October Festivities!

After too many mouse sightings we finally got some kittens! I am not a cat person at all, but I will take them any day over mice!! Rylee has fallen in love with her kitty, Maddy and I think he likes her quite a bit also. He will snuggle up to her every time we come home from running errands or school.

She took Maddy for show & tell. In case you are wondering why the boy kitty is named Maddy - when we picked up the kittens, they told us this kitty was a girl and named Maggie. Rylee instantly fell in love and held her all the way home. When we got home Chad informed us that Maggie was really a boy. Rylee instantly started crying because she wanted Maggie to be a girl, so being the softies that we are, we told her Maggie really was a girl. Then the next day Rylee came to me and said, "Mom, do you know that Maggie really is a boy? That's funny huh?" I guess she's a little smarter than we gave her credit for. From there Maggie turned into Maddy, don't ask me why, but that's what Rylee chose!

Zach decided to mix things up a bit this year and instead of being a football player for the 4th year in a row he was a beat up cowboy?! I had several parents asking me what happened to him, he was very convincing! Rylee dressed up as a witch to go with me to help with Zach's class party!

Jess & Kourtney decided to have a friend Halloween party this year the Friday before Halloween. Just our luck that after we sent out the invites we found out Gunnar's first playoff game was the same day! His game was at 4:00 and the party at 7:00 so I got the garage decorated and the food prepared before the game, but I had to leave all the last minute preparations to the girls. I'll admit I was a little nervous about this & then Rylee decided she wanted to dress up in her costume for their party! Gunnar's game ended up going into triple overtime and we didn't get home until their party was in full swing! I was in awe when we got home and the girls had finished all the last minutes stuff and had Rylee all decked out! Jess & her friend McKenzi braided Rylee's hair and Kourtney did her make up. Way to go girls!!

Jess' modeling her 'Gangsta' costume
Games - Candy corn toss
The girls in this picture were trying to toss candy corns into the pumpkins on the girls in the next picture. It was a pretty fun game!

Digging for gummy worms in a bowl of jell-o

The Mummy Wrap

Kourtney, Alexa & Shay

Party favors Kourtney & I made

Halloween Sunday!

For the girls' school spirit week the first day was 'duct tape' day so we made some headbands out of duct tape! They were a big hit!

TOUCHDOWN!!

Here is Gunnar's 1st varsity touchdown! We won this game in triple overtime! It was a very intense & fun game! Thanks Dad & Mom for helping us cheer on our little guy!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

I uploaded these pictures about a month ago & just remembered I never posted them! Wow, life is crazy! Here are a few pics from our boys football season. Hopefully I will have a few more after this weeks big games! Go Mighty Dons!!!

Homecoming Week

Our little stud Zach!!

This picture below is what Zach does in his spare time - draws up football plays!! I'm convinced that someday he will be a coach in the NFL. He really knows and understand the game of football! He continually amazes us with his knowledge of the game! He uses anything around the house to draw up plays - chess pieces, candy, grapes, olives, money. He even has a book for all his plays. This play below he set up at the bus stop, when I drove by and saw it I couldn't help but snap a picture!

Grandma Kat's Princesses

Rylee received this adorable hand-delivered invitation with her own crown attached to attend a princess party with her three favorite cousins at their amazing Grandma Kat's house! She was so excited and immediately put her crown on and wore it everyday until the party!

The four princesses - Jovie, Rylee, Mylee & Pyper

Their royal lunch!

Our adorable Princess Rylee

My amazing mom made this chair covers for each princess!

Posing in front of the castle my equally amazing sister, Telisa painted on the playroom wall!

My mom found these princess books that recorded her voice reading to them, so they could have her read to them any time of the day! Rylee loves her book!!

Thank you Mom for all the time and effort you put into making this all possible! Rylee loves all her new princess goodies!

Sweet 16?!

September 1, 1994 was a day that changed my life forever!! I gave birth that day to a beautiful baby boy who has blessed my life more than I thought possible! He has been a wonderful example to his younger siblings, and I am so grateful to call him my son. Happy Birthday, G-man! We love you!

We found this truck on ksl.com that fit into Gunnar's small budget - it's a '94 Ford Ranger. He isn't crazy about the color, but it has been a good truck so far. Rylee was almost as excited as Gunnar was to get this truck, she didn't want to get out of it when we brought it home.

I don't think you can read the clock on the wall behind the kids, but I took this picture because this birthday breakfast happened at 6:30 a.m. before Gunnar had to leave for early morning seminary.

Then it was on to the presents! His main gift was his truck - so this table looks a little empty. It was mostly some fun stuff for the truck and a couple movies!

He did not want me to take any pictures, so we compromised - I took pictures and he didn't look at me!!

We had a fun football family party for all the September birthdays - Treavor, Gunnar, Luke, Jovie & Owen! Tris & I made this cake for all our football fanatics! I know someone took a picture of everybody, but I couldn't find my camera. If you have that picture can you please send it along?

Go blue!

This summer Rylee has taken up a new hobby - painting!! I have been wanting to change the decoration in the girl's bathroom for awhile and I finally found a cute shower curtain & rugs on sale. The next step was adding some fun color! I had no idea I was going to have such a great little helper who was willing to stay up until almost midnight to finish this project.

All finished!

I have been wanting to change things up in our basement for quite awhile! I finally got brave enough and painted the walls. Yes, they are blue - I still need to antique them, so I am not posting the finished product quite yet. The kids were so anxious to help and were actually pretty good helpers. I'm happy to report that the blue paint only ended up on the wall, the drop cloth, and us!

Ninja Zach

When Chad's mom was here last she was sweet enough to buy us this cool new blender, called the Ninja, that Zach has thoroughly enjoyed. Not a day went by that he didn't make some sort of concoction! He made snow cones, protein shakes, orange julius, and lots of other yummy drinks. His favorite being his power smoothies! Thank you Becky! We have loved our Ninja!!