Thanksgiving Extravaganza 2009!!!!

I love Thanksgiving! I love that you get to be with your family and celebrate all of the wonderful privileges and blessings we have in our lives! I have SO much to be thankful for and am grateful for the opportunity we have to celebrate that once a year!

We had an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving weekend in Newton, Iowa! Where, you ask? Well, it's south of Des Moines and pretty much in the middle of nowhere but my parents somehow managed to find this cabin out there and determined it would be the perfect place to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family! Perfect is an understatement! This cabin (more like a lodge) was beautiful! It had 2 kitchens, 2 dining areas, slept up to 22, had a bowling alley, movie room, game room, and more! It has a little lake out back to go canoeing in, a fire pit where we cooked hobo dinners and was the PERFECT getaway! We had fun from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, and the time was way too short! I know we all could have spent a lot longer there! It was so nice to be with family and to visit and hang out and enjoy one another's company! The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious and I know I'm not the only one hoping we can do it again sometime! :) A BIG thank you to my awesome parents for treating us all to this vacation and for once again, proving what incredible, selfless people they are.

We took lots of pictures and I think we got some great shots of everyone! The kids absolutely adore their Granny and Grampy and aunts and uncles and they never wanted to go to bed! :) They loved staying up late and playing games on the Wii, watching movies, going on walks, bowling, teasing, running around, etc, etc, etc! They couldn't get enough of how much fun they were having! They loved spending time with everyone and the trip home was full of questions as to why we had to leave and when we get to see everyone again! (Val and I were asking ourselves those very same questions!)

We all enjoyed a little rest and relaxation as well as testing out our bowling skills, making and devouring delicious meals, getting our hair cut (Thank you Katch!!), and more!

It was truly an awesome Thanksgiving and it made me realize that much more how truly blessed I am. I am so thankful for my amazing family, my wonderful husband, my beautiful children and for all that I have in my life. I love my life and am grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me so abundantly!!! I hope you all had as incredible a Thanksgiving as we did!





the girls coloring in one of the dining rooms...


the boys testing out the bowling alley....

Mr. Lennon checking out the cabin!

Granny and Lainey bug on our first night there...

Katchie helping make the best apple pie EVER!

MaryRose whipping up some delicious pumpkin pie...

Grampy and Lennon still checking out the cabin (and loving it!)

MaryRose and Leecy T

some of our yummy pies....

a belly shot of me at about 26 weeks

making turkeys out of apples and candy! The kids love this tradition!

the girls rockin out to some music...

sweet Leecy T

Leecy T and MaryRose

Granny and Lainey bug

Katchie and Granny setting the tables for Thanksgiving dinner...

the boys watching Thanksgiving day football...

MaryRose and Brent

Patty, Leecy and Lainey

Katchie, Leecy and Lainey

Patty and Katchie

me and my dad!

Trey and Mom

Brent and Leecy

Lainey bug and MaryRose

Patty and Eric

Val and I

Lennon and Trey

Jeff and Lainey bug

Sisters!!!

Steph, Mary Rose, Trey, Patty and Katchie

Mom and her girls!

the belly again....

me and my sweet boy on Thanksgiving

cutting the turkey--Grampy and Trey

cool chandelier in one of the dining rooms

eating the yummy food

Cheers!

Playing up on the balcony

beautiful sunset

Grampy matching his Wii character :)

gathered around the campfire

mommy and Mr. Lennon

Katchie and Lennon

mommy and Leecy T

MaryRose and Brent

Katchie and Jeff

Daddy and Lennon

Grampy and Granny

Leecy T LOVING cooking smores over the fire! :)

me and my sweetie

Eric and Patty

cute little Lainey bug being silly

mommy and Lainey bug

Brent, Lainey, Leecy, MaryRose and Grampy--canoeing in the beautiful weather

Leecy T and MaryRose canoeing

Brent and Lainey canoeing

my awesome parents

the back of our cabin

my parents canoeing

Leecy T playing the Wii--she was really good!

the girls boxing on the Wii

Lainey bug boxing! :)

the kids running around upstairs

Leecy playing

Grampy and Lainey

what a cutie!

me and my beautiful mom

Leecy getting her first set of highlights from her Aunt Katchie

Lennon and Grampy

Tag you're it!

