October Break

As much as I hate that my family does not live in the same state as me, it's great having wonderful places to visit. Emmet had a week off of school and we headed to sunny CA for a much needed break. Thanks to a thoughtful dad, we didn't have to drive, but flew into Burbank.

They are such easy travelers and they couldn't believe how short the flight was. They did freak out though when they saw that we had to exit the airplane by stairs. It was raining and they were both so concerned about being out in the rain next to the plane. Emmet especially is my little worry wart!!

Chris and Jenny live in Pasadena and they have such a cute apartment. We probably visited on the worst weekend possible for Chris. He was studying for his first midterms. So, Thursday we headed to Disneyland to keep the kids occupied! (They love Chris and wouldn't leave him alone to study.) Jenny and Chris have season passes. Chris studied most of the day, met up with us for a few hours and then headed back to studying. Jenny and I had a great time with the kids. We stayed ALL day!




They can't wait to go back. Emery absolutely loved every roller coaster and especially splash mountain. Emmet loved It's a Small World. I really can't believe how great they were. It was a fun, long day and they keep asking to go back.

Chance and Angela flew in Thursday night. We hadn't all hung out since May so it was so fun to see each other.

We played around some of the famous Hollywood sites Friday while Chris studied. We spent a little bit of time in the fashion district, but none of us felt like we were fashionable enough to shop there!

We headed to Huntington Beach Saturday and had another fun day. It was foggy most of the time, so you really couldn't see too far out into the ocean. Even thought it was the middle of October it didn't stop the kids from getting in. I couldn't believe how happy Emmet was at the beach this time. He just hung out digging the in the sand by himself most of the time. We were there for almost six hours and he didn't want to leave!! What a change from when he was little and hated the sand.



Most of the day the kids with the help of their aunts and uncles built a sand castle. The diet coke is in honor of grandma kathy!

I loved being with family and so did my kids. The vacation didn't last long enough. We ate two nights in a row at Yogurtland. Seriously, if you live anywhere near Pasadena you have got to go. It was so yummy build your own yogurt!
Despite me getting sick the last two days and not sure if I felt well enough to fly home we had a great time. I swear I get sick on every vacation because I finally relax.

Another Year Older

It is nice having both of my kids birthdays literally a month a part, but a little stressful as well. I don't know how moms do it who have kids birthdays in December. I guess you get everything done in one full swoop.

Here are a few highlights from Emmets 6th Birthday. Emmet's last night as a five year old ended in such an odd and curious way. He comes into my bedroom dressed in what he calls his "army gear"!

All I could do was laugh. He loved his little getup and was determined to sleep in it. What shocked me is he could fall asleep boots and all.


I did eventually take the boots and hat off.

On the morning of Emmet's birthday I am awakened by Emmet's whisperings in my ear, "Mom, mom it's my birthday where are my presents? Can I open them right now?" He is a very persuasive child and an hour later he was opening the three gifts Emery and I got him. He headed off to school and his teacher invited me to come spend the morning in the classroom with him. I was excited to go spend time with him and thankful my mom was in town to watch Emery.

Emmet came home to more surprises. Grandma Kathy and Emery had hidden a few more gifts around the house. Emmet loved "hunting" for his presents. He blew out his candles at Outback. It's his favorite restaurant because he loves the bread. When he was little I got him to try the bread because it was the "Wiggles" Restaurant and he still calls the bread Austrailan bread! We ate dinner with Nanny and Papa Hawkins. Emmet shares a birthday with Papa and it's fun to do something together on their birthdays.

Nanny and Papa gave Emmet a gigantic lego star wars cruiser. It had 1170 pieces. We laid out a white sheet on our family room floor and for the duration of conference I put together this fun lego. It took almost 6 hours. We did separate the pieces into piles by color and that really helped. I finished it Sunday morning.




The ship stayed in tack for almost an hour. As you know the kids want to play with the lego structure even though it falls apart and breaks quite easily. Well the bottom broke and I began fixing it and couldn't. I told Emmet okay I'm getting frustrated with this and then more broke. Well in what may be my proudest moment in mothering I broke the rest, picked up the pieces stuck them all in the box with instructions and stuck it in Emmet's room. He just stared at me. He didn't cry I think he was shocked. I told him when he was older, he could build it and that was that. He hasn't mentioned it since.

He had a great birthday. He's getting taller all the time. I fear he will be taller than before I know it.

This is for you dad!

My dad's goal is to get Emery to like him! It's a running joke between Emery and him. When ever Emery talks to my dad she always says, "I don't like you grandpa." He pretends to be sad and she laughs and laughs. So dad I know you've been missing her so here are a few funny pics I've taken recently. She is beginning to love posing for the camera!

She wore these purple vampire teeth for an entire afternoon. She kept saying, "mom look I'm a vampire." I promise she knows nothing about Twilight!


Emery is in dance and loves it. It's a great little outlet for her. She gets nervous with adults and she loves her teacher and loves going.
I'm so grateful for Emery. Her humor, smiles, hugs, and need to be with me makes life so much sweeter. I am eternally grateful to be entrusted with Emery and Emmet. Emmet's birthday is this week so I'll have some fun pictures coming later.

Ode to Tai Pan Trading Company

I know for all of you who live in Utah this store is old news, but it's a novelty for us Arizonans! So much so, that this past weekend I joined Sam's mom, his two sisters, two out of my four sisters-in-laws and one niece on a whirlwind of a weekend to Saint George. Our sole purpose of the trip was to buy fun and impractical holiday decor. Who knew that beyond finding some fabulous decor we would enjoy each others company so much. I love a good road trip. We stayed up late each night yapping about who knows what. I learned some new hair tricks and slept in a bed by myself. (That's a novelty for me, my kids somehow end up in bed with me!) I came home needing a nap from my vacation!

