This is Halloween, Halloween....

So Halloween, as always, was crazy! I really wasnt feeling it this year. Didnt even dress up. I know...bah hum bug. Wait...wrong holiday. Anyhoo...Did the usual dinner together with Bek and her fam. Love doing that, and then we got the kiddies ready together and the hubbies took them out trick or treating and we can sat and relaxed and passed out candy together. Yay!!!

Es last year of trick or treating. Getting too old she says. I agree. She went out with her friends that all dressed up like Ninjas. We didnt see her for most of the night. Shes growing up. Ninja BB and Hannah Montana(who refused to wear the blond wig) R.
ES wanted to be a Goth Pirate. Is this a sign? Should we be worried? Hahaha! JK!
The 2 bros. This is all you will get out of Kirk for Halloween. More than me this year.
Sons of the 2 bros. AT is a dead hiker.
Everyone. Group isnt as big anymore now that the older ones go off on their own. :(
My good, good friend Melanie dressed up as Buddy the Elf. She made this whole outfit. So awesome. We went to see Thriller and she wore it. Love it! Love Buddy the Elf! Halloween was on a Sunday, so she invited us over for a fun Halloween dinner. Theres the old hand again. We love this hand!She was showing off her cool Elf shoes, so I had to show off my shoes. Not quite as cool or festive as Elf shoes. Of course R is in the pic, eating what I think is the leftover kitty litter caserole that Melanie made. Ewwwwww!

# 6....pick up sticks!


So our little "High River", thats what her name means in Spanish, and thats what she wants us to call her, turned 6! Our baby is 6! That is crazy to me! Crazy that we dont have any more. Its been nice enjoying her in all her stages without having to take care of a little one too. I feel bad for the older kids that didnt get that. Theres something to say for being the youngest. We love her! She is a wild card and one of a kind, but how can you not love her. We just had a family birthday this year. We made a cake, went to her choice for dinner and a movie. Noodles and Co for dinner and Despicable Me. Cute movie. It was a fun time!!

This is the card my dad and Denise made for her.Inside of card...

Making the cake. She loves to help cook.



Waiting for it to be done. Peace out!
While we were opening presents, my girlfriends hubby, who just loves this girl, called to talk to her and wish her a happy birthday. So loved it!
Thats all she asked for and wanted! Sweet! Done and done! Bet you can guess how long those gum balls lasted....

Oot and aboot in Seattle......

Yay...sister trip. Minus 2 sisters(we missed them) :( but still a sister trip! I was so excited to go see Nat! Let the good times roll! Flew into Seattle about 20 mins early. My last text to her before I shut it off was...you better not be late!! Ha! I was jk of course. Texted her when we landed and said we were early and she had just walked in. Ohhhhh boy was she lucky! I told her I wanted her holding a sign up for me as I walked out the gate...she did! It was awesome! Didnt think to get a pic of it dang it! Anyhoo...was happy and excited to be there. It was raining some. We headed to her place where she made me and her bf a yummy dinner. Stuffed chicken quesidillas! They were amazing! She had an itinerary(hilrarious) all ready to follow and we stuck to it pretty good. If anyone(ANDY) asked what we were doing.....answer....look at the itinerary. We ran together, shopped together, ate together, sang together(oh boy did we ever sing it) laughed together,and just hung together! It was grrrrrrreat!!! I did miss my family. I think they missed me too. :)

First day, 3rd item on itinerary....we went to see the little puppy Nat is getting. Hes a Frug. Half French Bulldog/Pug. He is sooooo stinkin cute! I got to hold his little sister.


Next....DTS(down town Seattle) for some lunch and shopping. This was at Pike Place Market. Love this place. So fun!

Tried to get a pic of them throwing fish. I was to slow and these people needed to be down in front!
After walking through the market.
Very first Starbucks ever!
2nd day....On our way home from shopping at the outlets, we stopped to take some pics on Lake Washington. So pretty!
SP(self potrait), but pretty too! :)
Leaving for the airport and had to get a pic of Nats bf Andy for Rio. She has a crush on him and wanted me to take one. Its so funny when she sees him. She gets a little red face and does a shy laugh. Im not fooled! Andy was great! He hung with us the whole first and last day. Made us a yummy breakfast each morning. Was our personal photographer, and well...just put up with us, which deserves a gold star of its own! Thanks Andy...youre mobile!
Thought if I videoed the fish throwing, that would be better.....



