Terrbile Toddler Moments Here We Come

Livvy is so much fun and also totally exhausting!! I don't know if she is my busiest baby or if I just have forgotten, but this little girl is so smart and into everything! She knows how to throw tantrums with the best of them. The other night we told her it was time for bed, and she didn't want to go so she proceeded into a tantrum. She started to through herself onto the ground, but some toys were in the way so she stopped screaming long enough to move over and then through herself back and began to scream again. She can say just about anything and loves to say the pray at meal time. I have found her this week in the toilet, the dish soap, and putting dirty dishes from the dishwasher back in the drawer. She loves to "Help." I grabbed the camera for her latest adventure, I was putting on my make-up and she was fussing because she wanted some. So, I handed her my base bottle to hold, I didn't think she could unscrew the lid. Boy was I wrong, in the 30 sec. I turned away, she not only opened it but dumped it all over herself. Our little baby is growing up, terrible 2's here we come!

First Snowman!

I love it when my kids come home from school begging to play outside and then spend the next hour entertaining themselves. They were so excited to build a snowman and except for coming in for a request for carrots and gloves and such, they were completely happy for an hour, giving me a chance to get some things done.

November Recap!

Wow! Where does the time go? It seems like November flew by for us and here we are almost to Christmas. We made so many trips to Utah this summer that we decided we need to stay home. Joseph needed to be at the office and so the holidays this year would be spent in WY, just our family. (Oh, for those that don't know, Joseph is now the proud President of WyoVision Associates. We bought out Dr. Smith in October. He is a little more stressed now, but very happy to be a business owner) Anyways, much to our surprise and true pleasure, I got a call from my brother James asking what my Thanksgiving plans were. I said we were staying here and he asked if we would like some company! OF COURSE!! was my quick response. Well, pretty soon we had my parents and sister Ashley and her husband coming too!! What a treat, so we began making preparations to host my family for Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming guys, we had a blast, hope you did too! (You know, it is true love and dedication when your family is willing to travail snowy, Wyoming roads to come spend time with you! Aren't they the best?!) So here are a couple pics of our fun.

Madelyn's Birthday!

Here it is over a month later and I never got a post in about Madelyn's birthday. Our little girl is getting so big. We love our Madi soooo much!! She is our quick with, as her daddy calls her. She is always coming up with witty comments that make us laugh. She loves puzzles and barbies and most importantly hugs. You know Madelyn loves you if she won't stop playing with your hair or gives you lots of hugs. Her daddy took her to lunch. She loves her Daddy-Daughter Dates. Madi had her first "friend" birthday party this year. We had a princess and prince tea party. She loved every minute of it. Madelyn, we love you, thanks for being part of our family!!

Basketball!

Taylor just finished his basketball season, he loves basketball. We enjoyed watching him be a lot more aggressive this year and even score quite a bit. Even though his Dad also LOVES the game, he hasn't pressured Taylor to persue it, but is very pleased to watch Tay enjoy it so much! After the last game, the boys coach took them to Pizza Hut to celebrate the season.

Halloween Weekend

What do you do for Halloween? I really enjoy holidays, but this one is down on my list, we always have a good time though and come home with way more candy than we could or should rather eat. The person who loved this weekend the most at our house??? OLIVIA!! She is our current sugar junkie. She will stand at the cupboard and beg for "treats". As soon as she figured out the wearing her pumpkin costume and saying treat, got her a lot of "treats" she was set! And to be honest who could resist her. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Our Weekend started on Friday with school parties and a trunk or treat and carnival at the school that night.





Saturday morning I went with Brooke to run a race that was done scavenger hunt style. It was a lot of fun, we were a team and won for the teams which was cool. Can you tell what we are?

When I got home from the race, the kids were helping Dad get the yard ready for winter. My kids LOVE to play in the leaves. Also, Madi had learned to climb the tree and do and trick and was very anxious to share it with me.

