FUN FALL PICS!!!

In my effort to try and get a Christmas picture I "forced" the kids to dress alike and head out to a nearby field for some fun pictures! Photo shoots seem to never be an easy thing for our family. Why can't everyone just stand, pose, smile, move to the next spot, stand, pose, smile???? No - my kids are just goof balls - and makes what could be a 15 minute picture taking session into an ordeal! (But I will say it was a fun ordeal!!!) Fun because the kids make me laugh - and also fun because of the man that yelled at us to "get off his property." Okay, that was a little creepy, but a little funny also!!!! I'm sure it didn't help that it was very cold and rainy that day.
I look at these pictures and the kids seem to be growing up so fast!!! I just love them and am so grateful I am their mom!!!! Not to mention they are the cutest kids around....but I am a little biased!! :)Yes, we had to have Max in the pictures...my 5th child!!Jordan...not a little girl anymore! Gorgeous!!My little Paige!!! Love those baby blues Paige. Such a sweet and beautiful young lady!
Paige loves this little guy!!Chase...my handsome little stud!!! Not loving getting his picture taken, but doing it for his mom.Cody...stud number two. Love that big smile buddy!This is one of my favorites!!! I would say all in all "operation photo shoot" was a success!!! Atleast we had lots of fun doing it!!!

CHASE TURNS 10!!!!!

My little guy turned 10 last weekend and I can hardly believe it!!! Growing up we had a saying when we turned 10......"double digit midget!!" Chase agreed with the double digit part, but was certain he wasn't a midget, since he is as tall as Paige. :)
From the day Chase was born he has been a blessing to our family! He was the cutest little baby - my chubbiest for sure! I loved his little fat rolls!! He's not so chubby anymore, in fact quite good lookin' if I do say so myself! We had a relaxing birthday day with Chase....it started with his favorite breakfast...soldier boys and dippy eggs!!! A few gifts!!! His number one request was a phiten necklace. If you watched baseball this year, you saw many of the players wearing them. Chase was happy to get a much needed new coat! A super YUMMY dinner!!! And at his request....PAZOOKIES..for dessert!!!There are so many things I love about Chase! He is my sensitive little guy! He never gives up! He will try something until he can do it! He is a great athlete! He is a great big brother to Cody. There are so many times he lets Cody tag along with he and his buddies! There are very few times I have to ask Chase more than once to do something....he is very obedient! He is a great student and works hard. He is a great example to others. Chase is growing out of the "cuddle with mom" stage, but I love it when I can sneak in a squeeze!And most of all - I LOVE that he is part of our family!!! We wouldn't be the same without him!!!We love you buddy!!!

Outdoor Chimnea Fun!!

We love it when the weather gets a little cooler and we get to enjoy the outdoors! By that I mean our BACKYARD and the chimnea!!! Last Friday night was perfect. Cold, but not windy!! Jordan invited a few of her friends over to enjoy some smores with us! I think we all decided Paige is the best at roasting the PERFECT marshmallow. Not burnt, browned to perfection, not too hot, just warm enough to melt the chocolate!!! YUM!!! I'm not sure if the smores were extra good that night or if everyone was extra hungry because they just kept eating and eating!!! I can't blame them....they seemed to hit the spot!! The older kids decided to play CHUBBY BUNNY. This is a game where with each marshmallow you put into your mouth you say "chubby bunny". The one with the most marshmallows in their mouth and still able to say "chubby bunny" wins. Let me just say, I don't know how they did it. Just watching them stuff all those marshmallows in their mouths made my stomach turn! The kids looked and sounded so funny!
After everyone was full of smores and sick from stuffing marshmallows in their mouths, we moved the party inside and played some fun games!!! Great night with the kids and friends!!! Gotta loves those layed back, at home nights!!

A True Gift of Love

The other day was like any other....I was getting things done around the house and had the noon day news on. My attention was turned to the television when they started talking about a teenage girl who was killed in a ski accident last March. The news story was about how this girl was an organ donor and how a 40 year old mother of two in Arizona received her heart. The parents of the girl that was killed traveled to Arizona to meet this women that received their daughters heart. When the two women met, they embraced and cried for quite sometime. Then the 40 year old women pulled out her stethoscope and put it up to her heart. She allowed the mother of the young girl to hear her daughters heart beating. As I was standing there tears were flowing down my cheeks. My thoughts turned to my sweet sister, Katie. She too was killed in a ski accident and was also an organ donor. We have not met those that received her organs, but we have been sent "anonymous" newspaper clippings and notes from people reporting on one particular girl that received Katie's organs. Because of my sister this young girl was able to have a new and fresh start.

After hearing the above story, I felt an immediate connection with this family who lost their young daughter. I went to the website http://www.taylorsgift.org/to research their story. Surprisingly I found that this girl died from head trauma caused by a skiing accident on March 15, 2010. My sister also died from head trauma on March 15th caused by a ski accident.

Up until this terrible accident happened with my sister, I never thought about organ donation or even being a donor for that matter. I have personally seen the difference organ donation can make to an individual and a families life. Because of people like my sister and this other young girl, others are given a second chance and an opportunity to live a full and happy life. I can't imagine a better gift than that. Have you thought about being an organ donor?

Gotta Love Full Weekends!!!

