King Jeremy

We flew to Utah for the weekend to go to Rhett's baby blessing. That weekend also happened to be Jeremy's 31st birthday, so he got to celebrate it with all his siblings except Amelia (who's on a mission in Latvia). Some of the stuff we did, or happened, when we were there:

Jeremy golfed with Jason and Uncle Dennis on Friday

Shauna went with Erica to see NEW MOON

Madison broke her nose at school on school on Friday while we were gone (thank you Sandy)

Jeremy and I went to the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday for a live endowment session

Jason threw a surprise party for Jeremy

Andrew made the most delicious Lemon Raspberry cake I've ever eaten

Mom and Amber brought tricky candles AND fun presents for Jeremy

James cavorted with his cousins and mastered the skill of stair-climbing

We got to meet Andrew and Nicole's baby Rhett

"King Jeremy" got 31 spankings from his brothers

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We did a bit of partying with Madison, Carter, and Grant to celebrate Jeremy's b-day when we got back to WA because they didn't go to Utah with us. A BIG BIG BIG thank you to families we LOVE that took care of our kids while we were gone- Christensens, Griffiths, Flowers, and Towers. We think you're awesome.

UP

We had a Wednesday off this week (thanks to our Veterans') and we decided to have an "UP" day. We went to a free showing of the movie UP. My expectations for that movie were pretty low (they just are for kids movies), but I have to admit the movie entertained me. The dog was my favorite character. Thanks to him I keep thinking "Squirrel " in my head.

We also went climbing at Vertical World. Jeremy is certified to belay climbers so our kids took turns scaling to new heights, as he kept them secure below. I'm pretty sure the monkey tendencies our kids have inherited are from Jeremy, as I have absolutely no desire to be off the ground unless I'm on a plane to a beautiful destination. They climbed around for about 2 and a half hours, until James and I needed to be done there. If we hadn't been there, needing to leave, I think my kids would still be climbing there.

Nobody would play UPWORDS with me that day. I am known to cream people at word games so I understand, sniff, sniff. We read some scriptures to uplift us spiritually instead.

Nobody complained about feeling achy from all the extra exertion until the next day. If it was Saturday they could have had a "down" day. But it was Thursday.

Red Lions ROAR!

Carter's control over the soccer ball has really improved this season. It has helped him to feel better about how he plays during games. He had some awesome coaches this year that helped make the season great for Carter. Here's a few pics of him at his last practice and game.

Jamesy is Growing Up

Over the course of the last year I have been labeling James's posts under "Sweet Baby James". Now that he's a year old I'll be labeling them as "James". Here he is giggling and feeling the wind rush through his hair in the swing he got for his birthday.

Star Wars Fanatics

Just a few more picture of us dressed up in our themed Halloween costumes. Okay- I know there was no witch in Star Wars, but Madison woulc not consent to dressing up like anything from Star Wars. And I made plenty of great suggestions... a wookie, C3PO, Amidala, Leia, Clone Trooper. Nope. Well, I tried. And I sewed. So here are more pictures.

A Whole Year Old!

James has been with us for a whole year, although it seems like he's been a part of our family forever. We are having so much fun having a little person in our family again. James is bursting with love, curiosity, and goodness. I hope he's enjoying being in our family as much as we love him being in it. He sure enjoyed ripping the paper off his presents, but was worried about the lighted candle on his cake. Jeremy had to help James blow out his birthday candle.

Happy First Birthday Sweet Baby James!

Killer Kleats

There were 18 girls on Madison's soccer team this year. Only 11 can play on the field at a time. It seems much busier on the field during her games as opposed to Carter's. He can only have 6 players on the field at a time. Madison is a fast runner and would keep moving around in any position she was put in. Her favorite position to play is forward. She loves trying to drive the ball to the goal. This season she got to play two of her games this season on AstroTurf. What an amazing concept to make a synthetic field. The ball seemed to roll forever on that surface. It was dry, but horrible if you crashed to the ground because the little bits of "turf" would embed into the skin surface. I noticed the girls trying really hard not to fall down during the AstroTurf games.

Mad Hatter Escapades

Carter enjoyed a harvest tea today with his classmates and their reading buddies. Their class also won a contest at school and the prize was getting to spray their principle with silly string. I must say I admire the principle even more for offering herself up as bait, but thought it was pretty funny when I heard her muttering under her breath that she would have to think of a different prize next year.

Spooky Jacks

The Jack with fangs was carved by Madison. Grant carved the bat with some help from his Dad. And Carter's Jack is pictured here without his barf.

Carving Time!

We carve some pumpkins every year (messy traditions are fun for all). This year Carter wanted to save some of the glop and make his jack-o-lantern a barfing pumpkin. I wanted to roast some pumpkin seeds and burnt them instead. Jamesy wanted to eat the pumpkin slime and may have actually succeeded in eating a couple of seeds . The things we want and the things that are good for us don't always align.

The kids weren't afraid to dig right in to the gloopy glop of the pumpkins guts. I hardly had to help hollow out the pumpkins at all this year. Each year they get better and better at being independent human beings.

Fall Festival

When I was in elementary school we got to wear our Halloween costumes to school and have a party/parade for the last hour of the day. My kids aren't allowed to go to school in their costumes. Instead they can dress up and go to a "Fall Festival" for an evening at their school. None of my kids wanted to go through the haunted hall, but they all enjoyed some sugar and games. Yoda was a big hit. Everyone wanted to talk to him and bask in the light of his saber.

Walkin' Like He's Big Stuff

Jamesy loves being free to roam on his own. He is perfecting his walking skills and already beginning to put on some speed. All of our kids have walked early. Probably to escape the constant barrage of kisses and snuggles we slather on them (read snugglefest post).