The Princess and the Pig - Halloween 2012

It all started on Monday night when we carved our pumpkins for family home evening.  This year we had and awesome garden that grew tons of pumpkins.  We were so excited to try some new things this year.

Makayla's favorite was the Ariel pumpkin.  It is kind of hard to see but it's the far one on the left.  Kyle's favorite was the angry bird pumpkin on the far right.  They all turned out so cute!

Next it was time for Halloween night.  The kids were so excited.  Makayla decided she wanted to be Rupunzel from Tangled this year and Kyle was the angry bird pig king.  Aren't they just the cutest kids in the whole world!!!

It was a great night.  It's so much fun to have our whole family go out trick-or-treating.  This is one of those moments that I treasure and look forward to every year.

Apple Hill California

Our family has come to love going to Apple Hill every fall.  There is tons to do and it is beautiful but the best part is all the apple foods!!!  You can't leave without having a carmel apple, apple fritter, apple pie with ice cream, or a nice big juicy apple!  The first thing we have to do each year is get faces painted.  This is one of Makayla's favorite things to do and Kyle loves to be like his big sis.  They both loved how it turned out.

There are such beautiful flowers at each of the farms.

Kyle loved the goats and this pig.  He loved picking leaves from the trees and feeding the animals. 

There are hundreds and hundreds of apple trees everywhere.

And these are my little posers.  Overall it was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to continue the tradition next year!

Lake Tahoe Salmon Run

We love to take the kids on day trips whenever we can.  We are lucky to live in an area where there are a lot of places to go that aren't too far away.  We think it is great education for the kids to learn about Nevada and nature and all that good stuff!  This year we went to the Salmon Run in Lake Tahoe.  We did this a couple years ago and it was so much fun.  It is a beautiful little hike to the salmon.

My sweeties!!!

When we got to the lake the salmon were all over.  It was beautiful.  They were all trying so hard to swim upstream to lay their eggs.  The kids were amazed and so were we.  This is such an amazing sight and we love being able to share these experiences with our kids.

As you all may know bears love salmon.  There are so many people watching the fish that we never thought we'd need to worry about them but...

WE ACTUALLY SAW A BEAR!!!  It was really cool.  We were a little nervous because it was a baby bear and we all know about mama bears but we only saw the baby.  Ben took a picture, I picked up Kyle and had Makayla right by my side, we took a look at the bear and then it ran off.  I have to admit it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!!!  I think the kids will remember this experience their whole lives!

And them my little monkeys decided they needed a little nap after their hard day!

First Day of Preschool

A few of my friends and I decided to do a little ABC preschool with our kids this year.  Kyle was so excited to be going to school on his first day.  He loved being just like his sister.  His only problem was that he wanted to bring a lunch too just like she does.  Kyle is getting so smart!  He is learning so many things every day.  We are so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  We love you Kyle!!!

7 years old and 2nd Grade!

Makayla is now in 2nd grade and she loves it!!!  She loves her teacher (so do I!!!) and is making new friends.  This year she has a few more girls in her class so that is nice.  She loves going to school every day and I love that.  She is such a smart, sweet, and amazing girl and we love her so much.  I know I say this all the time but it just seems like yesterday she was a little baby and now she is 7 years old!!!

This year Makayla got to have a friend birthday party.  We decided on an olympic theme since both boys and girls were invited.  We split them up into teams and they competed in lots of events.  It was a little crazy since most of the kids were late because of soccer but they all had so much fun and it was a big success!

Makayla wanted a rainbow birthday cake so this is what we came up with.  I have to say the kids were totally impressed!!!

That night we celebrated her birthday with just our family.  When we watched the olympics this past summer one of Makayla's favorite events was the rythmic gymnastics.  We got her this ribbon and she loves it!  She is also really good at it.  She already has dreams of being in the olympics doing rythmic gymnastics.  She says she can do everything but the flips!

Makayla had an amazing birthday.  We love her so much and can't imagine our family without her in it.  She brings so much to our family.  She is so loving and patient with Kyle.  She is my best friend and we love having girls days out and she is still and always will be daddy's little girl.  Thank you so much Krista for doing what you did and giving us our perfect little girl.  We love you Makayla!!!

So You Think You Can Dance...Makayla

For the last couple of years Makayla has loved to watch So You Think You Can Dance with us.  She has decided that she wants to try out for the show... in 11 years when she is eligible.  I don't know if it will still be around then but it is so fun to watch her practice.  The other night we decided to record her audition.  Enjoy!!!

