Vampires, Dinosaurs, Birthdays... Oh My...

Wow what an eventful weekend... Here are the highlights.. On Friday the Twilight movie came out, my sister-in-law Tammy was able to get tickets through her work, and invited me and my friend Casey to go... We decided to make a night out of it and went to dinner and did a little shopping beforehand(thanks Casey).... Then it was off to see Twilight.. I have read the first 3 books and am working on the last book, but I wouldn't consider myself an "addict". I really enjoyed the books so I was up for the movie... It was a good movie, kinda "out there" in parts, but good. I still think the book was much better... I guess that is always the case with movies vs. books though... In the end it was a fun night out, and I am glad we went.. Thanks Tammy for hooking us up with tickets...

Saturday (Troy was off.. YEAH), we decided to take the kids to do something fun... So we headed south... We were thinking of going to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point, and since we were going to be south we decided to eat at one of our favorite restaurants down there, the Brick Oven.... An absolute MUST if you are ever in the Provo/Orem area... So we went down there (on the BYU campus) to eat some lunch.. It was fantastic, as always... It was pretty funny one of the waiters there was totally decked out in his Utah shirt(kinda brave of him, GO UTES!!)...

Then it was off to the museum.. I had forgotten how cool it was... The kids loved it.. Definitely worth it, and so nice to spend some time with Troy... He watched the game that night, us girls shopped... Fun Fun day....




Sunday we celebrated Jaden's birthday.. I can hardly believe this little guy is turning 2... Where did the days go? Some of my faves about Jaden..
1- The way he speaks his own language, Jadenese as we call it...
2- His byes and Hi's, sound like he is from the deep south...
3- His love for his sister and his brothers, nothing is better than a big squeeze from him...
4- His darling little smile... Melts my heart.
5- His sweet but sometimes a little spunky personality.
6- His cute little facial expressions, crack me up every day.
7- His overall good nature, love that about him..
We are so blessed to have him in our family, he makes our little family complete. I am so thankful for all of my kids and that Heavenly Father has trusted me enough to make me their mom.... Love you Jaden, Happy Birthday...

Thankful for...

As Thanksgiving is fast upon us, I am once again reminded about all of the things I am thankful for...

A- Andy(his family too), Another Day
B- Barker Family, Boyd Family, Brothers(in laws)
C- Courtnee, Cole, Camera, Chocolate
D- Diet Coke (some days more than others), My Dads
E- Everyone I Care About
F- Friendships, Forgiveness, Family, Freedom, Faith
G- Grandparents
H- Happiness, Health, Hugs, Home
I- Inlaws
J- Jaden, Jones' Family
K- Kisses
L- Love
M- My Marriage, My Mom & Mother in law
N- Nancy, New Adventures, Nieces, Nephews
O- Organization
P- Patience, Parents, Prayer
Q- Quiet Times (all moms understand this)
R- Religion
S- Stockton, Sisters(in-laws)
T- Troy, Team Hatch, Today, Temples
U- Understanding
V- Vacations, Very Cute Kids(man finding a V word was tough)
W- Whitney, Well-being
X- (e)Xtra Energy (I can dream right?)
Y- Yummy Food
Z- ZZZZZZZZ's

I am sure I have forgotten many things, and will add them as I think of them... What are you thankful for???

Monday..

Wow what a week the last week has been... Gotta love those birthdays that last all week long.. Courtnee had her friend party on Friday night, it was so fun. The girls all did pedicures, (waxing their feet, painting toes) played a fun card game, sang Karaoke, ate, laughed and were just 12 year old girls... I had forgotten how energetic girls can be at 12, and 9 of them to boot... My sister Whitney made them these cute shirts, putting their names on the back with a crown on the front.. We gave each girl a pair of slippers to wear after they had their pedicures... My sweet niece came down and stayed with us for the weekend (loved having her) and she did all of the girls hair at the party... They all looked like princesses when they left... Fun fun fun..... :)


We got Courtnee a dozen roses for her birthday (turning 12) and Troy took this picture of one of them. So amazing....


Now I get to breath for a week before we have another birthday.. Although I am thinking my soon to be 2 year olds birthday will be slightly less work and loads less stress.. :) We get to spend Thanksgiving with my brother this year, looking so forward to that... It's been way to many years since I have spent Thanksgiving with him.. So excited.. Troy is actually off this year!!! YEAH!! And since I have rarely seen him the last 45 days, it will be a much needed break away for us..

12 Years Ago...

I remember Troy and I wondering how we would do at the whole parenting thing, as we waited for Courtnee's arrival... Nothing about her birth was of the "norm"... She was breech and attempts to turn her were not successful so we were scheduled for a C-section... Never going through any of this before, I was terrified... She came to us 2 weeks early, as my blood pressure was getting too risky... I will never forget when they held her over the curtain for me to see for first time, it was definitely love at first sight, I couldn't believe that little angel was ours... She was truly a slice of heaven sent to our family... It's hard to believe that 12 years have passed, and our once baby girl is now a young woman... She brings so much joy to our family, she is truly a blessing to all of us... She is such a great help to Troy and I.. She loves her brothers (all of them most days), and is a very good example to them... She is so kind, and thoughtful, never mean to anyone.. I wish some days I could just stop time and savor every memory... I am so very thankful for her in my life... She makes our days fun and our memories cherishable... I just wanted to tell her Happy Birthday, and thank her for making my job as her mom so amazing... Love ya gunderbutt...

Halloween

Well Halloween has came and gone and it seriously feels like we Halloweened it for a week straight. As much as I love the holiday I am really glad it's over.. The kids always have so much fun, from getting the pumpkins, carving them, to the trick or treating and the candy, but it's nice to be done for another year... We carved the pumpkins on Tuesday night, kids seemed to like the carving part, but definitely not the cleaning out all of the guts part.. They turned out cute though...



Troy's mom had her annual Halloween Party on Thursday, and when she does a party she goes all out... I am still amazed at her festiveness. She had everything from Halloween themed food to skeleton tongs to get the olives out.. It was fun, for everyone. The food was so yummy too.


She mummified the hot dogs, so yummy... and gotta love the 7 layer dip too...

All the kiddos..

Courtnee with Grandma & Grandpa


Cole AKA Batman, Jaden AKA the Bat, Courtnee AKA 70's GO GO Dancer, Stockton AKA Metal Skull Biker

Friday we did the Trunk-or-Treating at our ward, a little more convenient but I kinda miss the good ole days of going door to door. I guess its safer doing the trunk or treat but not quite as much fun... That pretty much sums up our Halloween.. Fun times, and now we jump right into the Holiday season, AGH where did the year go?