Josh got his WOLF

Josh recieved his WOLF for Cub Scouts.  He did a great job.  He loves scouts and has the best Den Leaders.  Good Job Josh!!!

Barbie Furniture

Joshua had to make something "useful" for cub scouts.  So instead of the customary bird house, I had him make Breanne some furniture for her new Barbie house.  He did a great job, even sewing the cushions, and she LOVED it.  She has put in a request for more as a Christmas present.  Super cute!

Halloween 2011

I have a new camera now, but at the time, I had a broken camera so I wasn't able to get very many pics of Halloween this year.  But here are a couple.  At least I got some.

The kids "parade" at school.  Breanne was a Mummy! 

 Josh was a wizard.

I got help with the party in Josh's class.  It was so fun.

Carving Pumpkins.  Yes....On Halloween.  I can't remember why, but it seems we were really busy, or sick, or probably both, and didn't carve them the week before, like usual.  But it was actually a good thing, because our pumpkins looked so nice and fresh for all the trick or treaters to see.  Instead of moldy and saggy.

"Trick or Treat!"

Scott went dressed as Winni-the-Pooh.  Oh what a cute costume.  I would just smile every time I saw him.  And couldn't help but poke his belly a few times. 

Tuckered out after trick or treating.

So I threw 2 Halloween parties this year.  One for Primary, and one as a family /friend thing.  But didn't get one pick.  I need to get some pictures from my sister.  But for now...That was Halloween 2011.

He won the BIKE!!!

The school has a contest for kids who read a certain amount every day of the week.  Every couple months, they have a drawing, and someone wins a bike...and blow me away....Josh won!  It was super exciting!

Fall, Leaves, and Fun!

Part of growing up is playing in leaves.  I love days like this.

 (The little girl in the pic that no one will recognize is the neighbor.)

Did you know I'm a yellow belt?

 Yup!  I'm a yellow belt in the art of Kenpo Karatee.  I have always wanted to learn karatee.  I'm loving it!  I'm hoping to get my Orange belt soon, and just continue on as far as I can.  I feel so blessed to have the chance to learn right now.  Hopefully I will never need to use the self defense I'm learning, but it is impowering to know that I can do things now I couldn't do before.  And that I will stand a greater chance, if ever the need arises.  Anyway, that wasn't even the reason I started.  I really have just always wanted to learn.  So this is pretty cool.  Now, I just need to find more time to practice!  :)

The magic of CARDBOARD

Too bad cardboard isn't more "weather resistant" because the kids have so much fun with it!  I would keep it around in the back yard for a while, if it didnt' just become a mess once it rained or something.  But today, the kids got to play with it for a moment before it was flattend and taken to recycling.  I remember having so much fun playing with boxes.  It's like life sized blocks.  Usable in so many ways!  I just love to see their creativity.  So fun. 

7 ??? Already ??? (Bre's B-day)

I can't believe how fast these kids grow up.  I know everyone sais that, and I will keep saying it too.  But really...how time flies.  I just try to charish every second.  And Breanne had a really fun Hello Kitty themed party this year.  Every girls got to go home with a "Hello Kitty" Bow, candy, and more. 

Breanne really wanted a "Liv" Doll, so she was pretty excited about this present!

She also got a big Barbie house.  I always wanted one of these growing up, but they are so big and bulky that they aren't too practical.  But I figured, we could put it on her dresser, so it wouldn't be taking up floor space.  She loves it!

She got lots of fun things for her family party too.  But the thing that made it the most special was that there were so many more family members present than normal!  Because Niamh got baptized the day before, we had a our Arizona families up for a visit.  Normally they aren't at the birthday parties, so it was pretty special that she had so many of her cousins there are her party!

Hee Haw Farms Field trip

I love being able to go on field trips with my kids.  This was a really fun place too.  I hadn't ever been there before.  I think we will try to take all the kids next year.  They had a great corn maze, a big pile of corn the kids played in, animals, a big slide, a hay ride, and much more!  Plus every kid got to PICK....out of the garden....their very own pumpkin.  So fun!  Plus it was very cool to hang out with Breanne for the day!

Eli's 5th Birthday!

I can't believe Eli is already 5!!!

He is growing so fast!  And getting so big!  We just love this guy!

We always do some candles for breakfast the morning of.

Joshua, being a good sport with all the little boys dog piling on him!!

So many fun presents!

Cake!

Eli wanted a Lego StarWars party this year!  It turned out so fun!  We had an obstacle corse in the back yard, and all the little guys got light sabers that they used to fight droids, and so on.  They had a BLAST!  I was so glad the weather cooperated!

The light saber wound....

Now, on to the Family party.... He got Mario pajamas, books, blocks, a bunch of other stuff, and..... a new scooter!!!!

The cake.

Now, the extended family party!

He loved all the things he got from his generous family!

This was pretty much his reaction to everything!  Luckily I caught it this time!  So cute!

The "Money Jar" from G-ma and G-pa Mortensen.  The kids get to reach in and pull out as much as they can.  They love it!

Countin' his coins.

Blow out the candles!

So when I asked Eli what he wanted for his birthday (thinking of present ideas) he said; "Fruit Punch of course!"  Of course.  So we made sure to have some there that night.  Yum!

We love you Eli!  We are so happy to have you in our family!  Happy Birthday little guy!