Thanksgiving 2012

I am so mad at myself for not assigning the camera to someone for thanksgiving this year. I know before hand that I get caught up in the madness of trying to get everything ready to serve and people taken care of to worry about taking pictures so I need to give that job to someone else.  And this was our first year of having Morgan with us!! We did have a big group of about 30 people this year.  At first I thought it was just going to be our family with both sets of grandparents, Morgan, Dave, and Don and Jill's family.  But it turned out that Dale and Anita's family and Anita's mother and Darin and Sunny's family and the Shaw kids came as well.  We had two turkeys. I made one and so did mom and dad.  We both brined them again this year and everyone loved them.  We had lots of side dishes and WAY too many pies!! We will be cutting down on that next year.  Morgan and Ethan and Dave enjoyed the new indoor basketball game we bought from Costco the night before. And the kids just enjoyed being together and playing. I am sooooooo bummed I didn't get any pictures of any of this!!

The New Wall!

One thing I love about Dennis  is that when he decides to do a project he gets to work and gets it done. Unlike me, who just thinks and dreams and never gets anywhere;)  He has worked so hard to get this rock wall done before Thanksgiving. Saturday, he worked for 20 hours straight; from 4:30 am until 12:30 am. I love the way it turned out and so appreciate my wonderful husband who always wants to improve and beautify our home!!

Our 5 year old Girlie

Ava has been so excited for her 5th birthday for months now and was "4 and a half" right up until the day of. She wanted to get her ears pierced, get a mermaid tail, and go to Jungle Jims with her two best friends.  All her wishes came true and she was the happiest little girl in the world. Of course, there were some tears and rather loud crying when the ears were pierced ( a little girl watching and begging her dad if she could get her ears done next decided she didn't want them done after Ava's reaction and left the store;) She and her friends, Hope and Ava loved Jungle Jims and the other girls were saying they were going to ask their moms to take them there for their next birthdays. We stayed for almost 3 hours and I think they would have stayed longer. Her friends gave her presents too. Hope gave her a Pocahontas doll which sings and Ava gave her a whole set of bead jewelry and they had fun making necklaces the next day. Such fun memories for her 5th birthday!

Photos in the Dark

We were planning on using these pictures for the family newsletter and for something that Rachel asked for but we weren't real happy with how they turned out.  It gets so dark so early now that by the time Dennis got home from church it was completely dark.  I love the picture of the boys but the flash made their eyes look wild and crazy and of course the one I liked of me and my girl is great except you can't see her pretty brown eyes!  We'll try again tomorrow and hopefully they will turn out better:)

Halloween 2012

Halloween was so warm this year! Record-breaking warm. It was 75 degrees during the day and a nice mild night as well.  Ethan went to a friend's party and dressed as a tourist in Hawaii.  Brad went with a few friends around the neighborhood and he dressed like an escaped convict.  Jake wanted to be a gangster (grandma thought he was a French man). Ava was Hannah Montana and Eli was a baby racoon. Dennis wore his traditional costume of an Eagles fan:)  I was able to pass the candy out to all the adorable little munchkins in our neighborhoods. Everyone had a great time!!

Dad's Helper

Dennis is trying to sand and refinish some bookcases for our front room and was busy working one evening by himself.  Jake put on a little mask like Dad and asked if he could help.  Dennis showed him how to sand and let him take over on the inside of one of the book cases.  I don't know how long he lasted but I thought it was super cute that he wanted to help!

Ethan's Eagle Project

Ethan has finished his Eagle Project and now just has to do a few more things before his Court of Honor.  It took a while for him to get started but he did really well at delegating and asking for help with the other boys.  ( I got home after the rest of the boys had already taken off so I took a shot of the Hanna boys and Ethan knocking at our own door;)  Ethan decided to do a similar project that was done in Grandma and Grandpa Merrill's neighborhood.  It was an emergency packet of sorts to let others know the status of the household when a disaster strikes.  He included quite a booklet of different disasters and how to prepare for them and a red, yellow, and green cardstock to be placed in the window after an emergency. Red means serious injuries, needs immediate help, yellow means minor injuries, needs help when available, and green means everyone is okay. Grandma and Grandpa both really liked this project as it is something they felt they could really use and need someday. Hopefully the National Council will accept it as well!

Jack-o-Lanterns 2012

The end products of all their hard work.  Ava decided to give her little pumpkin from her fieldtrip to Eli. Traditions sure are fun!

Carving Time!

