Turkey Day

Thanksgiving morning is such a busy time....trying to get the turkey going, throwing all the appitizers together, picking up the house, and of course....looking at the the ads for black friday! So to keep the kids busy for a while we have always had the kids do their gingerbread houses. This year my brother came early so Brandon could decorate his first gingerbread house! Mind you he is 16!!!!LOL Zach, Lexie and Brandon did a great job on their houses....(sorry the pics are sideways)


After the houses were decorated we had hoola-hoop contests, did cartwheels outside, played the wii, and just enjoyed hanging out with family.
It always amazes me that it takes all day and so much labor into preparing this holiday meal and then its over in 10 minutes and there is soooo much leftovers! Dinner was so yummy! After dinner we all sat down for a family poker tournament....which Grandma Grace won! We had a great Thanksgiving this year.

Halloween Night!!!!

Yup these young "creepers" belong to me!!!! Zach in the middle and his 2 friends Kenny and Brandon decided that they were going out to terrorize the neighborhood....and they did! And yes thats a real chainsaw ( no chain though)....they had so much fun chasing kids down the street and jumping out from bushes and cars! I loved hearing the chainsaw and listening to the kids scream!!!! of course, they didnt do this to the small kids!!! I am so glad that Zach still wants to participate in the holiday....his style!!! LOLThis was so funny....all the kids were back at our house and Zach quietly opened the door and this is what I saw!!!!! Little Ariahs face was priceless at first and then she totally figured it out..."Zach I know thats you!" he kept doing it and she was getting a kick out of it!

WE had a great Halloween night this year. The weather was perfect! The Neumeyers, the Spindens, and the Strebels went from door to door for 3 blocks and filled the kids bags to the top! Look at how cute these kids were.....
The kids ran from door to door! I truly enjoyed hanging back with Alaina, Lexie, Kiptyn, and Ariah! 3 yr olds say and do the cutest things!!! I got such a kick watching Ariah walk in her "Ariel" costume and all the funnny things she would just blurt out had us laughing all night long... needless to say the kids hauled in a pretty heavy loot of candy and treats!
Hope everyone had a "spooktacular time"!!!!

School Halloween Party

I am so fortunate to be able to be a room parent for Lexie this year! The kids enjoyed some "witches brew" ( apple juice with dry ice), donuts, they decorated an orea as a witch
did some spooky dances, and played " when the wild wind blows",

and "Fear Factor" ( eating some really disgusting things )such as gummy worms with applesauce, cold spaghetti noodles with choco syrup and other gross stuff! The kids all had a super fun time!!!!

Dance Party

Lexie started a dance and singing class....and she is loving it! I love watching herself confidence grow! I also love listening to her sing in her room and watching her practice the dance routines! She was super excited that they were going to have a Halloween costume party. This is a pic of some of the kids from various groups!
Lexie had a great time dressing up as a "Monster High Fairy"....a costume she put together herself, doing some fun dances and getting candy!

A Great Weekend

This past friday our little family headed out to Black Island Farms for the night. We played on the slides forever, feed the baby animals, played in the corn kernels, played on the swing set and goofed off a whole lot!!!! Lexie and Jeff went on the tractor ride and got 2 huge pumpkins! Zach and I did the haunted house/cornmaze....totally SCARY!!!! We then had some hot chocolate and warmed up by the fire pit!!!! We ended the night by buying both kids each a sword and headed to the 2 huge cornmazes! We got so lost....Zach and Lex played "ninja" while running through the corn! It was so fun watching the 2 of them goofing off and having fun!
On Sunday Lex and I decided to decorate some of our pumpkins! We used foam stickers, colored cotton balls and paint! I think they turned out cute and Lexie had a great time using her imagination!

CANCUN 2011

Just another day on the beach at Cancun....
View from our room!!!
Will post pics of the trip sometime in Nov. when I get copies of pics from the rest of our group!

Haunted Houses

So while Zach was dancing the night away Lexie, Taya, and myself decided to have a girls night and do some halloween activities. We drove up to N. Ogden and went through the cornmaze. It was actually pretty fun! We then came home and made some orange rice krispies treats....yummy!!!!!!!

