helping plan and put together a primary program is not and needless to say, I was quite worried about how our program would go.  Now of course I had only a small input but I still felt invested in this and after our one and only practice in the chapel I was more anxious then ever and there was major prayer going on that all would come together and the spirit would be there.  We have nearly 90 children in our primary and it was a challenge just finding parts and seats for all of them but I've got to tell you, it was amazing and a true miracle.  When the final song was being sung with our Laurel and Priests standing up with the primary children there was no doubt in my mind our prayers were answered and the spirit was in that chapel and the timing was perfect.  Miracles do happen!!  And just a side note, I was so relieved to have this program over and done with that I completely and utterly forgot to attend choir practice that afternoon, OOPS!
    And just one more little thing I'll share, I ordered myself new DINNERWARE!!  I know, it sounds too good to be true but it's really happening and if all goes well it'll be here by the time we come home from our Oregon trip.  And I really hope it looks as goods as I'm expecting.  I can't tell you how excited I am to get rid of my sad, cheap, IKEA plates and bowls that looked like garbage the second after we used them.  The plates I'm ordering are still plastic but hopefully a harder more durable plastic.  It's called Melamine, which I'd never heard of but I believe it's more like the plates the churches use which is more what I need.  Here's a picture of them just so you can see what kind of taste I have.  If you've seen my kitchen you'll know these plates will go perfectly with my color scheme.

  Ok, so that's it.  Have a great Thanksgiving!!

He's at it AGAIN!

    McClane is one fast little boy.  I don't remember another child of mine learning things so quickly.  Just last week while trying to do my treadmill routine he was up and over the arm of the couch and around my barricade in a manner of minutes.  Needless to say, it was one of my shortest treadmill work outs.  So I thought over the weekend that I'd have to actually move the couch so it was facing the other direction and block the side so he wouldn't be able to get to me on the treadmill but would still be able to watch the TV and be in the living area with Brock.  Of course after only two or three minutes the boy was climbing up and over the back side of the couch and dropping down like it was nothing and then he grins up at me and throws himself down on the treadmill while I'm trying to jog so up went the gate where he was restricted to the two bedrooms and this is another problem because then he likes to go in the bedroom, shut the door and then immediately starts knocking so I have to come open it for him.  Pretty crazy and definitely makes for more interesting workouts.  Here are a few pics of how this all transpired.

So here's how the room was at first.

And here he is makig his way up and over.

I didn't get a shot of him dropping down the other side because he didn't do it this particular time but trust me, it happened.  What a stinker!!

  And here are a few more of his new antics.

Greg found him like this the other day when he walked in from outside.  All it took was for one stool to be down and upright on the floor.

It's as if he's saying, "What, is something not right with this activity?"

And here he is stuck under the bedside table that I can't keep anything on because he'll be into it in seconds, so he does the next best thing and just pulls it down on himself.

   And last but not least are a couple of the other boys in this house and what they find entertaining.

Brock and Carter not only with "fat" tummies but "fat" tushies too.

  So that's our week.  Plus today is Greg's birthday and we may not have much planned for him but at least someone was thinking of him.

This is Kayli's best friend Toni and she brought over a big slice of apple pie for Greg.

They even sang happy birthday and let him blow out a candle. 

  Maybe I'll post more on his birthday if I have more to report.  It may be a sad 39th for the "old man" but hopefully he knows how much we love and appreciate him.

Our new "Boy-Trouble"

     It's not long before the true adventure begins with these little people and McClane is wasting no time giving me another run for my money.  I seriously can't believe how quickly he's learning all the tricks of the trade.  This boy loves to climb, up, under, over, whatever he can find.  His favorite place is probably through the bottom of all the kitchen stools but that's not all as you'll see here.....

This is the new craze and he apparently heard about it through the "baby grapevine", PLANKING!

"Now what are you going to do?"

He was stuck in here pretty good but I couldn't snap a picture quick enough for the real hilarity but you can see he wasn't that happy. 

