Sand Dunes

We took the kids out to the Sand Dunes so Gabe could learn to ride his new motorcycle. It was so much fun. Gabe did so good riding his motorcycle and although we didn't get out of first gear he is enjoying every minute of it. The girls rode the 4wheeler around and around in circles for hours! The Sand was a little hard for Gabe to ride in so we would go over to the dirt trails, Kevin and I would set up our chairs and sit there forever and watch them ride. They LOVE it. My kids love love love camping and can't get enough of it. They love the Marshmellows, finding firewood, building the fire, throwing everything into the fire!! We are working on the last one. They think its so much fun to set up their beds and of course exploring the outdoors. We meet up with some of our friends and the have a sand rail that the kids loved going in. Such a sweet Guy to take them out (Thanks Nicole's Dad!) We are looking forward to many many more trips to the Dunes.

Pumpkin Patch

The kids wanted to pick out their pumpkins early this year so that we could have them out all month long!! Melisa and I took the kids to a pumpkin patch and apparently October 1st they are not set up yet. So as the lady was putting out the pumpkins we took some pictures and got the best pick of the pumpkins! Yes we choose the largest pumpkins we could find. $35.00 later I leave the pumpkin patch! Hello $35.00 for pumpkins. Safety first. But we did get some cute pictures!

Gabe Turns 8

So my sweet little boy turned 8 in September. I can remember his birth the best out of everyone since it was around such a traumatic time in the country. It was so weird how his birthday always brings back all those emotions of 9/11. But then it also reminds me of how lucky I am to have him as a son. Gabe has they sweetest spirit about him. He is layed back, full of adventure, smart, caring, thoughtful, giving and funny. This boy loves to tease his sisters and making people laugh.

He wanted a motorcycle for his bday and back in March I told him he had to save up money and pay towards the motorcycle. He started to mow my parents lawn for $5 a week. Even though it was rough on me... driving all the way there and back he loved loved loved doing it. He is a perfectionist and would mow the straightest lines. He did it all summer and saved up his money. Sooooooo I had to hold up to my end of the bargain.

He had his party this year at the Backyard Adventures. It was really fun for the kids to play around on the swing sets and slides. Gabe's best friend Aaron was there and that made Gabe's day!

Happy Birthday Gabe!!

Pictures

I had pictures done by this darling girl Alex. She is great and very reasonably priced. You can check out her blog at http://legacy-photo.blogspot.com/ Lauren kind of threw a "small tantrum" and we had to end the session early. We will be going back to finish up but here are a few that we did get.

First Day of School

Here it is another year of school.

Emma is going into 4th Grade

Gabriel is going into 2nd Grade

Lauren is going into 1st Grade.

We had no hiccups this year. Everyone was excited to get back to school and see all their friends. All of them ended up with not to many friends from last year but they are excited to make new ones. I love having them at a Charter school so it is just uniforms and not having to worry about what they will wear each day. Plus saves mommy lots of money!

LAKE POWELL

I put the "HOT" in Lake Powell!!

