Fun at the Cold Beach

Our Disneyland trip started with a quick trip to visit our friends the Pobsts. They live in Huntington Beach, CA. And of course we couldn't be so close to the water without playing a little. I thought we would just walk along the beach and maybe dip our feet in, but the kids especially Avery loved it and kept running into the water. It was very cold, but when you are having fun I guess you don't mind so much.

Ethan's Baptism

I have been so behind on posting any new pics, work and life have just been soooo crazy.

On November 3rd Ethan got baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of Ethan's decision to get baptized. Our day was very special. I had to work right after so we didn't have anything too big planned. Grandma and Grandpa Barnum came from UT and Grandma Connie and Uncle Will came down from Cordes. Our friends the Kozerskis also came to the baptism. Grandpa Dean and myself gave the talks and the children there sang the song Gethsemane. It was beautiful.

After the baptism and confirmation, we went and had pizza before I had to drive to work. Ethan got his own set of scriptures with his name on them and markers for them. He has been reading the scriptures more and enjoys underlining favorite passages. He also received a baptism memory book that he recorded the events and his testimony in.

Halloween Costumes

As in other years we like to do a family theme for Halloween. Our theme was Alice in Wonderland. We had a lot of fun at our Ward Halloween party and are looking forward to going out again tonight.

 

 

Schnepf Farms

Schnepf Farms is always one of our favorite family activities that we look forward to each year. It is about 1 1/2 hours away from our house in Queen Creek but well worth the drive. It is never too crowded and there is tons to do.

 

 

Riding on the bumblebee is Avery's first ride she has ever been on.  At first she was a little scared but then warmed and went on it 3 or 4 more times. 

 



 

 

Dad powered the boys around the track while mom and Avery ate a yummy italian ice. 

 

Avery in her new fall boots!

 

We went on the spooky train at night.  We enjoyed it until one of the teenagers playing a scary guy hopped on Josh's side and stayed there for a long time roaring at Josh while he was terrified and crying : (

 

Overall though we had a blast and can't wait to go back again next year. 

Ethan's 8th Birthday

It is hard to believe my Ethan is already 8 years old. The time goes by way too fast.  This year was not his turn to have a party so instead he got to choose a fun family activity.  His birthday fell on General Conference Sunday, so we decided to do his activity on the Friday night before.  We went to Peter Piper Pizza because my boys are always asking to go there.  We also had Ethan's friend Braxton staying the night with us so it was extra fun playing games. 

 

Tons of prizes yippee!

On Ethan's birthday Sunday morning he finally got to open his presents.  And as he hoped for he got all of the ninjago guys on his birthday list. 

 

Next up will be his baptism this Saturday.  It sure is great to be 8!

Father's Day Gift

I am months behind on posting anything on here, but I had a few minutes and thought I would add these pics.  For Father's Day we gave Michael tickets to an Arizona Cardinals game.  He's been wanting to go to one since they built the new stadium.  He had to wait a couple months to actually enjoy his gift, but it was fun to check out the excitement at the stadium. 

 

 

 

 

 



Avery 18 months

 

Our sweet Avery turned 18months last week.  She is growing up so fast, and she is definitely not a baby anymore.  She weighs in at 23lbs and is 33 inches tall.  She has finally caught up in the teeth department and can chew food better with her new molars. 

 

She loves to watch her Elmo video, play with her babies and play with her Minnie Mouse.

She says so many words now, and just started wanting to say "no" to everything we tell her to do. 

Avery takes a lot of energy to manage but everyone in the house still swoons over her.  The boys love watching her learn new words and tricks every day.

 

She did great in nursery when she was 17 months, I was even able to leave her the second hour.  But the week she was officially 18 months she has decided she hates being left and now screams the whole time. 

The Resort

Most summers we go and stay one weekend at a resort in town. It is always highly anticipated and one of our favorite things to do. We usually stay at Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak because it has lots of fun pools and is nice but not too fancy.

 

 

The kids asleep on our way to the resort on Friday.

 



 

 

 

This year Josh was finally tall enough to go down the slide!  Hallelujah! This poor kids has had his heartbroken the last 2 years as he hasn't been tall enough and has had to just watch Ethan.  

 

 

The resort also has mini golf.  We all like to play mini golf, but Josh and Michael really love to.  We play all 18 holes as a family and then they had their own competion the next day too. 

 

 

Avery likes the water, she's just a little too brave and is always trying to get away and go out on her own. 

 

 

Here is Ethan after a long day and a half of sun and swimming.  The resort also had some activites and competions for the kids.  Ethan came in 1st on one of them and was excited to get a goody bag. 



 

 

Ahhhh we can't wait until next year for another of weekend of relaxing!

1st Day of School

Back to school is always bitter sweet. I enjoy having my kids home with me during the summer but it is also good to get them back on a routine and learning. Unfortunately I had to work early in the morning on their 1st day of school so I missed it. But Daddy took the day off of work and even got some pictures for me.
Josh is in Kindergarten and Ethan is in 2nd Grade. Josh is young, just turning 5 last week but he really wanted to go this year and his preschool teachers said there was no real reason to hold him back. He's a small guy but academically and socially he's pretty mature. Worst case scenario is that he would have to stay in Kindergarten another year but we decided to at least give it a shot this year.
 

Ethan's class was big enough to split into two classes. For Ethan all of his friends are actually in the other class, so he was a bit bummed about that. But being the over achiever he is, he was excited that his class is quiet and all the "rowdy" boys are in the other one, because then they will earn more rewards for being good.

Mario Party!

We had Josh's 5th Birthday Party on Friday. He chose Mario Bros for his theme so we had a lot of fun planning for it.

His invitations looked like a Nintendo DS, which was also his birthday present this year! He has waited a few years to be "old enough" for one. 

Our cupcakes were red mushrooms.  Joshua chose vanilla cupcakes with a cinnamon roll frosting and then we put white chocolate chips in for the white part of the mushrooms.

Michael was on wall decor and did a pretty awesome job, creating some Mario scenery for us.

We had Mario and Luigi hats as well as a few princess crowns to hand out to our guests.



Since Mario and Luigi are Italian we decided to do a pizza parlor set up for dinner.  We had mini pizzas with lots of toppings to choose from.

For games, we had two WII systems set up for people to play and then we had a matching game and a musical chairs type game with question boxes to bonk.  For all of the games you could win coins for playing and then at the end we had a special prize room where you could turn in your coins and fill up your bag with prizes.

A few Boos were watching from the corners.  Our sweet Avery was scared of them and tried to avoid walking past them all day.

You can't be Mario without a mustache, so I made some chocolate ones for kids (and parents) to eat!