Make a Smilebox collage

Kade's Christmas Party

Kade had a wonderful Christmas party. He loves parties, I can't imagine who he got that from? That cute little man had been waiting for his big day for all of his friends to come over. He was cute the night before we made 12 gingerbread houses, he loved every minute of it. He helped, mix, cute, bake and of course worry if the the little pieces were going to break. We are so lucky to be his parents.

Our cute little host.

Trying to get those darn gingerbread houses to stand. I guess I need to find a better pattern for next year.

Kyle was Santa, and I attempted to be Miss Clause. Kyle told the children the story of the "True Meaning of Christmas." I think for the most part the kids thought he was Santa. Kade thought it was weird that Santa had the same voice as Daddy. Once Kim told him that it Santa was really his Daddy he wasn't scared.

Christmas Tree

For family home evening we went and picked up a little tree for Kade, he loves it. We learned about the true meaning of the Christmas symbols. Here are a few I found interesting

The Star: A heavenly sign of prophecy fulfilled long, long ago- The shining hope of mankind.

The Color Red: The first color of Christmas, symbolizing that Savior's sacrifice for all.

Christmas Tree: Evergreen- the second color of Christmas shows everlasting light and life. The needles point up to heaven.

The Bell: Rings out to guide lost sheep back to the fold, signifying that all are precious in His eyes.

The Candle: A mirror of starlight, reflecting our thanks for the star of Bethlehem.

The Candy Cane: Represents the shape of the shepherd's crook, used to bring lost lambs back to the fold.

The Wreath: A symbol of the never ending eternal value of love… having no end

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• This little girl sure loves her DADDY, it warms my soul to see them together!

Kade dragging his tree to the car. Kade was so excited to pay his $2.00 for his very own Christmas tree. We went to Walmart and he picked out some lights, I let him get colored I had to tell myself "this is his tree, not mine!" I'm not a fan of colored lights. It was such a fun family home evening.

Angie is selling Christmas tress this year across from Zollingers Cold Storage. She has worked really hard to get everything ready. If your in need a beautiful Christmas tree stop by her little Stand from 2-9 pm. They have the best customer service in the valley, at least that is what she says.

Halloween Overload

I know, I know, I have way to many pictures of Halloween posted! I haven't done any scrap booking or journaling in the past months or years so this it, this counts as both. My poor kids are so deprived of a mother who loves them and has their lives chronologically indexed. Get over it kids things aren't changing:).

We had a wonderful time trick-or-treating down in Ogden with Kyle's family. Kyle has the most wonderful brother in the world. My family thinks Kyle is nearly perfect in every way, I tell them they haven't met his brother Travis. The man cooks, gardens, cleans, serves, works hard and is dedicated, kind, genuine, and never stops serving! Those are just a few wonderful things he shares with those he meets. Kyle's father passed away the first year we were married so I often think of Travis as how Kyle's dad must have been.

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Avery only cared about one thing, the candy bars in her bucket! Have I mentioned she is becoming so spoiled and might I say a brat. Love and Logic is not even working.

Halloween Night was gorgeous, it was perfect!

Kade and Tyler had a blast.

The Trick-or-treating crew. Justin was the Grim Reaper, Rachel was Hanna Montana, Tyler was Optimus Prime, Kade a Pirate.

Kyle and Avery, these two together warms my heart.

Carving Pumpkins

Avery was a Skunk again. Last year I bought two skunk costumes for $1.99 at Children's Place, She was using both! Plus I couldn't resist she is so stinking CUTE!

My delicious Skunk.

Kade at school with his teacher. He is loving preschool, I think he would go everyday if he could. I miss little man when he is gone.

Kade thinks pirates act like Ninjas. He was a Ninja last year so, I guess he thinks Halloween costumes are a progressive thing, why not?

Murder Mystery Party

We actually had a successful organized Murder Mystery Party with the Thatcher family. It was a blast, everyone put a lot of time into their costumes, characters and food. Who wouldn't enjoy a Murder Mystery Dinner with a bunch loud people!

Linda was the arrogant witch. Her costume was perfect! She wanted to cast a spell on the vampire to kill him.

Brent had the lead role in the Murder Mystery, he was murdered! He did a fabulous job playing the role of the vampire. Melissa was an executioner, but she did not kill the vampire.
I had been working on my mummy costume for a few weeks. I changed it the night before the party. What I thought would be the winning costume was quite a disappointment. It took an hour to wrap just my arms, half my legs, and head. When I got done wrapping one leg I would start wrapping something else and half of what I wrapped had fallen off:(. The mummy in "This Is It" movie was much better. Kyle was the host he was funny, charming, and well organized. I thought he was so darn cute!