Thanks Kara!

1.What were you doing ten years ago?
Attending Utah State University on a music scholarship. Still doing the marching band thing, playing (too much! :) ) and probably freezing my buns off since I was attending school in the beautiful Utah mountains! If you are wanting details, I honestly can't remember at the moment! Pregnant brain!

2. What are five things on your to-do list?
1. Packing for our upcoming travels.
2. Decorate for Christmas
3. Finish up the little Christmas shopping I have to do.
4. Clean, clean, clean.
5. Make sure everything is ready for when this baby boy comes!

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?
Hmmmm...lets, see, I'm pregnant, so that pretty much keeps this list wide open! I'm not too picky. But this fall some of my faves have been honeycrisp apples (with or without caramel--they are divine) and anything with pumpkin!

4. What are the places you have lived?
Findlay, OH; Hilton Head Island, SC; London, England; Kingwood, TX; Provo, Logan, Pleasant View, Salt Lake City, Roy and Clearfield, UT; Marshall, MN; Memphis, TN

5. What are five things you would do if you became a billionaire:
1. Make sure we were COMPLETELY debt free
2. Ensure that I had enough set away to prepare for my children's futures (college education, weddings, missions, etc)
3. Pick a place where we could settle for good and build our dream home
4. Start up a record label and put my husbands music out there for the world to hear.
5. Pay it forward.....to family, friends and others in need.
6. I know it said only 5, but we would pay our tithing too! :)

I tag Patty, Katchie, MaryRose, Natalie, Jodi and literally anyone else who looks at this! :)

St. Louis weekend trip!

Back in September we had the awesome opportunity to meet up with Granny and Grampy in St. Louis for a quick weekend get together! So much happened between August and October, that it was really nice to have this fun weekend together, without having to worry about anything else!!! We did so many fun things while we were up there! We stayed in a really nice hotel, with super comfy beds, we went swimming, we went sightseeing, we had good food and we had GREAT company!


Leecy enjoying the hot tub!

Grampy and Lennon chillin in the hot tub!

Lainey bug sitting in the hot tub.

The Arch in St. Louis (Gateway to America)

Grampy and Leecy T at the Arch

Granny and Lennon at the arch

Daddy and Lainey at the arch

Mr. Lennon enjoying his freedom

me at the Arch

Val and I at the arch (about 16 weeks pregnant I think)

Grampy and Lainey bug--love their faces in this one!

the Arch

Aleece pointing out where we live on the huge map in the Arch

Lainey by where we live on the huge map

our little family in one of the tram cars that takes you up to the top of the Arch.

Notice the double rainbow! It was beautiful!

our family at the Arch with a beautiful rainbow!

Sweet Leecy T

Leecy and Granny at the Arch

Grampy, Leecy and Lainey

the Arch with one of the rainbows

Granny, Grampy and the kids throwing food to the swarming fish!

feeding the fish

Daddy and Lennon at the old Union Station in St. Louis

Sisters! enjoying a quick ride at the old Union Station

Mr. Lennon enthralled by the truck ride at the old Union Station

the kiddos and Daddy....there wasn't a chance we were going to get them all looking at the same time! :)

feeding the fish again!

Thanks Granny and Grampy for an AMAZING weekend! We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to do it all again!

She's 3!

My sweet little Lainey bug turned 3 last week! It's crazy to think how quickly time passes! She is still tiny as ever, but as we all know, great things come in tiny packages! She is so smart, just like her big sister. As busy as she is, she is quite observant and I love to hear the things she picks up on! She has the most infectious laugh and I love that she can find just about anything funny! She can always put a smile on your face, no matter your mood! She is into everything girly and that involves a lot of lip gloss and shoes these days! She has this sweet little voice and I love to hear her sing, which she does often! Madelaine has been attending preschool this year, and it has been so fun to see her grow and develop and learn new things! She has come such a long way in just the few months she has been attending. She loves all of her new friends and talks about them often! She loves her sister and brother so much and it is a lot of fun to watch her interact with them. She wants to be just like Leecy T! We love her so much and are so very grateful to have her in our little family! She always makes our hearts smile! :)

We celebrated her birthday by doing all kinds of fun things and it was definitely a jam packed day! We were lucky enough to have Granny and Grampy here for her birthday--they haven't missed a grandkids birthday yet--how cool is that?! We went to eat lunch with Aleece at school, we went to the carousel, we opened presents, had cake and went to Chucke Cheese!