Thanks for a great trip Nat!!!!

Thoughtful...

So Kirk came home from work one night and surprised me with this beautiful Orchid plant. I had had a ruff day/evening and that made my night. He said it was to say thank you. Thank you for so many things. He told me all the things and it was very nice. I love getting flowers, but they always die so fast, but Orchid plants can last forever if you take care of them right, so I am learning how. So thoughtful that Kirk!

Cuddly, cuddly...

Shes not our little girl anymore. This girl grows like a weed. She is only 4 inches shorter than Kirk and me.

Happy/sad visit.

Inbetween sessions on Conference Sunday, we went as fam to visit my moms grave. Hadnt taken the kiddies to see it for a while. Got there and the grass was all grown over the edge of the headstone, so we all cleaned it up and made it look nice. It was nice to be there and talk about her and answer questions our kids had about her. Towards the end though, the kids were a little sad. We told them it was okay to be sad. It was a very sad thing. I still get sad sometimes. Even though we got sad, we were happy we went.
Just across from my mom, is my Gma Omer. Its nice to be able to visit them both.

About a boy...

AT went a field trip to some place(cant remember) where you can dissect gross things. That day they got to dissect owl pellets. Translation....owl throw up! So gross! He thought is was so cool. So did Kirk, of course. Boys. This is AT showing me all the bones and parts that cant be digested. Hes pointing to the skull. Still gross....
Kirk went to the DI(hes the DI King) and saw these hockey sticks for 2 bucks each, so he got one each for AT and his buddies. Their scout master likes hockey and every time they got to scouts they play street hockey for a little bit. Now they can take their own sticks.
Game on...
Hate spiders, but the sure can spin it!

A good thing....

So went and volunteered for my first time at a Golf Tourney the Utah Special Olympics did. I was soooo excited! It was so much fun! I had my own golf cart(so fun) and followed a group of 4 guys around the course and kept score for them as they did 9 holes. There were 2 who were not disabled and 2 that were. They were paired one of each together. They practice together all year for the different events so they know each other and how they play. These guys were so nice. Had a few nice chats with Chris(one of the disabled ones). He was very fun to talk to. When we were finish, I handed out the medals at the awards ceremony. My team(Team Aggies from Logan) won gold and silver! Yay!!! Golf is over, now on to Basketball. My team from golfing wants me to be their official volunteer for Bball too! Thanks to Kirk and my kids for supporting me in doing this! :)

So happy to be there and helping!
Score sheet. Took me a hole or two to get the scoring, but they were patient and helped me.
Tom and Chris(disabled).
Dave(disabled) and Ben
Ben hit it into the brush and Dave had to get it out. Dave was full of confidence reassuring Ben he could do it....he did! Yay!!!
Hole 9. Dave and Ben got a 70 and Tom and Chris got a 67. Records for both pairs! They were all pretty excited!!
Getting Gold and Silver!! Saweet!!!
Me and my team(left to right...Ben, Dave, me, Chris and Tom). So fun to make new friends! I heard Dave say to Ben as they were walking off , "thats a pretty lady." Aww....very sweet!

Antelope Island(aka...Tatonka Island by me)....

Last time we went to Antelope Island, we got rained out. We were poured on. We've wanted to take the kiddies back. So we made a day of it. Invited Kirks sister and her husband and some of their friends. Walked the like, million mile walk to the beach. Played in the water, had a picnic, went on a little hike and saw some Tatonka(Buffalo to the lay man) and Antelope. It was windy and chilly down by the water and we were swarmed by gross bryne shirmp flies, but it was still good times!Kids loved how warm and soft the sand was.
They beat me to the water. All ready to get wet.
Not wet for me please....too cold.
Love these guys!
Kirk took the kiddies out in the water and we stayed back and waded.
Fun pic!
Matt dug a sink while in the sand.
These crazies went pretty far out.
I told them they would get cold if they went in the water. Not one to say I told you so though...
Nice and warm...
She was so ready to head back and eat. So much salt in that water. This is what we al looked like.
Back in the warm soft sand..
A hiking we will go....

At the top.

I think these things are so cool looking.
We're getting mooned.
My girl...so pretty.
Crazy Matt getting too close.
Good thing that Tatonka didnt feel threatened.
Our turn to sit in the back on the way home. Its like your own little world back there. Cant hear whats going on up front. We had a good time!