Halloween 2009

Once again, it's Halloween! Everyone went their separate ways this year. Chance (dressed as a pirate) went to a friend's party. Keaton didn't wanted anything to do with Halloween so he stayed home playing the Xbox! Race (dressed as a ghoul) went to a Halloween Fear Factor party at a friend's house. So, that left Rylie, Mike, and I to do our trick-or-treating together. Rylie (also dressed as a pirate) went to Katie's house (cousin) to have a ghoulish dinner of blood, tombstones, jelly eyeballs, and ground up liver. Sounds delicious! After dinner, Rylie, Katie, Tyler, and Tatum all went trick-or-treating together. I must say that trick-or-treating here in AZ is the best ever. It was perfect weather - no coats and there was only a slight chill in the air. The kids had a great time and were ready to head to our house after running around to watch Ghostbusters. All in all, a great evening! (And yes, Chance really does have a beard!!)

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Pumpkins

For family night this week we "carved" our pumpkins. Chance and Keaton told me they were too old for this and opted to not decorate a pumpkin. Race and Rylie had lots of fun. This was a great project and very easy to do, not to mention they turned out really cute! I loved not having to clean up a huge mess either!

Rylie's 2nd Appearance at the State Fair!

Rylie did it again! She entered 15 items in the Arizona State Fair and also participated in the fashion show. I've posted a few pictures showing some of her work. She LOVES her sewing class and was really excited about her entries this year. Of the entries that we found she won: 4 first place ribbons, 1 second place ribbon, 1 third place ribbon, and 1 fourth place ribbon. Rylie and I wanted to go looking for the other entries, but the boys wanted to go eat and do the rides. She also won 2nd place in the fashion show. The blue summer dress that Rylie is wearing is what she made and wore in the fashion show. She walked away with a $10 cash prize! Yea Rylie!

Keaton Turns 16!

Keaton turned the ripe old age of 16 on 10-22. He spent the night playing football! He was a happy camper that night because his team won. It was a great game with a close score. He played very well! It was his first game after being out for the last 5 games. In September, he was tackled with an illegal clip and went down hard. He tried to walk off the field, but ended up needing help. They taped his ankle and knee up with ice and he sat out the next 5 games with a "high ankle sprain." First he was on crutches, then a boot, and then a brace, which he now wears during games. A few days after the game, Keaton had a birthday party with his friends. Boy did we have a house full! The kids ate, and ate, and ate. Nothing new around here! Then they watched the new Transformer movie and hung out. The epitomy of teenaged fun!

Chance Turns 17!

I'm only a few months behind, but better late than never! Chance had a huge pizza and pool party for his birthday (7-19). I made a bunch of food and ordered pizza and then Mike and I let the kids be! Mike would go in every once in a while and yell out, "Hand check!" He thought he was pretty funny. Chance wouldn't let me take pictures because it was "dumb." He did let me take some pictures when we had the family party. Generous of him. Still can't believe my baby is 17! Where did the time go?

Swimming Fun!!

We have absolutely loved our pool this summer. The kids have been in it everyday and sometimes twice. They usually have cousins or friends over so we always have kids running around the backyard! Yesterday the kids and their cousin Katie wanted to have a belly flop contest. It was so funny to watch! The wanted me to take pictures of them and post them on the blog. (Everytime they do something they tell me to take a picture and post it on the blog!) So, here are their crazy pictures!

Camping in the White Mountains

The day after Race's birthday we left to go camping with my family up in the White Mountains. The campgrounds were beautiful and the lake was just a 10 minute walk away. The kids all had a great time. We tried crawdad fishing for the first time and all the kids loved it. Even the teenagers! I wish I had pictures of the kids fishing, but I let Rylie take pictures the day before and my batteries died right before we got to the lake! To crawdad fish we took a stick with some fishing line and a hook and added a piece of hotdog. Then we just threw the line in the lake, right along the shore, and the crawdad just came out from under the rocks and started eating on it. Then all we had to do was pull them out into a net. Rylie was the fishing champ with 37 crawdads. She even had the largest. Although we were grateful to get out of the heat it was pretty cold up there. We're not used to 50 degrees at night. Thank goodness for campfires. We all had such a great time we're planning on doing it every summer!!

