Seven Blissful Years

On the 17th, Kev and I celebrated seven wonderful years of marraige. He planned a get-away to Las Vegas and it was just the break we needed. My sister and brother-in-law were saints and took our three kids for a few days so we could enjoy our vacation with no worries. When we called to talked to the boys, they would say hi and quickly pass the phone on, not missing us at all. They had a blast with their cousins for a few days, Brookie did great and we loved the time without them, though we love them dearly!

For my birthday, which is a month earlier, Kev surprised me with tickets to Blue Man Group while we were there. It was amazing and much better than we both expected. We highly recommend it to anyone that gets a chance to see it.

This one was for the kids, but who doesn't love a picture with an M&M?

We picked and chose what there was to see on the strip and of course hit Bellagio.

This is a chocolate fountain! I had to borrow batteries from another tourist to get this picture, but it was worth it.

The Bellagio turned their flower garden into a Christmas scene and it was beautiful. This polar bear is made completely out of flowers.

We wouldn't of missed watching the fountains.

Our kind passer-by photographer missed a better opportunity for a photo, but that's alright.

The Bellagio fountains are a must see when down in Vegas.

We had so much fun and looking forward to many more anniversaries. I am so much happier than I ever could of imagined and it just gets better every day. I don't know how I got so lucky to marry and spend eternity with someone as patient and selfless as my stunning husband, but I do know I am blessed and am grateful everyday for our eternal marriage.

Fall Became Winter

Fall and winter are fun times for kids. The weather, the holidays, the cozy PJs. Good times! Here's some of our cold weather fun.

Cute kids in cute PJs. Also Brooke's moment to shine. She naps during a lot of the fun and so she doesn't appear much in the pics. But we love you lots Brookie!

Cold weather brings basketball!

We are lucky to have parents and grandparents that share their tickets. The boys love the hype, the cougar and the popcorn. With the crazy atmosphere, I don't think Brooke blinked once.

Raking's a pain, but piles of leaves are nothing but fun.
Jordo's style is frog style.

Ty gives it his all, just like he does with everything.

Not much to say, just makes me smile.

If Brookie was in it, this would be a Christmas card.

Then on to snow. Too soon in my opinion, but not soon enough for the boys.

Here's a little story about my boys and how different they are.

Here is Ty. Starting the perfect snow ball, being ever so careful.

Even after the snowmen have been built, Ty is holding onto and protecting his snowball.

Yes, he did ask for his picture with it.

Now Jordo.

Here's his snowman.

Then for kicks, he started having a snowball fight with it.

Any guesses on who won?

And as if the balls weren't enough, he finished Frosty off with a good beating. He was quite proud that he came out on top.

I love my kids and love that they are so unique. It makes life exciting.

Ty is Five!

On Friday, Ty turned five!

He was so excited for his birthday, we were on the countdown for quite some time.

Now he tells me, "I can do that, cause I'm five!"

or

"I don't need that, cause I'm five!"

Do you need a better reason than that?

We of course had to have a #5 candle, that we had weeks in advance.

He requested a basketball cake.

That was something I could handle.

We were so lucky to have his cousins come up for his birthday.
Braden, Josh and Cody celebrated at Pirate Pizza with us.
The pirate made them a bit nervous, but we managed a picture.

Of course, a few presents, still sporting the pirate hat!

Ty, we love you SO much. You are an amazing kid with so many talents. We can't wait to see what you will do in life and the things you will accomplish. It blows me away that you are five! We are so proud of you and are so lucky to have you in our family!

Happy Halloween!!

Our little family had SO much fun this Halloween.

Full of traditions, fun, and of course, too much junk!

Here are our pumpkins. Brooke's is the little spider (thanks to Nicki for the great idea),

Ty's is the carved spider, Jordo's is the middle one, and the black cat was mine. I saw it in a magazine and thought it would be cute.

The boys came up with their ideas all on their own, including the nose in Jordo's.

We aren't typically a matchy-matchy family, but after a friend made these capes for the boys, it just seemed like a good idea to do one for Kev.

Like father, like son. They boys loved being just like Dad, and Kev was a great sport.

