Hallie & Pumpkins

Hallie has loved taking pictures lately. She will bring the camera to me and say "Take a picture with me." So, put our faces close together & take a picture. She then will take some of me & then I'll take some of her. She is such a fun girl with a great personality. She is always making us smiling & is officially potty trained!
  
We had fun carving the pumpkins the year. The kids didn't even seem to really mind goo from the inside of the pumpkins. Two of the pumpkins even grew in our backyard- they were the only things that grew, and weren't really pumpkin shaped, but the kids didn't mind & loved drawing the faces on them for Brian & I to cut out.
This morning when I went running, I noticed that some kids had had fun last night and had smashed 10-12 pumkins in the middle of our road. It's one thing if the pumpkins are completly smashed, however, they thought it would be fun to leave the whole pumpkin itself in the middle of the road so that cars could smash them instead--- yes, very smart! I kicked them to the side of the road, and my friends and I joked while running, that if a police man showed up and saw me dressed up like a robber in the night with pumpkins all around me, there might be some explaining to do. :) Happy Halloween!
 
 

Roses & rings & love :)

A couple of months ago, I went to the store, came home & put the groceries away, went downstairs to e-mail something & when I looked down I noticed that the right diamond had fallen out of it's place. I was devastated! I felt so bad! I looked around everywhere in my house, in the car, in the garage, on the floor, in all the sacks, everywhere, & I couldn't find it.
I called Brian, on the verge of tears and told him what had happened. I know this is a temporal thing & I won't take it with me when I die, but I also know that I am a sentimental person & this ring means so much to me. We chose the ring together just before he proposed, and we both liked it because the 3 diamonds meant "Yesterday, Today, & Forever." Being 1/2 serious, and 1/2 not, I sadly & dramatically told him when he got home that day that our "forever" was gone. He gave me a hug & said,
"Our forever will never be gone."
We waited for a while to get it fixed until we could afford it & then got a simplified version of the missing diamond. On October 20, which was actually the day he proposed 9 years ago, he knelt down in front of the kids & gave me the ring which had been fixed, re-aligned, & cleaned. Yes, very sweet.
I have been thinking about my ring & forever. While I wore the ring & the diamond was gone, I kept thinking about forever & how long away eternity seems & how I felt like I was missing something. However, as much as I missed the diamond, I felt peace in knowing that it was only something in this life, but that the true forever is possible because of being sealed in the temple for time & all eternity - I have the missing peace. I can be with my family forever! I love the comforting words that Brian said to me that our forever will never be gone, because of the blessings from the temple that we have, our love will continue on forever.
 

Salt Lake Temple

For fall break, we took the kids to the Salt Lake Temple and went to the top of the Conference Center. Karen & Brittany came along & the kids loved spending time with their cousins. I love the picture of Brian & Morgan by the temple doors.     

Cute Clothes

Since Landon is our last little boy, I had to take some pictures of him in one of my favorite little outfits before I give it away. I love the look on his face. He is such a cute little guy & I love his big smile. He likes it when I bring the camera out. He'll come closer to me & give a great smile. He is crawling & loves it when we pretend like we're going to get him.
 
 
 
 

Landon is growing up

    
My sweet little baby is growing up too fast. He is at such a fun age & is very curious about the world around him. Everything seems to fascinate him, especially when it involves his siblings. He loves to "help" in the kitchen & climbed up on the dishwasher himself. He is such a cuddly little guy & is always so happy. He has learned that by being the 4th child in our family that he needs to sing (which acutally sounds more like a scream) when he wants our attention. He is such a little sweetheart.

My sweet babies

 
 

Hallie practicing taking pictures.

Random Pictures of Hallie & Landon

These two have been so much fun lately. This is Landon's first sugar cookie, and from the looks of the picture, I think he likes it.
Hallie always sleeps in the cutest positions. She is such a great big sister to Landon & is always putting her arm around him. It makes me a little nervous when she tries to pick him up. :)
    

Girls Night Out

I have been blessed with some amazing girl friends!!! My friend Julie got a group of us together to go up to the conference center for the General Women's Broadcast. We kept telling her she should move into our ward, since everyone else is in the same ward.
We had such a nice time! We went & stuffed ourselves with rolls & a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse (one of my new favorites) & then went to the Conference Center.
It was so nice hearing the prophet speak & the General Relief Society Presidency. They are all such neat women & it was such a neat experience being with those I love and learning more about the truths of the gospel.
 

In the picture: Vanessa, Rena, Julie, Nicole, Me, Analice, Michelle, & Melissa (Michelle's sister-in-law)

Walk for a Cure

    
In September the kids and I walked with our neighbors to support Elizabeth (our neighbor & babysitter across the street) who is diabetic. The walk was a 5K and Landon stayed home with Brian and I went with the kids. We all had a nice time & the kids actually did really well for 3 miles. They loved the lunch at the end & the carnival games.
While the adults were sitting there eating, we looked over to see the kids running to us. I spotted Carson with his new black hair & then saw a glimpse of bright neon green running through the trees. We all started laughing when we saw Jackson! His head was so bright! I'm sure that whoever colored it had a blast. Morgan had hers colored in spots and Hallie wanted hers colored "Pinkalicious" of course. :) The kids had a great time & it was for such a great cause.

Our Beautiful Kitchen

Well, I have been very lazy & haven't blogged for awhile, and now I'm behind. :) Brian finished the cabinets the week of General Conference & they look amazing! He did such a wonderful job on the kitchen.
When I was telling him how amazing I thought he was, he told me that he didn't do anything, but that it was all "God's doing." I said, "Yeah, God made the tree & wood, & gave you the talent, but you are the one that took a piece of solid wood & created beautiful cabinets!" All of this wood was scrap wood from a project at Wood Craft (where Brian has been working) & it was all headed to the garbage! A year ago when Brian found out that this beautiful cherry wood would just be thrown out, he asked if he could use it & this is what he did with it. Needless to say, Brian is very humble about how it all turned out, and probably doesn't want me praising him any more on here, so I'll just write some of my favorite features. :)
* Pull out drawers
* Pull out spice cabinets
* Lots of shelves
* Separate place for pans & trays
* Extra room
* Computer in kitchen
* Knobs & handles ( I LOVE the ones we chose)
* Brian's desire to always want it looking nice, so twice now he has mopped the floor. :)
* Paper towel holders
* Pantry
And, everything else.
One day we were having a Family Home Evening & we told the kids how we have each been blessed with different talents. We explained that Daddy can build things, one of our neighbors knows the inside & outside of cars, another neighbor has helped us many times with our computer, our neighbor across the street is a banker, another one is a vet, etc... We talked about how Heavenly Father has blessed each of us with different talents to be different & to help others.
I am not sure if Brian used his talents to be creative, or if he just wanted me to cook more in the kitchen. Whatever the reason, he is definatly getting more homemade meals & treats. :)
Here are the gorgeous pictures-