A Holiday weekend...more of the good stuff!

We had a great, relaxed weekend with Mike being home and the kids enjoying time off from school.
This is the last place that we went today, but it is kind of a fun picture to start off with. The park was actually completely packed, but there was a moment at this place without kids with the soft sunset beginning behind it. It was a new park that we have never been too and we had a fun time there. We didn't get there as early as we would have liked, but next time we plan on taking a picnic lunch and bikes. I may even try to roller blade (Mike made some comment about not having seen the pigs fly yet...he received a not so nice look in return.)
Katie found some man made rocks to climb. She has always been a climber. I was afraid that Christian, being a boy, would be even more so, but he was not. Katie loves to climb, just like me as a kid. Here she was not to happy about getting her picture taken on top. She is a little shy in public. This look is as good as I could get, then she wanted down to keep exploring.

I liked this picture of Christian going up a part of the massive play structure.

This was right before we left. I think they were getting tired of me taking pictures...but I wasn't. :)

Mike's back was to Katie as we walked back over from the rocks. I whispered to her to tickle her dad. He played it up...just a bit. She is so intense, look at that girl. I love it!

Earlier this week after a half day of school, Christian and Mike went out to practice riding the bike without training wheels. He is actually doing really well, he just doesn't realize he can do it yet. I imagine that our Heavenly Father looks at us through that lens too sometimes. He knows we can do it, we just haven't realized it yet.Here you can see Katie running along on the side cheering him on, she was soooo excited for him. We finally had to tell her to stop because she was distracting him. He would look at her and fall off. :) Don't worry, my kids aren't slow...I had the same problem, I didn't figure it out until 7 or 8 and then you couldn't get me off my bike.

We put up our Christmas decorations up on Friday. The front 1/6th of the tree has 80% of the ornaments on it. I don't think I am going to change it. It is just how they decorated it and I love it. (Yes, I am letting go...and it feels great!)

Mike put his new wheels on his Mustang. We are trying to get all the little stuff back on.

If you haven't been able to tell, Katie loves to dig in the sand. Here is more proof. She dug until she got to the "Indian clay".

Then, she actually wanted this picture taken of her too. (Remember, she has been being shy). I should put it on her door with the saying, "Don't be puttin' your head in the Sand." or something clever. Ideas?

This is Christian having a little treat his dad got for his sister and him. There are always more treats when dad is on vacation.

Okay, we couldn't decide which picture was cuter. We put gel in Christian's overgrown hair today and dried it with a little Mohawk. He is a poser...I told you he was.

I can never get a perfect part on Katie's head, so why would a get a straight Mohawk with Christian's?

He went and rinsed it down when we got home after the park, because, and I quote, "We have church tomorrow and it is okay to look cool today, but my should look nice tomorrow." (okay not a perfect quote, but it IS the gist.) I just love my kids! He came up with that on his own, we have never done his hair like that before. He also told me that he only wanted the good guy Lego Star Wars kit. I asked if Anakin in Clone Wars was okay. His answer, "No, he has a bad attitude in that movie." That is a quote. Alrighty then, NO Anakin. Only if he was from the first movie when he was totally good.

Here are the kids with their daddy. This is a restful scene during the melee of the wrestling that was occurring.

I love my family. They bring me such joy. (Pain at times too, but we are NOT focusing on these things...just didn't want you to think we were perfect over here)

Lest you think my son is girly and not just a hambone...

Here is proof that my son is quite a boys boy. After we decorated the tree today, Katie and Christian got into a wrestling match. I think Katie let him wrestle her...she is still bigger. However, he is getting a lot stronger. So here are the pictures. I may be partial...but I think it is cute. I am glad that they get along so well!

Katie was laughing here.

An Arizonan Thanksgiving...

Of the 10 Thanksgivings during our marriage, we have only had two without family. Once we were literally moving to Idaho and we ate Thanksgiving dinner at a diner in Burns, Oregon with a 2 year old and 6 month old. It was not very good food, but maybe that is because being with family and friends always makes food better. This year we had it on our "own" too. This time, however, we chose to stay home. After a summer of fun traveling all over the place, we decided that we would stay and enjoy Arizona. Why wouldn't we want to...look at this weather... :)
Just a side note: My mom is with my sister Rachel, helping her after having her FIRST child. A beautiful baby boy, Alexander Webb Prescott. Isn't he adorable? Just a little bit of Aunt pride here. :) I know, it has nothing to do with the post...

