Gingerbread houses...

We started a new tradition this year with the kids friends. It went really well and was a lot of fun so we are definitely gonna keep it going. We had 20 kids from school come over after school and decorate gingerbread houses. I read 2 books to them before we started. One was about Jesus being born and the other was There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell. It was an afternoon of total fun!!!

Turkey helpers...

Thanksgiving tradition starts with cinnamon rolls at nanas house with all the cousins. In the afternoon I come home to get a turkey baking. This year Mimi and Mikaila helped make the turkey with me. They prepped the turkey, made the stuffing, and then stuffed and bagged the turkey. It was soooooo yummy! I was so proud of them for their willingness to help.

Hope it starts a new tradition!

Disney Afternoon with mommy..

Over the Thanksgiving break I took you guys to Disneyland to see the Christmas parade. It was so fun to have some mommy time at the Happiest Place on Earth. You guys really enjoyed the parade and really enjoyed making your custom mouse ears. You guys are so fun! I hope you like playing with me forever!

Desert season begins...

Day trip to Glamis with teh family, Carly, Trevor, Taylor and Uncle Ty and JT and Uncle Travis and Jared. What a super fun day!!!! It was so fun to play in the dirt and watch bikes and buggys go up Olds Hill all day. When nite came we roasted hot dogs and made smores. There is nothing like a day in the dunes!

Mommy turns 35 and celebrates all week!

I love birthdays! I celebrate with the kids birthdays the whole month of thier birthday. To celebrate the life of someone special to you is such a gift.

That being said, my 35th birthday was this year. I tell Troy I am only gonna get better with age and so far he is agreeing! :)

I wanted to do something really fun this year so I got some of my girlfriends together to go out for a nite on the town. What I didn't know is that Troy was gonna surprise us with a hummer limo!!! SO awesome!!!
It was the best night!!! Then I got to wake up the morning of my birthday to surprise guests with balloons and cards and a gift (Spiking crew) and dinner that night with my sister in laws.

But that wasnt it... then a couple days later I got a whole date day with my hubby! We went to breakfast and I got diamonds for my birthday! Wow! Was I surprised!

I felt so loved and excited with all the birthday celebrations and it was a great reminder of how blessed I really am. I am so humbled.

Helping Haiti

Troy and I planned a school wide community service project for the kids elementary school. They have almost 700 students and it turned out to be a huge success. We had each student bring in $5 and each student, whether or not they contributed $, packed a backpack for the kids in Haiti to go to school. Some families paid more than the $5 and other families coudlnt pay at all, but the point was to give the kids an experience to make a difference. Between the familes at the school and outside donors we raised $2100 and we only needed $2189. God was so good. Troys real estate company donated $600 to give our students wrsitbands to remember this special day. It was so cool to see God provide financially and to see all the students, teachers and families join in. It really made a difference in theit lives and is saving the lives of kids in Haiti. If they go to school for the day, then they get to go to the school kitchen and eat for the day.

What an amazing experience.

Halloween

Our little monkeys had very definite characters they wanted to dress up as this year for Halloween. What a fun night! We went to Nanas for stew and then trick o treated at Nana's neighborhood with some of the cousins. Nana's neigborhood is AWESOME!!!! All the houses get decorated and the people are so friendly and kind.

Josh was the Swamp Monster, Mimi was Hannah Montana and Jack was Luigi!

The Backyard Birthday Olympics are back!!!

Joshua turned 9!!! It is hard to believe this precious gift has already been with us for 9 years. He is an amazing boy with the most tender heart. He is so smart, kind, thoughtful, loving and has such an infectious little personality. He has a true heart and is such a gift to our family.

His favorite birthday party is to have his buddies over and to have the Backyard Olympics complete with medals and torch cupcakes. This year was a blast! He then has a Disney day and we play hookie from school and the family goes to California Adventure. Then last but not least, he celebrates with all his cousins! What a fun week of celebrations!!!

Vising in Hannah Montana!

We pulled the kids out of school and boarded a plane to Missoula, Montana! Our awesome friends the Dry's live in Missoula on the Blackfoot River. We hadn't seen them in awhile and tickets were $60 each round trip so we decided it was time to pay them a visit. We had such a blast playing, hanging out, fly fishing, riding the carousel, finding elk carcasses, seeing Todds helicopter and just being with good friends. The trip was one that will be remembered for a lifetime. We miss you Todd, Tammie, Owen and Wyatt!!!

Jack is learning how to swim!

With the big kids in school, we decided to give Jack some swim lessons on his non-preschool days. He LOVES the water and by the end of his first 8 lessons he was completely water safe! By lesson 10 he was swimming! Now he can jump off the side and swim over half way across the pool! His first teacher was Miss Andrea and then he switched to Mr. Josh. HE and Mr. Josh have a blast playing during lessons.

First Day of School (again)

Every summer must come to an end to usher in the new school year. Josh starts 3rd grade and Mimi starts 2nd and little Jack starts preschool. Although it is bittersweet to say goodbye to summer days and welcome the new school days, it is a fun day to get all dressed up and see your friends and new teachers. Josh has Mrs. Windes, Mimi has Ms Weidetz and Jack has Mrs. Johnson. What a great year this will be! Mommy bette be on her toes to keep up with this new schedule!

Troys 20th High School Reunion

How does life pass by so quickly that you are 20 years out of high school, married, kids, career, etc.? Wow!!!! Troy just had his 20th High School Reunoin this summer. What a fun night! It was great for Troy to reconnect with some of his high school friends and nice for me to be able to meet some of these people that he tells memories about.

Family Reunion

We spent our 11th anniversary in Washington! We took the kids to the camp where we met, saw all my family at the Wells family reunion, and did the Northwest Trek, Science Center, Pike Place Market and Ferry. What a fun trip. I think we could've stayed for a few more days, but we were thankful for the days we had. We got to travel for the first time with no stroller and no pack n play and car seats. Woohoo!!!! Seeing my family was the highlight. Some of my cousins I hadn't seen in 15+ years. We all used to play together all day long at the family reuniuons and it was so neat to watch all our kdis do teh same thing too.

SOAK CITY

Even though it was summer vacation, the kids still had to do some school work, reading and chores. They had to make their beds and learn how to do their own laundry. For every 24 checks they got, there was a reward earned. There reward earned was SOAK CITY!!!! What a fun day! We splashed in the water all day long. Jack wanted to go on the big water slides soooo bad but he was too short. We found little ones for him that he enjoyed but, he found one a little bigger and when he got off he jumped up and said that was so fun and that he was "freaking out!!!" Sooo funny!