9 Years and going strong!!

Last week Dave and I celebrated our 9 yr wedding anniversary! How great the last 9 years have been! I am seriously so lucky to be married to this guy!! My parents were so nice and booked us a room at their time share in Midway for Tuesday night (the 13th). So we headed that way as soon as Dave got home from work. My parents took the kids for the night so we could enjoy some time alone. We spent the night in Midway, watching movies and relaxing. I went to bed pretty early, but Dave got sucked into the hallmark channel and when one movie would finish, before he could turn it off the next one had him captured, so he stayed up until 2 am watching them. Then we lounged around and watched more movies in the morning then decided to get on with the day. We did some shopping then we went ice skating. It was a blast. Its been so long since either of us had ice skated. When we first got there, one other person was there, then he left and we had the whole place to ourselves. We tried to get tricky, which usually ended up with me gliding across the ice on my belly, but we had so much fun! After that we headed down the canyon and did more shopping. Then we went to the temple and did some sealings. It was great! The Sealer was so nice and "looked away" so we could kiss across the alter again! Made me think about how much I was in love with my sweet hubby that day, 9 years ago and its nothing compared to the love I have for him now. I love him to pieces!!! After the sealing we went and had dinner in the cafeteria in the temple, then decided we better save my parents from the kiddos. We are so lucky to have parents who will take our kids and our kids had a blast!! The boys got to help grandpa on the farm watering and taking care of the cows while the girls were at school. They didn't want to come home! THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!

Me and Dave ice skating. Really the only picture I took of us :)

Finding just the right tree

Since Christmas is almost here, we figured we better go get us a tree - So last weekend we went out searching for just the right one. I was a little weird to be cutting down a Christmas tree in jackets, but nice too. We had a lot of fun. The kids were troopers and did really good hiking around and going up the canyon. There were a lot of bushes and plants they had to weave through to get around and they did awesome. Towards the end Caden was tired and wanted to get carried but he did good for a long time.

Dad cutting down the tree - but it was loud so the kids wanted to cover their ears.

Looking for just the right one

That one looks pretty good!

The kids hiking in the little bit of snow there was.

My poor hubby- hes amazing! he just threw Caden up on his shoulders on the way down the mtn. Then grabbed the tree in one arm and the chain saw in the other! Hes awesome!

Having our little picnic in the back of the truck

After we got the tree we went to a cool little place that had hills and stuff the kids liked to climb on and slide down the snow

It was also a great place to do some shooting. Dave brought the guns just in case there was a chance to shoot and the kids were super glad he did. They had a blast shooting.
Caden is pretty proud of his sisters cute pink gun. He didnt care what color it was, he was just glad to be shooting something.

More cutting the tree.

Kaylee shooting her gun. She was learning to aim it and did really good shooting at what she was aiming for.

The kids all lined up while dad had his turn shooting the cute pink gun. :)

Then we broke out the big little gun. Dave little .22 We let the kids shoot it a few times then me and Dave had a turn. We love to shoot this gun.

Aspen having her turn.

Aspen with the BB gun.

We had a fun day, and hopefully the kids had a fun day.

Encounter #1 with Santa this year

Last weekend we had our ward Christmas party. The kids were so excited when the Jolly ol feller showed up. They waited in the long line to be able to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Caden was the funniest. He doesn't stand in one place very well, but for this he did. He was so excited he would do anything- even hold still! It was finally our turn and the girls were nice enough to let him go first. As soon as I gave him the "ok" he ran up and jumped on Santas lap and just cuddled right up on him. He gave him the biggest cuddling hug ever and wouldn't even look up to talk to Santa. Santa was cute and just laughed and hugged him back and just rocked him for a minute then Caden jumped off with the biggest grin ever that he got to hug Santa!

Then it was Kaylees turn. She told Santa she wanted an art set.

Then Aspen. She said she wants silly putty. Santa had to laugh and tell her he could probably come up with that! It's so funny- I dont even know where she got that idea, but that is all she has asked for since we started talking about Christmas a month or so ago.

