A Day To Give Thanks

This Thanksgiving can be summed up as one of the best days we have had in a long time. The morning started out with great rainy weather and I got to go play some football with Missionaries. When I got home Daddy was watching a movie with his girls. Alone time with Daddy is hard to come by and I know it just brings them all closer. Next it was time to get ready for the rest of our busy day....Our first stop was Aunt Susan's house where all my extended family was celebrating. We were starving so dinner number one was delish and all the girls ate very well. It was really nice seeing all my cousins and Aunts and Uncles but we headed over to my sister Lezlie's house to finish off the night. At Lezlie's we had our seconds of Thanksgiving Dinner and then Dessert and it was all so yummy! At the end of the evening we all sat around the table played a little catch phrase and just hung out with each other. It was so nice having my Mom, Dad, Stepmom, and all my sisters and their familes together in one house at one table. It makes me so thankful that we can all come together and enjoy each other's company. I truly love all my family and I am thankful for each and every blessing in my live. The only thing missing on this wonderful day was Zachary and Zach's family who are all out of town. Next year will be our trun to have Zachary and hopefully Zach's family will make it into town! Warning picture overload below!

Pretty Lights!

Friday night we took the girls to see the Christmas light display that they have every year at Sunset Park. This was our first year actually driving through it and it was very nice!! The girls got to ride in the front of the car with us as we took the little tour and they loved it....they were sad when it was time to go. We then took them to get ice cream and watch the planes since we were so close but with the construction it was kind of a bummer and we didn't see any planes, just made a mess with the ice cream. Overall it was a fun night just haning out as a family feeling a little bit of the Christmas spirit!

Happy 30th Zach!!

In celebration of Zach's 30th birthday I just want to say that I am so proud of the man he is today. Zach is hitting one of the first big milestones in adulthood and he has done so by working hard and being the foundation of our family. Zach is the glue that holds us together and I feel so lucky to have found him! I admire his determination and work ethic and I love how he has such big dreams for our future. 30 years has given Zach the experience to be a forgiving and patient person who is condfident in himself and the person he has become. I love you Zach and I hope you have a great birthday!!!

Twilight Tonight!!

I really am excited for the opening of the Twilight Movie...I really hope it is good even if it is getting less than stellar reviews...Roger Ebert probably didn't even read all the books so I don't believe his 2 1/2 stars is worth anything anyways!

Fun while it lasted!!

Bye bye to my blond hair...I really enjoyed being blond but after a while change is always fun too!! So Jasmine gave me a new do!! She always does great so thanks Jazzie!!

My Boring Blog

Things around here have really calmed down after Halloween, it has been kinda nice to relax and not have to be anywhere but now I am officially board!! Not to mention I don't have too much to post! So hopefully the next few weeks will be more exciting with Zach's birthday this weekend and Thanksgiving the following weekend and my blog won't be such a snooze fest!!

My Poor Hubby!

I always tease my poor husband about being able to see through his lamp shade eyelashes. (They are long and point strait down...think snuffleufagus lashes) Anyhow they are no longer a problem after tonight. Zach had a slight incident at work involving what he called a fireball. Needless to say he has a first degree burn on his eyes and a cornea abrasion. Nothing that will effect his eyesight long term but it is causing him a significant amount of pain right about now. Oh and he lost his lampshade lashes and some eyebrows and a little bit of hair off the top of his head. I am pretty relieved that he was not seriously injured, it could have been much worse. Now I just don't have anything to tease him about!

We Actually Remembered This Year!!!

Today is our 4 year anniversary!! And what a four years it has been! A few kids, a few moves and just like that you have 4 years. It really has been the most amazing four years of my life. I have an amazing husband to thank for that. Together we have learned what a real relationship needs... give and take, patience, understanding, unconditional love, honesty, trust, fun, laughter and so much more. We have these qualities in our relationship and we work very hard to maintain all of them. Not always easy!! But we make a great team and I can't wait to spend eternity with my handsome loving husband! I could go on and on but I will just say that I am one lucky lady to have Zach in my life!!

Time Change

Don't forget to set back your clocks tonight!!! Yay for an extra hour of sleep!!

Halloween

I feel like this whole month has been a preperation for this one big night and it was a slight let down to say the least. I decdied that taking the kids to town square for safe trick-or-treating would be a great idea. Well turns out every mom in Vegas had that same thought and it was horrible! We should of turned around the second we hit traffic on the Las Vegas Blvd. off ramp. The lines for candy were outrageous so we only left with one piece for each child. Next it was off to dinner at Chilli's which wasn't that bad if you can forget about Rebecca throwing up not once but twice all over the place. I cannot say the whole night was bad. The kids didn't even notice the problem at town sqare and they had fun just running around. We got to see our friends and Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Lezlie, Unlce Dustin, Leila and Jacob. So the whole night wasn't a bust but is sure wasn't the perfect Halloween I had in mind! So in all in its imperfectness here are some pics of our Halloween!

Pre Halloween Party!