Saturday afternoon we had a few friends over for Jack-O-Lantern Pizzas and then headed to the ward Carnival and Trunk-or-treat. (one of the reasons this holiday is frustrating for me is I feel I am dressing my kids up a ton of times to go and fight crowds and listen to candy high, screaming children. ok, I know I sound like a scrooge, sorry, but I won't be too sad when the 3 day in a row trunk or treating is over!!) Anyways, the ward carnival had bobbying for apples which both Emma and Taylor tried. Taylor was told if he went to the very bottom of the container he would get the apple. Well he was the only kid to try it that night and although he did not get the apple, he did get soaking wet! Madelyn didn't want to get wet, she said it would mess up her hair, but she had fun having a doughnut eating race.


Joseph and I were Vampires. I dressed up more than I have in years, it was a lot of fun!!

My Dear Friend!

Olivia loves Brooke so much!! Whenever she is around Liv can be found on her lap.

I am going to be self-indulgent for a minute! I want to pay tribute to someone who has become very dear to me! When you live away from home, your friends many times become like family and that is what has happened with me and Brooke. She has become like a sister, the person I call when I need anything!! Thank you Brooke for being such a support system for me here, Sheridan has become home, largely because of you! What a blessing true friends are.

HUGE Thank You!

My mom and Aunt Lori came up to tend our kids while we went to Las Vegas! They were so great. The kids loved every minute with them and have missed them a lot since they left. (Madelyn sobbed and sobbed when they left) They did crafts, played games, had treats, etc. They made homemade freezer jam for me, cooked a fabulous Sunday dinner for us when we came home, and cleaned and mended things as well. Thank you doesn't cut it, but thank you Mom and Lori for making it possible for us to get away together. We loved every minute of your visit and can't wait til you can come again! We love you both!!

Vegas Baby!

In actuality, Joseph and I hate Vegas. Joseph "detests" Vegas, but we had a chance to get away for business and decided to take it and enjoy some alone time together! Lucky for us some wonderful people (to be disclosed in next post)came to our rescue and watched our kids so we could have a 4 day kid free trip! We got to see some old friends, eat great food, see the world from 140 stories up, hit 2 factory outlet malls (I was in heaven), and get a little business done in the process. We went with Joseph's business partner and his wife and had a great time.

Kids Fall Fun!

WOW! When I went back through my camera I realized I never even put first day of school pics on. What a slacker, but there is too much to catch up so we will just move forward. Here is a glimpse of what the kids have been up to the past couple months!

Olivia gets to be the cheer leader for all the things the other kids are doing! She has hit the wonderful age where she is into everything and throws major fits if you try to help. Her new found love it loading and unloading the dish washer. She really is quite a good helper and will put all the silver ware in the drawer for me, even if they are still dirty!
Madelyn is in Preschool now and loves every minute of it. Here is a pic with her class on their first field trip to the Airport.
Emma's Sport of choice is soccer. She is also started After School Orchestra and is learning Up on the House Top on the Violin.
Taylor loved playing Football! He also loves to read!! He can be found in his room reading the latest Rick Riordan book!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed out to the Koltiska Pumpkin Patch for our annual visit. We always have a great time and were blessed with gorgeous weather! Even as I am typing this it is a GORGEOUS 75 degree day. WOW! That is something to be grateful for. We have had awesome fall weather and I am loving every minute of it!

Family Photo Shoot

Well, it was well past due, but something that I think we all dread. I bought clothes for pictures back in April when I was in Utah and have had many failed attempts at getting the pics done. So, bless my sister-in-laws heart, we crammed it in Friday morning before we headed to Bountiful for a wedding, leaving her with our 4 kids all day. She is a SAINT!! As always happens, the wind picked up and we were all freezing. Carly was efficient and wonderful and in a half hour we were done, but due to the wind and the fact she had to keep reminding us to relax and not look like we were freezing, I left the photo shoot without much hope that we got anything worth keeping.

Even though she was watching our four kids all day in addition to her two little ones, and getting ready for a double birthday party that night, she also managed to edit and have our pics ready to view when we got back. Talk about Super Woman!! We viewed them that night around midnight and I was so tired I didn't get overly excited, but upon review again the next morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had gotten some rather nice shots. I guess you can chalk up the blowing hair to a fan like the super models use. So, thanks Carly. You managed to succeed at the impossible, making a family photo shoot happen in a half hour, with no tears, and good results. Maybe you are magic after all!!
Here are the results... What do you all think?