October 17th 2013

We had a couple of events worth mentioning on October 17th. 

Every fall, My Mom, Grandma, Sisters, and kids always go to the Perry park and have some pizza.  Afterwards we go to Pettingells and my Mom gets the kids pumpkins.  This year, it fell on the 17th which happens to be our anniversary and my Grandma's birthday. 

We sang Happy Birthday to our sweet Grandma Dixie and had some cake for her.

Jessica had her handsome baby, Noah, a week earlier and was awesome enough to still brave the outing.  He's the little guy in the carrier... obviously :)

 Hailey's always good for a laugh

 That evening, we dropped the kids off at my parent's house to have a sleep over, the next day they got to go party with G & G Dawson.  They were just as excited for their weekend as we were.

It was so nice to have a weekend away, just the two of us.

  I had to document us at ten years, even if it was with the blurry purse camera, and the kids trying to photobomb.

 Me, Ben, and baby #5. 

Life has been so good to me these last ten years.  Sometimes I can't believe my fortune... finding the perfect husband when I did, and having these amazing healthy spirits trickle into our family one by one.

  I am so blessed.

I love life.



 

Carly is 5!

 She is growing up so fast!

 

And yes, while she is growing up fast, she's still always going to be the one that likes to be my baby.  We still have special snuggle time everyday.  She loves preschool, but it's hard to get her to go some days because it's too long for her to be away from me (her words, not mine).  She also takes dance once a week, and again, she loves it... but it's just so long to be away from me.  She's my little sidekick.  She always loves to help me do whatever I am doing, even cleaning.  She's always asking what she needs to learn for when she's a mom and has her babies to take care of. 

 She LOVES babies.  One day she thought it would be a good idea to put a sign in our yard that said, "If you don't want your babies, drop them off here."  She thought it would be wonderful to have lots of babies.

In Primary she has to hug me all of the time.  One time I walked passed her while I was doing sharing time and she tried to hug me, but I had other stuff to do.  I just smiled at her and kept walking.  After she told me that it made her very upset and sad, and that when I pass her I have to give her hugs.

She's so sweet with her siblings and her and Hailey play most of the day together.

Sometimes I think that I got my sister's daughter... Carly reminds me so much of Jessica when she was little.  She hates how her socks, pants, shoes, feel when wearing them.  She would just rather wear a dress.  She hates bumps in her hair.  And she still has a thumb sucking problem.  I remember all of these things about Jess, and it just makes me laugh.  Jess assures me that she kicked her thumb habit, so Carly will too.

 

Favorites:

Food- watermelon, cupcakes, pasta

to do- play with dolls

color-purple

name for baby #5- Tyler

primary song- I like to look for rainbows

outside activity-play with friends, and hide and seek

 

 Carly decided that for her 5th party, we'd do make overs.  She invited all her friends from church.  My Mom came over to do makeup, Shannon came to help with fingernails, and I helped make necklaces.  It was so funny to watch all the girls with their makeup on.  They also wanted lipstick retouched constantly.  They played outside for a while and we had cupcakes and ice cream.

 

 

 

On the morning of her birthday, Carly requested cinnamon rolls for her special breakfast.

 getting ready to open her presents with the family

 She was so happy with her gifts

 Having some cake

We love this girl and the joy she brings to our family!

first day of school 2013

 

 

 

It was funny to see what everyone's reactions were to starting school this year. 

 Luke acted like, no big deal... I've got this.

Abigail was so giddy, running around so excited!

Carly was nervous to be away from her mama.  She still thinks the 3 hrs. twice a week that she goes is a little too much.  She loves her teachers and her friends, but she misses me so much.

Hailey and Carly get into lots of trouble together while Luke and Abigail are at school.  When Carly's gone too,  we find some shopping to do to entertain us.

School has been going great so far and the kids are all loving it.

 

 

 

The Cabin with the Dawson's

We made the trek up to Hebgen Lake, Montana to the cabin this summer.  It was a quiet year, only a handful of Ben's cousins were there, but we still had a blast.  We got there Saturday night and went into West Yellowstone for some pizza. 

Sunday we headed into the park, we figured  seeing God's beautiful creations is like going to church :)  We were disappointed in that we only saw two deer and a couple of big birds.  Not one buffalo.

 

 

at our picnic spot in Yellowstone

 

There was a huge tourist group that wouldn't move from the waterfall lookout spot... so we tried to get a picture of the falls from here.  It kinda worked.

 It started raining, and Yellowstone was very over crowded, so we didn't stay as long as we had intended.

 Monday we hung out at the lake.  Sharla brought a massive floating island for the kids.  Sharla and all the kids piled in and Larry anchored them out in the lake.  It was a nice break for the parents for a bit :)

 

 

 making some delightful tinfoil dinners

 

 Carly wanted a picture without Hailey sticking out her tongue.

 Monday night sickness struck.  Apparently there was a  Norro virus outbreak in Yellowstone.  Carly and Courtney were the first ones sick, then it trickled through the whole family.  Tuesday morning we woke up, declared we'd had enough, so we left a day early.  I would rather have a sick family at home, than on vacation.  We made it home just in the nick of time before it hit me and Ben. 

 saying goodbye to Grandma Ruth with a silly picture of course.  Abigail didn't join in, she had just tossed her cookies in the sand.

 

 

Even though everyone's sickness put a damper on the trip, it was still wonderful.  We played lots of games,  ate so much food (I always look forward to that on vacation), and visited lots.  Eli even came from working in Afgahnastan (I can't spell it).  It was so great to be together.  I love being apart of this family!