Okay, onto Thanksgiving. Our ward has a tradition of holding a Turkey Bowl at one of the huge neighborhood parks. Everyone brings a part of breakfast (juice, donuts, and bagels) to share and the guys and a few girls play flag football. The kids get to play at the park...and in the trees... and a the moms that come, get to chat. It was fun.

We went home to finish up our part of dinner...
They are such good helpers, aren't they? If you can't tell...Christian is very aware of the camera almost all the time. He is a "poser". He cracks me up. Katie is a little shy...
After we finished up we went on over to our friends the Ostler's house to enjoy an awesome diner and one anothers company. It was really good. This is just half of the food. More than we could eat in a week, or at least should!
While the last touches were being finished up on the dinner, the Ostler girls decided to sit on Mike's lap. I guess he looks friendly. Katie wasn't quite sure what to think about other girls taking her spot. It was funny to observe. She got a quick taste of having more siblings to share with. :)

These two (below) are oil and water. Somehow a conflict was started between them and it has never been resolved. They love to hate each other. Saydria REALLY didn't want to share the recliner with Christian. I can understand, she was there first. I can't remember why we pushed the issue, but we did. She was not happy as you can see and Christian wouldn't show his face for the picture. Totally appropriate. What funny kids. :) They got a long later...
It was a very relaxed and fun day. We finally got home and crashed. It was a fun day to reflect on how blessed we are to live in a wonderful free country, with good friends and family. Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful too!

Caution!

Last night I was making cookies for our Young Women's to celebrate the November birthdays. The timer went off as I was responding to an email, so Mike went to check on them for me. The first time he let them stay in for a few more minutes and then he went back and pulled them out. However, I didn't realize this when I finished my email and went over to take them out. Being fairly tired, without an oven mitt, I grabbed the cookie sheet to move it out of the way for the "new" sheet to be taken "out of the oven". I think I screamed and tried to hold back any words that I would regret. I was soaking my hand in a paper towel drenched with pure vanilla for the next two hours.

Forward to this morning...a "mouse" got into the cookies, so I had to make more to have enough for our very large Young Women's group. I put the last batch in and went to do Katie's hair. The timer went off and I asked Mike if he would once again go take them out for me, no matter what they looked like.

This is what greeted me when I walked into the kitchen a few minutes later...LOL!

Christmas Wish...

Tis' the season of putting wish lists together for Christmas. I went shopping yesterday with the kids to get some new towels for my bathroom (mine are getting a little...ratty). We wondered around a little bit afterwards to see if there was anything that caught their eyes and make it onto their wish list.

Once we were in the car and driving away, Katie piped up from the back, "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Oh, I just want two kids that listen to me all the time," I responded.

"Mooom, you can't pick that," she retorted.

"Why not? That is what I want more than anything in the world."

At this point, Christian piped in, "Mom, you don't need that."

"Why is that, Christian?" I asked him.

"Because you already have that," he said matter-of-factly.

How cute is that. I love my kids! They just crack me up. I am glad that they at least think they are obedient, every whit. But, then again, I am working on that in the big picture of things too!

My Little Fashionista and Fashionisto...

The kids decided on Sunday to give us a fasion show, with their parents belongings. They wanted it recorded...so I obliged. Then decided the best way to store this information was on here...for future benefit...bribing...etc., :) No, it is just plain cute.

Demographic Winter

The video was taken down for this title. But this is fascinating and worth the watch if you can get a hold of a copy! Here is the link to watch a preview...

The last minute is quite striking to me, considering Phil Longman's (the very first man speaking) analysis would seem to point differently in his personal beliefs. Interesting.

Reflections of Christ

If you have a chance to see the exhibit in your area, I highly recommend it. It was truly awesome. Hope you enjoy the little slide show.

Week in Review

America had a chance this week to once again flex its muscles for democracy and choose a new president to lead our country. Now, I am not going to say who I voted for,...but I will say that we got a chance to go to the John McCain "celebration" party and we went. :)

We parked off site from where it was being held and waited in a line for a very long time for our turn to be shuttled over to the "party". As we waited and shuttled we kept checking for updates on Mike's phone as the results were coming in to see who was taking which states.

