Happy 1-5 Birthday Rian!!

Rian turned another year older.  Thanks to Kiley, Trent's sister, I was able to take her to the Salt Lake Real game (Trent was out of town) a few days before her birthday.  It was a pretty cold night, but a lot of fun.  Had some hot coca and a win to seal the deal.  A great night together.

Morning of her birthday, we had the usual candles in the waffle to start the day of right.

And, the birthday fairy... came and decorate her bedroom door.

At school, Rian's friends decorated her locker to show her how awesome she is.

For lunch, I got the chance to spend time with her at Kneaders.  Happy Birthday to my oldest child.  Love you babe.

Fall Time

Kids were asking for some pumpkin bread... so let's make some!!

wrapping up the soccer season for the fall..

Rian

Tarin as goalie...she loves being goalie.

Not sure where my pics of Ammon and Raegan went, but they too had a busy season in soccer.

For Halloween, the kids loved having an orange porch.  I'm sure my dead plants added to the Halloween charm...  I did find this branch and added a black bird and spiders and webs. 

And of course carving the pumpkin.  Dad has some skills... we liked getting the slimy insides out and getting it already for the final product.

Fall Break Part 2 Riding the Train to Salt Lake City

 Saturday, we took the Front Runner or Trax up to Salt Lake City.  Trent left out of town for Tennessee.  I thought the kids would love to ride the train and enjoy the adventure.  Also,  I think the only time they had seen the Salt Lake Temple, it's been super cold and distracting crowds (Christmas Time).  So why not a little warmth and time to enjoy.

My little monkeys!  Long, fun ride up to SLC, then hanging on the straps when on the city train.  A few kids dodged my picture taking

Once we got off the train, we headed over to temple square.

Beautiful day to spend with my awesome kids!

Went inside the Joseph Smith Building, such a beautiful building with so much to look at.

Finally, the kids were hungry, so we headed over to City Creek Mall and grabbed some lunch and window shopping.  Ammon liked the fountains, Jarom liked the manikins and Tarin loves the nick-knacks.

Waiting for the train to take us back, the kids put a penny on the tracks...sadly we didn't get to see the result, but next time for sure! :o)

Silver Lake

 Friday of Fall Break, I decided to let the kids have a "vegg" day.  If it were up to me, we'd be busy the entire break...but they like down time and games and neighbors to play with.

I have this great neighbor, Shauna Freebairn.  I found out she likes to hike, so we decided to get out and do something about it.  Left the kids home to hang out, and took off to show Shauna the Utah county hikes that I know (she knows salt lake county stuff).  I took her up AF canyon to hike Silver Lake.  

The lake was like glass...so smooth and a perfect mirror to  maximize the beauty all around.

It was a wonderful morning.

Fall Break Part 1 Cascade Springs Picnic

Kids had a 5 day weekend for fall break.  I was glad to sleep in, no homework and of course...spend some fun times with my sweet kiddos.  To get out of the house, we went up the canyon to see beautiful fall sights and see Cascade Springs.  Sadly, most of the springs paths were closed for repair.  But it was still nice to be outside.

During our drive... Someone... got a hold of my camera phone.  Thought they were worth posting.

Yes, it was a spectacular view at one of the view points!

and the entire alpine loop was just beaming with color... Love these aspens!

We drove up from the Alpine side and drove out of the canyon on the Sundance side and stopped at our favorite park, South Bend Park up past Vivian Park.  Awesome trees to climb, balls to toss and food to eat...luckily it was cool enough they decided not to get wet in the creek...  Still a great afternoon!

Then we headed back to catch the movie that we were encouraged to go see.  I wanted us to see it anyway.  It was really nice to see this together as a family.

General Conference

 My brother, Jeff, was kind enough to get tickets for our family for the Sunday morning session of General Conference.  My other brother, Ben, and his family were in town too, so we were all able to be there...sadly we sat seperately and didn't see each other, but it was our first time as a complete family to go to a session in the Conference Center.  Yep, even 6 yr old Ammon.  We weren't sure what to do with the little guy, because we were meeting up at Jeff and Alice's house afterward.  So we rolled the dice and took him in.  Luckily, it was chaotic and he wasn't questioned about his age (need to be 8+).  He was a challenge, but I had plenty for him to do.

Tried to get a good picture (Rian ducked out and Ammon and dad were on the other side of me).

Afterward, I was glad to get this picture of us altogether. 

We all met at Jeff and Alice's house for the afternoon session.  Scott was there with Hunter for a little while too, and Matt and Tana also came over.  Total: 21 kids, 9 adults...30 people!  But you know what?  I love chaos and it was a lot of fun being together.  We had candy bowls up by the TV and I had Conference 'Cash'.  I took notes and asked questions after each speaker for them to earn their cash to 'buy' candy.  Although it was hard work for me to pay attentions to all the speakers with my kids and others distractions, I think this helped them listen and learn 100 times more then before.  That made it worth it to me!

Love when family is together and learning together.  I cherish these moments.

Priesthood Session

 The boys (dad and Jarom) were off with Gpa Wardwell and the other men in the family.  Because they get whinned and dinned, it's always good to have a 'party' of our own.  

Made our own pizzas -- Yummo!

Had to mask! ... and make funny faces with it.  Painting nails...

And of course... can't forget dessert!  Hot coco and...the best ice cream e-ver!

100,000 Miles

Our family member of almost 9 yrs just hit the 100,000 mile marker.  Our red fire engine, the mini van, has hit an all new high.  It has taken us to so many places and through so many adventures, it is apart of our family.  I hope to run it until it dies, but as kids get larger and take up more space, who knows what may need to happen.  But for now, it's here to stay and will continue to gain more miles for our family.

First Teeth Out

 This little guy was so excited to get his first tooth... in?  He had a tooth come in, but behind the baby tooth, so nothing was coming out.  This is a regular story with all of our kids.  We had a dentist appointment soon anyway, so at the appointment he had both bottom teeth removed.  Now he can let the tooth fairy do her job!  He was so brave and did a great job.  Such a blessing to not ruin his excitement to get more teeth out.

Yep, the tooth fairy made her appearance!  He was so excited, he took his 'gold' coins to school to show it off.   Such a fun time in his life... I'm sad he's our last to go through this.  Precious moments.