A quick update!

So here are a few things we have been up to the past 3 weeks. I will update more as this month progresses since it is a BUSY month! :)

Maddie and Payton and Lexi wanted to make some money for Christmas so while I had my Mom's cotton candy machine, we sold Cotton Candy and Lemonade, and I must say, they did VERY well!

Payton thought it would sell better if he could "show" the cotton candy off, so he juggled one of the pieces! Haha! Doesn't it make you want to buy some??

For Thanksgiving we ran in a Turkey Trot (Sorry, no pics) and then went to the zoo with my family. I love this picture of Lexi and my dad walking. It is priceless. My dad LOVES the grand kids and would do anything for them.

Maddie was in the Nutcracker this year! She was a fight scene Doll. She LOVED being in it and we loved watching her! Here she is in her main costume (the miniature Spanish doll). One day she had to use this Chinese doll costume. Here are a couple of the other little dolls she danced with. Aren't they the cutest little dolls EVER!! Great Job, Maddie! I am so proud of you!

St Joseph's Heart Unit had a memorial service for any of the babies that have passed away over the past 3 years. Our kiddos (Heidi Anderson's kids, Heidi Skidmore's kids and my kiddos) all sang "I Am a Child of God" and they did VERY well. It was really sweet. My dad also spoke and he did a GREAT job of reminding everyone that Christ died for us, but was resurrected and we are ALL promised to be resurrected just like Christ and we will all see our babies again and we will all live again together. He also reminded us that for every tear we have shed, and are still shedding, it will be returned to us with insurmountable joy. Thanks for doing that, Dad!

The last thing I am going to show you, for now, are these ADORABLE paint cans! Yes, these are empty paint cans (you can get them at home depot)

You then decorate them however you want (these are just scrapbook papers, ribbon and some cute embellishments). These are going to be our Christmas PJ pails. I give my kiddos Christmas Jammie's every year, but now they will be in these paint cans every year. Then, you take a photo of your child in their new pj's and put the picture in the can, so then, every year you can look back at all of the Pictures, so it doubles as a PJ pail (no wrapping!) and a time capsule! SO CUTE! No, this was not my idea. My VERY creative friend, Shelley, got this idea somewhere and shared it with me. You still have time to do it this year! Easy and CUTE!!!

Anyways, that's all for now. I will post more soon!!!

Fun Run

After my triathlon my kiddos all asked when they could run in a race. Well, Gilbert does an annual 1 mile Fun Run and a 5k, so I signed me and the kids up for the fun run! I figured it would be fun and the kids could do it. I had my neice, Grace, and had her in a stroller. I figured it would be great. Here are the kids with their numbers

here they are, waiting for it to begin

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All of the kids started out strong. Maddie and Payton took off with the crowd and I stayed back a bit with the stroller.

At the first turn (about 15 yards into the race) Lexi informed me she was tired and didn't want to run anymore. (GREAT!). So, I had her on the stroller with Grace. We made it about 1/4 mile and saw runners coming back on the opposite side of the road, so we went on that side and waited for Maddie and Payton to pass. Here they are!

Instead of running the whole way, I just ran back to the finish line from there. Yes, I am a cheater, but I figured Lexi wasn't going to run, and it would take me FOREVER to push Lexi and Grace on that small stroller.

About 15 yards from the end, and with the finish line in sight, Lexi ran the rest of the way. She looks super cute. Too bad she only ran 30 yards of it! Haha! We all got ribbons and goodies at the end and Maddie and Payton can't wait for another one! Next time, I want to do the 5k instead! :)

New Moon

Yes, I am a BIG old dork, and I love the books. I also didn't hate Twilight. (I know, you are all saying...BOOOOOOOO) I know it wasn't the best, but it was pretty close to the book, which I liked. Well, New Moon came out Friday at 12am, but we got tickets to an EARLY showing!! And, it had assigned seats, so no waiting in some long line!! We got to see it at 9pm on Thursday night, so we decided to make a night of it! We went to Olive Garden first,

then to the theater

where we walked past all of the poor souls waiting for the midnight showing and right to our seats.

