Our November and December

I haven't been keeping up with this blog thing so... you are going to get it all at once. Steve's parents came to stay with us the first part of November. We took them on the "polar express" The grand canyon railroad in Williams, AZ does a 2 hour train ride with the polar express theme, complete with hot chocolate, cookies, and Santa. I have to say my kids were more excited about the cookies than Santa...

Johnny and his treats.

Ky thought the hot chocolate was the best ever!

My two cuties.

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving. Johnny loved playing at grandma's and especially this dress up hat. I think Steve took the picture to balance out all the princess heels and necklace pictures we have...

Funny kids.

Johnny "helping" Beave put the lights on the tree. He loves Chirstmas lights, whenever we see some he says "WOW, lights!! More!"

Making our ginger bread train It is amazing it has candy on it, most ended up in our tummies...

tagged

I've been tagged...

So here's the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six (or five... :) ) non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. The moment I started taking birth control, almost 7 years ago now, my hair started to curl. It was a slow painful process starting in the back and moving forward, it took YEARS. I really thought I was going to get curly in the back, straight in the front a sought after style... didn't happen. And now it is all curly, from back to front and top to bottom. I thought I was a phenomenon and should be in a book or something. This summer I found out two disturbing facts. #1 my curly hair will not go back straight when my body no longer thinks it is pregnant 24/7... it will probably continue to get curlier and curlier. And #2 I am not the only one... apparently it is common in Tremonton Utah... So I am embracing my curls and the rest of the body alterations that come free of charge with babies.

2. I am 100% addicted to happy endings; in books, movies, real life... everything! Most especially in books. Movies rarely stay with my very long and real life I expect a little unhappy along the way... This summer after a couple year sabbatical from reading novels I started reading again, I don't know why I thought I didn't have the time... I eased myself back in slow, reading a couple teen books to start. Can I just say, perfect for me, everyone learns the appropriate lesson and everyone ends happy. I did graduate to adult reading but still prefer the books that end with a good old happy ending!

3. Nothing can change my mood faster or more effectively than sleep. I have a “pumpkin hour” after which I may still be awake but I may no longer be the charming princess at the ball... I get grumpy. And with out sufficient sleep the previous night, I am still the unpleasant step sister in the morning. It is a well known fact, I try to overcome the grumpy bug but sometimes all I can do is admit to being grumpy and go to sleep. Yesterday Kyla said she was too tired to be nice to Johnny.... I may have to try harder to kick the grumpy bug.

4. I love tradition! Even when I think the tradition is not that great and something new would probably be more fun, I have this overwhelming urge to stick with tradition.

5. I am getting to be a little OCD. Steve would say that is an understatement... I know most if not all the toys my children have and can have a sleepless night over a missing car. There are nine and if we only clean up eight at bedtime it can drive my crazy. I currently have a nagging “where is it” in the back of my mind over a pink princess cell phone...

And there you go. If you feel like you need a tag today, consider yourself tagged.

THE master bathroom!!

So here it is, the finsihed master bathroom. It took me awhile to remember to take a picture. Just to remind you of the before I put the picture up again.

So excited for this project to be done for 2 reasons, no more mess and super nice bathroom in the end. Beave worked all summer on this, he had help from friends on some of the new things like moving a toilet three feet to the right... He did a great job, so happy for my handy husband!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!! We have had a fun week of Halloween activities and parties, Kyla asked if we were going to have cake, it isn't a party without cake! HALLOWEEN! Friday we went to Flagstaff's Halloween party, they do trick or treating in all the down town shops and a big carnival at the park. Ky opted for the lady bug this time and Johnny declined a costume. Kyla's favorite part of the night was trick or treating at the library, she got to see Miss Gail, her story time teacher, she loved it! Johnny's favorite was this pumpkin and cat decoration, he is into both right now. Beave's favorite was his friend's kid's teen band. I loved that it was warm! Kyla wouldn't say trick or treat just "thank you" after she got a treat and Johnny would say "treat treat" but not thank you. People liked Johnny's no option policy... treat or treat, no tricks for him!
Cute Kyla with our Halloween tree, the kids colored the ornaments one day for "another Halloween party." Kyla is a firm believer in multiple parties to celebrate an event!! Their favorite part was gluing on the googly eyes.
For our Ward's Halloween party Kyla dressed up as sleeping beauty and Johnny was the scary dragon. He didn't like the hood much... he wore it for all of 30 seconds and was crying the whole time. Here is the result of our annual pumpkin carving with our friends the Goodmans. And a ghost stopped by for the party. Steve had the camera on a crazy slow night setting and caught the ghost, it is Kyla.
Our family of pumpkins, Ky wanted her's to be a baby with a "cute bow" and then she thought Johnny's needed one too, we came up with a bow tie instead. Johnny has loved the pumpkins he makes a "whoo whoo" ghosty noise when he is talking about them.

children of the forest

The sun came out and warmed up our day so we went to the forest to take advantage of it. OK so we don't actually have to "go" anywhere, we live in the forest but we did drive to a new place we haven't been before. Ky and Johnny are at their happiest when they are in the dirt and rocks.

