The days (& nights) with the boys!

We had an amazingly good time. Especially considering I had a 6, 5, 4 & 2.5 year old all in the same house, and for most of the time Duaine was also out of town!
Yes things were incredibly busy, but for the most part it is my own kids that are the pain in the but kids. I had no behavioral problems with Keri's boys, and they actually listen far better than my own kids. I even think they had a positive affect on the way my kids listen!

Halie & Hayden were quite a pair. In fact the majority of the fighting that went on was because my kids were fighting over who got to sit next to, sleep by, or play with Hayden!

Luckily during the time that Duaine was gone Dawnie came over two night to help me get the kids in bed, and one night my sweet grandma came and slept over to help. It was so helpful, I am not sure I could have done it without them!! Thanks guys!

(yes there are like 2" of frosting and decorating here!)

And even with all that sugar they were great!

We did tons of projects, and Keri left gifts for each day, and we ate a lot of fast food, and now it is strangely quiet around my house!

All I have heard for the past 2 days is "I want Hayden & Carsen back at my house" or " When are Carsen & Hayden coming back to our house?"

We love Carsen & Hayden!

I had to throw this pic in here because Sierra's funny face really captured the true way I felt trying to be a mother of 4!

October has come and gone...

Do you ever get the strange feeling that you are just watching your life pass you by? That was how October was for me. It went by so fast that I feel like I was not even there for a lot of it. Weird. We were busy as normal, and did many fun things.


Classic pic of first thing in the morning at the cabin. There is now furniture there, and it is so close to being done that we are planning Thanksgiving there! This weekend Sierra abandoned her favorite sleeping spot (with Grandma & Papa) and opted to sleep with Mandaline and her cousin. That is until she woke up in the middle of the night. So Sierra held the flashlight for me to carry her princess cot down the stairs into Grandma & Papa's room where she spent the rest of the night! What would we do without Grandparents!

This is our little bunch of Trick or treaters. My girls love Keri's boys so much that they are more like siblings than cousins. They went trick or treating on Keri & Mike's street, and since it was raining and they live on a big hill the dads loaded the kids onto the Rhino and went house to house on the Rhino!

Backwards order I know, but could they get any cuter! We even grew these killer pumpkins in our garden!

This is from the Playgroup Halloween Party at our house. Thomas is really Cole Lloyd, and Halie loves him. They were inseparable that day. Halie is always proclaiming "I love Coco" Sorry Kelli, I just cant get her to say Cole Cole.

For once we got our whole family in one pic. This is in Mandaline's house. She got baptised this month. Grandma Helen said the opening prayer, Uncle Adam baptised her and Grandma Doris said the closing prayer. At one point Adam described Mandaline as the connecting piece of a very large family, and I really like that description. She definitely is the connecting piece. It was cool to see all those people there - many I did not know - who were all there because they love Mandaline.

Overall it was a busy month, and November is coming roaring in as well. I have one & a half more days as a mother of three, then Carsen and Hayden become my boys for a few days as Keri & Mike go on an awesome cruise! So there is no slowing down :)

We love the Cabin

Grandma & Halie - this is the closest to a smile I can get!

Sierra, Halie & our neighbor Cassie and some really pretty fall leaves!

Can you believe we got a cute pic of most of our family!

Here is the cabin that we spend most of our weekends at - Love it!

Currently the cabin has cabinets, most of the tile, lights that work when the generator is running, and a well, with the potential for indoor plumbing (which we are excited for)!

Stitches & Witnesses

I am still laughing...
Let me explain.
Monday, cluts that I am, I walked into the door. Not into the closed door, but into the half way open, side of the door, with enough force that I needed three stitches on my eyebrow. And I now have a deep purple eye lid that is spreading more into my nose every day. Well ordinarily I would have doused the shiner with Hollywood amounts of makeup to cover it up, but I cannot get the stitches wet until tomorrow so I am sticking with big sunglasses to cover myself.
So this morning I get a knock at the door. It was unsolicited so normally I would not answer but today I had the window open and Halie was already waving at them so I decided to answer. It was a very nice lady and her son. They were Jehovah’s Witnesses. She starts telling me all the goods about their beliefs, and, here is the funny part, said it really has helped her in raising her children, and (pauses to stare at my shiner) has helped her to have a good, healthy marriage!
Luckily I had to leave to get Sierra from school, but I am still amused!

My Big Girl!!

Sierra started kindergarten this week! Part of me cannot believe she is that big, and another part of me cannot believe she is that little! She is so excited, there was not a stich of fear in her, only excitement. How would that be?

I asked her if it was as good as Preschool, and she replied "even better" and I asked her if she liked her new teacher as much as her beloved preschool teacher, and she said "even more" I could not be happier.

We made a back to school cake for Sierra & one for Halie because she desperatley needs to be included in whatever Sierra is doing.

I think Halie is the only one who is not happy that Sierra is going to school. Halie is insanley jealous, to the point of being pissed off! She starts a singing class next week, and man is she ever excited. Today after we dropped Sierra off Halie tried playing by herself and then said "Mom, my queese (may I please) go to my singing class now?"

Cabin Funnies

This past weekend we split our family up and Duaine went to Moab with his friends and I took the little girls to the cabin with mom & dad. The first night we were there Sierra set us all up some cups to spit in after we used her special new mouthwash. Well it is dark in there, and there were a lot of cups so somehow dad (papa) accidentally grabbed Sierra's already used cup full of used mouthwash, filled it with water and drank it. Yum!!!

The next day the girls were riding on the tractor with Papa while mom & I stained doors. We heard the beginnings of a fight between my girls and sat listening to how Papa would react, finally he said "Haven't you two ever heard of sharing?" It was great! Great to hear him get flustered, and great that it wasn't me playing referee.

It was really a fun weekend, but I think that maybe Papa had a few more girls than he could handle!!

Lazy Days of Summer!

Wow! Our summer has been anything but lazy! I am actually beninning to think that "lazy" was a typo, and what they really meant to write was "crazy!"

Here are some things we've been doing to keep our days crazy - not lazy!

Swimming lessons for Sierra

Catching a movie at the drive-in

Playing at the Cabin

A Snake at the cabin
Improvisational Theater Camp for Mandaline

Building a fort at Snowbird

24th of July with our cousins

Halie, Kelly & Sierra watching fireworks

Halie & Autumn - AKA Double Trouble