Festival of Trees

We got some tickets to go to the Festival of Trees here in town and we had lots of fun there. I had the kids pose in front of their (or my) favorite trees. There were so many beautiful ones, it was a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit...


Here is my little candy cane in front of a cute candy cane tree!!!





Luke in front of his favorite tree.

And this was Ethan's favorite tree; very fun!!!

We splurged and took the kids on a train ride there. Ethan was a great conductor and Linz absolutely loved the ride. The little things that make kids SO happy are WONDERFUL.

Grandpa and Grandma Noakes

Grandpa & Grandma Noakes came to visit and we had a fun few days. Jennett and her girls came to visit also. We took pictures at the park, went black light miniature golfing and had a few eye exams performed. Thanks for visiting and we are looking forward to our next visitors....

Abby and Jeana

the 5 (used to be) Ohio cousins
grandpa, Ethan, Jeana

Just havin' Fun Jennett and her girls

Grandpa & Grandma

PLEASE forgive the large pregnant lady in the front. This is the worst possible place I could have been in the picture - front, center with no child to cover me. I guess this is what I get for being the last one to run in the picture.

The kids loved seeing their white clothes "glowing." The kids all did great and the older ones played 3 rounds to the adults 1 round...

Veteran's Day

The boys had Veteran's Day off of school so we decided to head up to my mom's for the day. We went to the Children's Museum there and the kids had a blast!!!!

It is beyond my comprehension how this CAPITAL city we live in does not have a Children's Museum. Fortunately the Children's Museum by my mom is WONDERFUL. We had so much fun and here are some of the things we did there.

Luke playing in the water.

The boys LOVED climbing in the web... Linz had so much fun shopping for food. Look how heathly she is!!! Ethan and Linz learning about how cereal is made with Grandma

The boys (especially Luke) got such a kick out of these mirrors. He and I made faces in them and laughed our heads off for a good 10 minutes.

This painting area is one of my favorite parts of the museum. I wish I could have a painting area like this in my house. It always entertains the kids forever. Even Linz got in on the action this time.

Linz sneaking a Kit Kat and "playing" checkers.

The boys played a life size game of what I think was supposed to be Chess. Not quite sure where they got their rules from. Ethan's turn always consisted of killing one of Luke's guys, yet Luke wasn't playing right when he got one of Ethan's guys.

Luke challenged grandma to a game of checkers.

They had this HUGE lego table that held Ethan's attention for a good 20 minutes.

We had so much fun. It was fun to be able to spend all day with my buddies again. I miss them when they are at school all day every day.

Welcome Home Linz

We were all SUPER THRILLED to have Linz come home Friday evening!!!! She got home and the boy immediately took her outside to play in the leaves. They were all SO excited and just couldn't get enough of each other.

I am SO blessed with wonderful children who love each other and play so well together (most of the time.) Linz is definitely a HUGE blessing to our family and we can't imagine life without her. She brings so much fun and energy to our family and we are glad to have her back.

She had fun with grandma and would love to go visit again soon. She has even called Nate and I grandma a few times.....What a cutie!!!

They just couldn't get enough of each other...

Oh how we love LEAVES....and miss Linz

Linz went to GRANDMA'S

My mom left on Sunday afternoon and took Linz with her to her house. She offered to keep her all week, but we thought we'd try for a day or two and see how she did. Linz left with no problem at all. She hopped right into grandma's car and was ready to go. She did REALLY well being with my mom and stayed until Friday evening. I talked to her on the phone every day - or at least tried to. There were way too many toys at grandma's house to distract her with and she didn't even ask where mommy was for a good day and a half.

The boys both got a little teary eyed right when she left. It was very cute to hear them talk about Linz and how much they were going to miss her and why she was leaving. My mom was just trying to give me a little break so I could get some stuff done around the house. And a HUGE thank you to my wonderful mother for this incredible time she gave me.

We all missed Linz a lot!!!! About 5 minutes after my mom and Linz left (the rest of us were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie) Luke just started crying out of the blue. It was SO SWEET. He said that he missed Linz and wanted her to come home. He said that he couldn't remember what she looked like (in the whole 5 minutes she had been gone) and that he really loved her.

Nate had a hard time with Linz gone too and missed her BIG smile and warm hugs when he got home from work every day. Linz did great with grandma all week and I think she was ready to come home by Friday.

Thank you again, mom, for being so kind and generous and I KNOW that Linz was in good hands. My kids all LOVE grandma's house and I'm so grateful I have a wonderful mother who is willing and able to do so much for me and my family!!!!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

We actually don't have a single tree in our yard (bigger than Nate) that drops its leaves in the fall. (We have one giant evergreen in our front yard.) Luckily our neighbors on both sides have HUGE trees in their yards.

So, one night after school I put the boys to work. They had so much fun and did a GREAT job of raking the leaves. We had to steal the leaves from our neighbors' yard because we didn't have that many in our yard. To my surprise, Luke actually outlasted Ethan on the raking part and they both thoroughly enjoyed the playing part.

Check out this enormous pile!!!! We had a fun night and got some good exercise. And we got to do some service for our neighbors. The boys are talking about Citizenship in school for the month of November, so we talked about what Citizenship means and they were excited to do something nice for someone else!!!!

Happy 8th Anniversary

I can't believe it's been 8 years yet I can't hardly remember life before Nate.

Since my mom was in town, we were able to go on a date for our anniversary. My mom was wonderful to watch the kids for us Saturday evening so we could go out. We went to our new favorite restaurant in town, Mariah's and then walked around the mall for a few minutes. It was a wonderful evening and I'm so glad we got to spend a little bit of time together!!!
I am SO grateful for a WONDERFUL husband that is and does SO much for me. I could not ask for a better husband or father for my children. There are so many qualities that I admire about Nate and I feel very blessed that he has put up with me these 8 years. Thank you Nate and I love you!!!! I look forward to another wonderful 8 years and many more beyond that......

A First For Me.....

OK, so I know this is a little out of order but I just got home and I had to write a quick something. I promise I will still catch up soon, but this is about today, RIGHT NOW.

SO, I JUST got back from the Midnight showing of TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!! I went with a friend in my ward. I have never gone to any midnight showings or parties for any book/movie before. And I have to admit (for those of you who know my movie watching habits) I was a little worried about staying awake during the movie, especially being pregnant. I can fall asleep during ANY movie out there. I took a short nap before leaving for the movie and I didn't even get a hint of being tired!!!

Now about the movie....if you haven't seen it yet (which most of you are most likely more sane than I am) you HAVE to go see it!!!! I have to admit I was a little skeptical about how the movie would turn out. There is SO much in her books I couldn't possible fathom having it all fit in a 2 hour movie.

I was DEFINITELY pleasantly surprised. The movie was REALLY GOOD!! I just loved it...and the whole time I was watching the movie I was thinking about how much I want to go home and read the book again. Stephenie does such an amazing job of transporting you into the story and I felt that same way during the movie. I just loved the movie, the whole experience of seeing it AND I wasn't even the only old pregnant lady there!!!

So, for any of you who a) haven't seen the movie yet - GO SEE IT or b)haven't read the book yet (I can't hardly believe you people exist anymore) GO SEE THE MOVIE (and read the book!!!!)

Thanks for listening to my excitement and ramblings; and it feels good to blog about something that is up to date and current in my life!!!!