Say CHEESE

2010
SCHOOL PICTURES

Sam - 5th grade

Kaeli - 4th grade

Rylie - 1st grade

my little MONSTERS

Violet was a kitty.
And yes, I know her whiskers aren't on straight.
She's a wiggly little kitty.

Sara was a witch!
She requested the green face and green hair.

Rylie was a ghost!
She was hoping to be scary, but turned out to be cute,
bummer.

Kaeli was a vampire!
And she took the role very seriously.

Sam was a ninja!
Don't mess with the ninja.

What a frightening sight!

We hope your Halloween was as SPOOKTACULAR as ours!

Birthday Ghoul!

Can you believe it?

Sara had her friends over for a Halloween/Birthday/Costume
PARTY on Saturday!
They had a real spooky-good time!!!

Sara is such a blessing to our family!
She is sweet, spunky, and oh so very silly.
She has so much energy and is always bouncing, twirling, & running.
Sara is also very good at sharing and very loving!
She's a HUGE helper and takes such good care of her baby sis.
We love our Sari!

Flashback: Here's little Sara on her first birthday!

Arches

(whatever :-)

The kids had "fall break" last week. So we invited my parents to go down to Moab with us and hike in Arches National Park. We had the nicest campground I think I have ever camped in...flushing toilets, warm showers, and even a sink to wash dishes in!!! Despite temperatures dipping in the low 20's at night (brrrrrr) we had so much fun hiking and exploring!

Our first trail was considered "primitive" but we hadn't had more fun on a trail before! We followed the cairns to know which way to go over the slickrock. There were a few places that presented a challenge to get to where we needed to go, but we tapped into our "inner mountain goat" and navigated the trail.

(partition arch)

(me with the tiniest nanny goat)

(kaeli, sara, & rylie)

The next day we hiked to Delicate Arch
It was one of the coolest arches we saw!


The girls were inspired by the arch!

We took a ton of pictures around the arch!

(Daddy & Vi)

(vi, me, ry, sam, sari & K)

(me & my kiddies under the arch)

(my parents on the trail)

We also went on some mini-hikes around "windows" and "balanced rock".

(muscles)

(windows)

(I couldn't resist taking this one :-)

I balanced balanced rock on my head.
Beat that!

And we happened to find an adorable baby sitting in the middle of the desert.
So we took her home :-)

Mountain MEN

(my boyz)

Aaron took the scouts (ages 16-18) on an overnight back-packing trip.
And Sammy got to go...again!

(so cute, love the dimples)

We were able to adjust my pack for Sam.
It was a perfect fit!
My little man is growing up!

My boys on the mountain top.

Sunday

Here are some pics of the kids before church on Sunday.
I thought they were cute.
My mom made the girls' skirts & flowers.

Q: Does the world revolve around Violet?

A: Apparently so :-)

PK field trip

Sara's preschool class took a trip to the Herriman Fire Department.
They got to tour the fire house & fire truck!
She loved every bit of it!

FRIGHTMARES!

(my kiddos with the hackenslash guys...scary!)

Last Saturday we went to Lagoon! It just happened to be Frightmares, so everything was SCARY and Halloweeny. It was so much fun! The kids had a blast and so did Aaron and I. They had a lot of super scary attractions that we didn't dare take the kids on, so we think next year we'll have to go on a date, w/o kids, to Frightmares and hit everything scary!

Anyone wanna double with us???

Violet didn't get to go on any Lagoon attractions,
but she had her daddy and nothing is more fun than that!

Last year, when we went to Lagoon for the first time, I didn't get to go on any attractions because I was preggo. So this year the kids were excited to take me on all the fun that I had missed. Rylie was nervous about the BAT (although she did it last year) and I talked her into going on it with me. She bravely did, and LAUGHED the entire time! By the end she decided it was her favorite ride!

Kaeli took me on WICKED & Sam took me on Colossus the Fire Dragon!

Sam & Kaeli...Lagoon pros by now!

Sara still can't go on a lot of the "big kid" rides,
but loved all the ones she was able to go on.
She's a little daredevil!

Sara & Rylie:

Kaeli & Rylie:

Aaron, Sam & Kaeli (in the middle):


Aaron, Kaeli, & Rylie:

Aaron & Sara:

Another fun thing about Lagoon is the entertainment. There are always singers and dancers performing. We even watched a hypnotist do his thing. My favorite act this time were the hackenslash guys:

Yep! I'm THAT old.

I have been telling the kids that I'm sixteen, because it's ridiculous and a little funny to see what they would believe...and of course it was so much FUN to be 16. Of course Sam and Kaeli would just give me the "whatever" look. Sara thought I was closer to 7. Rylie told me I certainly couldn't be 16 because that would make me a teenager and teenagers don't have kids and certainly not FIVE kids. So I fessed up.


The morning of my birthday I was doing Rylie's hair in the bathroom when she said,

"Mom it's your BIRTHDAY! Are you just SOOOOOO EXCITED?"

It was cute. At the moment I wanted so badly to be "sooooo excited" for my birthday just as I was when I was a kid. So my goal for now on is to be excited for my upcoming birthdays. When did getting old turn into such a bad thing? I think we should own those years and be proud of them!!! We've earned 'em!

My birthday was a little unconventional this year. The New York trip was where it started (can't beat that!). On my actual birthday Aaron wasn't back from NY yet and we were on evacuation alert all day because some hot spots were flaring up in the wind. So we celebrated my birthday with the kids when Aaron got home. I think my birthday expanded a whole week ;-) hee hee.

Herriman Fire

So the Herriman Fire started on Sunday the 19th at Camp Williams during a machine gun exercise. It's sometimes referred to as the "Machine Gun Fire". I don't like that title. Maybe it's because I've thought about the person(s) who accidentally started it and how terrible they must feel. That title is a constant reminder of how it started.

Aaron and I were in NYC when all this was taking place, so these pictures were taken from other sources.

This picture shows the fire coming up over the hill just south of our house:

This is our neighborhood before or during the evacuation:

I had heard a lot of people say that it looked like lava coming down the hill.
This picture shows our stake center in the foreground:

This is taken from the pond in our subdivision.
How scary to see the hill all lit up and the fire coming closer and closer to our homes!


Yikes!


The view from the northeast:


Some lost their homes and their dreams with it.
So sad.

Sunday evening the fire authorities thought they would loose 25-100 homes throughout the night. It wasn't looking good. I can't imagine how scared everyone must have been. Aaron and I weren't sure if we should worry or not. Our house is at the bottom of the subdivision so we thought we would be OK, but reports from friends told us that the fire was coming down the hill on the east side of the subdivision, right where our home sits. So we had reason to worry, but our greatest concern was for our kids and the fear they must have felt. 4,326 acres burned, but only 4 homes were lost. We strongly feel that prayers were answered and miracles happened to save soooo many homes. We are so thankful for the firemen and others that faught to save our homes!

Read THIS for a cool perspective!