Out for a drive

Saturday morning came and the kids wanted to go for a drive. We packed up (dogs included) and headed to AF Canyon. It's so pretty up there...it's always one of our favorite places to go for a drive. I took the camera, thinking that maybe we'd have a chance to take a family photo. Well, after the 1st two stops the kids decided that they had had E.N.O.U.G.H.! At Cascade Springs (our 3rd stop along the way) they just would not cooperate. I got ugly, and so I headed to the car for a time-out. About the time we were leaving the canyon I was speaking again. (I really don't know if I'll survive their teenage years...seriously!) We grabbed a bite to eat and drove 2 miles down the rode to see some model homes (another one of our favorite things to do). They were beautiful! There was a stocked pond in this development, so the salesman told Brian to take the kids over and go fishing. Zach let the dogs off their leashes, the kids fished with their daddy, and I was able to just relax and read for a while. It really did turn out to be a nice day after all ;0)

**Warning! Not all the photos have been edited...view at your own risk**

Stop #1....not bad

Stop #2...okay, but it was way too windy

Stop #3...we looked thrilled, huh?
Yep...this was right before it got ugly

Brian took these pictures while I was back at the car having my "time-out"...

This was at the pond where they went fishing

Vampires

This past week I decided for my children that they would all be vampires! I know, I know... how horrible was that? No one would decide what they wanted to be, so I made that decision for them, and....I just love everything Twilight! I bought the material for the capes, mom made them (thank you mom...you're a lifesaver once again) and I thought they looked like the cutest little vampires. We went to the trunk-or-treat at church Friday night, had some yummy chili, and then the kids filled up on C.A.N.D.Y! Tess was definitely loving every minute of it! Brian slipped out after eating some chili (he went to the HS football game with Oscar), but Mom + Dad showed up just in time for the trunk-or-treating. The kids were more than happy to see them. After we got home...the kids dumped their bags out and started trading for their favorites. Ella was sharing and giving all her candy away to her brother + sisters...she really can be a sweetheart when she wants to be. It was AbSoLuTeLy AdOrAbLe! We had a nice night, and hey,...no one threw-up (that's always a bonus)! :0)

Awww...how cute, huh?

Ella - all tricked out!

Our Weekend

This past weekend was my dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Dad! His only birthday request was for all of us to go to the Temple (mom + dad, Michael + Bekah, and Brian + I). We headed up to the Bountiful Temple Saturday morning and wow, what a special day. We were able to do a lot of work for my mom's family...my grandparents were sealed to their parents and my grandpa was even sealed to his sister. We have a lot more work that needs to be done, but it was a wonderful day to be in the temple with my family! Thanks to Bekah's dad, Jan, for helping us out as well. He's a hoot, and we enjoyed his company!

After the temple, we headed over to the Texas Roadhouse and treated ourselves to some deliciousness. We made our way back home and relaxed with the kids for the rest of the evening...we sure do miss them when we're away (don't get me wrong...it was wonderful to have our own time, but we still miss the kids).

Sunday, we went to church and they announced over the pulpit that 25% of our ward (congregation) was sick with either the flu, H1N1, or strep. YIKES! I'm teaching (okay, more like playing) in the Nursery now and they cancelled Nursery, telling parents that they needed to keep their small children with them. So, we headed home right after sacrament (Better to keep our interaction with the maybe sickly people to a minimum). Michael + Bekah drove down, mom + dad came over, and we had a nice visit with them. Bekah + I took all the kids (minus Dev) on a walk to the park to get some fresh air. They had a lot of fun, and it was nice to chat with Bekah.

Zach. is. still. sick! I don't know what else to do for the kid. I took him back to the dr on Monday and they said they think he has a sinus infection on top of the virus. They gave him an antibiotic and an inhaler (he said he was having trouble breathing) but they said his lungs sound clear. His chest hurts now after 3 weeks of a cough, and I think that is causing most of his discomfort...but no fever. Thank goodness, no fever! I'm hoping he can go back to school soon, but I hate sending him with the thought that he may catch something else and get worse. What to do...well,for now we'll just be getting his make-up work from his teacher and just pray that he gets better soon.

Until next time...love to all, Kim

Here are some photos of the kids I took on Friday

Playing with Cousins
(sorry about the poor quality of the photos)

Tess + Ella "shakin' it"

I caught the girls dancing to one of their favorite tunes. This was like to 3rd video I took (I was trying to video them without them knowing...that didn't work)
Enjoy!

** Pause music (below right) before pushing play**

Fall Break

Today is the 1st day of our Fall Break. The kids haven't changed out of their jammies, they've been playing since 7 AM, and I don't even know what's on the agenda for today! Isn't that great? Okay, that's not completely true....I vaguely remember that our Library books are due today, so maybe we'll head over to the Library? However, I don't know if I'll be able to convince the kids to leave the house. We'll see.

Now, let me rewind to 2 weeks ago. Zach had been begging us for a few weeks to go camping so we decided that General Conference weekend would be a good time to go. Mike + Heidi came along and we ended up having such a nice time. We DVR'd General Conference and we were able to listen to some of talks on the radio...it was nice! We brought Griff + Gracie, and Mike + Heidi brought their 2 dogs, Gus + Woody....5 kids, 4 adults, and 4 dogs. It sounds chaotic but it really wasn't. The kids got along great...they just played, played + played some more. Friday, as soon as Brian got home from work, we headed out to go and pick up the travel trailer we rented and then we headed south to Palisades. We stayed there Friday night, Saturday night, and on Sunday we decided to extend the fun another day. Brian took Monday off, so we headed over to Yuba and stayed there Sunday night. Monday we packed up, cleaned the trailer + headed out. We stopped at the Red Barn in Santaquin for some YUMMY ice cream, returned the trailer, and headed home to un-pack. We sure were tired when we got home, but we had a blast! (I'll post pictures later)

Zach finally got his cast off a couple weeks ago...everything is healing nicely, but the poor boy has been sick ever since. The 1st day back to school after our camping trip he came home sick, and he's had this nasty cough ever since. He was out of school Tuesday - Friday, so Friday I took him to the doctor. No Strep (thank goodness) he just has a nasty virus, nothing to be too worried about. But, the Doctor did hear wheezing on his right side when he listened to his lungs so we'll be keeping close tabs on that! He was back to school this week so hopefully he's on the mend!

That's it! I think I'm caught up! I hope all of you are doing well. Happy thoughts, Kim

Real

As I was reading Bekah's blog tonight before I headed off to bed, I was motivated to make this blog a little more "real". I wouldn't want everyone out there thinking that Brian, Kim + kids are always doing fun things + having a blast. We're just like the rest of you. However, I must admit that most of my blog posts revolve around fun activities, sports, birthdays, get-togethers and all kinds of happy occasions, you know, the "Kodak moments" that I've just downloaded off the camera...not exactly what I would call the most realistic picture of our day-to-day lives. We do have fun, don't get me wrong, but I rarely take the time to sit and vent about the down-right yucky occurrences that sometimes, okay, all-too-often make up our days. So, from here on out, I'll be journaling more, or at least trying to. (I'll try not to wait until I've taken pictures of something fun before I post a new entry) I'll be the first to admit...I love photos! So, maybe I'll just have to start carrying my camera with me everywhere and snap the photos of Tess + Lauren fighting over toast at breakfast, or Ella throwing a temper-tantrum because she didn't get to go outside and play the exact minute she wanted to, or maybe Zach shoving Lauren out of his chair that he "double-locked" before he went to the bathroom. Okay, maybe those aren't really images that need to be remembered...I'll just see how it goes. Until next time, love to all, Kim