Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year Kaitlyn was a witch, Jackson was Tigger, Mckay was a pit crew person, and Caden was Luke Skywalker. The kids had fun trick or treating and brought home tons of candy! We hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Pinewood Derby!

We had a fun time at Caden's Pinewood Derby tonight! He won first place! That means his car was the fastest out of 16 boys! He won each round and ended up with a total score for four races of 10.457 seconds. Way to go Caden and Scott! And thanks to both grandpas for giving us some great advice and help on the car. As you can see in the picture, Caden got a trophy to stick his car on. This Pinewood Derby involved five different wards in our stake. The other picture I posted shows only the boys in our ward. As you can see, our ward did quite well. We ended up with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners! This is probably Caden's last Pinewood Derby before he turns 11 next year, so we were so happy that he won first place!

Happy Birthday Caden!

Caden turned 10 years old yesterday! He invited some of his friends to a bowling party at the local bowling alley. The kids had fun bowling, eating pizza, eating a bowling pin shaped cake with doughnut hole bowling balls, and playing the arcade games. Caden was excited to receive some Lego Star Wars toys from some of his friends. He has read the whole series and has really gotten into the whole Star Wars thing. We gave Caden a new bike since his old one is too small for him now. Scott and I can't believe we have a ten year old. It went by so fast! It's definitely been a fun and challenging experience!

Our Boston Trip!

Our family had a fun family vacation in Boston and other New England areas last week. We were able to visit my sister and her family who live in Boston and see some fun things in the area. Since I can't figure out how to put a caption for each picture, you'll just have to figure out what they are.

In Maine we saw the Portland Head Light lighthouse, went to the L.L. Bean stores in Freeport (recognize the giant shoe?), played in the ocean, and of course enjoyed some Ben and Jerry's Icecream that is famous in New England. Scott served his mission in New England so it was fun for him to drive through some of the towns he lived and served in. We got to see some of the apartments he used to live in and some other sites he remembered from his mission. We also enjoyed trying chocolate covered blueberries. Yummy!

In Vermont we went to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial which was fun for Scott since he had his district meetings there while on his mission. The kids enjoyed riding in a golf cart to some sites around the area. The missionaries there were so kind to our family!

Here are some of the things we enjoyed in Boston!
- The New England Aquarium and touching all kinds of sea animals. The kids especially loved touching the star fish.
- The Duck Tours where we went on a tour of the city on land and then going into the water. Our tour guide was great and we learned a lot of fun facts about Boston!
- Touring the USS Constitution, walking the Freedom Trail, and seeing the Minuteman Visitors Center
- The JFK Presidential Library and Museum
- The kids especially enjoyed riding the subway and trains around the city.


Warning! There are lots of pictures! Enjoy!

First Day of School!

This post is a week late, but the kids started school last Monday on the 24th. Caden is in 4th grade, Kaitlyn is in Second grade, and Mckay is in Preschool. They all love their teachers! As much as I enjoyed doing fun things with my kids over the summer, it will be nice to have them at school. In our family it is a tradition to take a picture of the kids on our front porch on their first day of school. It's fun to compare each yearly picture and see how the kids have grown!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Jackson had a fun birthday on Sunday! We can't believe he is two years old! We had his favorite food -- pizza-- for dinner. It was so cute to watch Jackson when we set his cake in front of him. He started singing "Happy Birthday", clapping his hands, and then blowing out his candles. One of his favorite gifts was a toy vacuum. He loves to vacuum the whole house now!

Today the kids thought it would be fun to have a lemonade stand as a last activity before school starts. We chose a hot day, but it got us some customers who also thought it was hot enough to need some cold treats. The kids made $13 in two hours! Now they want to do a lemonade stand everyday!

Family Reunion!

Our family had a fun family reunion with Scott's family last week! It was a stay-cation so we stayed with family members in Midway and Heber and then did things around the area and in Salt Lake. The first day we spent at Jordanelle boating and playing in the water. Unfortunately our minivan ended up getting a flat tire, so we had to put on the spare tire. The kids had fun helping Scott change it. The second day we went to Hogle Zoo and the third day we went to Raging Waters! The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and Scott and I enjoyed being with our siblings! Of the seven siblings, six of them were there with their families that included 14 grandkids. So we all had a fun time together!

Here are some pictures from our reunion!