As the fall season comes to an end, so do the fall sports. Cody played in his last baseball game and his last soccer game. Cody did great this year in baseball. He hadn't played in a few years, so he wasn't too sure about it in the beginning. In fact after one of his first few games he said, "Mom, I'm not very good at baseball. I'm much better at soccer." As the season went on, Cody did GREAT!!! He hit great and made some great plays in the field. My very favorite was his Awesome catch on third base. The ball was hit foul...Cody crossed his glove over his body and caught the fly ball. (I think even he was shocked when he looked down and saw the ball in his glove!) The last game was a cold one, but Cody was sure to bring the right gear to stay warm. He had a great time with his team and hopefully will play again next season.Soccer ended with a bang...Cody's team did so Great! Not only were they scoring but making great passes to each other. Every person on their team scored in the last game. Way to go BUCS!!!Jordan enjoyed shopping for a friend for his birthday. Braden and Jordan have a little rivalry going when it comes to birthday gifts. Since Jordan knew Braden loves Justin Bieber so much, she felt like he just HAD to have this giant poster to put on his wall. Let's just say he didn't think it was as funny as she did :) The great thing, is that Braden thought that along with other goodies in his bag was all he was getting. Well, Braden - I won't tell you when or where but if I were you I would be ready at all times for something. Do you really think Jordan will let you get off that easy??? So glad Jordan has such good friends!Chase had a baseball tournament this past weekend. Their team did great and fought hard to come back. They didn't win, but man it was very exciting. Chase started really focusing on playing catcher this year and LOVES it! He does a great job! His batting has really come along also. He is my guy that is right handed but bats left handed. His first time at bat he laid down an awesome bunt. I love watching him run the bases! He looks so serious!! :) In the last inning our team was down by 7 runs. Chase was the first to bat and started us off with a hard shot to right field. It was AWESOME!!! The team was so fired up and we were able to tie the game. Unfortunately the other team still had their bats and scored, but it was very exciting nonetheless.

Rick and I had a good time celebrating some friends birthday at Medieval Times. It was fun to go as grown ups and be a little silly!The food is actually pretty good, and the entertainment....always enjoyable!!
The girls LOVED the red and yellow knight!!! And the boys, loved the waitresses!!!! Yes, we tend to get a little rowdy, but everyone was happy and had a great night!!!!

Halloween Festivities!!!!!

Oh my goodness....Halloween lasted for 3 days at our house!!!! Friday night started the festivities with Trick Or Treating downtown on the square. We have done this every year for as long as we have been here. I LOVE walking around the shops, letting the kids trick or treat, but most of all - I love seeing the costumes and the awesome feeling of community when we are down there!!

I actually pulled the kids out of school early to beat the rush! It's the only way to go!!! The kids were ready and excited...Unfortunately, Jordan is getting to the age where she would rather make plans with friends....Can you believe it????
I had to get a picture of the kids with this guy....his costume was awesome!!! What am I talking about....it wasn't a costume - I could have sworn he was a REAL power trooper!!Load em up!!!Great day on the square!Saturday we had a Fall Carnival followed by Trunk or Treating at our church. We had a combined total of 3 wards participate and it was AWESOME!!! We had a DJ, bounce houses, haunted house, cookie walk, and all kinds of games for the kids. Since I was in charge of a couple of games, I recruited Jordan and her friend to help run the cookie walk!! They did a great job and loved seeing the cute little kids. Paige invited one of her friends to come with her - they had a great time playing the games. They were the cutest "babies" around. Cody found his little buddy Brandon and hung with him all night. Some adults even came in costume!!!! Have you ever seen such a great Sonny and Cher duo??? John and Cindy - you are awesome!!!!! After the games, it was time for trunk or treat...Rick grabbed his chair and enjoyed handing candy out to all the kids. Once we got home, it was all about the pumpkin carving!! Cleaning the pumpkins is always the favorite part!! The kids gave dad their requests, and dad got to work! I had told Rick about something I saw on the Martha Stewart show where they drilled holes all around the pumpkin....so OUT CAME THE POWER TOOLS and we gave it a try!!Cody was all about carving his own pumpkin!!While dad was working on the pumpkins, we were busy washing and cleaning seeds to stick in the oven!!! MMMMMM yummy pumpkin seeds...cooked with lots of salt!!!
Halloween Night started with the usual HALLOWEEN BUFFET!!!! We all LOVE the yummy food, and the fact we can just snack all night is the best! The kids were dressed and ready for a fun night...Jordan (supporting our Texas Rangers!!!) Paige (a baby) Chase (Fat Man) Cody (Ninja) and me....well a happy mama!!! Jordan had some friends come over and they roamed the neighborhood for a bit....they are kind of in that "we know we are too old to trick or treat, but still want too" phase. My cousin and his wife came over for the night. Davey walked in and was about kicked right back outside. He had the nerve to show up in all GIANTS attire. Yes, he is from Cali - so we cut him some slack!!We are so lucky to be close to mom and dad. We were glad they were able to come and spend the evening with us. The kids had a great time, but surprisingly ended earlier than I thought they would. I guess they figured, they had enough candy. I couldn't belief the piles they had after combining all three days together....Paige had her pillowcase halfway full...Chase had such a huge pile we buried him in his candy.And Cody...well he was in heaven!!The good news is, that my kids won't even end up eating half of it....they eat some in the beginning, then every year - more than half gets given away or thrown away.
Jordan finally came home and a different group of kids ended up at the house..
IF YOU NOTICE, RICK ISN'T IN ANY OF OUR HALLOWEEN EVENING PHOTOS...WHY YOU ASK???? WELL, HE HAD A BETTER OFFER!!!!!!

TICKETS TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!
I have to admit...I was a little jealous. But so glad he got to go!!! What an awesome experience. Yes, the Rangers lost - but it was still great!!
I love this picture!!The "Bush's" getting ready to throw out the first pitch..Apparently the reason why the guys are laughing is because they had asked a lady to take their picture. She kept on trying to get them to scoot closer together. Rick was sure to let her know and everyone around them know that in no way were the two of them a couple and they didn't need to get any closer!!!
It was a great weekend!!! LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!