Family Pictures

I just wanted to share the family pics we had done last month. They turned out great! Erika Loveland did an awesome job and now I have new pictures to hang on my wall since our last ones are 1.5 years old. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

October Fun

Wow, October was a very busy month. We managed to squeeze in a few fall activities. Avery and I went on a farm field trip with some preschool friends. We carved pumpkins just before Halloween, and dressed up as a family like we usually do. This year we were Brave, we didn't have the same gusto this year for our costumes so we'll have to see if decide to keep doing big costumes as a family every year.

Josh and Avery helped carve pumpkins and Ethan......

was hiding because he hates to touch anything slimy and doesn't like to help with the pumpkins.

We didn't get as many pics as we should have but here is one from Michael's phone. Michael is King Fergus, I am Queen Elinor, Avery is Merida and the boys are two of suitors who come to marry Merida.

Ethan's 9th Birthday

Our Ethan turned 9 last month....I know he is getting so old. It was his year to have a birthday party with friends, but we couldn't think of too many fun things we could do just at our house. So we decided he could take just a few friends to play laser tag and get pizza for his birthday. It actually worked out really well. Our van was just big enough to load up 4 friends plus his brother. They started out with a prize bag on each of their seats and were all hyped up by the time we got to laser tag. I got an excellent deal once we got there that I wasn't even expecting, so each boy got to play one game of laser tag and then each had credits to play games in the arcade. After they played we ate pizza and cupcakes and then dropped everyone back off.

 

Ethan is a good boy. He still is really smart and does well at school. He is in cub scouts and is taking piano lessons right now. He is really into Lego Chima and his favorite sport is basketball. He is good at doing chores and loves to play outside with his friends in the community.

Dena's Wedding

My younger sister Dena got married at the beginning of this month. Avery was in the wedding as one of her flower girls and talked for days before and after the wedding about being a flower girl. Everyone at the wedding just thought she was a doll and she ate up the attention. She did a pretty good job walking down the aisle and partied the night away on the dance floor after.

 

 

Her basket was left mostly full but she made it all the way down the aisle which is what was important.

I made the boys dress  up too and they looked very handsome until they started running around.

My sister Dena and Tyler dancing.

Baby #4

Here is our baby #4 announcement that I sent out to family and posted on facebook. We are excited to have one more join our family. We felt like there was one more little boy that's supposed to be in our family and lo and behold our ultrasound looks very much like a boy! I'm due March 23rd. Everything looks great so far, I already have a big belly and have gained lots of weight like I usually do when I'm pregnant : )

Michael's B-Day

For Michael's birthday, besides his list of wanted gifts, he also had birthday wishes to hang out with his parents and do something exciting. His parents did come to down to visit from St.George and with a few compromises we found a hike in Sedona that everyone could do but was still a little exciting. We had an excellent day the weather was nice and Sedona was gorgeous. Happy Birthday Michael!!!

 

In the hike we had to cross Oak Canyon Creek multiple times, so by the end everyone's feet were at least a little wet.

We ended the hike at a water slide area that the boys played around in, even though the water was freezing.

Even Michael proved that he is not too old to get into the water!



Pics I found on my camera

Just a few pics I found hanging out on my camera when I uploaded my photos!

 

 

I must have been at work this day when playing in the rain and mud was ok.  Those buns are too cute to not show off though.

This is a somewhat nightly occurrence at dinner. He hadn't even taken a bite but was sure it was something he couldn't eat. After taking a bite Josh actually discovered he kind of liked it....



Josh's Birthday

A month has passed and I have not posted about sweet Joshua's 6th Birthday! Josh is a good kid, he has a sweet smile and even though he is pretty small in size he has a big personality. For his birthday he wanted to go spend the weekend at the resort we usually go to in August. I readily accepted since it meant fun for the whole family and not much planning.

 

His day started with presents in the morning and a half day at school.

Josh is always ready to pose for the camera and loved swimming all night and all day!

Mini golf is another one of our favorite things to do at the resort.

And it can't be a true birthday weekend without some jumping on the bed and running around!

We ended his birthday night with a birthday cookie and a candle to blow out.

Science Center

I have lots of pictures from the summer that never made it on to my blog.  We had a few more fun activities before school started.

We took our cousins Rylee and Taryn to the Arizona Science Center and enjoyed a day of playing.

 

 



Hanging out with Grandma Connie

While Michael was away in Minnesota, we drove up north and hung out with Grandma Connie. We had a good time and the kids were spoiled like usual.

The kids played games and won prizes!

Even in Prescott Valley it was very hot playing mini golf outside.

Grandpa Barnum's Funeral

Last month Grandpa Barnum passed away.  While we are sad to not have him around anymore, we are happy that he is free of his body and able to be with Grandma now.  He lived a good long life and we are sure we will see him again. We made the drive up to St.George for the funeral services and to celebrate Grandpa.  It was fun to squeeze in an extra trip and hang out with family.

Michael keeping the kids entertained during the viewing.

Grandkids and Great-Grandkids sent off balloons in memory of Grandpa.  The kids all liked it except our 2 years olds who were not happy about letting go of their balloons.