Kids come "Home forThanksgiving"

We had a houseful for Thanksgiving and it was pretty great! Mark & Holly got to come all the way from New Orleans, so we were especially happy about that. Getting to see their kids in action was fun, ('action' being the key word!) We didn't do anything real exciting, it was cold, windy and we woke up to snow on the ground Thanksgiving morning! We ate lots of food, played games, watched a few movies, but mostly football, and I made them all listen to my friend tell them about essential oils! Some of them went out and got their Christmas trees too. Kaemon loved playing with the same Legos his Dad played with!

Reed and Natali came the next farthest distance, from Orem, UT. They got home first, late Tuesday night. Natali had lots of studying to do, with finals coming up in 2 weeks, but she still got in on a few games of 'Settlers'! Bret& kids came on Friday and surprised all of us. He really wanted to see Reed, its been since their wedding when we were all together last!

Barry & Lisa got home Wed evening. They have been hosting Mark & Holly at their house in Gilbert for the past couple weeks since they flew in. Lisa was runner up in the "Settlers" games! Way to go!!

Mark & Holly with Kaemon & Milea in the back with Chad and little Zallen!

I think Chad has got to be the BEST Uncle ever!! He played all day with all the kids without ever getting worn out and they all loved it!!

Tami & Ryne came over on Wednesday too, but went to his parents for Thanksgiving dinner. Blake is always the center of attention wherever he is, just because he is sooo cute!! Of course the debate is--- does he look like a Peters or Crosby???

He's adorable, which ever it is! Sometimes I see Tami, but mostly Ryne!!

Kingston was making Zallen laugh by making faces at him. I didn't get a picture of London, I guess she was just moving too fast all over the place!!

Cute little Zallen, he doesn't say anything, just points and squeaks! He reaches up for anyone to hold him, he's a climber, he loved the piano, the pinball machine and playing with his cousins!

How can two little boys be any cuter than this!! They are already little buds!

Mark got these matching T-shirts for Uncle Chad and Kaemon, they both LOVE ketchup!


Auntie Lisa was getting Blake to really laugh, it was soo cute, I missed videoing the real little giggles, but it was pretty special.

After 3 days of food, fun and visiting, everyone headed back! We hope you all had a great time together and that we strengthen our family bonds once again! We have so very much to be thankful for! We love you all!! We surely missed all those that weren't with us!!

Family Fun--finally a post!

Its been awhile since I've made a post, so its about time I did! Mark & Holly and kids are in AZ for a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving break, so we've been trying to spend as much time with them as we can, for New Orleans is a long ways away! They have been spending most of their time in Mesa as that is where Lisa and Barry are, Bret and Becki, Nanna & Pomp, and lots of relatives and friends.
They have had family home evening get togethers with the Dawes families and the Crosby families. We decided to spend this last weekend at Roosevelt together and had a great time. The kids love playing games and 'Settlers' is definately a favorite. This little group stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG! They started playing after the kids were all down for bed and come daylight, (Sunday morning) they were still playing! I think Mark just wanted to keep playing until he finally won!

Tami, Ryne and little Blake were also able to come! They played while it was still daylight and went to bed like most normal people....

Here's 6 of our 7 grandkids! We've decided that they are all very special, sweet and adorable. It was so wonderful to spend some time with Kaemon, Milea and Zallin, they are growing so fast! It was fun watching them all playing together and becoming better friends!

Zallin really took to his Gpa! He was always wanting him to hold him. He's a little 'love bug' too!

This is Blake's most favorite place to be as you can see by his little smile! Tami packs him around everywhere like this!

Our little group decided to take a little hike up to some cliff dwellings. Near Roosevelt there is a National Park and its an easy hike up, not too steep, although London and Zallin liked their Daddy's shoulders best! We had beautiful weather and its a really neat place to go and see!

Mark's little family- Holly, Kaemon, Milea and Zallin!

Bret with Kingston and London! We missed you Becki!!

Ryne, Tami and Blake.

The hikers, almost there!

Kaemon beat his Gma up!!

The kids loved playing with the old grinder!

Bret & London, this was the best way to know where she was!







I hope this video plays, it was really cute of Milea, 'making dough'!

Bath time was pretty fun, 5 little kids in the tub! Looking at the water, they needed one!

Watching movies on Gma's & Gpa's bed, hoping to get them settled down for bedtime!

Zallin just wanted 'out' most of the time!

It was a quick little stay, but we all enjoyed our time together. Family time is the BEST! Just know that we missed all of you that weren't able to be there with us!!

Halloween Happenings

 To kick off Halloween spirit this year I got crafty, this does not happen often. I went to a craft night at a ward members house Kim Carrol and made these cute decorations. An organized event is the only way to get me to craft; where all the materials are provided and instruction is available!! My crafts were NOT perfect, but I had fun making them and being out with girls 

 Other celebrations included a pumpkin carving extravaganza with our pals the Grants and their kiddos, Jackson, Parker and Davis and guests Kingston and London.

 Meet the happy couple. wink. RS President Jaime and husband Jason. They are fabulous. We have good times with the Grants.

Here is Barry at the height of his festivity-ness (it was fast fading). He wanted to use all power tools to make his pumpkin and that he did.

 

Mine on the other hand, involved a tad more patients and detail. She was called "lady in distress"

 Jason Grant went a different route with his pumpkin, he sculpted. So artsy.

 Then there was the Cooley station 1st annual Fall Festival. Held for all of the surrounding neighborhoods. ALL were invited. . That day I also made Posse Stew (no one from these parts knows what it is, kina funny) and rolls (which for the first time ever turned out like Moms. yeeees!)  I aslo make a pumpkin cheese cake for the cake walk! I threw together a last min costume. I was Flo from the progressive commercials (not gonna lie I wasn't that creative, I had seen one of my girl friends do it before, thanks Steph) I didn't get a good picture cuz Barry to say the least was being a bum and didn't go...

 The Relief Society was in charge of a Cake walk and I sorta headed it up. I went to some work making these cute spooky, Kooky numbers that we stuck in the ground in a big circle. It was pretty cute.

Top 10 reasons why you really ought to come visit us!

10. We live 35 minutes from our NATION'S CAPITOL! Every American needs to visit there at least once in their lifetime. Plus, most of the stuff to see there is free. That means a vacation that doesn't cost a fortune. Click HERE to see!

9. You will get to sleep in this awesome room (which is also free). The bed is comfy too.

8. You can see what a real Marine base looks like, complete with a grand tour of the commissary and MCX.

7. If you come at the end of March/beginning of April you can see the amazing cherry blossoms. There is a whole festival that celebrates this. It's a pretty big deal.

6. We could pay $20 and take a bus to New York City. I won't even begin listing why that is a cool place to visit. $15 will get you a bus to Philadelphia. $20 will get you to Baltimore. Also, Richmond is only a 1 1/2 hours away and there is a slew of things to do there.

5. You can meet these people.

Okay, probably not, but you can at least see the big white house they live in!

4. We'll take you to Kirk's favorite BBQ, Famous Dave's; world renowned for their Devil's Spit BBQ Sauce. In fact, there are a lot of yummy restaurants here... There is a McDonalds a block away from our apartment! :)

3. The DC temple is about an hour away. Definitely one of the most gorgeous temples ever.

2. Kirk has a friend who is a professional cage fighter- a real live cage fighter!! You'll get to meet him (he's in our ward). He'll probably even allow you to take a picture or two with him.

1. You'll get to spend all day with this angel

That alone is reason enough!

We will be here until the end of July so hurry and book your flights and get ready for a great time!