BOO!

How fun is Halloween?! ? My kids had so much fun this year trying to decide what was the perfect costume for them. I seriously think looking through our costume box, that stays in the garage all year, is almost as fun as the trick-or-treating itself! They pull everything out all over the floor and remember each costume they wore in the past. I try to get them to be something from the box, and sometimes it works and sometimes we just have to go on the hunt for the one we don't have. So here they are!

Steele was actually Spider Man, but these pics were so much cuter! He LOVED these teeth!

I have honestly tried to talk Ty into being a Kissing Booth for the passed 3 years! I guess this year he was finally interested in actually getting some kisses!

Bren-angel (not far from the truth!), Steele-Spiderman, Crew-dracula (only because he wanted the teeth and the fake blood!), Gunner-pirate, Bree-princess, Jayanna-angel/devil, and Kinlee-dancing girl.

Crew's preschool class

Sun, sand, and lots of water!

I grew up going down to Mexico with my family and staying in my Uncle Steve's beach house. From those trips come some of my fondest memories, so when we had kids I knew I wanted to carry on that tradition. Joe and I went for the first time just months after we were married and and since then we've tried to go at least twice each year. Because of crazy schedules we hadn't made it down this year yet, so fall break seemed to be our last chance before the holidays. So we called up Nate and Maya and loaded up the cars and headed on down! We got to stay at Las Palomas, a resort that we've never previously stayed in which had heated pools, a lazy river, slide, and was right on the beach. We could go right from the sand to the pool! It was a GREAT trip!

Gunner & Taya

Carter, Crew, and Steele

Colten soakin up some rays and pretending to be asleep!

Ty, Kylee, Jade, and Brenlyn

I'm pretty sure Steele was pooping sand for like a week!

The hotel grounds from our room

Dive on in, Colt! The water's great!

Colten tried out diving for the first time last year, as a Freshman, and loved it! He doesn't have any fear of smacking the water, so he improved really quickly, go figure! This year has been great as well, except for a minor accident he had while doing back flips off of a chair during mutual! Of course, it didn't dawn on him that it might not be the brightest thing to do during the middle of a sport season, but nevertheless, he under rotated one and hit his knee. It swelled to three times it's normal size and he couldn't walk on it for several days! This put him out of dive for 3 meets and about 2 1/2 weeks. Just one week before regionals he was able to get on the board again! He went to regionals and took 4th place, just missing state by 4 points! What a heart breaker! He had a great season though, and were already looking forward to next year!

Uncle Nate checking out the knee and subjecting Colten to a little pain! Ouch!

Check out that pike position! Getting limber enough to do that required some yoga with mom!

FOOTBALL!

Football has been running our life for the last 3 months! It has been super fun, but so crazy and time consuming! Ty plays for the Hornets in the Queen Creek Pop Warner League. They have had a great season winning 8 straight games before getting beat in the semi-finals. More importantly, Ty has had a great experience!

Pep talk after our only loss!

Happy Birthday, STEELE!

How is it possible that it's already been a year since our sweet, crazy little Steele was born? I remember it was so hot and I was miserable and could think of nothing more than having him out of me and in my arms! I was done being pregnant! He was born on Tuesday, September 23, just 1 day before his due date. He was perfect! That brand new baby phase came and went so quickly and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of his first year. Now he is walking, climbing, running, screaming, and laughing! I can't count how many times in the past year I have wished I could freeze time and just have him the way he is a little longer. I guess I'm just feeling the sadness of this being my last baby! He has brought so much laughter and joy to our family. Happy 1st Birthday, Steele! We love you!

Across the Ocean and Back Again!

My first trip to Europe was amazing! We went for a medical conference that was being held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Joe had worked tirelessly on a research paper for the last year so he could present his findings at the conference. At first, I tried to convince him that we shouldn't go, that we shouldn't spend the money, but he told me he was going to present his paper and he would love to have me join him. :) (In other words, I'm going and you are too) I didn't make up my mind until the day before he purchased the tickets!!! I'm so glad he convinced me to go! We stayed 7 days in Edinburgh and 2 in London! We had a great time and I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity!

Bag pipes were everywhere! Why was this a surprise to me? I was in Scotland!

Downtown Edinburgh-One of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen! (ok, so I haven't seen many, but still...) It is filled with old grand buildings, wonderfully preserved for hundreds of years, amazing architecture, a castle set on a hill, and it was sooo clean!

Edinburgh Castle-it is nestled within the city up on a hill. It is something to behold! Almost like a city within itself.

Beautiful country lane in Rosslyn, just down the hill from Rosslyn Chapel. This was my favorite place to see during my entire trip. Its' history is fascinating (DaVinci Code), the chapel itself was simply unbelievable. I'm not used to seeing something so old (built around 1446). It was undergoing conservation at the time (notice the scaffolding behind us) so we didn't get great pics of the entire chapel. I loved it!