Ky was singing at the top of her lungs as she jumped!

I love his crazy halo of white hair, when Beave saw the pic he said John needs another hair cut. NO WAY

My handsome boy.

We were there two minutes before Ky had dirt all over her face... :)

not quite flagstaff...

Steve had a quick business trip to Utah this week and talked us all into going along. It was a really quick trip but we fit in a cousins lunch one day and a trip to the temple another. We went to the Logan temple and got to drive through the famous Sardine Canyon... we were a week or more too late for the best of it but the canyon is still beautiful!! While in Logan we went to the spot where Beave proposed... it was fun to think back 6 years ago... so much has changed and so much is still the same!! The swing set in North Logan where Beave proposed, twice...

"THE SWING"

Ky and her cousin Erika ENJOYING their icecream cones. I bribed her out of McDonald's playland to avoid climbing in after her and making a big old scene... :)

Beave's grandma Hansen.

Not quite Sardine Canyon...

I have been super spoiled when it comes to fall color watching... Sardine Canyon on the way to Logan, Utah has the best fall colors ever! We went to Flagstaff's "best" spot last Saturday, Lockett Meadow. It was beautiful and the kids had fun playing in the leaves. Ky loaded her pockets full of leaves and we spent Johnny's nap time today making fall pictures with them. I love fall, I used to love it more, now it also means too cold to go outside and play... Still it is beautiful and I am more of a red, orange, brown kind of person, fall colors, than a pastel spring color person.

Beave in Alaska

I went through Beave's pics and found a few to share, he only took 958... He had a great time fishing with his brother, dad and group. They went to Yukatat, Alaska. I am jealous of the beatuiful things he got to see but... it rained the whole time and I am not up for fishing everyday for 10 days... Fishing in an icey mountain lake

The fish... yummy.

They took a small plane into the "back country," it happened to be named Beaver... Beave said the landing strip was a SHORT dirt road. Fun!

This is where the jealousy comes in!! So beautiful!

Beave's dad John, his brother Brian, and Beave at the local surf shop... seems a little out of place to me but I guess if you can get past the cold the waves are pretty good.

Into the ocean.

They took another small flight to "go see a glacier." This is an ariel view with no reference point to show how massive everything is, so I am told...

Pretty shot from the glacier flight.

back track

I am back tracking with some Utah pics. I got together with a couple of high school friends and their kids. It is still weird to see them with kids and think back to the days of skipping school and lunch in Tooele... Riding on the "beast", Tara's basement and the canyon... yep crazy! And so great!! Thanks Girls.. um Chicas! Madeline and Zoey

Johnny, Isabella and Kyla jumping off the deck, you can't see the ground in this pic but it is only a foot down, really.

Ky and Isabella, Ky is the one who is making friends everywhere we go, leaving the park or library gets traumatic because we are leaving her "new friends" too...

The bunch of us. Johnny, Me, Kyla, Isabella, Melissa, Zoey, Madeline, Carly, and Tara. Johnny was the only chico there!

We spent most of September in Utah. Beave worked in SL one week and went to Alaska fishing with his dad and brother for 10 days. The kids and I hung out with family and friends. It was a great trip. We saw all of our Utah grandma's, all 5! And lots and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. We miss them all and wish we were closer but are glad we can see them a couple times a year. I got some cute pics of our fun...

Kyla had a birthday party with her cousins while we were in Utah. She is all about princesses right now and wanted a pink princess party, she has been talking about it since Johnny's birthday in May. This is Johnny and our cousin Sawyer at Kyla's Pink Princess Party... There were 2 princesses and 8 princes...

THE 2 princesses, Kyla and Erika. Ky loved playing with her cousins and loved the party grandma did for her!

We went to Thanksgiving point with Christine and Liz (two of my sisters), the three of us all have kids within a couple months of each other. Here is Johnny, Coulten (Teen's) and Isabelle (Liz's). Belle loves Johnny and calls him Boy. It is so cute to hear her ask for John Boy, "Boy da Boy da Boy" By the end of the trip she was saying "Millie Millie Millie," I have an in because I am Boy's mommy!

Ky riding ponies at Thanksgiving point with cousins, Devon and Ryland. She was her usual self, drama queen and acted like it was a wild stallion!

We went to the Dinosaur Park with Grandma and Grandpa Seamons and some cousins... Johnny makes a really good dino roar!

Erika and Kyla at grandpa's water park, it is a great set up, the kiddies all love it!

Of course we had to go on grandpa's boat... he has a new tube that is super kid friendly. Beave is the big kid in the middle with Johnny on his lap and Kyla and Owen on either side. Ky got bored when Johnny was out there because it was too slow so she got on her knees and leaned over the edge to add some excitement. I am super excited about my dare devil as a teenager!