Milestones

We've hit a few fun milestones at our house lately.

1. I've reached 200 posts! Not very many considering I am going into my 5th year of blogging, but I am happy with all of my posts. I know I joke about blogging getting me out of having to scrapbook, but I honestly feel better that I am doing something to document what's going on with our family.

2. This cute girl turned 7 years old.

3. We sold our 1998 Camry that has been in my family since 1998. My brother bought it brand new. He sold it to my mom a few years later, and we bought it from her a few years after that. It started acting funny last week, so we took it in, and they told us that the engine needed to be replaced. We've known for a while that we would need a new car soon, so instead of putting more money into this car, we decided to sell it. We put it on Craigslist, and we had 4 phone calls about it within a half hour - busted engine and all. We sold it for a lot cheaper than we had hoped because of the engine, but really I am happy to be rid of it with all the problems it's had recently.

4. I've recently passed 50 songs that I can play in the hymn book. This is huge for me! Six months ago I could play about 8 hymns. Then I got called to play piano for Relief Society, and now I am forced to practice and learn new hymns almost weekly. My mom is an amazing pianist, and playing piano was something that I picked up quickly when I was younger. But I gave it up, and I've been regretting it for the past ten years. I feel a lot better knowing that I am finally developing a talent that I have always enjoyed.

All of these crazy things have occurred around the same time, so I feel like they need to be recorded!

Thanksgiving Week

My kids go to school on Veteran's Day so that they get the whole week of Thanksgiving off. It's so wonderful. We spent the entire week at my parents' house in New Harmony, Utah.

Rebecca's birthday was on Tuesday of that week, and for her birthday she wanted to go to Uncle Buck's and Aunt Denise's to ride the horse.

This is Rebecca on Nelson with my brother-in-law Buck.

While we were there we also got to see the new baby chicks and the big chickens, the outside cats, Sam the dog, and the rest of the horses. There are LOTS of fun things to do at my sister's house.

For the rest of the week, we did a lot of relaxing, some shopping, a little four-wheeling, spent time with cousins, ate lots of pumpkin pie and letfovers, and saw Breaking Dawn and Jack and Jill at the movies. It was a nice week break.

I hope everyone else had a nice Thanksgiving!

Rebecca's 7th Birthday Party

The Saturday before we left for Utah, we had a small party for Rebecca. We asked her if she wanted a friend or family party this year for her birthday, and she said family party, so we invited our families over to celebrate.

Every occasion where there's a bouncy castle, my sister-in-law Emily always jumps right in with the kids. She's so girly and classy (she took off her 5 inch stilettos to get in) that it's so fun to see. She hopped right in the bouncy castle at her brother Bryan's wedding too - dress and all. I love it, so I had to get a picture this time.

Some of the guests at the party:

I came around the counter to get a picture of Rebecca in front of her lit candles, and she said, "I'm going to make a face that looks like I'm blowing out my candles." In making that face, she actually blew them out before we sang Happy Birthday. We relit them, and that's why she's covering her mouth in this picture.

I love all of the following pictures because my nephews Gage and Ryder seem to enjoy doing bunny ears:

Kevin got her a snowboard this year because she's been asking if she can try it with us. We found her a nice, unisex board so that if she hates it, she can pass the snowboard down to her brothers.

We love you, Rebecca! We hope you enjoyed your birthday!

Breaking Dawn!

I got a call the week before from my friend Julie telling me that she paid to go to a Breaking Dawn party on Friday night, but her family had decided to go to Disneyland instead. So she offered me her spot. My good friend Kellie was going to be there, so I told her I'd go. And it was a blast!

We had dinner at Brio, and the girls who organized the party decorated and had a wedding cake just like we were attending Bella and Edward's wedding. They had tons of prizes they raffled off during dinner. After dinner, all of us who attended the party got our own private theater for the movie.

I have to say, I thought the movie was really corny the first time I saw it. The music was loud - overpowering the dialogue a little bit. It made a lot of parts seem cheesy. But I saw it again a few days later with Kevin, and I liked it a lot more. The music wasn't as noticeable the second time. I think I can say that this one is my favorite of the four.

And it was nice to hang out with Kellie. She and I and her sister Brook were the only girls in a group full of guys that hung out in high school. With our kids, we don't get to hang out with just each other anymore, so it was fun to do that again. Thanks for the fun night out, Kellie!

Plymouth Plantation

At my kids' school, they do a Thanksgiving production every year called An Evening at Plymouth Plantation. The elementary-age kids are showcased for this Thanksgiving play, so both William and Rebecca were part of it. It kind of reminds me of a primary program where every child gets a small speaking part that they have to say at the microphone. There's a lot of that mixed in with a drama about the pilgrims.

Here are my cute pilgrim and very serious-looking American Indian.

I could not get a smile out of this kid!

A few years back, someone built this boat just for this production, but the only students who get to go on the boat during the play are the actors. So my kids were anxious for the show to end so that they could have their turn on the boat. Rebecca's friend Reagan is with her the second picture.

My kids really enjoyed preparing for this production, and it was a great way usher in Thanksgiving at our house!

Deja Vu

A while back I took this picture of William.

Here are two pictures I got of Braden yesterday:

I don't know what it is about this spot on the couch. It looks like the most uncomfortable place to fall asleep!

Halloween

This year we attended three different parties to celebrate Halloween. I LOVE when my kids get to wear their costumes multiple times.

Thursday night, my neighbors growing up had a backyard party with a fun DJ and some great food. Saturday night we had our ward's Trunk or Treat which was simple this year with a costume parade and candy hand-out. Since I went to both parties without Kevin, I was happy that they were short and sweet and that my kids still had a a fun time.

Kevin and I dressed up like Kate Middleton and Prince William. And no, I am not trying to be a pregnant Kate Middleton, and I don't need to make any announcements. I blame the dress, and my lack of motivation to work out lately.

We also had a dragon...
and a shark...

and a Little Mermaid.

My kids love these $1 buckets we got from Target. They wanted to make sure that their buckets were part of the pictures.

Here we are with Kevin's sister Laura the pirate and her daughter Katia who was Cinderella. We're on our way to my brother Travis's annual Halloween party. The weather this year was gorgeous, and all of the kids had a great time!

I love Halloween, and I love that it starts out the holiday season. Bring on Thanksgiving!