Then Briggs. He was just chill, staring at this odd guy who was talking to him, but he didn't mind him and didn't cry which surprised me.

Caden with his cute little friend Corby waiting patiently in line for Santa. Too cute!

So all in all, I'd have to say encounter # 1 was a success!!

Please, ...And I mean it!!!

Everything special that Kaylee has or that she doesn't want anyone to touch or mess up she puts in her bed. I have put pictures of her bed on here! It gets to be quite a bit of stuff after a while then we need to go through it and clean it out, but she actually keeps it really organized and knows exactly where things are and where they should be. If one thing is misplaced or even moved a little she knows about it and is not happy about it. Some kids think it is fun to go up there when she is at school and mess with her stuff. Whether its Caden or cousins who come over. Aspen knows not to go up there and mess with her stuff. A few days ago the normal "mom, who got up in my bed? This book is supposed to be here, but its over on this side" type thing happened, and I didn't think much about it as we have this conversation a lot. Then when we went to tuck her in at night she had made this sign and taped it on the top of the ladder to her bunk bed. it reads: "Please do not go in my bed and i mean it??" We had to laugh. And so far it has worked I think.
She also has a drawer she keeps some stuff so she made a sign for that too and taped it shut

"Please do not get in my spelshel droor and I mean it??"

This is out of order, but I could say this is why I hardly ever get all the dishes done and the sink clean and I mean it??? This little monkey climbs up the stools and onto the counter, walks across the counter and plops into the sink and turns on the water. I lift him down and he takes off running around the counter and does it all over again! I cant keep him off the table or the counter. I turned the stools upside down so he couldn't climb up them, then all the kids climbed in them and pretended they were locked in them and would get stuck and tip over, and that was more of a hassle.

Her bed sign. I love the question marks!!

She is very particular about her stuff, but that can be good too. She takes very good care of the stuff she has, and she is ever starting to rub off on Aspen and she is starting to take care of her stuff. Cute girls!

Playing in the leaves

We raked had some yard work to do on Saturday and the kids had a blast playing in the leaves! They liked me to pile them up, then throw them in and bury them and then tell the other kids " Help, I lost one of the kids and they would laugh and go find them by un burying them. They had a ball and they were good helpers cleaning them up too. Seriously love these kids...!!

All 4 hooligans!

The girls

Caden

Briggs

Aspen

Kaylee

The pictures aren't very good because I just had my phone, but its all I got! Hopefully it will strike a memory. Aspen is the student of the week this week so I got to go read to her class yesterday. When I was done I was looking at the kids work hanging in the halls and Kaylees class had written on a leaf shaped paper what they liked about fall. Kaylees said because we get to play in the leaves and take pictures. Hope they had fun!

Thanksgiving #2

I don't know why these pictures didn't load with my last post, I thought I told them to. O-well. Had to put these pictures of my dad with all the kids. The pictures aren't very good, my flash wouldn't work for some reason.

Grandpa with all my kids and Austyn. They all sure love their grandpa and grandmas

Briggs sat on his lap for a long time, and its hard to keep him in one place for very long.

Honestly thinking of all the things I'm grateful for makes me feel overwhelmed and get all emotional. We seriously feel so blessed to have all that we do. We have all our needs met and most of our wants. We have amazing friends and family who love us and we love them. Good health, warm house, food to feed us, and most importantly our Savior and each other!! I can honestly say that I love my life and cant think of anything I would change about it!!!
ps, I have the most amazing husband ever!! Love that guy! And the most Amazing kids!!! I really do feel so blessed! Thank you to all who are part of my life! Happy Holidays!!!

Thanksgiving - With so much to be grateful for!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year!! My whole family met for lunch at the Hunting Club, and Daves mom was able to come which was so nice. We had the best of both worlds! The company was great, the food was delicious and the kids had a blast. We just ate, visited, ate, visited, relaxed and so forth. Loved it! (minus the little incident where Caden decided to go poo in the urinal- then wipe with paper towels- but thats a different story!!) Later in the afternoon a bunch of people went out hunting while the rest stayed back, looking through the black friday ads.

