HALLOWEEN 2010!

Halloween this year came and went! I was on top of the costumes! A few months ago I was talking to my sister, Dore', and we discussed Halloween costumes and she mentioned the M&M idea. I loved it and I accomplished it! These were the EASIEST costumes to make and they were so inexpensive. I spent a total of $3.30 per costume. So, under 20 bucks for 5 costumes. That is a bargain in my mind, considering I have spent a couple hundred in the past on poor quality costumes.

This was so fun to see all my M&M's. Ok, not all. Julia decided against it and Alexis had decided to not dress up until Halloween Eve. Aren't mothers always running around finding or sewing something for Halloween up until everyone walks out the door? This is the story in our house.

Jack wasn't quite sure what was going on. He did not want to try on his costume all week but when the big day came and he saw his brothers getting dressed up he immediately wanted to join the crowd. He looked so cute! At the annual Fox Ridge neighborhood halloween party Jack was very timid about all the masks and people in costume. After we all had some soup and the rain clouds began doing their thing we all went out for the evening. AJ and Austin hooked up with a bunch of friends, Tristan went with Drew and his family, Alexis and her friends hung out at our house and then went out when the rain subsided, Julia stayed indoors and passed out candy (ok, maybe once she stopped Monk to get to the door!), and Aaron and I drove Jack around to a few houses in the neighborhood. He was so cute holding his little pumpkin bag and going to each door. We visited the Browns, Sis. Miller, Sis. Clark and Sis. Neilsen. He was thrilled when they each handed him a piece of candy to put in his bag. Even after 4 houses Jack and I were wet. It was raining pretty hard at times. Everyone had a spooktacular night!

PINK! PINK! PINK!

We are having a GIRL! YEAH! It has been 14 years since we have had baby girl clothes and things laying around our house. I had convinced myself that it would be another boy. When the technician said it was a girl I asked her a few times if she was sure. She had a big smile and knew this was exciting for us. I am so excited! I have to dig up all the old containers of clothing (yes, I did save everything) and see what is salvageable! I know I am going to want to shop 'til I drop for "pretty in pink"!

Broken arm and Eggs! All within a 24 hour period!

Jack broke his left wrist! The poor little guy had to sit with me all day on Sunday until we could get into the doctor on Monday morning. He screamed while taking x-rays because another nurse had to hold him due to my being pregnant. He did not like this at all. I felt so bad for him. He was very interested when the nurse put the cast on. He is so cute. He keeps looking at it and moving his arm up and down. I think in a few days he will be so tired of having it on his arm.

Sunday night at 12:45 am (technically Monday morning), I was lying in bed, wide awake when I heard a car pull up, something hitting our house and then the car sped away. Well, needless to say someone decided to egg our house. I, of course, had the pleasure of cleaning it up. I wish I had a hidden security camera just to shock the heck out of whoever did this! Pay back as an adult... that would be funny!:)

Friends, Fun and France!

We love spending time with our friends in France. They are wonderful people and we love them. We spent a few occasions with the Riberia's. We had a picnic at Pont du Gard, they had us over for a Monday Night get together, and they we had them over to the Gite for swimming and dinner. Also, Patrick came and stayed with us for a day. It was wonderful to see him. And we spent some time with Aline et Jean- Louis. We went to the Uzes market and then had a picnic in a beautiful park. Plus we got together with them at the Riberia's. So many good times!

Swimming at the Gite!

We love to relax in the southern France sunshine! The Gite has a great pool but it is NOT heated. The first week of our stay the pool was FREEZING! The kids would be shivering as they swam. They were very determined to use the pool. As the weeks went by the temperature got warmer and the water was so refreshing. Jack was very hesitant to get in the water until the last few days. He finally would get on Alexis' back or sit on the edge and put his feet in.

Ryan Air

The kids thought this was amazing! We flew between London and France on Ryan Air. It is a very inexpensive way to travel around Europe and because of this the airports were small so we had to go outside to board the plane. It was exciting for the kids because they have only seen this done in movies! :) We were all so tired because we had to leave Aunt Jenni's flat at 4 am. London was cold and overcast and we were praying for that southern France sunshine!

Sur le Pont d'Avignon

We were all so excited to find the old Avignon bridge were they still have the locals dress up, dance and sing. We wanted to sing ourselves especially for Jack since he has listened to this song so many times. Well, we got there and we had to pay a huge amount of money just to walk on the bridge. I told the children we would have to pass. It was just to expensive for all of us to go. So, we took a picture with the Avignon bridge as our back drop. It worked even though there were a few tears. :( & :)

Fun in France 2010

Spring 2010!

All the sights, sounds and smells of spring! Flowers, freshly cut grass, rain, "popcorn trees", baby animals in the fields, and of course, soccer! These are just a few of the things I love about spring! Alexis plays on a competitive soccer team, the Bulldogs. They are number 1 in their division. She is going to try out for the high school soccer team and I hope she makes it. Alexis has great field positioning and she knows where she wants to place the ball. It is so fun to watch her play! She usually plays left mid and she has scored twice this season. (You can tell I am a proud Mom!) Go Alexis! When we go to watch her games Austin loves to run up and down the field to cheer his sister on. It is fun!

The above picture is of Jack smelling some beautiful tulips that I had purchased at a store. We have deer in our neighborhood that like to eat tulips so I have never planted any in our yard. So, I love to buy them and put them in vases in the house.

Junior Prom!

Wow! I can not believe that Julia is off at her Junior Prom. She looked absolutely beautiful! Her date, Tyson Oswald, was very polite and nice. They both looked so cute! He asked her just this week so we were frantically trying to find a dress. Her friend Tiffany let her borrow the one she is wearing and I think she looked amazing!

"What flavor of ice cream are you?"

Last week I took all the children to Salt Lake City to watch the Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration movie at Temple Square. We had all seen it before but I wanted the boys in primary to see it again as the theme this month is on Joseph Smith. We all really enjoyed it, even Jack sat still the entire movie. I think the gigantic screen helped!:) We then walked around Temple Square for a minute before heading back to Logan. It was very relaxing.

On the way home I told the children I would stop and get them some ice cream. I decided to take them to Farr in Ogden. It is the original Farr ice cream shop. Tristan picked a flavor called "Playdough". It was different shades of blue, pink, yellows, red, green, and orange. I felt like I could have jumped into the ice cream and been a child again. It was fun to see Tristan indulge in the fruity blend of flavors and colors. Julia then made the comment that if she could be an ice cream flavor she would be "playdough". Alexis, AJ, Austin, and Tristan then proceeded to tell everyone what flavor they would be. AJ would want to be "peppermint stick", Austin would want to be "chocolate marshmallow", and Alexis and Tristan both said they would want to be "playdough". It was a great day!

SPRING! :(

Cache Valley is so great in the spring...NOT! Last night as a family we went to the Sports Academy so the children could swim. As we were leaving it was snowing so hard. Picture this... Austin and Tristan in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops with wet hair, Alexis in shorts and a t-shirt, Julia with wet hair and AJ had on jeans and a t-shirt with wet hair. It was a blizzard. We could barely see the road and it was accumulating quickly. Well this morning we woke up to 6-8 inches of snow. Yes, spring is here! Only in Cache Valley. I always say that it does not get warm here until July. In the last 5 years of living in Logan it has snowed every June. Why am I living here again?! Did I mention it is the children's Spring Break?! Snow, snow go away!

First Post!

Okay I have taken the first step! I am going to attempt to blog... I think more for a personal family journal. We will see how it goes! :)