They then did a raffle (Alene won the Twilight Trivia game! woohoo), then four VERY official looking men in suits announced that since this was a special preview, if he saw ANY cell phones or cameras out or on, we would be escorted from the building immediately. No excuses!! Those official looking men stood during the whole movie watching all of us women to make sure we weren't recording the movie, or even the music! Then, they were watching until we left as well!! WOW!! Never had that before!

Now, how I felt about New Moon. I thought it was MUCH better than the first movie, but similar to the book, kind of slow. The first time I read New Moon I flew through the "Jacob" parts to find out what happens with Edward. I have always been a Bella with Edward fan. I re-read the book about 2 weeks ago, and I must say, after re-reading the book and watching the new movie, I am now a Bella with Jacob fan (It helps that Taylor Lautner is SO dang hot with that 8-pack!!) I just really like how he makes her happy and is her sunshine. Anyways, that is my 2 cents. I really enjoyed it, and I would go see it again. It was fun being in a big theater with TONS of fans (and teenagers!) Thanks for the memories, gals!

Nate is HOME!

You are probably sick of hearing about my baby brother, Nate. Well, too bad, one more post! haha!

He got home 1 1/2 weeks ago and most of us went to the airport to greet him. Mom, I don't think that disguise will work! (yes, that really is my mom, and yes, she really wore that as he came off the plane! :) She is the BEST!

Here is the group of kids he came home to! We wanted to make a statement. I think we did! (Grandma "Treats" is in there too....can you find her?)

Here is most of the fam (all that came to the airport. Only a couple are missing)

This is a photo not only of Nate, but check out the guy in the background wearing blue, taking photos of our family! Hmmmm.....I had to document the wierd guy taking pics. I wonder where they will show up! He didn't ask us any questions, just stood back and took pictures, then walked away! haha!

After Nate got home and was released, he changed his clothes, and then was "Uncle Nate" and ran around the house with the kids chasing him. He is the BEST Uncle ever and all of the kids LOVE him! He said things felt the same, everyone was just bigger (including him! haha!) Welcome home, Nate! This should be my last "Nate" post, but I HAD to show you our fun costumes for the airport! :) Thanks for humoring me! I know my Utah gals LOVED this post! Enjoy, Skylee, Netso and Mindi! Missed you!

Parade!!

So, back on Wed, Nov 11th, my girlies got to be in the Mesa Veterans Day Parade for their dance! It was SOOO stinkin cute! We love Miss Tracy. She does a GREAT job with the girls, and they look adorable too!!

Here they are before the parade

Here is Maddie and Melody, her good friend.

Lexi's age group was on the float. She is at the front. She was laying down when she first came by, but when she realized where we were, she sat up and smiled!

Maddie's age was walking and dancing behind the float. They did GREAT! I love the pink flowers she has for all of the girls.

We just happened to have Payton's scout shirt with us, so when his cousins came by with their cub scout troop, he joined in! He loved being in the parade with them!
It was a fun time and GREAT memories! The girls will be in another parade in Feb! They can hardly wait!

I DID IT!!!

3 months of running, biking, and learning to swim.........and it all came up yesterday!! I did the Casa Grande Triathlon. I have never done ANY race, even a small 5k, but some of my friends (and sisters) were doing this, and I thought, what better way to get into shape! So, I DID IT!! It was an amazing experience. It is a sprint, so it is a 400m swim, 10.3 mile bike and 3 mile run. I have done the whole thing a few times, but Yesterday was a WHOLE different experience. Let's start with the swim. I am the one in the blue cap. We have been training with a 25m pool and this one was 50m. I didn't think it would make a difference, but boy, I was tired near the end! My goggles were fogged up and TONS of people were in the pool I could barely pull myself out! Then, I had to run to my bike! I thought I was going to fall over! Haha! That transition went pretty well, and I was off on my bike. I am SO glad my cousin let me borrow his rode bike! HUGE difference. The biking went pretty smoothly, and then it was time for the run. My amazing sister, Denise, met me in the transition area (She did the duathlon and was already done) and grabbed my bike and gave me water. Then she ran 1/2 a mile with me giving me pointers. The run was pretty crazy. Your legs feel like Jello, and after the fast bike, you feel like you are going SO SLOW!! It was all I could do to NOT walk, but I had told myself I would NOT walk, and I didn't! My sister joined me the last 1/2 mile and talked me through it, and made me go faster. (thanks, De-you are a LIFESAVER!!) It was GREAT! It was so fun to come in at the finish line Tyler and the kids were there and Maddie and Payton came and ran the last little bit, through the finish line. WOW, what a RUSH!!!

