Thanksgiving traditions.

So now I am finally caught up to the correct Holiday. I totally forgot to take my camera though and so this is the only picture I remembered to take with my phone. Everybody has many traditions and this is just a small one for the kids...but still, I know some of us older kids were a bit jealous that we are too big and can no longer participate in this tradition. =0) At least until the next batch of whiped cream or cake batter has been mixed up.

It was a great day and we were thankful that we got to eat so much yummy food and spend time with so many family members. Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for...EVERYTHING!

We made a game out of this for Sam and Erica. We'd ask them what they were thankful for and tried to see how many things they could come up with. They gave some typical answers like Ice cream, Mommy and Daddy, Trees, and Candy. But Sam gave us one really profound answer... "Love". We are so thankful (and lucky) to have so many people around us (and far away too) that love us, and I am so grateful that we have room in our hearts to love so many people in return!

Erica also gave what I thought was a pretty profound answer for a 3 year old. She is thankful for "everything"! That answer could be taken as an easy way out but I don't think so. We always need to be mindful of how lucky we are to have all the small things that we don't normally think about. Because "everything" can so easily be taken away from us in no time at all. So I agree with my kids. I learn so much from them and I am grateful for that too.

We were supposed to be Team Edward but wow...

So I will probably never again pay 40 dollars for a movie ticket...especially if it is for a midnight showing on opening night. Yeah we got some neat stuff (an Edward t-shirt, free popcorn, two drinks, junior mints, lots of pictures of him, and some other odds and ends) but that was a long wait in line and a ton of people to deal with. However, I really did enjoy the girls night out. Dinner was fun and the movie was good too. It made me laugh though 'cause even in the Edward theamed theatre Jacob still got some cat calls and swooning when he took of his shirt the first time. That's one good looking wolf.

Nice pictures huh (I forgot my camera so this is taken by my phone). The last one is pretty good considering I just held the camera out in front of us and pushed the button not knowing what was in the frame.

The Best House on the Block!

Or at least that was what every trick-or-treater who came to our door said. Here are some pics, sorry we didn't get any night time pictures. We were busy trick-or-treating, hosting a party, and being a grim reaper puppeteer all at the same time.And can you believe that Cameron threw that all together in one short week? He sure has a talent for this stuff.

Halloween (Sorry I'm a whole Holiday behind)!

I'm so sorry that I'm so far behind but here are some fun pictures from Halloween. We each did our own pumpkins. Cameron is such a pro at this...can you tell which one is his?

Sam was such a big girl, she did her pumpkin all by herself. She designed it, gutted it, even stuck with cutting it out and finishing it off. We were very proud.
Erica designed her own but Cameron and I both helped her cut it out.
And this was fun...Cameron learned a neat new way to cut the tops off each pumpkin.

My excuse....

So I have a bunch of pictures and I totally need to update my blog and do some new posts but here's my excuse...my shift has changed at work again and it is not good for my family life. However, it was this option or lose my job...so now I have to work evenings on Sunday thru Wednesday. I am still trying to adjust everything so I can spend some time with my kids (and husband) on those days, plus get all my housework and other errands done. It is really weird let me tell ya. HUGE thanks to Cameron for stepping up and taking on the responsibilities of homework monitor for Sam, Cook for all of them, and even putting the girls to bed on those nights. I love you!

To make matters worse...we are all sick (it seems the whole world is sick these days). But wow...the swine flu that Erica (and possibly myself) had a month ago was an absolute cake walk compared to this nasty head cold that we all have now. We've all been sick for 10 days or more and it's miserable having a constant sore throat and coughing all the time. But enough about that. I will try my best to get some happier news posted in the near future.

This is how Dad puts the kids to bed.

Mom's technique is to be all serious and business like...first we get pajama's on, next it's time to brush our teeth, then a bedtime story and finally kisses good night. But dad's technique is to get them as rowdy as possible with lots of tickling and tackling.

Next we race to see who can get PJ's on first, and then to tuck them in he has them lay down on the bed and he bounces them up and down until their brains are jiggling around in their heads, and then it's time for kisses and hugs (we can't forget those). So who's technique works best? Amazingly enough they both work very well. =0) But it sure fills my heart clear to bursting with love for my husband and those beautiful children we made.