These next three are taken at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It was home to Mary Queen of Scots. Also has a fascinating history! It is still used when the royal family comes to Scotland, particularly for the Highland games.

About halfway up Scott Monument, built in honor of Sir Walter Scott. It is 200 feet tall and has 283 steps up winding narrow staircases to the top. Yes, Joe went all the way up and lived to tell about it!

Yep! You know I went and saw Wicked! How could I not? We were in London, for crying out loud! It was amazing as always!

Home again! Boy did we miss our kids!

GO BULLDOGS!

Queen Creek High versus Higley High is the biggest rivalry of our football season! It's always a crazy game with a crazy turnout of students and fans, this year was no exception! We weren't about to miss this one! Joe and I and all of our kids plus my mom and Karalee and Kinlee were all there. (Aaron coaches for Higley, sorry Aaron!) It was a great game until half way through the 3rd quarter when it started to sprinkle. Being the fans that we are, we didn't let a little rain scare us away from a game we were currently winning, so we sat tight in the stands. Little did we know, the sprinkles were just the beginning. Before long the rain started pounding down and lightening became frighteningly close. When both teams headed for the locker rooms, that was our clue go somewhere besides those tall lightening rods called bleachers. That was it, everyone had the same thought as us at precisely the same time. It was seriously worse than leaving a D-Backs game. By the time we reached the car we were SOAKED to the bone and then had to wait in the parking lot for 40 minutes to exit toward home! What an grand adventure!!! How can anyone be upset about rain in Arizona???

****The game was rescheduled for Saturday morning where we beat Higley in overtime! GO BULLDOGS!

SERIOUSLY....has anyone seen a goose egg this size before?

Steele seems to be demanding a lot of blog time lately, but gees...I couldn't leave this one out, now could I? It's been a couple of weeks now since this happened and the bump is almost (yes, I said almost, not totally) gone. I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but the thought behind taking the pics was so that I could eventually post them. That is really twisted, huh? Well, here's the story..... We had just finished with scriptures and prayers and Colten and I were trying to get out the door to Walmart. Steele wasn't ready for bed yet, so I told Bren she could stay up and read for awhile so she could watch him for me. She sat him down on the recliner while she turned to the couch to get her book and Steele just took a nose dive right off the chair and onto the wood floor. I do have to say (in Bren's defense) that Steele knows how to climb up on the chairs and couches all by himself and get down as well, so she didn't think a thing of setting him there. We just don't think he realized where he was. It frightened Bren and Gunner pretty bad and even I thought we might be taking a trip to the ER. Joe came home soon after and assured us he was fine. (I still had him give Steele a blessing!) Anyway, this was the result and just so you know, these were taken about 10 minutes after it happened so the lump has already gone down significantly! It looked like a golf ball was protruding off his forehead. Yuck! I'm so thankful that babies are resilient and that our dad holds the Priesthood!

Cow the animal, or Cow the person?

The other day Crew went home from school with his friend, Kimilee. When I picked him up her mom shared this with me. He and Kimilee had been talking and Crew said to her, " You have a bwuda (brother) named Cow, huh? Just like the animal cow." We laughed so hard because her brothers name is Cal, not Cow, and if you've ever heard Crew talk both of those words sound exactly the same! So cute! It's always a little sad to me when they grow out of their sweet little lisps and learn how words are really pronounced. Love you, Crew!

Steele vs ink pad: ink pad wins!

So, this being my sixth child I should be familiar with anything an 11 month old is capable of , right? Well, I haven't seen this one before! (I will say that I wasn't home for this, but Joe was and he took the pics before cleaning this mess up! Way to go, babe!) Somewhere Steele found and got into a fight with an ink pad....and lost! Enough said

Oh gees, look at the tile, walls, and baseboards!

1st Day of School!

Who knew after such a great summer we would actually be excited for the school to begin again (except for Ty! He would prefer to stay home and sleep, instead of going to school) Here are my cuties just before going out the door into the big scary world, again!

PS I know, I'm missing Colten, I wasn't thinking very clearly that early in the morning and forgot to take his pic

Gunner- 7 and in 2nd grade

Brenlyn- 9 and in 4th grade

Ty-12 and in 7th grade (He hates this pic! Can you tell he's been over my shoulder while I'm writing this post?)

Happy 17th Anniversary

Yes, indeed! It really has been 17 years! That is really hard to believe. In one sense the time has just flown by, I wonder how it has come and gone so quickly. But as I think about all of the places we've been, the things we've accomplished, the trials we've endured, the children we've had (6, that is!) it seems like a lifetime! I guess time is just funny that way! I can't imagine going through it all with anyone else! Joe is my best friend. He makes me laugh, helps me keep my perspective, talks me down from my proverbial cliffs, and loves me so much! For those reasons I am sooo very thankful I am his and he is mine forever, because a lifetime is just not long enough! Happy Anniversary, babe!

More 4th of July fun!

Steele practicing for the rodeo at Aunt Elaines

Bren and Brandi

Troy and Whitney and their friends at the rodeo