Kyle Turns Three!!!

I can't believe my little boy is three years old!  The time just seems to be flying by.  We love Kyle so much!  He brings so much happiness to our family.  We are so proud of him and can't wait to see what life holds for this amazing little boy.  The day started out making his cake.  I had found several birthday cakes online and let Kyle pick which one he wanted.  This is the one he picked out.  It turned out so cute and Kyle loved it!!!

Kyle got to pick out his dinner that night and he chose pizza with sprinkles.  So, we ordered pizza and he put sprinkles on his piece.  He was so excited and it was so cute! 

After that it was time for presents!!!  Kyle couldn't wait for this part.  He took each present and just ripped the paper off to see what was inside. 

His pirate costume was a hit!

Here we have all the presents.  He loved each one of them which made me feel good. He had a great day!  He also got his first bike...

SCOOTERS!!!

We decided it was time for the kids to get new scooters.  We ordered them online and the kids were SOOOO excited waiting for them to come.  It took awhile (that darn WalMart!) but finally the day came when they arrived.  We opened them up and headed outside to try them out!

Makayla was a pro!  I couldn't believe how well she did from the very beginning.  I tried hers out and it made me a little nervous but not Makayla.  She was awesome!

Kyle was so darn cute!  He was so excited to finally be a big kid like Makayla.  He loved his scooter and wants to ride it every day.

We were so excited to have Grandma visit us last month.  We always love it when she comes.  She never gets a moments rest when she is here because the kids want her attention 24/7.  They were sad to see her go.

What is spring without some beautiful spring pictures.  This is the most beautiful tree that we love to see flower every springtime.  The kids are pretty cute too if I do say so myself!

We had a really hard month in March.  A lot of things happened to Ben and I that were not fun.  The one thing that kept us going every day was these two little kids.  They are our miracles and I know that if it can happen twice it can happen again.  We love you Krista and Brooke!!!

Hoppy Easter!!!

I love easter!  It is such a beautiful time of year.  I love the flowers coming out, the grass turning green, and everything is new and fresh.  I love that we are able to teach our kids what easter is really about. Not the easter bunny, candy, and egg hunts but it is about Jesus and how he died and was resurrected.  I also love making Makayla's easter dress and Kyle's easter tie.  They are so grateful and it makes all the work worth it!

The night before - dying easter eggs.

The next morning the kids followed the easter bunny's footprints to find their baskets.  They were so excited!!!  I think Kyle ate half his basket in that one sitting!  Makayla being Makayla only ate one piece.

After church it was time for our easter egg hunt.  It was such beautiful weather we were able to have it outside this year!  Yay!!!

The kids had so much fun running around the backyard seaching for easter eggs.  Overall, it was a great easter.  We are so blessed to have two beautiful children that make our holidays so amazing and wonderful.

Sacramento, CA For Spring Break

This year we decided to take a quick trip to Sacramento for spring break.  We had a really hard month in March and needed some time away with the kiddos.  This was a perfect get-a-way. 

The first place we went was the zoo.  We saw some cool animal but I think this monkey was my favorite.  He just looked at us and stared.

The flowers and plants were beautiful!  Oh how I wish we could have California springs.  Everything was so green!

Kyle's favorite animal.

The kids were amazed by the flamingoes.  Their color was awesome but our favorite part was how they stood on one leg and slept!  Crazy!

Red panda...Ben's favorite.

We had a great time at the park.  Makayla's favorite part was when she was sitting on this rock for a picture and she found a rock in the dirt that looked like a diamond!  She was so excited!  P.S.  She really does think it is a diamond so don't tell her any differently!

Next it was off to Fairytale Town.  Ben is sitting in his rightful place...so he thinks.

The old woman that lived in the shoe.  The kids loved this slide.  Makayla thinks she is a little old to go down slides the normal way so this is what she does.

One of all of our favorites was the crooked mile.

This was after a long day and Makayla was tired and hungry and not in the mood for pictures, but we had to get a picture of this beautiful tree.

The next day it was off to the train museum.  Kyle is still totally into trains so we thought he'd love this and he did.  The surprising thing was how much Makayla was looking forward to it too!

After a few hours at the train museum it was time to go home.  It was a very relaxing trip and we had so much fun with the kids.  They are the most amazing kids ever and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.