Our ward Halloween party was last night and it turned out great! We got to decorate a door and I am sooo glad Zach was off work and he was there to help, he actually did most of the decorating and it turned out pretty good! We had a chilli and hot dog dinner and managed to only spill two drinks! After dinner I got to take the girls around trick-or-treating while Zach passed candy out at our door. Zachary who was running around with friends most of the night got the most candy of course, I think he went around to each door more than once! Overall we had a really great night, it was so fun seeing and the little kids dressed up!!

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma!

So I know my last post was also pumpkin patch but we got to go again last night only this time with Grandma! The girls were just as excited as the other day and this time they were such big girls going on the slide all by themselvs! As usual they were spoiled rotten and Grandma got them lots and lots of tickets for rides! It was fun having all of my sisters in the same spot too, I am just sad we didn't get a picture! Sorry for the Pumpkin patch overload!

Pumpkin Patch

Friday was definatly a busy day for us, after the playgroup in the morning I was able to get the girls down for a nice long nap and they would need it for the night ahead. First we went to Steel Elementary school for their Fall Festival because Zachary was performing in a demo with his TKD school. As usual he did great! After the demo was over we said goodbye to Zachary ( he is now at an age where he gets to pick and choose the activities he wants to attend and he would rather stay with his friends than hang out with us!) Next we were off to dinner and the pumpkin patch. We met up with some friends and all the kids had a blast. I haven't seen them so excited about anything in a long time. They went down slides, rode in flying boats, jumped in jumpy houses and Maile even rode a pony! She kept saying "this is my pony for one day!" The night was topped off with free cotton candy which I think the dads enjoyed more than the kids. After this trip to the pumpkin patch I understand why parents have such a good time just watching their kids. It was so awesome that my kids were actually old enough now to participate in all the activities and even more awesome to see how happy they were!

McKee Ranch

Friday morning our playgroup met up at Mckee Ranch to feed some of the animals and play on their mini playground. I had never been but it was pretty awesome, they had it decked out with pumpkins and fall decorations. It almost didn't feel like we were in Vegas anymore! As usual my girls were little scardy cats and the goats and chickens that were running around made them cry but by the end of the morning they wanted to feed the ponies carrots and play with the other kids. Over all it was a good start to our fun filled day!

Going a little Crazy!

Looking at my event calender for the rest of the month, I don't know how we are possibly going to fit everything in and keep up with the day to day stuff or have any sanity left. I am having that overwhelmed feeling big time...I still have costumes to finish, backyard to sod, goodies to make for Halloween parties and so much more. Not that I don't love being crazy busy (makes the days go by faster)but now would be the time when I would seriously look into a third arm! (hypothetically speaking) So yes, it is Wednesday and I have still yet to recover from this weekends events. If you were to ask me to open my garage you would see the remnants of our garage sale and I mean exactly how we left it when we closed shop Sat. afternoon! My downstairs has been the only part of my house that has seen cleaning since last week so needless to say I better get busy. The task of getting every thing done and pay some sort of attention to my kids seems a bit unattainable but I am going to try very hard to get it all done, I know we will all have a better weekend and be in better moods if our surroundings are more comfortable! Thanks for reading my rant! Now I must go make a To Do list!

Project Runway Look Out!

Ever since I had the twins I have wanted them to be sticks of Double mint gum for Halloween but I didn't I couldn't find costumes and I don't know how to sew and finding time to learn seemed too difficult when the girls were younger. Well this year I finally got it together! My mom who is pretty awesome with the sewing machine is helping me out with some impromptu sewing lessons. We got started this weekend and they are coming together quite nicely and this makes me want to learn how to make more things....but I must focus on the task at hand!

Zachary's Latest Tournament

Saturday Zachary had a tournament at the Texas station. He did really well, he placed 1st in sparing and 2nd in forms. Zachary is such a good sport I am always impressed with his attitude in the ring! It is fun going to the tournaments, as the girls get older they know what is going on more and more. They cheer on their brother and even throw a few moves themselvs! We also got to see Zach's cousin Rena at the tournament and we also met her fiance. Overall it was a fun day that we got to spend as a family.

Happy Birthday Lezlie!

Today is my big sister Lezlie's birthday and I just want to take a moment to say how much I appreciate the relationship we have formed over the past few years. When we were younger we spent most of our time fighting and I didn't realize just how important she was to me! I am so excited that we are raising our kids at the same time and I am also so glad she is working a schedule now that will allow us to spend more time hanging out! So anyhow happy 27th, old lady!

Work in Progress

Over the past month or so we have been working on our backyard. So far we have a concrete slab and some trenches dug and thats about it. We are nowhere near finished but that does not stop the girls from making it their favorite hangout. First thing in the morning they want to go out and they literally play out there all day. I am really enjoying it because I can get a few things done without them in my way! I just can't wait for the grass so that they don't have all this dirt to play with, too much of it ends up in my kitchen! Here are some pics of my girls and their cousin Leila enjoying the backyard....

Bellagio Garden

Today was such a fun day, not only was it beautiful out this morning but we also ended up getting to go to lunch with Auntie Lezlie, Auntie Sam, Lelia and Jacob. After lunch we headed over to the Bellagio to check out what they did in the Garden for the fall season. It was beautiful! The girls all had fun, we only had a few toddler "moments," it was very close to everyone's naptime! Overall I was proud of all the kids but Jacob wins for being the most well behaved!I took a few pictures....