    He also got himself stuck in the recliner chair today.  I still don't know how he did it but he had his head up through the foot rest part and front of the chair and thankfully his dad came to the rescue with a little help from mom.  If it didn't seem so scary for him I would have taken a picture but he wasn't in the mood for that, nor was Greg so you'll just have to picture it for yourself.  We love this little "trouble-maker" and I'm sure he'll survive just like the rest of them have and hopefully we will too.

   Side Note:  Just a funny little thing Isaac said in the car yesterday.  When he climbed in the car after school I said, "Isaac, you have pretty eyes."  Then he says while looking in the rear view mirror, "I do?!  Yes, I'm going to get a girl fast."  What in the world?  What a silly boy.

Halloween 2011

    Another successful Halloween with buckets of candy to enjoy.  And talk about the most amazing weather EVER!  This Halloween weather was one for the record books for sure and made for a long night of treat collecting without any complaining of cold, wet or just plain miserable.  And to top it all off, I only bought one costume and it was for McClane who never asked once for one but was happy to wear what I bought.  The rest of the kids were actually pretty easy to accommodate and no one begged or pleaded but we did do a little borrowing for Kayli who just had to have a certain kind of cowboy boot to complete her costume.  Seriously, where does she get that from?!  I won't mention my past Halloween costumes and not wanting to "look stupid", right Mom?
    So without further ado here are my 6 candy collectors or "Trick-o-Treaters".  And yes, the candy tax man was quick to collect from the majority of them.  And poor McClane had to give up pretty much all of his to take care of the candy shortage we had.  Next year if it's a nice night I'll know to have a bigger candy supply.

Our two karate kids. (Might as well make use of these old uniforms.)

And our Army man.  (It pays to go through Dad's old trunk of stuff.)

And our gorgeous cowgirl with the "perfect" boots that killed her feet and she ended up walking home barefoot from school.  PRICELESS!!

And my cute little cow.

And a "recycled" Spiderman.  Thankfully this picture doesn't reveal all the wear and tear of this poor costume.

And here they all are, ready for a big day and night of Halloween Fun!  (Note to self for next year, take a photo first thing in the morning when they're all ready and still full of excitement.  They were very cooperative for my photo taking session.)

And the fun begins.  This is Annette from Greg's work who is a sweetheart and always has a special treat for our kids so we make sure to get to her first thing.  (P.S.  She is also the woman who bought Jackie's old Ford Escape and still drives it around with the Roxy sticker in the back window.)

    So that's our 2011 Halloween.  I stopped photo taking after this.  I even forgot to take photos of the over- all haul of treats but I know Isaac and Carter both had well over 120 pieces of candy and Mark and Kayli were right behind them in numbers.

Fall is Here

Well it's official, fall is here and with all the leaves from our many trees as well as those of our neighbors,  (that's right, my children, along with several others, decided to collect as many leaves as possible from as many yards as they could) leaves were collected and piled in our front yard for a day of LEAFY FUN!  I was obviously unaware of this happening until the fun was well under way but several neighbors watched in good humor as their yards were cleaned up and mine "trashed".  I have to admit, I can't say I minded until the leaves made their way into my house, EVERYWHERE, but thankfully I have a good vacuum and was in a fairly patient mood that day.  And I'm especially grateful for a fantastic husband who didn't seem to mind cleaning up a majority of the yard later that day when the fun was over.  I did manage to take several pictures of the fun, so please enjoy.  (Note the coats and sweatshirts being worn backwards by the kids, this was their ingenious idea in order to be covered completely with leaves without the mess of them all over their face and down the front of their shirts.  Pretty clever really.)

This was the first use of the leaves.  (Note the broom and wagon for easy collecting throughout the neighborhood.)

Then they decided to lay down and get buried.

Mark, Brock and a friend, Elijah getting ready to be buried.

Another friend, Mason, is already to cover them up.

Carter was happy to help too.

Brock didn't last long as you can imagine.

He loved it though.

"Who's Next?"