cherry pie

the kids and i drove to utah a few days before thanksgiving so we could help my mom prepare. i enjoyed cooking with my mom and learning how to make some of the traditional things we eat at thanksgiving. i loved watching my mom give the kids a pie lesson. my mom makes fantastic pies and she prides herself on her flaky crust. she was trying to demonstrate, but max took over and wouldn't let go.... i am thankful for treasured moments like these, and cherry pie--kai's favorite!

baby roja

while in utah, sadie and i hosted a baby shower for my nephew's wife, robyn. the guests were all the little girl cousins, my sisters, and my mom. we ate yummy food (thanks to my husband. did i mention nicest husband in the world?? he helped me prepare at midnight, after watching tyler play at byu). we played a couple games: guess which candy bar is smashed in the diaper--classic for girls age 8-11. a naming game in which my clever sisters came up with Roja-- a mix of robyn and jake, and moalauny connie--a mix of samoa, since jake is samoan, and connie is my mom's name. i added one that abe came up with when i was prego with max, just in case it's twins: Is-a-belle and ring-a-bell...we think we are so funny.sadie did a great job with the petal party for the girls (they made some cute flower headbands) while the rest of us helped my mom with a darling quilt. dave took care of max, who woke up sick and puking. once again, thanks dave...you make life better. we are excited for jake and robyn and can't wait to meet baby sienna!

kick for the cure

abe played in the kick for the cure soccer tournament yesterday. it is a great fund raiser for breast cancer. abe played his first night game, under the lights--so fun. in school they set some personal goals for the year and abe's was to get a goal in club soccer...and he did it! he played goalie half the game and forward half the game and even though his team lost, it felt like they won, he was so excited. i wish i had a video of him getting the goal and then running back and hugging his team. you would have thought they won the championship game. later he explained what was going through his head, how he noticed a pattern in the other team's moves and knew if he went a certain place that he would be able to block it. it all worked and he ended up with a goal in the last few minutes of the game. the teams in phoenix are amazing. abe's team has been working very hard and improving, so it was nice for abe to experience a little moment of magic.

we ended the night at my brother's house for a quick visit. it was fun to talk and laugh. we watched a video of his son, taylor, who's serving a mission. he is a wonderful example for our family--so neat for our kids to see him as a missionary in Uruguay.

veteran's day

these are a few pictures that our friend sent us from afghanistan when he was serving there (thanks justin)--we used them when sadie sang in her talent show. they are very similar to the pictures my brother brought home when he served in afghanistan. i look at these children and their parents and my heart goes out to them. after watching my brother and others serve our country, i know i could never understand the sacrifice it is to be a soldier. i am very grateful for the freedoms we have and for the soldiers who protect them. god bless america, the soldiers, and children everywhere.

surfer dad dave

dave went to abe's class to help out and decided before leaving to spy on sadie. unfortunately, the aide opened the door right at that moment and told him to come in, so he did. sadie turned bright red...embarrassed to have her dad just drop in. when she got home from school, i asked how she liked her visitor-- she said all her friends kept asking who it was. when she said it was her dad, one girl said, "no way! that was your dad? he looked way to cool to be a dad. he looked like a surfer." we all laughed and dave said it was the best compliment he's had in about a year.

halloween night

happy halloween! we had a week full of celebrating...and a month of planning costumes...planning is half the fun.
max wanted to be a blue dog. he was so easy to please, except when i gave him whiskers...he looked at himself, and with scrunched eyebrows said, "no, cat."
kai wanted to be a ghost with two circle eyes and a surprised mouth. very specific. he was thrilled with his costume, even though i had to make minor adjustments because i orginally made it too pointy on top--at the ward trunk-r-treat he looked slightly kkk-ish instead of innocent, surprised ghost-ish.

we were driving in the car a few days before halloween...kai was talking about his costume and said, "i decided i want to use a sleeping bag." i told him that might not look too much like a ghost. he started laughing and said, "not for my costume! for my candy!" i love the image of kai dragging a sleeping bag to each house. he meant pillow case, which he used--and it was as big as him. abe was a vampire. after we painted his face he said, "perfect. much creepier than i expected."
sadie and her friends have been planning for weeks to be eighties chicks. they looked great! we went to a friend's house for dinner and then we split into age groups for trick or treating. sadie and her friends went out twice and came back with loads!

abe had a fun time with his friends, but shockingly was the first to turn in. max and kai were with me and a few little friends. they were troopers.

kai was on a serious mission, definitely the leader of the pack-- running. max kept up....until he fell asleep on my shoulder.

today, max carries his pumpkin like it is sooo heavy and says, "too much candy." --but reassures me by saying, "me do this." and carries it with both hands. fun times.

P.S. one of our favorite things about flagstaff is the diversity our kids experience. abe has a few good friends who are jehovah witness and we have had some casual conversations about how they don't celebrate halloween. kai must have picked up on this and as i was driving i heard kai and max having a discussion in the back seat...it went something like this: kai--(pointing to a house with no halloween decorations) "oh yeah, they are definitely jehovas witness" next house, "pretty sure that house, they are probably jehovas witness...and my swimming teacher, she is DEFINITELY a jehovas witness, she hasn't said ANYTHING about halloween."

listening to this DEFINITELY made me smile.

bats

here is the final product. the kids worked hard on their paper mache bats....can you tell who made each one?