Disney World in November

How do I sum up a trip to the "happiest place on earth" with 12 adults and 7 kids (4 years old and under) for a week? I don't know if it is possible, but a great time was had by all except for poor Todd who spent most of the week at the hospital and Jamie who spent her time in between the hospital and her kids. Here are a few of the pictures that show all of the excitment.

Halloween in May

Okay, so I have decided to back track a few months to catch up. I blame all of my non-blogging months on morning sickness, and if you ask me that is a pretty good excuse. We took Nacho Libre and this darling little witch trick-or-treating on a scary halloween night. After they realized they got candy at every house we went to, they never wanted to return home. I think they broke a record for how much candy they accumulated. Thanks to my friends Wendi's idea, they traded in all of their candy for a cheap guitar from the dollar store. We kept the huge bag of candy hidden in the hallway closet where we could take a piece out occasionally for special (bribe) treats. It worked out great and I think that will become our new family tradition.

My Sweet Baby Weston

I know it has been way too long since my last entry, and we have had so many things happen since then. It is hard to know where to start, but I figured I have to start somewhere.
I want to dedicate this blog to my special little baby Weston who only lived for about an hour and a half, but whose short life has impacted so many. I can't even count how many prayers were said in his behalf, and how many miracles were shown to us throughout his life. He was a fighter and made his way into this world against the odds. I am honored to be his mother and it was my greatest privilege to carry him for 33 weeks and help bring him into this world. I could never thank him enough for the lessons his life have taught me. Someday I know I will be able to see him again and hopefully express my gratitude to him for the precious gift he is to me. Thank you Weston...you are always in my heart!

This is one famous kid

Not once, but twice, has James had his spotlight in the media this month. He and his cousin Emmie have their picture in the November issue of the Family Fun magazine. He loved seeing his picture in their and it has been fun for all of us to see our idea published.
Last week he had his television debut on Nate's favorite show "Good Things Utah". The picture shows him here with Marti and of course he has watched the little blip with him several times. They even talked about him by name...it was pretty exciting. We were taped at the Cornbellies maze and activities at Thanksgiving Point, which is highly recommended, it was such a fun place. James had great fun with his friend Emma, and Grace especially loved the slides and the big bouncing pillow. She definitely takes after her brother when it comes to being adventurous.

Soccer Saturdays

James has started soccer and loves it. It is quite an entertaining experience watching his team play. James is wandering around picking up sticks, while many other kids are waving to their parents and smiling to the sideline as the ball quickly passes them by. If you want some good entertainment on a Saturday morning the soccer field is the place to be. Grace loves it too. She was slowly inching her way down the hill to the playground when we caught her on camera at mid point. Hopefully one of these games James will score a goal in the right goalie, but until then we are loving the entertainment.

Viva Las Vegas

This picture is the only one we have from our Vegas get away, and as you can see it is much more beautiful than anything you find in Vegas. Nate and I spent our first long weekend without kids since we have had James and we are already looking forward to planning our next one. We had a fun adventure staying at one of the dumpiest hotels in Vegas (The Plaza). Then driving to St. George where we stayed with Grandma Gibby which is always a fun time. She shared some fun family history stories with us and then we got to watch "The Three Fugitives". The next morning we even got to do a session at the St. George Temple with Grandma which is when we took this picture of one of the three rainbows in the sky that morning. We quickly drove back to Vegas where we were able to enjoy a lunch at "In and Out Burgers" with Jamie and Todd. Jill's meal was the best when they told her they serve veggie burgers, and expecting a garden burger of some sort came back with a bun, and huge bunch of lettuce and a tomato. I guess when they say veggie burgers they really mean veggie. We then got to spend some quality time on the strip test tasting Coke products from around the world and trying to find some suveniers for the kids. The Utah game that night was...well lets just say somewhat dissappointing (UNLV 27 to UTAH 0), but regardless of the score, we still had a great time. The highlight of the Hampton Inn in Henderson that night was having Jamie Slack as the guest of the day which included a picture posted of her in the lobby, a snack basket and a room upgrade to a King Suite which she kindly
refused. For some reason she didn't think Nate, Todd, her and myself could fit into a King size bed. It was defintely a smart move.
Well we got our fill of Vegas for a looooong time and had a great time. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Marie who watched our kids to make it possible for a long awaited trip without little ones.

Birthday Party Madness

James had a "GO UTES" birthday party to celebrate his 4th. When we say birthday party madness we aren't kidding. Nine 3 and 4 year olds for an hour a half of celebrating is enough to drive anyone mad. We had a great time decorating U shaped cookies, doing a candy bar walk to the Utah Man song (sung by Jill who hopes she never has to do that again), taking turns pinning the U on the mountain, and topping it off with smashing a BYU football pinata full of candy. Here is the gang eating hotdogs, fruit, and chips for lunch. I think you could say a fun time was had by all.