birthday

Took the kids to Chilis for my birthday dinner. We went early to avoid crowds and everyone loved their food.

Even my Racey Acey was a good boy at dinner.

(notice the boys decked out in their new Orem Tigers gear!)

We then went home for some chocolate cake and ice cream. I rented Sorcerer's Apprentice for the kids to watch. All in all, it was a VERY happy 31st birthday for me!

cheesecake time

Let me know if you are interested. This season is busy, so get your orders in early. It comes delivered in a festive holiday box!

my bed

our bed is not our own....every night, my little 24 pound heat pad moves in. (I know, I know...what on earth is he STILL doing in our bed...he's my baby...I'm a wimp....he screams otherwise....won't take a bottle or pacie...help.....) Then, each morning, after the kids have left for school, I go up to check on him. I usually find his little fuzzy head sticking up out of the covers and the kitties sleeping next to him.

Then, as soon as Ace is awake, its a matter of time before Tee joins the party to watch his shows.

Tee's blessing

I was cooking dinner when I heard some mumbling from Tee. I turned around to see this....I wasn't quick enough to get my camera for the original, but Tee happily reenacted it for me.

What's for dinner?

I opened the fridge and found these beauties, just chilling.

Happy Halloween

Our kids had a wonderful Halloween.... a little wet, but enough candy to last til Christmas.

Elder Anderson BYU football player

ARGH matey our little monkey boy

Chicken little Silvermist from Tinkerbell

I sort of dread Halloween and trying to get costumes for everyone. This year was pretty stress free....Avery's was the only one I made...the simplest tulle skirt EVER to make and the wings from the Dollar Store. Ace, Tee, and Josie are wearing some old faithfuls from years past. Duce is wearing his football outfit with one of Tyler's bowl game jerseys...and Jett....well yesterday for his class party, he was a football player, but this morning, he said he wanted to be an Elder. I was going to DI today and looked what I came across...this A-mazing seersucker suit for $6. Tyler found his old missionary tag and VOILA...Elder Anderson!

new addition

Our HALLOWEEN kitties

Grandma and Go-dad Munns came to Utah today and brought with them our new little Halloween Kitties! They are Devon Rexes and we LOVE them. They ran around the house for a little bit and then found a nice quiet spot on Josie's bed for a little nap. Thank you Quig's for our new pets!

ROLLY POLLY

He did it...Ace has a new trick! My fat boy is so fancy!

GO buddy Go!

Sunday Flower

Our home is surrounded by rose bushes and vines. The kids have started a little tradition called "mom's sunday flower". Each Sunday morning as we are loading into the car, they pick a flower for me to wear to church. Today was an orange rose with hints of pink on the edges of the petals.

Today, I let the girls dress themselves. (a bit daring, I know) They even got to rummage through my jewelry and pick out all their accessories.

(Tee was a little sad he couldn't wear any of the earrings.)

Summer 2010

I don't want to bore you with numerous pictures, so I'm just going to post a few to highlight our

summer. I've also included links to Kara and Rachelle's blog, since they BEAUTIFULLY described the summer's best events. (who am I kidding...most of you who look at my blog,already look at theirs, too...I don't want to be redundant)After arriving in Utah, we stuck around for a couple of weeks and then headed to FLORIDA for the rest of the summer. We had to leave Tyler behind because of football and the house hunt. We REALLY missed him. But we did manage to bring him down for a way too short weekend visit.

First there was Crystal River and the scallop hunt (for a more eloquent description of the trip the trip, click here and here)

The prize.....SCALLOPS.

scallop and boat time

pool time

hotel time

Dinnertime (sans kids...thank you babysitters)

Trip # 2 was Jupiter for some deep sea fishing! (again, for a more interesting description, click here)

pool time

dock time (these two are the best of buddies...we love AUSTIN)

Fishin' time

family picture time

Dinner time (again, sans kids, thanks to our babysitters)

sister time (seriously people...be jealous...I have the most amazing group of sisters)

The rest of our Florida time went as follows....

there was lounging in grandma's bed.....

there were a quite a few errand trips...Target being a favorite....

there were a couple of late night adults only outings...a few movies and a raucous night of bowling where Tyler put on a clinic for the rest of them.....

there was some napping (I found her upstairs with a clutch of pacies under her arm, passed out).....

OF COURSE there was some swimming.....

And then the day before we left, there was some birthin'....yup...one of the mamma zebras had her baby...so stinkin' cute!

Our 2010 summer was a busy but AMAZING summer. I'm not sure who had more fun...the kids or me. A lot of the joy I get as a parent is seeing my kids have a blast. And that they did. Living away from my family is hard, but this summer as replenished my stock pile....actually...who am I kidding....two days after being in Utah, I was super sad about not living there with all of them. Thank heavens for "girls trips" in the works...gives me something to look forward to.