It was exciting to see so many fun people, and LOTS of people I knew!

Here is my family. Lexi wasn't happy cause she didn't get to come run with me. Oh well! :)

This is my training buddy, SHelley. I think there was only 2-3 days in the past 3 months that we didn't work out together! Thanks for doing it with me, Shelley! Everyone that crossed the finish line got a medal, and I wore mine all day! I thought about wearing it to church, but it didn't really match. :)

Here is Me, Denise and Julie. De actually got 1st place in her age division for the duathlon! GREAT JOB, De!

I had LOTS of cousins that did it. Here are 2 of them. There were about 4 more!

Here is some of the gals from my ward that did it. We worked out quite a bit together. Great job, Girls!!

Here is my NEW watch Tyler suprised me with, the morning of the triathlon. Isn't it CUTE! It was perfect. Here is my time. The official time actually said 1:31:29, which makes sense because I started my watch 10 seconds early and ended a couple seconds late! I was happy with my time. Here is a link to ALL of the times, at least for the women! I'm so glad I did this. It was a great goal. So, now I can pretty much do anything, because I'm a triathlete! :)

My little brother, Nate

This is my little brother, Nate, 2 years ago. He left to serve a mission for our church in Ogden, UT. He has had some great experiences and now he comes home on THURSDAY!! Wow!! I can't believe it!

Here he is, just last month at Conference. Conference is a time when our church leaders direct us. We watch it on TV, or the internet, and he got to see it live. Our church then publishes all of the talks and puts it in a magazine, called the Ensign. My brother got his photo taken with some of the other Missionaries on his mission and they put it in the magazine! Here is the link to the whole magazine: he is on page 96. We can hardly wait to have him home!!

Bobcat

Payton was SOOOOOOO excited to turn 8 so that he could get baptized, but also so he could start SCOUTS!!! He LOVES going. They have so much fun and he gets to be with all BOYS!! haha! Well, last Tuesday was his first pack meeting, so they introduced him

to the pack (they have LOTS of boys), then he earned his Bobcat, so he had to "bob" for his "bobcat" award.

His patch and pin were in a plastic bag in the water, so IN HE WENT!! he loved it, and he grabbed it with his teeth. Then he got to pin the pin on me.

He was soaked, but so proud of himself, and in complete HEAVEN! Way to go, Payton! He also got 2 belt loop awards as well. He can hardly wait until the next pack meeting to see what other awards he is getting! haha!

Happy Halloween!!!

I know everyone has posted pics of their kiddos from Halloween, but since this is my journal, you also get my pics!!

Maddie was Hannah Montana. I must say, this little girly knows how to strut her stuff! She has my little bird legs, and it shows, with these leggings! She loved the hair (Thanks, SHelley) and Tyler made the microphone/headset for her. And, she had to have th make-up!!

Payton was bound and determined to be Mario! I had looked for a costume but they were $35 online + shipping!! YIKES and NO WAY!! So, I mentioned that I would just make him one, and he responded, "well, maybe I will be something else instead!!" (Little booger!) So, a friend mentioned Walmart had them, but they only sold Smalls, which were WAY too small, so I bought one and used it as a pattern and made this for Payton. He was pretty impressed and LOVED it! This is him, Jumping like Mario. What a CUTIE!!

Lexi was very indecisive. Originally she wanted to be Dora, and I LOVED her outfit, but then she decided she didn't like Dora anymore, so she wanted to be a fairy, then Ariel, then a horse then a witch, then a butterfly, and she finally landed with this, the Pink Princess. She loved it, and she loved acting like the Pink Princess as well. (And, luckily, we already owned it! Woohoo!)

Here are my 3 little "Monsters." We had a great happy halloween, and we hope you did too!

SO DANG CUTE!!

Lexi is in a neighborhood soccer group and I think it is SO cute to watch her. She has short legs, and she is one of the youngest on the team, but she likes it for a little while (She usually only makes it through half a game! Haha!) But, doesn't her little soccer shields and ball make her look so grown up! She loves kicking it, but doesn't get the chance much! Go LEXI!!