It's that time of year again! Even Ethan enjoys carving pumpkins with the rest of us:)  Jake is of course dramatically pulling the "guts" out of his.  What a kid!  Ava had a special little carving tool for hers but eventually asked Jake to carve the stem for her.  But she did carve the face and was very proud of herself. Next year we need to remember to not carve them so early as they all rotted and had to be thrown away already!

Abs of Steel

Eli is always sitting/laying like this.  He has a huge muscle going down his belly from doing this so much. He sure is a fun little guy and the kids get such a kick out him and all his cute antics. He is now 6 months old, has one tooth, doesn't sit up yet but rolls and inches like a little worm to get whatever he wants.

Our Little Men

During Fall Break, Brad and Jake decided (with a little persuasion from mom;)to go with their daddy to work one day.  Dennis was excited to have them go with him and they felt needed as they said they lifted everything he needed that day.  They also loved going to lunch with him and having a bagful of snacks for the day.

Pretty Little Girl

Ava found this little hibiscus hair tie from Aunt Carolyn who sent it to her from Hawaii and wanted her hair in two little ponies.  I just thought she was so cute, even though she wasn't feeling her best. 

Ava's Fieldtrip

Ava's FIRST  fieldtrip in her preschool.  Poor little thing was not feeling the best and her eyes show it but she didn't want to miss it for anything.  We went to the Vineyard Gardens and got to do a little corn maze, playground, and saw lots of little animals.  Of course I forgot my camera but when we got home I had her pose with her little dollar pumpkin. (She had decided to carve it herself;) It was a really fun day and brought back memories of Jake at this age.  He and I did this very same field trip when he was 4!

Conference Weekend

This year we didn't have t.v. for conference so the kids piled pillows and blankets on the floor and we listened to it by radio.  It was actually even better.  I think the kids paid more attention than ever before.  Jake and Ava kind of wore out by Sunday afternoon but I was pleased they did as well as they did.  It was a wonderful conference and I felt uplifted and very well fed.  Elder Holland's talk was so insightful and really touched all of us. I noticed Brad intently listening, glued to his chair even! Wonderful to see:)  Oh, we were also able to get together with Dennis' friends from high school Saturday night in Tooele and went bowling.  All of us except Ethan.  He decided to go to the Priesthood session instead.  I was so very proud of him! And he even took notes for his mother:)

The Chair!

We decided to get Eli an activity chair so he can entertain himself a bit but he really doesn't like it.  I'm surprised we got a few happy pictures of him in it. He just wants to be held and loved ALL the time. I must say my house is a disaster most of the time but I know I would regret it later on if I spent my days cleaning instead of holding my sweeties! They grow and leave so quickly!!

Jazz practice facility

Ava with Bria

Dennis' "Angry" Eyes

 

Mr. Angry Eyes

Poor Dennis! Why he ever listened to me when we came to a fork in the road I'll never know! My sense of direction is always backwards.  We wanted to go to Sundance and ended up on some desserted dirt road with potholes big enough for hippos to wallow in.  Dennis had just cleaned the car and it was just getting layer upon layer of a nice fine dusty soot as we drove and he kept mentioning it.  He was getting so uptight over it that I pulled out the camera and was going to shoot his "pouty" face. Of course he started laughing and it took forever for him to give me his "angry" eyes;) He really is funny when he gets upset.  Sometimes we just love to tease each other to see that little fire that keeps things interesting:)

Kids on the Alpine Loop

 

 

 

We found the brightest red tree at a pull-out and snapped some photos of the kids (and Daddy). We sure do love this tradition of driving through the canyons in the fall and looking at the amazing foliage.  The kids love to find leaves (you'd think they were treasure with how excited they get over them;) to take home.  This year the colors were especially vibrant which is unusual with how dry it was this year. It really is one of the prettiest years I've seen here in Utah.

Alpine Loop

 

 

Sunday, after the Temple Dedication, Dennis asked if we would like to drive the Alpine Loop and see the fall colors.  (Everyone in Utah County had the same idea-I've never seen it so busy!!) Well, we stopped at this one overlook at a huge valley and decided to take some pictures of the kids. Ava started doing a silly face and I told her to stop but then Dennis said that we should let them do a silly one.  And it's my favorite!! As they all started their faces, I looked over the camera and said something to Eli and he gave one of his cutest smiles.  It looks like he knows what the others are doing and thinks it's hilarious. I really do love the silly one the best!  (Daddy's do know what's best sometimes;)