Race Turns 11!

Yeah! Race turned 11 on June 4th. He had a great pool party and then played video games and air hockey. He was more excited about his presents. He received enough money to buy his own Ipod Touch! I'm thinking of throwing myself a birthday party next year!

Memorial Day

We had a BBQ and pool party at our house on Memorial Day on all of my family came over to play! The kids had a blast swimming and the parents all had fun just relaxing and hanging out.

Arrow of Light

We're officially finished with Cub Scouts! Race received his Arrow of Light at the end of May. We are so proud of him. He LOVES his arrow that his Cubmaster made for him. He is so excited to start working on merit badges and Boy Scout stuff. He is going to Lake Pleasant day camp next week and can't wait. Now if I can just get Chance and Keaton excited to finish their Eagle projects!

Rylie's First Recital

Rylie starting playing the piano back in February and today she had her first recital! She played two songs that she had memorized, "Siamese Cat Song" and "When We're Helping". She didn't make one mistake! She played with 13 other students. It was fun to see so many kids from our ward who also take lessons from Sister Baker. We are so proud of her! Great job Rylie!

Bowling Queen!

Last night we went bowling for family night. I did horrible in the first game (typical) and great in the second (160). In the last 6 frames I bowled spare, spare, strike, strike, strike, and a spare! I ended up beating everyone and now Mike owes me $20!! I'll take dinner and a movie this weekend, please!

Spring Formal - A Knight for a Princess

Saturday night was the Spring Formal for 4 stakes in the Chandler/ Gilbert area. Chance's group went to Olive Garden, then spent 30 minutes at the dance talking and getting their picture taken, and then went back to his date's house and watched a movie. If I had know that I wouldn't have spent so much money on his tux! Let me tell you boys can be expensive too! I would have been better off buying him a brand new suit! They all had fun and the pictures turned out cute. I actually spent 8 hours on Saturday helping decorate. It was pretty impressive what the parents accomplished. It was decorated like a castle. They had armor, 2 castles, fountains, a huge gazebo, and a huge draw bridge that the kids had to walk through to get in. I didn't stay to finish decorating or help to chaparone. I had to go to the ER because Mike decided to break his pinkie finger when he jumped in the pool! All in all the kids had a great time. Next year I'll have two going!

I Love Pedicures!!

I guess you could say that pedicures are my one guilty pleasure! So, what do you think? My sister-in-law told me of this new salon that does all different kinds of designs. I have had more comments on this pedicure than ever before. It has been so fun and with the warm, sunny weather we're having I wear sandals everyday! I can't wait to see what I get next month!

Chance is Going to the "Mormon Prom"!

Our stake is participating in a 4 stake prom for all the Priests and Laurels. Chance asked a young lady to go on Friday by putting his invitation in an envelope laminated twice and then placing the envelope in a large bowl filled with water. Then he placed it in the freezer. (He was going to ask her on Thursday but it took longer than he thought to freeze!) He put the large block of ice on her doorstep with a note saying, "crack me open!" When we came home from church on Sunday, this little pool filled with water and ducks was on our front porch. He had to put the ducks in order to discover her answer ! How cute is that!!

Chandler Stake Pioneer Trek

During Spring Break, the youth in our stake went on a pioneer trek. Chance was part of the Moony Family and Keaton was part of the Willis Family. They spent 4 days and nights south of Flagstaff. They participated in the trek by dressing only in pioneer clothing (with only 1 change of outfits), pushing and pulling handcarts, a taffy pull, square dancing, ax throw, candle making, killing and plucking a chicken, and many other great experiences. They had a great time and a wonderful experience. I can't wait for Race and Rylie's turn to go when they are older!