Carter is (almost) 7

Poor Carter. It is not ideal to have a birthday 4 days after Christmas. In the past we've let Carter open his birthday presents early on Braden's birthday. That worked okay for a while as the boys usually got similar gifts, but last year I felt that it was time to try something new. Kam and I discussed it and decided that Carter could open his presents on a designated day in November. This year though, Carter got to have a friend party so we went all out celebrating. Carter chose a pirate party theme. We asked his friend to come dressed in their best pirate attire and played Pirate Bingo, Ring the Cap'n's Hook, Cannonball Blast, Crock-Toss and went on a treasure hunt. Carter's favorite part was opening presents and eating his Crock Cake.

He got to open one present before the party from mom and dad.

We tied balloons to the kids ankles and they had to
pop the others "cannons" before their was popped.

Carter was so excited for this gift. He thought it was a movie
but it was a wii game he had been wanting. I loved his reaction!

Crocodile Cupcake-Cake

Happy Birthday my Carter Boy! You are smart, funny, quiet, stubborn, a great brother especially to your little sister, excited about school and learning, and the best snuggle bug ever! Love you!

Fall 2015 Soccer Season

This has been a really rewarding soccer season. Braden has continued to show some real talent over the last couple of seasons playing so I decided to put him in a more competitive league. He played on team Storm with Henderson United part of the SNSA. We had a great experience with this league, his teammates and his coach. At first I was worried because the other kids seemed to be playing much better than Braden but as the season progressed he quickly showed that he was one of the best on the team. His coach had him play on defense for most of the games, which was great because that's what he likes best, but would sometimes play him forward because of his go-get-em approach. Braden was a great defender. I am definitely looking forward to see him continue to improve in the coming years.

Way to go Team Storm!

Carter also played this season and also showed real talent as a defender and was much improved over last year. Carter is more timid when playing contact sports but this year he really shined as a defender. He was not afraid to get in there and help his team. This was a special season with Carter because I was his coach. I didn't plan on coaching, but their team didn't have one and I figured how hard could it be. It was harder and easier than I thought. For someone who has never played soccer it was difficult for me to help teach technique but I learned with them and it was a truly rewarding experience. The best part was all the love my little team showed me.

Hooray Team Quicksilver!

Staycation

Kam took the week off after his birthday so we could take the kids to Disneyland. At the last minute though we decided we needed to save our money so instead of going to Disneyland we stayed home and planned some fun things to do near our home. We had a really fun time and it was made more fun with my dad who came down to join in on some of the fun. He arrived Tuesday afternoon and after playing games with the kids he and Kam took the boys to a movie while I went to the temple to do baptisms with the youth in our ward. The next day we went out to lunch and then headed up to Red Rock for a hike.

Driving the Loop

My dad was ahead of me and climbed on top of
 this rock and totally scared me after turing a corner.

This rock is heavy mom!

This girl loves her Papa.

Always in the Trees

After the hike we said goodbye to my dad and headed up to Mt. Charleston to stay overnight. Our night was a crazy one up there. First we had to change rooms as the first one was freezing cold and we couldn't get the heater to work and then after eating dinner and watching a movie we settled in for a LOOOONG night. Sadly, Riley started to fever up and she was up off and on all night. We were so tired in the morning and she was burning up so instead of playing in the mountains we just took a ride around getting out quickly to make a snowman and then went to lunch and headed home. Our original plan was to spend the day at the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus but since we were all so tired I opted to stay home with Sick Riley and Kam took the boys bowling, to Rocket Fizz for a treat and then to the movies instead. All in all it was still a really fun time and time we definitely needed together as a family. I think we'll try this staycation thing again for sure; let's just hope we don't have any sicklings next time.

Baby Snowman

My Sick Baby

Happy Birthday Kam

Birthday celebrations as an adult are not nearly as exciting as when you're a kid but birthdays are very rewarding when you have awesome kids that make you feel on top of the world. For Kam's birthday we made one of his favorite dinners and I made him his yearly request of chocolate cheesecake. The boys made Kam cards and I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of his day. We love this great dad of ours!

Brady made Kam cry.

Happy Family

Make a wish!

Happy Halloween in Utah

We had a lot of fun this Halloween with lots of parties and events! The boys had a Trunk-or-Treat carnival at their school and we all dressed up for our ward Trunk-or-Treat as well. The boys also got to dress up at school for a big Halloween party and parade that Sis and I were able to watch.

Don't let the grumpy face fool you, he was so happy,
 but hated all the pictures I wanted to take.

Braden with his good friend (and new favorite character), Aiden.

After the parade I loaded the kids in the car and drove up north to spend the weekend with my family.  Our drive was great as usually but we did have a 45 min delay when a semi stalled and broke down on the one lane section in the Gorge. Thankfully the kids were good while waiting. We clipped fingernails and walked around and I even helped Riley squat on the side of the road so she could pee. Thankfully we got there safely and were able to do so many fun things. We got to visit with my Gramma Goodie and play in the leaves at Gram and Grampa Henrie's.

On Halloween we went to Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove for some fall fun and then later we all dressed up for a Soup Social that my mom's ward does every year followed by Trick-or-Treating.

These girls are so funny. Usually they don't get along all to well as they are always vying for attention, but this trip they were great friends! They held hands everywhere. My favorite was them holding hands while Trick-or-Treating. 

This little train was a highlight! We could not get the girls to get off.
They went around and around and around.

Carter went as Peter Pan's Shadow

My brother Dane made Braden's Night Wing costume
as well as his own Death Stroke costume.

I made Riley's and my costumes. I saw the idea for the glamorous Wicked Witch
costume online and just had to make it. I was originally going to make it for Sis
but then decided to make it for myself. Riley wanted to be a witch so I told her
she was a Dorothy Witch. After getting up north, my mom decided to have me
help her make the rest of the Wizard of Oz gang to match.

A close up of my make-up.

The day after Halloween we celebrated Pappy's 60th Birthday with a big surprise party. It was so fun to see my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was also great to do something special for Gary; he is the greatest! Our last day up north we did some shopping at Savers and then headed up to my sister Megan's house to celebrate Navy's 3rd Birthday at a fun party and then dinner as a family afterwards.

Happy Birthday Navers!