Utah Ho!

This week has all been about preparation for our trip - Dan and I spent most of our week trying to get things ready, food eaten, clothes washed, car packed.  The kids had school and Evie had preschool, so I tried to get errands run while she was at preschool.  And by Friday when we were ready to pick up the kids, we were also ready to go.  We grabbed the kids and headed out to Utah.  We made it in late at night with the kids asleep - they did a good job of being good at watching movies and not causing trouble.  And we all made it safely there. 

This was our Thankful table cloth - the kids all got to color pictures of things they were thankful for - My kids drew pictures of our family!  They are SO AWESOME!

Grandma and Grandpa Jones brought back some fun things for the kids from Thailand - and here are the girls showing them off! 

Saturday, we did our early Thanksgiving - we spent the morning cooking and the kids played - the cousins all get along so well together!  Then the whole crazy party got together for a delicious meal!  Candace's parents and one of her brothers were also in town and we had fun seeing them again.

Sunday we went to Paul and Candace's ward for Eliza's baby blessing - I didn't get to hear any of it - James and I were out in the hallway while he threw a massive tantrum - but it was so nice to be there.  I also really enjoyed getting to go to Sunday School and Relief Society. 

While we were packing - I went into a massive panic realizing that on this huge weekend, we had no working camera - I had one camera with dead batteries and no charger or cable and another camera that had recently stopped working.  So on our way out we stopped at Costco - we've been having fun playing and taking lots of pictures - but I didn't bring my computer on this trip, so I'll add the pictures when we get home!  It's been a wonderful trip so far and we are looking forward to spending some time with family this week!

Busy... as Usual!

We've had a fun week - lots of the normal - preschool for Evie, school for the older kids, work for Dan, napping for James, piano lessons, church, choir, all that fun stuff.  I had some fun Relief Society stuff this week.  Nicole and I went to a little 'Spa Night' type thing on Thursday and made sugar scrubs and bath salts and ate chocolate :)  Then on Saturday, we went to Peoria ward's super Saturday and had fun making hair bows and magnets.

Saturday afternoon, Dan and I took the kids to the Zoo - i actually managed to get them to try a new area (something other than bird world and the hippo statue, but after a fun trip through tropical discovery - we ended up back there anyway - the kids love it!  I promise that Dan is holding James in this picture! 

I know i got more pictures and better pictures than this, but I'm having a hard time finding them.... The girls took their cameras to the zoo and had a blast taking lots of pictures of everything they saw.  

Today after church, we headed down to Frank and Tina's for Frankie's birthday - the kids had a blast playing with their cousins and James had a blast stealing my cake.... When we got home - the kids (and maybe the adults too) were a bit tired....

Fall Leaves and Lots of Parties

We've had a busy and eventful week - well, really weekend - the rest of the week was mostly just the normal amount of busy.  But starting Friday, things really got crazy - Friday night, Eileen had her slumber party - she had 5 friends come and we made little pizzas and they watched a movie before we 'sent them to bed' 2 had to go home before the slumber part - but the rest of them didn't sleep until very late!  But they had fun and no one wanted to go home after.  Saturday morning, Dan took Anna and went to clean the church building and got back in time to help me set of for our Primary Teacher Instruction meeting.  The slumber party girls were getting picked up right as people were showing up for our meeting.  Attendance was low, but the spirit was very strong and the meeting was wonderful!  

During the meeting, Dan took the kids outside to rake leaves - and they made a nest.  A giant leaf nest.  They had a blast and were covered in leaves for the rest of the day.

And I had some fun getting some fun fall pictures - Evie is so funny - this picture was kinda accidental, but the lighting really looks nice.

This is Anna in the nest - hard to believe - but they had a bunch of sweaters and coats on the bottom of the nest.....  

This is Aaron pretending to be a bird leaving the nest.

After, we went to Dwayne and Nicole's house for Riley's birthday - the kids had a blast watching Despicable Me and then beating up a minion pinata.  

We finally finished our night of insanity with the ward Chili Cook off and Talent Show.  Dan brought his balloon animal making skills and was the hit of the party - he spent the first 45 minutes making balloon animals and hats, then the kids tried coming back for seconds!

For the talent portion of the contest, Eileen played Book of Momon Stories on the piano - from memory.  She was so cute!!!!  She got distracted by James part way through and lost her place - but she still did a great job! 

After that, even a Sunday full of meetings and crazy kids wasn't so bad - James did better in Sacrament this week - he sat quietly in my lap for almost half the meeting.  After church, he was a super duper helper - he is getting so good at following instructions and communicating his needs.  He loves books and finding pictures of things he recognizes in books - he gets very excited over balls, cats, bears, dogs, horses, birds and water - and the picture only has to vaguely look like one of those things for him to get excited about it.  In this picture, he's reading one of his favorite books - the one with a ball on the front (it's a pictures of Earth)

Free Time! NOT!

We've had a fun but busy week - it was fall break for the kids - Monday, Eileen's friend from school came over for a play date and we all went to the zoo - it was chilly, but the kids had a lot of fun - we even got to see some lions and African wild dogs getting fed.  James didn't want to sit in the stroller though - so he was a bit tough to reign it.  He's getting more independent - which can be nice, but it can also be a pain.... :) 

Monday night we carved pumpkins for Halloween - the kids drew faces and Dan did most of the carving - Evie insisted that he carve a butt on the back of her pumpkin....  

For Tues - Friday they went to Camp Tina and had fun raking her leaves and hanging out there.  I had high hopes of getting a ton of things done, then I had all these things come up that had to get done and computer problems that prevented me from getting almost anything done that I had planned.  Dan took me out to lunch on Tuesday and we went to a small Hawaiian place - it was packed so when we had a table with 4 seats and a nice little old couple behind us needed a place to sit, we offered the other half of our table.  They were nice and friendly, but Dan nearly ran out of the place screaming when he found out that the couple's day job was as clowns.  

The kids begged aunt Tina to be able to rake her leaves and play in them and even promised to bag them for her - she finally relented and let them :) 

Dan and I wanted to see the kids for Halloween so we headed down Thursday evening to Trick or Treat with them - then went home.  I got more pictures, including James as a cute little pirate... but they seem to have vanished :(  

Friday Dan took the day off so we could get some stuff done around the house before the kids got back.  We moved Evie in with the girls, moved James in with Aaron and turned the other bedroom into a school room with their desks and bookshselves.  Then we went to the temple before grabbing some dinner and picking up the kids.  

Saturday was Eileen's birthday - Daddy made her a cake and she got to place the candles and try to light them (but ended up getting daddy to finish the job)  

She also got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Jones on the computer and open her present from them - she got a book about animals which she hasn't put down since and some cute earrings and some other fun little things.

Aaron is really getting better with his reading - not quite at the level of the book he's reading in this picture, but it's sure cute to watch him try!

And of course this little guy is full of smiles and fun - especially when he's trying to get attention.  And it's fun until he crashes hard.... :)