Halloween

I have thoroughly enjoyed Halloween this year! I decided to go all out and decorate the whole house and make it as fun as possible. The kids and I had alot of fun decorating and scaring everyone. In fact, we did so much shopping this year that Malak would wake up and say, "Let's go look at scary Halloween stuff!" We went out early to get the kids their outfits and we were all looking forward to the actual holiday.

The Fall Festival at school was great fun. They had alot of new games and stations and even a train that took you through a scary little cul de sac. Jamie got to come and work the games as part of NHS to get work hours in. It was fun to have him there with all the high school kids. One thing that I realized is that Madelyn is really growing up. As soon as we got there she disappeared and we didn't see her the entire time! She was off running with her friends and having so much fun she didn't want to hang out with her boring parents... We got to hang out with Lisa and Blake and we had a great time!
Trunk or Treat this year was also a blast...although I missed most of it. I got stuck late at work and so James and Jamie had to take the kids but then James got called into work so Jamie was there with the kids. Malak was connected to his friend Taya all night long and wouldn't let go of her. They are "best friends". And they went everywhere together holding hands. It cracks me up how much bigger Malak is than her...she is actually 4 months older than him. Kai and Tony of course were hanging out as well and having a blast. I am so grateful that they have good friends!

Halloween was actually a pretty low key event. We spent the afternoon carving pumpkins and getting the kids ready for trick or treating. Madelyn ditched us again and went with her friend Delaney and we took the boys out to get their candy. Two of Jamie's friends met up with us to Trick or Treat and then we went back to the house to watch Nightmare Before Christmas and answer the door to hand out candy.

Kai was Darth Vader..

Malak was Batman... He made sure he told us every 5 minutes who he was and that he was NOT Superman!

Madelyn was a Gangster Girl...with her Tommy Gun and bad attitude.....
I decided tonight I will never let her put make up on for real...she will never need it! She looked about 20 years old after I put mascara on her. I'm in big trouble...


James is Hancock??...

My boys...

Mediterranean Cruise

I was fortunate enough to have my dad invite me on a Mediterranean Cruise with him for a week! My Dad won the cruise with his company Mitylite for being one of the the top salesman. There were 18 of us altogether that went. It was quite the undertaking to leave my family for a whole week but my mom volunteered to help out so I took her up on it. We drove up to Utah on Friday the 25th of September for Jared and Angela's wedding. Then early Saturday morning James drove me up to Salt Lake to pick up my dad and then on to the airport to catch our flight to Barcelona! We arrived very early in the morning after a grueling flight through NYC, but were picked up by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for a guided tour of Barcelona. They took our luggage and delivered it to the Pier which really made things easy for us.
After a long flight...

We saw some amazing views of the city and the Olympic buildings...

La Familia Sagrada was an amazing Cathedral that is still under construction. I couldn't get over how large it was and it still has so much more to go...






After touring Barcelona we went to the Pier check in and get on the ship. We had every intention of going back out and spending more time in Barcelona but we were so tired when we got settled we fell asleep!! We woke up in time to say goodbye to Barcelona and this was our room for the week...

Bad Boy

Malak upended all my makeup one day....he was blending all the colors together. I guess he's an artist in training. I coulda killed him!! Maddy was such a good big sister--she just ushered me out of the room and cleaned it all up by herself because she knew it was too painful for me to do it. She's a girl that knows me very well. Malak has to be the most mischievous kid I've ever birthed.

He sticks Capri Sun straws in outlets, he turns off lights and opens bathroom stall doors while I'm sitting on the toilet, he teases ALL of his siblings,

He thinks power tools are toys, he eats chapstick, he throws food, he makes awful faces, he says WHAT, and he loves to say NO!!

And this is what he looks like when he's in TIME OUT!!!

Potty Training

In keeping this post "G" rated I will only post a few pictures! Malak is almost officially potty trained!! I haven't been real worried about forcing the issue with him just because he's my last and I know they eventually get it anyway. But we've been playing around for a while and letting him pee outside while it was hot. He would usually just take off his diaper and run outside to "pee in grass". (thanks to Grandma) But about 2 weeks I put him in big boy underwear and he's been doing great! He usually stays dry during nap time and I'm not even scared to run errands with him....whoa! He went poop in the toilet 2 days ago for the first time so I think now that he's experienced that we are almost there. We've been promising him a Bakugan if he went #2 in the toilet and he just laughs at us...I guess he didn't have any intention of using the toilet for #2. But we caught him in time and he accomplished the mission! Hooray for no more diapers!

New Nanny

We were so sorry to have Esther leave us but we are very happy to have our new nanny, Kelli! Esther's husband joined the Navy and he got orders to go to Virginia so they will be stationed there for a few years. It was hard to say goodbye to her because she has been with us since Malak was born. Her son Jayden had become such good friends with Malak but one of the reasons I hired Kelli was becase she had a son that was close to Malak's age. They have become very good friends and love to spend time together. Brady loves to hold Malak's hand wherever they go, especially in the car. He likes to find his ding dong (belly button) and they like to go to the park to chase birds and feed ducks. Kelli is great with all the kids and she helps out so much!

Jamie's Court of Honor

Jamie actually did his project over a year ago but we weren't very knowledgeable as to how the whole system worked after his Board of Review so finally a year later he was able to recieve his award! What an amazing accomplishment and honor for him to achieve. We are very proud of our son and commend him on his (and our) hard work! His project was power washing the football bleachers at Legacy High School and painting the fire drill numbers on both home and away sides. It was fun but the preparation was more than Jamie expected and we spent the evening before making over 300 templates of the numbers so he could spray paint them on the next day....thank goodness he has a good mom and she has good friends!! Thanks Lisa Evans! His Board of Review went very well. Bishop Ewing was there to represent him and help him. He said he's never been to one that went that smoothly. He knew they were very impressed with Jamie and the Board gave him some wonderful advice for his future.

His Court of Honor was very special. Grandma and Kieth surprised us and drove up from Payson. Carl and Danielle were also there to support him and that was so nice. He asked Bishop Ewing to speak and Brother Ipson to give the Scout Charge while his Dad and I had to give some remarks as well as Jamie. I don't think any mother should have to speak at things like that. It was very hard because I was very emotional! We also showed a slide presentation and that was what made me so emotional...he's grown up so much. President Moody and Bishop Williams made some wonderful comments about Jamie and scouting and the meeting altogether was just great. We are so proud of Jamie!