Lee was really funny all night, you just didn't want to get to close to him. I think he made up his own character. Kim was a crazy Alien, they got best costume of the night;).

Kolby was the swamp creature, he put a lot of time into his costume so I guess it is fitting that he got the most votes for best costume. He won an IHome. Angie was Frankenstein's Bride. She is preparing for a similar event in the future, I think.
Karen was Dr. Jeckle Hyde. I loved her costume and character she played the role perfect. What a fun sister!
Riley was Freddie Kruger. His face looked much better in real life. I think Riley should start a creative business called " The Perfect Costume." He can come up with several great ideas for everyone. Lindsey made a very scary clown. She spent two hours on Youtube learning how paint her face, she was the perfect scary clown.
We didn't really get any good pictures of the fun food and activities of the night. This was suppose to be ribs with a knife in the heart.

Kade's Long Awaited Halloween Party!!

Kade has been waiting, and waiting for his special Halloween dinner party for all his buddies. We started planning and talking about it way to early. It was one solid month of getting asked everyday how many days until his party. Kade and all of his friends had a blast.

These are some of the fun treats they had to eat. The eyeballs are doughnut holes dipped in white chocolate stabbed with a fork, Carmel apples, and creature cupcakes.

My mom dressed up as a which. She was such a fantastic witch, the kids loved her.

Kade insisted I be a Pirate too, this is the best picture I have.

The Haunted Mansion Dinner party for all the boys. It turned out great we got black plastic table wrap and made a little room, lighted some candles, and turned on the fogger, I forgot the scary music:(!

They loved the fake bloody hand.

They each got their own mummy goblet. I went through three sets of goblets to find the perfect ones, I love them!

Eyeballs and spaghetti, they actually tasted really good too! You just put a green olive in the middle of the eye ball.

The pirate host, this little man was in heaven all day!

Megatron, played by Max.

The one and the only Mr. Incredible, played by Jack.

The deadly Dracula, played by Ryland. He was so worried that his face paint was just perfect.

Indiana Jones, played by Carson.

The famous Magician, played by James.

Optimus Prime, played by Tyler.

San Diego

We took a quick Trip to San Diego last week. Angie had school off, Kyle was home sick, I was feeling sick, why not drive 13 hours to San Diego and stay for the week. That is what we did. I've heard you recover 10 times faster on the beach with the warm sun, that is just what I have heard! There were a few times Kyle and I looked at each other and said "What were we thinking." The drive was long at times, I hate driving! The sound of whining, screaming kids makes me want to end the trip all to soon. Actually they were really good, Avery cried or screamed for a few minutes then feel asleep. Once we got to San Diego it was worth all the driving!

The San Diego Temple is my new favorite. It is actually more impressive inside than out. If your in the area make some time to go, its amazing! We decided to take Kade and show him the temple, I think he liked it. When ever I ask him what we do in the temple he always says " Mommy's and Daddy's dance!" I don't know where he gets that, I didn't teach it to him. It must be the pretty dresses I where to attend the temple??

Avery never seems to care to look at the camera.

Me, Angie, and my mom. My mom is such a trooper she will go on any trip at the last minute and make the trip a blast. I think she likes us too:)!

Enjoying some beach time, you can always find time for the beach in San Diego!

Kyle, Kade, and Avery building a sand castle. Actually Avery just wrecked their castle every time. She is starting to do this dinosaur scream if she doesn't get what she wants. We don't know how to stop it, we don't want a spoiled princess who cries over everything. We need to change something, and change it fast!

Kade loved all the sand goodies we found at the house. Ashlee look, the purple sand castle is still alive, it was a great addition to toys. Thanks for spending all morning looking for the perfect one!

I thought this was so cute. Kyle tried to get Avery to smell the flowers. These flowers have no smell to them, very disappointing.

We found a great new Breakfast place to eat at, really Shari found it but we enjoyed it!

I wanted to get some family pictures on the beach, I had it all planned out perfect! There was this thick layer of fog covering the shore line. We tried to get a few cute pics, but failed due to the horrible fog! Maybe next time?

I look at this picture and think that's my boy, Kade's personality is that picture to a T.

We went down to the Lamp district to find a great place to eat.

Kyle taking some pictures of us eating at Pink Berry. It was the first time I had eaten Pink Berry, the place is way to overrated! It was good, but I wouldn't stand in line for an hour or even 10 min.

This chair was to cool at Pink Berry to not get a picture of it.

The lovely couple we went to chaperon, not really! Angie and her boyfriend, I know its weird to say it let alone hear it. They're a fun couple.