Mommy and her sweet little Lainey bug!

Always happy!

What a sweet face!

She had a Mad Hatter Tea Party for her birthday party (pics to follow soon!) and this was her Cheshire Cat poster I made.

By her many presents.

All dolled up! Probably one of my favorite pics of her!

At lunch with Grany, Grampy, Leecy, Lennon and Lainey.

Grampy and Lennon enjoying the carousel!

Granny and Bugsy riding the dragon!

Leecy and Lainey with her present from Aunt Katchie and Uncle Jeff-a Disney princess deluxe tea cart! Thanks you guys! She loves it!

Sweet Leecy T!

Lainey and her cool tea cart!

Granny and Lainey with her new Belle doll!

Lainey in her stylish, new jacket!

Opening presents.

Tinkerbell!

After opening her present from Leecy, getting a big hug! Leecy T, with help from her Granny, picked out a very special present for her sister! It was so sweet!

Another big hug! I love these moments!

A new Barbie cruise ship!

What a sweetheart!

Always the silly girl!

A new princess baby doll from Aunt Patty and Uncle Eric! Thank you you guys! She carried it around the whole night!

My adorable children! All looking at the camera!

The kiddos with Granny and Grampy! We implented Dad as the official "get the kids to smile" person! It worked!

At Chucke Cheese in their new princess carriage ride! Such sweet sisters!

Lennon in the monster truck ride! He loved this ride!

Lainey on the Kentucky Derby horse! She thought this was pretty awesome!

Lainey in the monster truck! She also thought this one was sweet!

Aleece LOVED this roller coaster ride and probably rode it 8 or 9 times! It was so fun to watch her!

Mr. Lennon with Granny and Grampy!

Bugsy and Daddy!

The roller coaster ride again!

Being silly at Chucke Cheese

Trying to sneak a picture in before eating...

Cake time! (Homemade sugar cookie cake! It tasted better than it looked) :)

Blowing out the candles!

Lainey and Grampy!

Our sweet birthday girl!

Lainey and Daddy!

A big thank you to everyone for making her 3rd birthday such a special one! Thank you for all of the gifts and the phone calls! And a huge thank you to Granny and Grampy for all they did to make her day so amazing! I know she won't soon forget! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I can't believe my baby girl is 3! I am excited to see how she will grow and develop over the next year! We love you so much Madelaine! Happy 3rd birthday sweetheart!

Halloween 2009

What do these 3 have in common?

1. They all have an affinity for capes.

2. They all have favorite colors

Wicked Witch of the West/Elphaba---green

Wicked Witch of the East/Nessa Rose---ruby red (with sparkles of course)

Superman/Clark Kent---red and blue

3. They all enjoy flying....whether it be on a broomstick or by their own superhuman capability!

4. They are the cutest kids EVER!

Per tradition, I made the girls costumes again this year and was quite pleased with how they turned out! They got to wear them several times each, so it was well worth the time spent on them!

Trick or Treating!

We had so much fun trick or treating with the kids this year! It was fun to see that Aleece has finally gotten the whole routine down and she was so excited to go from house to house! Lainey is starting to get the hang of it and would say "trick or treat" in her sweet little voice! Mr. Lennon REALLY enjoyed the fruits of his labor! He has a sweet tooth just like his big sisters and Daddy! :)


Lennon and Grampy. It was fun to have my parents in town for Halloween! We carry on all the fun traditions we did when I was a kid (chili and doughnuts...mmmmm!) and I remember vividly my Dad taking us trick or treating, so it was really fun to have him come along with us!

Our first stop.

Daddy being silly as usual!

What a beautiful Wicked Witch of the West!

A little chilly, but still a fun night!

Daddy and Lainey. She's lucky to still be so small! She didn't have to do much walking!

Mmmmmmmmm....candy!

Yummy!

Enjoying some kisses.

Chocolate!!!

Hmmm...what have I got?

Cutest Wicked Witch of the East ever!