First thing in the morning when the kids came downstairs they noticed the sunrise and Kaylee ran and grabbed the camera to snap a few shots of it- One very important thing that we are all thankful for- Watching the sun rise and set over the beautiful mountains that surround us!

Out hunting. Dave and Kaylee were the only ones who went of my family. Me and the rest of the kidos stayed in the nice warm hunting lodge.

All lined out. Thought it was cute Kaylee with her long hair in the middle of all the guys.

In the morning when we were cooking we decided to go around to each person and they had to say one thing they were thankful for and Kaylee decided she wanted to be our scribe and write them all down. Love it!

She is pretty proud of that feather

And this pheasant :)

That is one proud papa shot! Out hunting with his little girl- cant get much better than that.

All of the mighty hunters! There is Dave, Kaylee, Cameron, Riley (dint mind him biting camerons ear, that normal) :) Dylin, G the dog, Wyatt, Kole, Kale, and Uncle Kool (or some call him uncle Kole)

Now them are some cowgirls!! :) Good Job girls!!

How cute! My stinkin cute little sister Alexa (left) and Niece Kaycie (right) won the all around saddles for a rodeo series in Delta! Good job girls! BTW, they kicked most the guys bums in tie down calf roping. Love these girls!!
WAY TO GO!!!!

Amys 3 kids and Alexa all entered the series. They had 2 all around cowgirls- and the boys both won reserve all arounds- and they were the youngest boys in their age group. They all did really good!

Some pretty good cattle hands...

Last week my dad had the vet out to preg check his cows so we went down to help (well watch, but whatever) The girls were in school so just me and the boys went. They had a great time and loved to push the cows up the alley way!

Caden posing with his poker stick.

Briggs just a gettin them :) He liked to yell at them too.

The boys working together to keep the cows going. They loved it and it was nice of my family to let us tag along and get out of the house!!

When you go shopping with mom

This is what happens when you go shopping with mom and you don't want to walk, before long you couldn't get out and walk if you wanted to! :) This is when me and Aspen went for our date this month. We went and watched Smurfs then did the grocery shopping. She was a trooper even with all this stuff piled up on her. It was late too, I think she just wanted to go to sleep!

1st snow storm of the year and some pheasant hunting

We had our first little snow storm yesterday - the kids were so excited. First thing in the morning they were sorting through all the snow clothes and getting all geared up to go play in it. I think they were most excited to eat it!!
Aspen..

Caden.. mmmm....

Briggs had a hard time walking in the snow at first with all his snow stuff on, but after a bit he got the hang of it. He loved it!! I couldn't get him to come in. When I brought him down stairs first thing I peeked out the blinds to see if it had snowed and Briggs got a little glimpse of it and he about bailed out of my arms to check it out, he didn't know what happened and why everything was all white. He just stared in amazement for a while then started pointing and talking like he was trying to tell me what his eyes were seeing was something very strange. It was super cute.
Aspen with her famous pirate eye..

Kaylee pulling Briggs in the sleigh - he didn't know quite what to expect and he fell over but thought it was hilarious!!

Loving it!!

Kaylee was a trooper and pulled him around for a long time.

Then later that day my Brother in law Kole and my sister Krista were nice enough to take us pheasant hunting! We had a blast! Koles dog "G" is amazing and did so good finding the pheasants for us. My sister Emily and her hubby Cam came and their little boy Cody. The weather was perfect and I think between all of us we ended up with 19 pheasants.
Walking through the field, following the dog.

Out of order, but Kaylee pulling Caden and Aspen

Kole with his awesome dog!

Emily, Cam, Cody and G and some of the birds

The MASTER GUIDERS- Kole, Krista and G!!

Me and Dave

Cody, Dave, Kole and G checking out a pheasant.

It was such a fun day to get out and have some fun with the family. Good for Dave to get out and do something fun! He needed it. Thanks so much Krista and Kole and G for the fun day!! And especially thanks to Kandice and Alexa for watching our hooligans so we could get out! My family is AWESOME!