Our Trick or Treaters

This year we had the cutest little spooks stop by for Halloween.

Lilly the Ladybug

Two cute little witches, Hadley & KenzlieJensyn the cow. (I remember when Conner & Courtney wore this)Sweet little pumpkin MaysaThen later, another witch came to visit, Courtney

And Conner... I can't remember the technical name for his costume, so use your imagination. ;)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

C H R I S T M A S!!!!!

I've been staying caught up with my wrapping this year! Getting things wrapped as I go instead of waiting and having to do it all at once. AND, I'm almost done Christmas shopping! I made a goal to get it all taken care of so that I can actually enjoy the month of December and not stressing and having the financial burden of it all. I think I only have like 4 more gifts to buy and I'm DONE!! :)

"Give Thanks" Banner

Just a little banner that I made after finding the inspiration online! I love being crafty! Just wish I had a better place to hang it than on my curtain rod. Oh well! I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am so excited to be spending the holiday with my husband, kids and my family. There's nothing better in this world!! :)

My New Ride

After driving my 2001 Honda Accord for over 10 years I decided to say so long and upgrade my vehicle. It was either put a bunch of money into my Honda or get something a little newer. As you can see I went with the latter of the two. My Honda brought my new baby girl home from the hospital, got me to work many, many times and has always been a great car with very few repairs. I think Clay had a harder time getting rid of it than I did. He said it was part of who I am and my identity. Love this man! I guess now I have a new identity! LOL

We had been looking for several months and knew we wanted somthing with 4 wheel drive and the extra seating. I really wanted a GMC Acadia but they were way out of our price range even for a used one. We both fell in love with the Nissan Pathfinder and had kept our eye out for one with the options that we wanted and low miles. Clay showed up at my work one day with this '08 Pathfinder and took me for a ride and well, we made the purchase a couple of days later. I feel so completely spoiled!!! It has so many MORE options than I have ever had, leather, power, HEATED seats!! Yikes! Always wanted bum warmers! ;) Plus it has third row seating so if we needed to we can transport 7 people! Obviously the addition of 4 wheel drive is awesome so I can arrive at work safely and I won't have to stress about getting stuck with all the stupids out on the roads. YES, it is a gas hog, but we knew this going into it but the peace of mind is so totally worth it! I have to put a plug in for Wilson Motors, they are WONDERFUL to work with and I would highly recommend them to anyone! Great, friendly people!!

Bathroom Makeover

Back in September, Clay and I refinanced our house and got a killer interest rate which saved us quite a bit of money so I decided that our house needed a little makeover to celebrate!! So, the main bath got a fresh coat of paint and some new towels, rugs and decorations!! Thanks to my sister Breck for the FREE paint! Feels good to have a new updated look in this bathroom. These poor green rugs have lived in 3 different bathrooms in the past several years and had seen better days! Out with the old and in with the new!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Halloween Treats

Courtney was asked to bring a treat to share with her Cheerleading class today. I had this cute pattern for these bats and decided to give it a try! I love the googly eyes, it gives them a little personality! ;) I don't like the real bats but these paper bats are pretty darn adorable! Kinda fun so I wanted to share!

Happy Halloween!!!

Vinyl Pumpkins

I have wanted to try decorating my pumpkins with vinyl ever since I saw the idea online somewhere over a year ago. So here is what I came up with... I used my Cricut for the poka dots and all of the other images I used my Silhouette. Then I added a little bit of ribbon and tulle around the stems to add a little more craftiness! (Is that a word?) So much fun!!! I really like how they turned out! And THE very best part.... NO MESS!! Let me know what you think.

Lilly's 1st Birthday!!!

Lilly turned one on September 18th! Clay and I were both able to be there at her party and celebrate with her. I can't believe it's already been a year!?

Lilly & GrandpaShe was a little overwhelmed with all of the presents! She got spoiled rotten! :)Lilly knew exactly what to do when given the chance to have cake!She dug right in and got messy!!She even shared cake with anyone who wanted it! Too cute!

Modeling one of the outfits that we gave her. And waving bye-bye...

Happy Birthday little one!!!
We love you so very much!!!!

Camping

This summer we made a few camping trips and although I took my camera each and every time, it only got pulled out and used the last time we went. Ugh! I need to do better and take more pictures. I look forward to our weekends away spending time with family and relaxing. It's a ton of work to get ready to go but so worth it! And the best is being with the kiddos and this handsome devil!

Maysa modeled several rather stylish sunglasses...And Courtney had to join in on the modeling. What a goober?Getting ready to go for a ride to Ephraim's Grave.Nice dust mask bud!Sorry Yensy, you didn't get to go with us but cool helmet anyway!Keesha captured this adorable smile while we were on our ride.On our way back we got POURED on!!! We were all drenched, COLD and filthy! Quick showers for everyone! Quite an adventure! But, wouldn't trade it for anything!

Back to School

I'm finally getting around to posting about the kiddos first day of school. I can't believe how fast the summer went by this year. We had such a long, wet spring which made the summer seem so much shorter. I think I was more upset about school starting than the kids were. I enjoy the freedom that comes with summer time, no schedules, no homework and less grueling routines. But irregardless the time came for school to start and this little man is now in the 8th grade! Ugh!! He now attends South Cache which is nice since it's closer to home and he can walk to school, and he starts a little later so that's just an added bonus. He is now officially taller than me which doesn't take much but I'm not too happy to have to look up to him! What happened to my little boy?? Time goes by too fast!!!

I was nice and gave him a ride on the first day and didn't follow him inside with my camera. ;) As much as I wanted to I resisted the total, utter embarrassment.Then there's my Courtney. After we attended back to school night we made a quick batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies for her to take to her teacher on the first day. So cute!And it's always nice to have a willing (and cute) 3rd grader to photograph on the first day! She was so good to model with her sign for me. Love her!!We still have a fettish with owls so this back pack was just icing on the cake! Cutest thing EVER!!! Thanks Keesha for finding it for us! And also thanks to Breck for the coupon!We arrived early enough to get a shot in front of the school before the buses got there.So far Courtney has had a "new" teacher to Lincoln every year. And this year she has her first "boy teacher", Mr. Amott. He is fresh out of college and this is his first year teaching. So exciting! Courtney loves him and enjoys being in his class.Rather than buying a boring pencil box, I decided to get my craft on and make one! I thought it turned out pretty cute and won't be like everyone elses. Let's hope it survives through the end of the school year.