I grabbed 2 of these darling "haunted houses" from Target earlier on in the day and thought the girls would have fun doing them! They both had fun decorating them with all the cute little bones, bats, pumpkins, candy corn, and purple jaw-breakers!




I always have fun hanging out with my 2 favorite girls! The night was full of Halloween fun and lots of giggles!!!

Homecoming 2011

Zach met a girl named Ellie up at Timbermine ( where he works ) and she is a freshman in college up at Weber State. She has been interested in Zach for quite some time. This is how she asked Zach to Homecoming...



Of course Zach said yes...I have no pics! But we got box of "glad" garbage bags and a couple of oranges and put them in a basket....wrapped it up cute and put a note on it that read...."Orange" you "glad" I will go to Homecoming with you!
Well this past friday was the dance....here are a couple of pics!!!


Ellie took him out to dinner then they headed up to Weber State and danced the night away!!! Zach came home and would not stop talking about his night! I think by his excitement you could say he had a great time with Ellie!!!

1st Day of School

I always get so emotional the first day of school....watching my kids grow up is amazing! But I am sad that another school year is here and I dont get to spend all day with them. This year Zach is a Junior at Fremont High School....A JUNIOR!!!!! oh my I was a wreck as I was taking these pics of him. 11th grade is kinda hard for me to comprehend!

Zach is such a sweet and funny kind of guy. He is always making me laugh. I love hanging out with him. I am sure he will have a fabulous school year! I dont want to rush this year...next year will be his last year of high school and that almost depresses me.

Lexie is going into 5th grade at Farr West Elem. this year! I cant believe it! She is such a sassy ,funny, and stubborn little turd! She always has me on my toes! She is always making me laugh and I have loved hanging out with her this summer. She loves school and is excited for math and cant wait to see the "boys"....Help me!!!! LOL

SUMMER

As you can tell I havent blogged for some time so I am going to do the whole summer in a quick review....Sand dunes is always a must!
Jeff, Zach, and I, along with some friends headed down to Usana to see Poison and Motley Crue for Fathers Day! Both bands were amazing! We all had a great time hanging out and singing to the 80s!!!! Good times : )
We had many get-togethers with the neighbors around the fire-pit....cooking smores, having lots of laughs and enjoying good company.

Every summer Lexie goes to swim lessons and always seems to impress me! She is such a little fish...
Zach soaking up some sun at Bear Lake over the 4th of July!
My hot hubby riding the wave-runner!

The teenagers coming in from riding all the rave-runners and jet-skies! >Awww....my favorite friends!!!! Love camping with the Wahlstroms and Neumeyers...we always have sooo much fun!!!

Zach and I went to Kenny Chesney this summer....he is my ultimate favorite guy to see in concert. Dont think I could have a summer without Mr. KC!!! ZAch and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster and then had a great time hanging out with eachother as we listened to awesome music. Love spending time with my son!!!!Spent many fridays with the kids, my nephew, niece, and sis-in-law at Willard Bay. Packing a lunch, playing with the sand toys, floating on the water, soaking up the beautiful sun, and having many laughs!!!
Spent the day with Lexie and Taya, my niece, and took them for a pedicure, and then headed down to Salt lake to The Gateway for some shopping and dinner. We then went and saw Katy Perry!!!! Which I have no pics of!!! She was amazing...the girls and I had a blast screaming and dancing the night away!!!
Spent a wonderful weekend up at Anderson Cove with the Spindens,Wahlstroms, and Neumeyer families. Lots of fun in the sun and many nights by the fire. This is one of the sunsets we were able to enjoy....beautiful huh?
A sweet pic of my hubby and kids! We had a super fun-filled summer! Lots of great times and made a whole lot of awesome memories!!!!

Last day of school

Lexie truly loved having Mrs. Riter as her 4th grade teacher this year. She learned her times tables, division, cursive handwriting, did lots of cool art projects and made many new friends!

Zach has completed his first year of high school. Being a Sophmore came with its ups and downs....lots of homework and Mom checking the portal constantly! LOL... Girls, girls, and more girls.....football games, tailgating with all his buddies, more girls, goofing off in the halls, and good memories!
All in all it was a pretty good school year for both of my kids. Sad to see another year has gone by and that my kids are growing up so quickly. Bring on the summer!!!