As we entered the ballroom, we were greeted with reporters and bright lights on risers around the perimeter. It was quite an organized circus. The highlight of our time there was that Mike got to hear Hank Williams Jr. perform on stage. The pictures is a little blurry, but you get the idea. We were quite close. However, it wasn't enough to keep us there. Once we saw that Ohio went to Obama, it was decided that we were going to leave before everyone else decided that the party was also over and the shuttle line was crazy going back. But not before we got a picture of Mike in front of the last viewing of the "Straight Talk Express". Our rally pom-pom went to Katie.

We went out to dinner and had front row seats to the concession speech by the television that we sat by in comfort and quiet. Yes, we could have been 20-40 feet away from history, but we saw it just the same. I have no grand illusions about political parties anymore. Maybe I have been to a few too many Boy Scout functions. Unless you are with the ones you love, it is just not much of a party. But it was fun to have a chance to go and see and be a part of it for a moment.

Most of the rest of the week was busy with school, school, Mike's work, and me keeping busy. Two cute pictures of the week, though...

Here is Christian when he came out of his room one night and sat in the chair across from Mike and I. Before we could get a question out to him, he was asleep in the chair. How cute.

The other picture is from tonight. We met Mike after a long day of doing interviews for prospective employees and after we had just gotten Katie's hair cut. Look at these good buddies...especially when they have had good sleep. Hopefully that will be accomplished tonight.

What kind of Ice Cream???

Mike and I have been married now for over nine years. In those nine years, Mike has never been able to quite put his thumb on what kind of ice cream I really like. Tonight we went out for dinner with the kids. There was some miscommunication about the desserts and so we ended up sharing quite a bit of the mom and dad dessert with the kids. Mike knew I was a bit frustrated, so on his way home from getting shoes tonight, he was sweet and surprised me with some ice cream to cheer me up.

Out of the bag came the pint of Ben and Jerry's and I elatedly asked, "What kind?"

"Chunky Monkey," came the reply.

Now, you have to know, that I have never picked out Chunky Monkey ONCE in our marriage. Never said, I wonder what that tastes like...or anything of the sort. Why? Because I don't know that banana is usually a good thing in ice cream. Nor walnuts. I love just about any nut. But not walnuts. I think they are bitter and I can only count on one hand the number of times that I can say I have really enjoyed something with walnuts as an ingredient.

So, even though Mike doesn't usually pick up my favorite at the store, it is usually something that I can enjoy. Not this time, so I am twice frustrated on a dessert tonight. Not that I need it.

If tonight, you read this and you are craving some Chunky Monkey...come on over. You have a pint, minus a bite, all to yourself.

A thought...

'A government big enough to give you everything you want,

is big enough to take away everything you have.'

- Thomas Jefferson

Saturday Madness

This weekend, we started off at a run and just didn't stop. Of course, it started with Halloween and the next morning we got up and I sent the kids off with their dad to the Scout-o-Rama. Our friend Debbie from Oregon came and stayed with us this weekend so that she could attend her sons graduation from his motorcycle mechanics program. It was nice to get to visit with her so much while she was here. She works for the Boy Scouts in Oregon and since her son was still sleeping that morning she went with the kids and Mike to see the HUGE Scout-o-Rama until he woke up. The kids loved having our "guest" as Christian called her for awhile and both wanted to ride in her car to the event. They had a blast.

There are a ton of things to do there. Here are just a few. Shooting rubber band guns. Look at the concentration on those faces.

Another taste, launching watered sponges...to hit the...

....cows. What cute cows.

Launched rockets. (paper rocket he made there)

There was a ton more things. I mean, they probably only saw 1/3 of what was there in 3 1/2 hours that they were there. They loved it. We should have just stayed there all day. After I came and joined them the kids and I left to go support the Fall Festival at our school, so off we went...

The beauty of the Fall Festival this year was that the kids are old enough to take off on their own and I just stayed in a central location in the shade (I already had a sunburn from the hour I was at the Scout-o-Rama) that they could come and check in with me. I got to watch them run all over the place playing games, bouncing, and trying to dunk the teachers.

Now, the day after Halloween, we just hadn't had enough sugar, so we had to get cotton candy.

Christian is addicted to anything bounce house-ish. He burned off a lot of energy.

Katie went and got her face painted at one point. Amazingly the line wasn't too horrendous this year, because I wasn't sure where she was for a little while and then all the sudden she showed up painted.

She really misses the rock wall at the gym, so she was lucky and was one of the very last kids on. We had a lot of fun and after another 3 hours of fun were ready to go home and relax for a little while.