My mom flew in to watch my kids! What a great mom. I love my kids, but a short little break was actually really nice. It was much easier to have fun because I knew they were in safe hands and they had a great time with her.

We rode in a 15 passenger van. We came home with it full to the brim with "stuff"!
We did take time to go see one movie. Love Happens. Let me tell you, love does not happen in this movie. I really don't recommend it. If you are dying to see it wait until you can rent it from Red Box even though I'm not sure this movie is worth even waisting one dollar on it or the time you will not be able to regain once watching it!!
I love driving through Northern Arizona. It's a different kind of beautiful. It's hard to explain how rock and desert can be beautiful, but it is. We stopped on our way home at a road side stand and bought some fun Navajo jewelry.

On our way home we joked that next time we need to rent an RV! I hope there is a next time it was a great quick little trip!

Emery Turns 4!

I woke up this morning thinking where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday I was waking up this morning anxious to have Emery here. Today I was anxious to slow time down. I can't believe my baby is not a toddler anymore. We began the day with a few tears.The tears left as quickly as they came!I'm really not quite sure where the peace sign came from. Emmet was so hopeful this morning that he didn't have to go to school because it was Emery's birthday. He will try anything to get out of school and he was persistent but I held my ground and to school he went! Emery and I met up with all of Emery's younger cousins for a birthday lunch at McDonald's. She loves her cousins and she had a great time eating nuggets and playing ring around the rosies!Notice the different outfits. Emery LOVES clothes and wore at least three different outfits today. Grandma Kathy gave her new clothes and she was in heaven. I haven't really done a "friends" birthday party for Emery and this year I thought we would give it a try. We invited four friends over for an hour and fifteen minutes. I had it all planned out and Emmet was hysterical making the girls laugh and it was so cute to see him helping make her party fun. He did eventually get sick of it and went to play at the next door neighbors. His humor and antics reminded me of Sam and that always makes my heart sing.It was a very simple party, but the girls had a great time especially Emery. I hadn't seen her so excited before and so grown-up. She's really starting to come out of her shell. We had a cake and we were singing to her and she wasn't sure what to do. Emmet and I were laughing just blow the candles out!The day ended with her gift from me a silly tent, but I knew she would love playing inside of it!I had to throw this last picture in for Grandma Kathy. This was her final outfit for the evening.I am so relieved that her birthday met her expectations. She's excited for her cousins party next week. Birthdays are a hard day for me. Emmet's and Emery's birthdays were two of the most important days Sam and I shared together and it's hard that he's not here to share in the joy. I'm grateful I've learned to go simple and we had a great time. I don't need to make a production out of it. Emery was beaming as she went to bed. So mission accomplished!

First Day of Kindergarten

I have been dreading this day. Whenever I would think about Emmet going to kindergarten I would get all teary eyed. It's all day kindergarten here. Despite my trepidation, I have been talking it up big all summer and today was the day. I had my whole family praying that it would go smoothly and it did! In fact Emmet was awesome. He was dressed and ready to leave the house by 6:45! He woke up and the first thing he said to me was, "I feel like today is going to be a great day!" That's how I knew he was excited.

He was ready with his Bakugan backpack, Bakugan lunch box, and Bakugan thermos!
We got to school quite early, but he enjoyed playing in the playground and so did Emery. Emmet's teacher is so great she encouraged all of the parents to come inside her classroom and take pictures. Emmet was so confident and he sat down and immediately was talking to the kids at his table.

I wanted to cry watching him only because he looked so grown-up. I was also so relieved that he was happy and excited.
I picked him up from school and he was quite proud that he ate his entire lunch and was even prouder that he ate a chocolate doughnut for his snack. Maybe he'll start eating better. Who knows. All I know is he had a wonderful first day. His favorite part of the day was recesses where he was tackled by three girls. I thought to myself, I'm in trouble!!

Bakugan Tournament

In my attempt to be a fun mom we head to Arizona Mills Saturday to participate in a Bakugan Tournament. I had no idea what we were getting into or if it was legit, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! The place was packed with mom's being dragged by their sons who were carrying their stashes of Bakugan. We stood in line for over an hour waiting for Emmet's turn to battle.

The kids handled the long line well. Of course Emmet loved talking about Bakugan with all the boys in line with us. They were arguing over the finer points of the game. I was entertained by the man standing in line behind me who managed to discuss Star Wars with me for a good amount of time. He feels that his knowledge of Star Wars is so great there is no question you could have that he couldn't answer! I was grateful that Emery was starting to get bored so I could focus my attention on her and not the Star Wars trivia that was being thrown at me.

There were three stations. The first was a demonstration of the game Bakugan given by a "Bakugan Master". I think he was a great actor, but Emmet was convinced he was a "real" Master! I learned all of the rules and was surprised at how much I already knew about Bakugan. So, any moms out there wondering how to play Bakguan, I can definitely help you out with that.

The second station Emmet actually battled! It was done with the help of an adult who assisted the kids during the battle, answering any questions and making sure the game was being played correctly.
The last station Emmet was able to battle unassisted and sit in a really cool chair. He actually won and I could not believe how excited he was! I left so glad we went. It was free and Emmet had a great time. It amazes me how simple an activity can be, but how fun the kids actually have. He wants to have a Bakugan birthday party and set up a tournament. We'll see if I can pull that off.

I have to hand it to Emery. She was such a trooper. She could have battled if she wanted to, but she would rather cheer Emmet on.