Miscellaneous

This post is in no particular order.  These are just some random, fun moments I wanted to put in our family journal, but didn't want to give them all their own post.  I love memories like this.  These are the posts I always seem to go to when I need a smile.  I sure do love my kids.

 It's no secret in our house how much Hunter idolizes santa.  Last year, his cousin, Kiana, made him this awesome hat and attachable beard.  He loves it.  Here is, all dressed like Santa, putting presents under the tree.  Pillow tummy to complete the ensemble. 

 Our first snowfall of the year was awesome.  We got almost a foot and a snow day!  Usually we can't build snowmen here, because the snow is too dry.  However, this snow storm brought pretty wet snow, so here is our second ever Colorado Snowman.

 Hannah was here...

I love her little display.

 My boys after their Turkey day celebration at school!

 Because when you roast marshmallows for smores you need to dress the part.

 We went to a hamburger joint in our town called "Crave".

Yes, my friends, that is a hamburger with two donuts instead of buns.  Definitely not an every day thing, but fun to try at least once.

 Matt has been replaced at work.

We love visiting dad's office.

 We drove up to monument ski resort to get Matt and Anya's ski passes printed.  The boys saw the snow and immediately lay down for some good snow angel action.

 One of the Temples for our church (LDS).  Matt and I spent a lovely, snowy evening here. It was perfect.  I sure love my family and I love that I have the opportunity to be with them forever.

Ski season has officially started!

 Matt's truck was at a body shop for almost two weeks, getting all the hail damage from last summer finally fixed.  They gave him this little white sedan rental to use.  The boys loved it!  Everyday after Matt got home from work, they wanted to go sit in the trunk.

 So this is happening in our house.

Not sure how I feel about it yet.

 We love watching this skit/satire show called Studio C.

There is a character that is quite involved with his Lobster Bisque.

Anya finally got to try some!

 For his birthday, Jack got an Army suit and an explorer vest...here he is all dressed to impress.

 Hannah was in her school play.  They performed Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

She had 3 parts, a flower Market girl, a guest at Fred's party, and the Headmistress of Scrooges school.

 She did awesome!

 She also performed with her school orchestra in their winter concert.

Good job Hannah!

We are so proud of you!

Halloween!!!! and Pumpkins!!!!!

We always like to go to a pumpkin patch for picking our pumpkins.  I suppose that most people do.  We love the patches where you can actually pick your pumpkin off a vine.  Last years was a bit of a disappointment, so we tried a new one this year.  It was perfect!  Pumpkins still on the vine for the picking!  It also had some great games, haystack climbs, corn kernel pit and the best corn maze we have ever been in!

Looking for the perfect pumpkins.

This was Hunter's job.  He loved it.

This maze was awesome.  We couldn't see anything and got so lost.  It was set up as a "Clue" type game, we had to find all the suspects and weapons to find out "who ate all the corn".  It was so much fun and we didn't even finish it, even after two attempts.

 Carving at it's best!

We ended up with some great pumpkins this year!

Our ward/church Halloween party and Trunk or Treat.

We have never done a family theme before, but with the new Peanut's movie coming out, the girls really wanted to do a Peanut's theme for Halloween.

It was so much fun!  We ended up with me as Sally and Matt as my Linus.  Anya is Charlie Brown dressed up for Halloween.  Cora is Lucy, and the boys are Snoopy and Woodstock.  Hannah was our Great Pumpkin.

For Trunk or Treat we decorated our car like a pumpkin patch.  You can kind of see the white pickets in the back ground.

 A picture taken inside with better lighting.

We spent Halloween with our good friends the Turner's again.  They have a great Trick or Treating neighborhood!

Halloween night!

 Much to my, and Anya's, disappointment, the boys wanted to dress out of character for Halloween.  So our theme did not stick after Trunk or Treat.  The boys wanted to raid their dress up bin and decided to be an Army guy and Storm trooper.

 So Cora picked up the slack and saved the day.  We at least have 3 peanuts (sort of) characters.  

The great Pumpkin, Snoopy and good old Chuck.

It was a fun night and we had Halloween candy that lasted until after Thanksgiving.

And just like that they turn 6!

Because it is the Season of the Force, and the Force is awakening, we of course had to do a Star Wars themed party.

This was the boys first ever kid party, we usually just do family parties.  They were so excited!

I probably went a little too far, but I had so much fun putting it together.  I think I kept myself in check quite well.

The chosen invites going out to those strong in the force for Jedi training.

 Prep time.

We had Lightsaber pretzels, stormtrooper cupcakes and R2D2 popcorn bags.

To name just a few of the goodies we ate.

 Each Padowan recieved a jedi training robe and lightsaber.

My door sign didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but it said Star Wars Jedi Academy.  May the Force be With you and our door was guarded by some storm troopers.

Goodie table.  The boys wanted storm trooper cakes and I also made Ritz cracker and grape tie fighters.

I thought the popcorn bags turned out especially awesome.

My boys cakes. 

Completely un-PC, but my boys for the longest time called Storm Troopers "white guys".  So they really wanted a "white guy" party, meaning Star Wars, meaning with Storm troopers.  So hilarious what kids come up with!

 All ready for the invasion.

 My storm trooper turned Vader, and my other storm trooper.

The young Padowans.

 Picking our nose while designing a speed racer....because that is just what you do while your thinking.

 Speed racer drive in, watching Star Wars the Clone Wars movie.

 Happy Birthday Jack!

 Happy Birthday Hunter!

It sure was a fun party!

I can't believe my boys are 6 now, think I'll go eat a big slice of cake to console myself.

First Day of School and Piano Guys.

Mid to end of August alway is a sad time of year for me.  It's the time when my chicks go back to school after having them around all summer.  I am odd in that I love having all my kids at home with me.  Too bad I am not more disciplined or I would homeschool.  This year, all of my kids are in school again (boys went to pre-school last year).  Last year I got the boys for half a day, and the same is true this year...so I get them most of the day for another year.  That makes my heart happy.  We have a Sophomore, 8th grader, 5th grader and 2 kindergarteners!

 They did not even want a hug, too busy and ready to get school started.  They had places to go and things to explore.  Boy were they ready.

Depending on where we live next year, and what their middle school is set up like, this potentially could be this girl's last year in elementary school.  A little heartbreaking.  She has always been and will always be Daddy's little girl.

My three elementary kiddos at their bus stop.

Knowing that this is a difficult time of year for me (close to January after Christmas is all put away) Matt surprised the girls and I with tickets to see one of our favorite groups in concert.

Piano Guys!!!!

We were so excited, and to make it even cooler we got to go to the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver.

 We found a babysitter for the boys, and 5 of us went.  It was a late night for a school night, but well worth it.

You can kind of see Jon playing his grand piano and Steve playing his Cello.

 Not much better!

These pics were all taken with my phone.  I had my really nice Nikon zoom camera with my spy lens and they told me I had to take it back to the car?!  I guess camera's with detachable lenses are not aloud, who knew.  I was super bummed, since I couldn't get a real nice pic.  Our seats were general admission, but we got there super early so we actually had pretty decent seats.  I was very pleased and excited.  It was a great night for all of us!

 We loved the show, even though we are getting home at midnight on a school night!  It was worth it!

Doesn't this rock remind you of Disney's "The Lion King"?

Such a great venue for a concert, I highly recommend any to go if the opportunity arises.