Carnival Favorites (6 photos) from September

So I think when you click on this picture it will take you to a new site that will allow you to see the 5 other pictures that we took at Freemont Elementary's PTA fundraiser Carnival. They both looked so cute with their hair and faces painted. Erica was fearless but Sam actually suprised me and wasn't scared to try even the biggest most scary blow up rides there. It was a lot of fun and a great way to raise money for the school. Let me know if you can't see all of the pictures and I'll try to get them posted some other way.

This is us camping.

I'm experimenting here. I think I can show you some pictures that I have on my snapfish account but not actually on my computer. This single picture was a test. I am going to try a few more in a minute. Let me know if you guys can see them good enough or if it doesn't work. Thanks.

One project done...too many left too count.

I just wanted to show this project off a little...I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. It actually looks like a real scarf. =0)

Thank you Grandma Anderson and Mom for teaching me how to crochet back when I was a bit younger. I know I never finished that afgan (Grandma Anderson finished it for me) but if you hadn't taught me how to do that one, I never would have been able to figure out how to do this scarf for the Relief Society.

Back to School

But all that summer fun is coming to an end. It is time to go back to school. First Grade came on very suddenly and I wasn't ready to get pictures of Samantha's first day so we are going to just pretend that day #3 was really her first day. Here she is with the sun in her eyes...

And there she goes.... Oh wait she forgot to give me a hug and kiss goodbye. She is so sweet.

And there she goes for real...she is such a big girl now. She has to walk all the way around to the back of the school (past a bunch of these lines you can see) and line up with her class to go in and have breakfast and start the day.

Catching up.

So here are some things we did to make it thru the 100 degree weather.

(1) Getting wet helped.

(2) Staying indoors with the AC and some company -while scrapbooking- was fun too.

(3) And of course lot's of camping.

Summer's here so it's Family Reunion time.

So you know how family reunions can be pretty boring for the younger people...well I thought they did a really good job making this one fun. The first part was an overnight campout with all of my Mom's Dad's family (The Anderson's). We played cards, had a horseshoe championship, played frisbee golf and had a blast with the kids tetherball/tennisball game.

Then for the second part of the reunion we go further back in time to include the Larson family as well. So we all packed up and went to the Fountain Green park where they had some major fun stuff for all the kids.

We made necklaces.

And we played on the playground. But then we only had time for one more activity each. So this is where my girls personality differences showed. Sammy wanted to get her face painted. Isn't it cute. I totally love this picture!And Erica wanted to climb up and and slide down the BIG blow up slide. She was so brave. It was really high.

Say "Chuck-e-Cheese"!

Samantha turned six years old last Sunday and so we had a fun birthday party for her at Chuck-e-Cheese. She totally loved it, as did her younger sister. They both can't stop talking about it. However I totally forgot to take my camera and so I don't have pictures yet. I'm gonna have to borrow some from other people. But they did have this cool machine that would take your picture for one token and then skecth it out for you. It was actually really cool and they all turned out so cute! I think everybody that came got at least one sketch done. So here it is for your veiwing pleasure.

Happy Birthday Sammy! We love you!

The Air Show

We sure do love the Air show..always have. But Jake and Whitney provided us with an opportunity to see it from a different point of view, with fewer people, in the much cooler shade, and with much better food! They let us all come over to their house and use their grill to cook steaks, kabobs, pork chops, hot dogs, and whatever else we could think of. And the view was still awesome. Most of the planes flew over toward us but one of the F16 jets totally suprised us and flew right over us from behind at a very low altitude. It was Sooooooooo loud but totally awesome! My pictures never do these shows justice but I got a few decent ones.

Hiking in the heat

Wow don't you just love this warm weather? It sure made for some nice hiking down in Zion National Park. It got up to 96 degrees but it felt nice in the shade and even better in the evening. It was a long drive but well worth it. Look at these views.

The girls were really good sports hiking up the steep hills and riding in the shuttle buses. But their favorite part of the trip for sure was swimming in the river (or more accurately-playing in the mud by the river).

It seemed to be a special vacation for some reason and we had a lot of fun just the four of us on our own.

Oh and it was pretty cool to be able to visit Aunt Lisa at her new job. She is a great bus driver.

I love scrapbooking!

I think most of you know that I scrapbook...and if you didn't know...now you do. I have to show you these layouts I did of my nephews. I am pretty proud of them. They turned out sooooo cute! Enjoy!