some favorites from the photo shoot

A project

My sister's friend had her house burn down one year ago. Amy went over to help her clean up. 6 burnt stockings were all that were left of her Christmas decorations. My sister took the stockings without her friend knowing and gave them to me. She asked if I could do something with them for her friend. This wall hanging is what I came up with (one year later! but just in time for Christmas this year!). Amy was giving it to her friend today. I hope she likes it!

Happy Halloween

We had lots of Halloween fun this year...two trunk or treats, a school parade/party, and trick or treating.

Pumpkin Patch Fun in Pictures

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Sean participated in a chili cook off yesterday with people from several different companies that work with his. He won first place!! Love that trophy!

Lake Powell

Carter doing some tricks (one handed) on the ski. He told me he was going to do some jumps on his next turn.
We go to Lake Powell with my family every year (for as long as I can remember). It's a great vacation. We stayed on a houseboat that is nicer than my house! We were sad to only be able to stay for 3 days while everyone else who went stayed for the whole week. We missed those from the fam who couldn't make it.
Charlotte was of course as happy as could be because there was plenty of dirt for her to play in!
Carter was happy because he got to go fishing!
Char's first sea doo ride--we had to pull her away from the sand! That's seriously all she did all 3 days...it was very relaxing for me!
I'm so proud of Carter...he learned how to waterski! I got lots of good waterskiing and wakeboarding in myself, the water was perfect because the lake was dead this time of year!
The three little girls in matching outfits from Nana. They will have so much fun together when they are older.

Happy Birthday Char Char!!

Can't believe she is 1. Love this little girl so much. She has such a fun personality. Here's what she's up to as a big 1 year old:

-2 teeth

-walking

-still a mama's girl. so much that she needs to wake up every night to see me!

-shakes her head no when you ask her a question

-says bye, hi, hello, mommy, mama, dada

-loves Carter

-gives high five, hugs, and kisses

-loves baby dolls and dirt!

-loves to sing, can't keep her quiet in church!

Cousins

3 kindergarteners
2 second graders

2 fifth graders

2 eighth graders

Only 1 cousin (who is in school) is missing because she is in high school. All of the others are at the same school. I LOVE it! I love seeing Carter's older cousins walk him to his class in the morning when I drop them off. I love when I go to lunch with Carter and watch Carter and Tyler play "chase" with Mallory and her friends (Tyler and Carter are going to love having a girl cousin their age when they are older!) It's so great knowing they all have each other at school, in the crazy world we live in.

Spencer and Marlee are going to have a long commute for their kids to get to school with the rest of the cousins, once Madi starts school!!!

11 months old

this little monkey is 11 months old. here's a little info about her:

*1 tooth

*taken 1 step

*sleeps through the night, mostly

*takes 2, 2 hour naps each day

*says mama and hi

*gives kisses, hugs, high fives, and claps

*misses her brother very much while he is at school :(

*climbs up the stairs and started coming down them backwards yesterday

*gets into EVERYTHING

*loves her mama

First day of Kindergarten

I can't believe summer is over and it's time for school! Where does the time go? Carter woke up early today and was so excited for school. He wanted to get ready and go! I shed a few tears as he walked into his classroom after the bell rang. Love that kid. He and his cousin Tyler are in the same class.

Family Vacation

Seriously, every picture of Char is her eating sand. But look how happy she is!?!

We stayed at a resort outside of San Diego with my family for a week. We went to the beach, went to Sea World, went to the San Clemente Pier, played games, went to the Mormon Battalion Museum and had a blast!!! Char ate a TON of sand, but she was happy! Carter loved the boogie board and I enjoyed getting some sun!

9 months

this girl turned 9 months old last week. seriously, how did that happen? she crawls all over the place, eats anything you give her (loves zucchini and strawberries!), is finally drinking milk from a bottle (yah!!), stands on her own, is almost 30 in. tall, is 21 lbs, and has curly hair. Can you see those curls in the picture? LOVE them. LOVE her.

Hiking in Sedona

When we were up north at the cabin, we took the Ranger and drove down the back road to Sedona. It is so pretty and such a fun ride. We then went on a hike. The kids did great. Char loved the Ranger ride and the backpack ride. She started out on my back but wouldn't stop pulling my hair, crazy girl!

Caitlyn, our older daughter (ha ha), came with us too! Charlotte sure loves her and has even reached for her over me! That is a big deal, since Char is such a mama's girl!
Sedona is all the way at the bottom of the valley we are are at the top of in this picture. Such a fun ride!