5 on one pumpkin carving. Yep, I'm a brave mommy this week. I let the kids carve pumpkins when there was only one adult present and that adult was me. Abby's friend Jessica joined us so we had five pumpkins going at one. It actually went pretty well. Other than cuttting the top Alyssa was able to do her's on her own and help the kids as well. Abby was mostly independent (thank goodness for little saws.) They all cleaned out the "gooshy stuff." I sometimes wish Mike wasn't so good at the the cool pumpkins so my kids would be happy with the old Jack-O-Lanterns, alas, this is not to be. The best part was when I went to bathe Delayna and left them to clean up. They did a five star job and you couldn't tell 5 sets of little hands had carved pumpkins in our dining room. LOVE IT!

Lake Mead

We spent last week at Lake Mead with Mike's family. So much fun for us and good to spend time together as a family since Mike's been gone so much lately. And I didn't catch him checking his cell phone even once the whole time we were there! Huge accomplishment.This kids were remarkably good on the 12 hour drive down and 10 hours back. It makes me think we might be able to travel again :0)

The kids had a great time playing with cousins, digging sand trenches, tubing, swimming, jumping on the water trampoline . . . We've truely been spoiled vacationwise this year.

We still thank Heavenly Father that he helped Cailah swim to safety, without his help we would have lost her. But she's safe, we're greatful and reminded that he does look over us, know our needs and is there to help when we fall short. I can't always be there for my kids, but he is. I know he doesn't always answer prayers the way we hope for, but I'm so grateful he did this time.

"Black Rock" or as they later learned "Phantom." The most loved cat in the history of vacations.

I suppose a completely technology free week is only a dream :0)

Mike and Uncle Randy started a fishing frenzy.

The always popular burying someone in the sand activity.

Frozen Soccer Players

The frozen spectators. Abby's game was first in the mid 30's. By Bray and Cailah's game we were in the 40's. Whoo Hoo! A sure signal that soccer season is over, for the fall.

Abby and "Blue Thunder." No, I don't know why they always include the color of their uniforms in their names, but they do.

Braydon and the "Blue Eagles." Do you love his hat! I think his head grew a little since Grammy made it for him last year. I was giggling on the sideline.

Cailah the "Silver Rocket" and the coolest Coach in the Universe!

Girls Night - BYU Ballroom Dance

I'm copying this from Kristin's Blog. Why try to improve on perfection? :0-) I can tell you the pizza place is Primo's, a fav of the kids. Dessert pizza baby!

This last friday night we had girl's night. Alyson, Abby, Cailah, Alyssa, & I went to watch the BYU Ballroom Dancers. It was a very fun night. We started off by getting all dolled up (just remember that all dolled up for Al & I just isn't the same as for others...but we did actually pull out the curling/straight iron ). We headed to the Nampa Civic Center. The show started and then right in the middle of the first song/dance the music quit. This was followed by a we an announcement "we are experiencing technical difficulties, it will be a moment". About 5-10 minutes later another announcement "we are experiencing greater techincal difficulties than we imagined." Almost 45 minutes later they started from the top again. There were all kinds of dancing from Waltz to a very cool glow in the dark alien dance (girls favorite of the night). We followed the show up with dinner at an all you can eat pizza place, I can't remember the name. The girls must have had a great time because it only takes about 15 minutes to get back to the house from the pizza place and this is what they looked liked.

It wasn't that easy getting a picture of all three of them so we actually woke them up trying to get it but they were more than happy to reinact sleeping. Below is their reinactment. Don't they look so sweet when they are sleeping.

Baby Proofing

Baby proofing the house is proving to be difficult, if not impossible. First, we have aquired an abundance of little tiny things over the last two years. Second, I have to rearrange too many cupboards. Third, I'm not sure it is possible to baby proof for Delayna. We got all the outlet covers out and dutifully put them in all the outlets on the main floor. She proceeded to pull one out and chew the prongs off it when we were not paying attention. AHHHHHHHHH!

Eleven Month Photo Shoot

Here's D waving "hi."

I'm not sure if she's attacking or getting ready to give a BIG KISS. The both start out the same. So, beware! :0)

This one I had to include because it makes me smile. I think it was hard for her, but Grammy passed down Mike's old stool a little while ago. It wasn't a waste Grammy. Delayna LOVES it. I find her sitting in it all the time. I wish I had a picture of Mike sitting in it. Maybe I do. I'll have to go check out the scrapbook she gave to us and see. That would be cool!

She's Almost There

Missy Delayna is so close to one year it's scary. Saturday she turned 11 months old and she's making sure we know it! We wondered if she was ever going to pick up on all the signs we've been flashing her, and she has. Her sign vocab consists of milk, food, all done and more. She also tries to say the words while she's signing. She's taking several tentative steps now and the kids are encouraging her to "practice" walking all the time. She loves to stand, squat down and then jump back up. It's funny and we laugh and she cracks up and we laugh some more. If she gets locked upstairs she stands at the gate and yanks it back and forth in the "hey let me out of here" fashion. She's not liking being locked in, but she also is not a fan of learning to go down the stairs, so for now the gate stays. In the kitchen she is a great "helper." Cupboard doors are no longer an obstacle. Basically we sit around watching her perform and laughing with her way to much of the day. But hey, she's only little for a short time!