Sweetest Wicked Witch of the West ever!

Most adorable, candy covered Superman ever!

Still checking out the goods!

We hope everyone had a very happy and safe Halloween! Ours was a blast and we can't wait till next year!

Delta Fair 2009

We went to the Delta Fair for the first time last year and couldn't wait to go again when it rolled into town this September. There is just something about the whole fair atmosphere....the smells, the sights, the rides, the food.....that makes you want to come back again and again. The kids loved the kiddie rides and I loved watching their sweet faces take everything in! I also thoroughly enjoyed the yummy funnel cake that my sweet husband allowed us to splurge on!


Lainey, Lennon and Daddy trapped in Davy Jones Locker! :)

Mr. Lennon and Daddy

Lainey being silly (as usual!)

Leecy T and Daddy watching the monkey show.

The crazy, acrobatic monkeys!

Me and my sweet boy!

These little guys were adorable! Baby pigs are the cutest!

Leecy T and Lainey bug LOVING the petting zoo!

Lainey's approach with the animals--give 'em a BIG hug!

Leecy's approach was a little more gentle!

She seriously thought every single one was her instant friend! It was too cute!

Leecy feeding the alpaca!

Riding the dragon ride with Dad!

This is Val's "I can handle any adult ride, but put me in a spinning dragon and I think I'm going to vomit" look! :) Better him than me!

The crocodile ride! Such cute sisters!

What a sweet face!

All smiles! (Despite the ear infections we found out they had later that week!)

The love of my life!

How did we get so lucky?!

Riding the BIG slide! All by herself! She is so grown up!!!

We'll see you again next year Delta Fair!

Golden Birthday!

So, I am WAY behind when it comes to blogging! September was a LONG month, but we survived it! Hallelujah!!!
My "golden" birthday was on the 29th of August and it was incredible! About 2 days before my birthday, one of my good friends called to see if I wouldn't mind watching her kids for a short time, because her and her husband's church meeting's overlapped. Of course I said yes, because I think her children are wonderful and I headed over later that evening. What I was not expecting was for my younger sister Katchie to open the door! What an awesome surprise! I, of course, started crying, and didn't realize for quite some time that a whole room of my friends was also there waiting to surprise me! We had delicious food and great company! They spoiled me and sent me home with gifts, which I greatly appreciated! It's so nice to have such good friends!
I was beyond ecstatic to have Katchie there! I don't get to see my sisters nearly often enough anymore and I treasure any moment I get to spend with them! The next day we got to hang out, go shopping and visit! All things I love to do! Little did I know that there would be another surprise! Val went to go the store to pick up a few things, only to return with my youngest sister MaryRose! How cool is that? I was not expecting that at all and was truly spoiled to have them visit for my birthday! For my birthday, we went to CiCi's for lunch---a family favorite from when we lived in Texas. Fond memories from our childhood! Then we all headed to the zoo, which was a blast! I love the zoo and it was fun to have all of us together! We got some great pictures! See for yourself! :)


What cute little bees!

Feeding the birds.... (they freaked Katch out a bit!) :)

Sweet Leecy T--future veterinarian

Me, Val, Lainey, Lennon and MaryRose

Mr. Lennon loved the birds!

Me and Leecy

Katchie and Lainey bug

I love when he does this! :)

MaryRose, Lennon, Lainey, Val, Katchie and Leecy

Me and my sweet kids

My cute family!

Sisters (notice the arm out Patty--you were here in spirit!)

We enjoyed a nice dinner at home and I was spoiled with far too many gifts! I received several books I was wanting (all of which have been read now--and they were all great!), some cute new maternity clothes, gift cards---which allowed me to get several things I really needed! Thank you to my sweet parents and in-laws, siblings and husband and children! I am so very blessed to have such an amazing family and friends!

MaryRose had to leave the day after my birthday and Katchie the day after that. Our time was short, but so well enjoyed! We need to do it more often! We wish Patty could have joined us, but she was definitely in our thoughts!

As a side note, apparently I was the only one who wasn't aware of all of the secret planning going on! Even my bishop knew ahead of time! Thanks for all of the surprises and for being so wonderful everyone! You made my day incredibly special and I am forever grateful for all that you do!