With all the darkness of vampires, we brightened things up with this cute fairy.
At ten months she is walking all over the place now. But with two brothers to keep up with, we knew it wouldn't take long.

Here are my three adorable kids!

I had to put this one on.

Brooke started to know the flash was coming and she would squint whenever the camera would come out. Little smartie-pants.

Happy Halloween! Bring on Thanksgiving and the holiday season!

Pumpkin time again!

Grandma and Grandpa took us, well definitely more for the kids, to the famous pumpkin patch again. Brookie loved climbing on the piles, the boys had a great time picking the 'perfect' pumpkin and riding in the wheelbarrow wasn't too bad either.

(sorry for the blur, someone doesn't hold still!)

We love fall, pumpkins and everything that comes with it! (except that snow is coming)

Finishing the Summer off Right

We went mini golfing!

We took advantage of the good weather and a Monday night and headed for fun.

We hadn't told the kids that Grandma and Grandpa were coming, so when we got to there and they saw them, they were thrilled.

Ty tried to figure out how we all ended up there at the same time!

Jordo thought it was a bit easier if he put his ball closer to the hole, and then he could just tap it in. It turned out to be a pretty good strategy.

Ty takes his golf very seriously.
He did just what his Dad did. He's a good little golfer and is ready for Kev to take him 'big golfing'.

Jordo was cracking us up with his attack on the game.
Always so expressive.

This would be Ty after his hole in one.

I guess his strategy paid off too!

Brookie loved being outside and if mini golf courses were cleaner, she could have gotten down and played a bit.

Nothing better than a summer evening phasing into fall.

Preschool Time!

Since Ty missed the deadline for kindergarten, we figured we needed to do some sort of preschool. Last year, we did a rotation with some other families in the neighborhood, but all those kids started school. So this year, it's up to me. I'm doing one with Ty and Jordo, very simple, but it gives us all a schedule and some good quality things to fill our Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Here are a few of the things we've done:

The boys love working in their little books. If only homework always stayed this fun.

For 'A' we did apple art. We cut shapes with apples and painted.

The boys love this kind of stuff, and this helps me to let them do it more.

Here's Jordo, quite focused.

For 'E' we went on and egg hunt. The kids thought I'd gone crazy since they know Easter doesn't come again until after Halloween and Christmas, but they didn't put up a fight either.

Jordo found one by the toothbrushes!

Ty's clue took him to the bookshelf.

Jordo loved the one that was hidden in the pumpkin candle.

Here they are with their eggs, eating their egg candy.

It's been a lot of fun for me to have some quality time with the boys while Brooke naps.

They are both so smart and it's fun to see and help them learn.

We'll see how letters F through Z go!

Owlz Baseball Game

There is just something about being at the stadium for a sporting event. And our boys can feel it and LOVE it. We try to take them to as much as we can, but it's not as much as we would like. This past week, Kev's parents took us to an Owlz game and the boys were so excited! They even willingly took a nap so they could stay up later.

Here's the crew. A kind passer-by took this picture for us, but as you can tell, there was a lot going on.

Our boys don't really have a great relationship with mascots. Up until this picture, they've pretty much been terrified. Jordo consented only because I was there, and Ty didn't want to come at all. But once his younger brother showed him up, he decided he wanted to dig down deep and find some bravery.

And he did. He's holding on pretty tight to that bar, but he is pretty proud of himself.

We had a great time! I don't think Ty stopped talking once the whole night. He even told Kev that he wants to dig up the grass in our yard to make it into a baseball field. If only...

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for more fun memories!

St. George Highlights

We headed to St. George the beginning of August for some family time and a lot of R & R!

We had so much fun and even though it was August and hot, we had some stormy weather to keep us cool.

If it wasn't stormy, we were in the pool.

Brooke loved playing in the water and is at the cutest stage right now.

Ty could live at the pool.

This kid jumps, dives, floats and anything else he can and for as longs as he can.

Jordo feels much better where he knows he can touch.

But that doesn't stop him from having lots and lots of fun.

Here's my cute family hanging behind the waterfall.
Kev was gracious enough to let me be the picture taker and not the picture takee.

We've loved the summer.
It's been busy, but full of fun.
Bring on the fall!
We're ready for cooler evenings, jumping in the leaves and holidays.