Happy Girl

This girl LOVES the camera. Every time she sees it, "CHEECE". I obviously don't mind because I am getting some adorable pictures. She turns 18 months on Sunday and I can't believe she is that grown up already! Love this girl.

Turkey Time

This week I am a single mom. Mikey has a bizillion tests, papers, and projects plus he has to go to class. Oh, and of course work 30 hours - I can see why his program advises against working. The earliest he will walk in the door this week will be 11 pm. Despite his absence, the kids and I are trying to not only survive, but have a little fun. Tonight we had our traditional Thanksgiving FHE (unfortunately sans Daddy).

First things first - we made our Thankful Turkeys. (and why isn't turkeys spelled with an -ies?) The kids, including Lucy, worked very diligently.





Check out the coolness of my new camera lens. I haven't really gotten to know it very well, but it takes the sharpest images and blurs the background - beautiful bokeh.

And the finished products...

Lucy didn't want to pose with her turkey, so Aidan had to help her out a little.

After our Thankful Turkeys, we moved on to our annual oreo turkeys.

Can I just say that the run I went on this morning was totally canceled out by the Reese's and oreos?

I am definitely thankful for fun, cute kids - even with Mikey gone all of the time right now, they still make life fun (unless they are screaming, fighting, or not listening to me - but they would never act like that, right?)

Oh Aidan...

Today Aidan came and told me, "I think I know how Heavenly Father created everything. He had a big giant crayon and he drew everything and then it all came to life." I like the idea of his theory.

PPP-Town

Today I took the kids down the Provo to visit Carly while Mikey was working. We caught some football traffic on the way down and only almost died twice. We went out to lunch at a pizza place called Slab Pizza (the name sounds sick, but it was pretty good) and picked up a treat from the bookstore. We tried to get a few pictures while we were there, but pictures and kids don't really ever work out for me. Plus the sun was super bright, so we were all squinty. I love the ones with Avery and Aidan throwing leaves in the air - captures the essence of childhood, don't you think? We had a great time seeing Carly and Lucy finally decided to call Carly by her real name instead of "Emy."

On a side note, Aidan came up to me this morning and said. "Mom, there are so many babies in this world, did you know that? Isn't it funny that if there are so many babies in the world, that WE got the very cutest one?" Seriously melted my heart. What a sweet kid - glad he loves his sister (even if often times he loves her just a little too HARD!)

Willow Heights

We spent Labor Day (yes, that was a while ago) with some friends hiking the Willow Heights trail. This hike is amazing. It was a little hard for Aidan, but I can't wait to do it again next year. The majority of the hike is through an aspen grove which later opens up into a meadow that leads to the little lake. Breathtaking.

Morning at the Zoo

This morning we went with Aidan's friend Madelyn (and her mom and baby) to the zoo. I normally don't love the Hogle Zoo, but today wasn't crowded at all and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. This trip was fun because Lucy loved the animals. Last time we went, she was still too little to care. We rode the carousel and the train for the first time there, which was definitely a hit!

Halloween 2010

Not to be a downer or anything, but by the time we get to Halloween, we have been birthday partying for almost two weeks and things have been crazy. Not to mention, there are just about a bizillion Halloween parties here. Thursday night, we had our traditional Halloween dinner: mummie dogs, blood, witches fingers, and eyeballs followed by our Ghosts in the Graveyard dessert. After dinner, we carved our pumpkins, but somehow I never took any pictures of this or of all the kids together in their costumes. Oh well. On Friday (Oct 29), Avery got to wear her costume to school for the Halloween parade and for her school party. We didn't get to go to her parade because we were at the doctor getting antibiotics for more ear infections (I really think we are allergic to student housing - the kids NEVER have gotten ear infections and all three have had them since we moved here). Aidan wore his costume to school and was excited to show everyone his baby spider on his costume. You may remember the costume from last year; he loved it so much that he wanted to wear it again this year. It still fit him, so why not. Avery's Halloween school carnival was that night, so we got to party some more. The next day (Saturday) was our Halloween, even though it was the 30th. We spent the morning setting up for the ward Halloween party. The party was a lot of fun - chili/cornbread cook off (I won the cornbread :) ), doughnuts on strings, and a trunk or treat. We went to Costco that afternoon and came home to trick or treat in the pouring rain. Kids just don't mind cold rain when they are getting free candy. I was just glad someone invented umbrellas.