A little shady

After Family Home Evening tonight I proceeded with the showering and getting ready for bed routine.

I told Gunner to get in the shower. For some reason he is quite reluctant to shower. I have eased up and let him shower every other night.

On the way to the shower he wanted to stop and get his book, telling me he just wanted to put it in his room.

Fine. Just get in the shower after please.

A few moments later as the request sank in I went into his room to find no book on the night stand. Of course I can hear the shower running...

I go to find the little key to unlock the bathroom door, and HELLO there is my Gunner sitting fully clothed on the toilet(seat down) reading his book.

This child may be the death of me.

Thanksgiving

We spent this year at the Whites for Thanksgiving. We used to try to do both families, but it just got too hard to bring food to two places and keep it warm and such.

These are the cute girls first.
Then the boys who seem to be turning into men...

More cute girls...
And sweet little boys.
Some sister in laws.
We ate gooood! There was smoked turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, rolls, strawberry pretzel salad, and corn. I'm sure you noticed we wasted no calories on veggies. There were many pies. Pumpkin, pecan, coconut cream, banana cream, apple, pumpkin cheesecake, and chocolate.

As the afternoon went on the men got the boys involved in a game... not sure what they called it, but they had them padded up running across the back of the yard and had to pick up a bowling ball and get to the other side before getting shot with an arrow. These are the kinds of games the white boys play.
Mom and Dad who are serving a mission in Texas were missed. We skyped them that evening.

It's always a great day at Jody Land.

Crazy Birthday Bash!

I knew all week that Friday was going to be busy. There was no school but that opened the door for many other opportunities. Ashlynn was going to have her birthday party with her friends that night. Then Gunner's scout leader called and asked if I could help out from 4:30 -5:30. Sure, if i am really prepared that will work out. Ashlynn's party doesn't start till 6.

Then Kathy called to ask if we could all be at my house while Josh and Liz were down to visit. They adopted Kathy's baby and bring her down every once in a while for a visit. It is so kind of them to share Mara with us. Of course I said yes.

The morning began with breakfast with my mom at 9am to celebrate her birthday which was last week. (this is one of the few pictures I could find of my mom.)

Then at 10:00 Kathy arrived at my house. Emilee said she would help me out and get the day going smoothly. Emilee and Andee Kay.
Liz, Ella, Mara, Kathy, and Andy.
We had a great time when the Iggy's arrived. They are such a great family. Mara loved Sienna's Rapunzel castle. I was cracking up when Liz was telling about trying to explain the evil mother and Rapunzel's real mom... Evil mother stealing her from her real mother...
Kathy and Mara, who just had her 3rd birthday.
Kathy, Mara, Liz, Josh, and Ella.
It was a fabulous afternoon and before I knew it 4:30 had rolled around.

Off to scouts!

I ran back to the house with just enough time to say goodbye to the Iggy's and welcome Ashlynn's friends!
They enjoyed pizza, and the Monte Carlo movie.



Opened presents, and enjoyed pie!
There was some just dance, plenty of happy squealing, and giggling!



Happy Birthday! I now officially have a teenager! I'm kind of feeling it.

October Break 2011

This October break we went to California. We thought we would try out Lego Land!
It was fine. definitely for 3 to 6 year olds... I wouldn't go again.

Some of the Lego guys were pretty cool.
The kids liked the driving school. But for the price totally not worth it. Of course this is only my opinion. Though my kids never ask when are we leaving Disney Land. just sayin.
The next day was much cheaper and a blast! The beach is never a let down.

Everyone enjoyed the waves and hunting for tiny crabs.


Later that afternoon we checked out Balboa Park. I was a little sad it was so late in the afternoon, everything was closing up. We walked around a while though and admired the buildings and such.


Posing by the fountain.




Our last day in California was spent at the San Diego Zoo. I love that zoo.
We started off the day on the bus tour, riding on top of course. On a side note, this was probably the warmest of the days we were there.

We spent a long time watching the gorillas. They were giving quite a show.

Sienna and Ashlynn

Mason and Rigdon
Rigdon's favorite part was the snakes and lizards. He was thrilled by everything!

We didn't even see 1/2 the zoo. We could have done two days there and not done Lego Land at all and been perfectly happy. With everyone all tired out we made the journey home.