DR. WILLIS (aka Loni)
We took our annual friend trip to Lake Powell and I was so excited to work on my tan and my wake boarding skills. Clearly as you can see the wake board got the best of me! On the 2nd day being there I as out wake boarding... doing so good at it I might add! Jumping the wake and what not. Anyway I cut out of the wake on my front edge and leaned a little too far forward and slammed down face first.. As if that didn't hurt bad enough the wake board still attached to my feet(apparently I can turn into a pretzel!!) came flying up behind me and cut open my head. I just layed there in the water holding my head thinking ouch that really hurt. Kevin comes around with the boat and Jeremy jumps on out to get me. He looks at my head and says um ya we are going to the hospital. Not really what I wanted to hear. So we had to take the boat back a 20 min ride in all the waves, then drive another 20 min into bullfrog marina.. all dirt road I might add. The best part of it all was more of our friends were meeting us and it so happened they showed up the same time as we were trying to get a vehicle unloaded to drive me there. My good friend Loni pulls up throws all her stuff out of her car and rushes me on out of there. On the ride there I told everyone I really don't think I need stitches. Kevin had Loni pull over and says "now don't say anything but just look at it and see if she needs stitches". Loni and Whitney pull over to look at it and both don't say a word except "yep we are going". We took a picture of it but I'll spare you all from having to look at my gaping wound. We get to the clinic and they are like they are in the 1940's. No rush just having a good ole time. The doctor decided that he will put 5 that's right 5 staples in my head. Since I had 4 more days of being down there. Are ya kidding me!! I got all numbed up, got my tetanus shot, and then he stapled away... Not to bad. I asked if my friend Loni could come back and help me with my hair since he was going to put a lovely head wrap on (see above) Loni comes back and starts to braid my hair and chunks start to fall out. I was like I thought you weren't going to cut any. Oh no he didn't that is from the wake board!! Cut my hair right out! Anyway I couldn't get my head in the water the rest of the time. I spent a lot of time floating on a raft getting a tan and was sad I couldn't wake board or cliff jump. Thanks to all my good friends for taking care of me and doing my hair the rest of the time. Especially to DR. Willis (Loni) she was a great help. I love doing this trip every year with friends. This year the guys had new girlfriends so some new girls came down and now I have made more friends for life. I love making new friendships and enjoying all the ones that have stood by my through thick and thin, the good the bad and the ugly!!! Love you guys

Jackie showing us her great flip skills!

Surgey, Jackie, Me, Loni and Whit




Enjoying the water - safety first don't get your head wet!!




Jeremy and Surgey




The boys being boys




Still being just boys


The captin getting a foot massage after a long day driving the boat.

My Baby turns 6!

Lauren wanted a new bike for her birthday and I thought it would be fun to get a beach cruiser bike. As I was surfing the web I found a beautiful banana seat bike. I just had to get it for her. Oh how I loved my banana seat bike. You could ride all day with your best friend on the back. We drove up to the house and there she was sparkling in the sunlight and Lauren jumped out of the car and ran up to it so excited. She loved the new bike. Kevin put the bike together and the seat was a little high but she didn't care she wanted to ride her bike. She got mad when she had to get off and lower the seat. She asked Kevin how long it would take and he said maybe 10 minutes and she said "Oh I don't care if it's to high, that is to long I want to ride it now". Does she sound like anyone we know..... We went to dinner where ever she wanted to go and she wanted to go to the place where you use the phone to order (Training Table) We went to dinner stuffed ourselves with cheese fries and then she wanted to come back home so she could ride her bike.

Lauren is so full of life. She loves to play with everyone and gets very disappointed if she is left out. She has taught me so much about life and how to just enjoy it. She loves to give you hugs and kisses all the time and she tells me all the time if I have a cute outfit on or if my hair looks cute. She loves it when you complement her first. She is differently 6 going on 20! Happy Birthday little "L"

Brianhead

We loaded everyone up and headed on down to the cabin to hopefully find some cooler weather... Oh it was a lovely 75 degrees down there. It was still a little to hot for me at night but I made it. The kids had so much fun hiking, playing in the old cabin down the hill, building forts, roasting marshmellows, putting on a music show for us but most of all playing with their cousins. It was so much fun to play cards with my mom, sister and dad. Kevin isn't much for games but we finally found one he liked and could beat me at. Aside from cute Katelyn not wanting to sleep AT ALL it was a very pleasant time. I got to hold Katelyn and rock her for a good hour in the wee hours of the morning and it took me back to when my kids were babies and you could just hold them and they would just stare at you. Oh how I miss those moments. I love going to the cabin and playing a mad game of nerts! I wish my older sister Angie and brother Russell could have been there with us. We spent so much time down there when we were growing up and now my kids get to build those memories to.

Putting on a show for us

Kevin and Kate waiting for marshmellows.....


The Kids roasting away.... a whole entire bag!


Kate just kept sneaking some


And me enjoying my perfectly roasted marshmellow