My Main Focus!!!!

So, I was a little skeptical when Jason's parents said they wanted to bring a turkey from a neighbor who was raising them in Utah. I had never had a turkey that fresh. I had visions of holding the turkey upside down and plucking feathers off it and all that! I was so happy when they brought it in the house and it was clean and ready to go! Did I mention it weighed 33 pounds? And they also brought 40 pounds of potatoes from the same guy they bought the turkey from? This thing weighed more than our dog, Jessie. We were afraid he may get a little nervous! Anyway, it cooked all night in the Anway's great pit and when we opened it, it had burst open. I guess it had enough. We gave Jason and his dad the job of carving it and they couldn't help sneaking pieces off it the whole time! I can say it was the best turkey we have ever had. All the food was great! The company was too!

Who can deny the delectible bowl of homemade mashed potatoes my mom makes every year. As always, every year I am afraid we didn't make enough......

We got this cute book at the Book Fair. Averie loves it. My mom has read it to her a few times and Averie was so excited when my mom brought over "Pinkalicious Cupcakes" for her to enjoy!

It ain't over, 'til it's over!

Averie is gardening comfortably!

Jessie, the lizzard chasing,licking dog, resting in the shade. I took 2 pictures of him and his tongue was sticking out both times!What are the odds??

Averie and I were planting in the backyard and needed a little extra dirt from our garden that I haven't watered in months. Much to my surprise, look what I found!

Josh Plays T-Ball

Josh just started T-Ball and he absolutely loves it!! Here are a few highlights!

Miss Manners

We had an etiquette night for the deacons last Wednesday. It was definitely an adventure. Some of the things I taught them was how to use proper manners in a formal setting, learning how to set the table and knowing what all the utensils and plates are for, how to greet someone formally and informally and how to introduce someone at a formal event. Of course, Jason was there to do everything he wasn't supposed to do and to give us a good laugh. Sure some of the rolls fell on the ground, Jason had his Big Gulp on the table, and a few things were said that were not considered "appropriate table talk"! But, all in all, we had good food (I thought!) and good entertainment!! Thanks to living with Miss Manners all my life, I was prepared!!

NASCAR!

I have grown up going to the races! Every weekend we'd go see the sprint cars, midgets, stock cars, drag racers, and even traveled to Arizona one year to NASCAR. So my mom had some tickets she couldn't use this past weekend and we were more than willing to take them off her hands! We watched the truck series and I tell you Kyle Busch is awesome. He is also one of Josh's favorites. He is usually drives the M&M car, but on Friday he was driving a truck. He was in 2nd place and wanted to change his tires because there was only 20 more laps and wanted to keep strong. Well, he didn't make it in time and had to move all the way back to 16th place. In about 10 laps he make it all the way back up to 2nd! It is always so fun to go! All you need is a good pair of earplugs and you are set! It is great the track is so close by!!

Fun Time!

The beautiful sandtrap I wouldn't let the kids get in.












Here are the kids lounging in the sandtrap after it was destroyed!

On Saturday, we went out to the Hot Air Balloon Festival at my mom and papa's community in DelWebb. The balloons were so pretty! I think we counted 14 balloons and there were so many people there. The kids had a great time. It all took place on the beautiful golf course. While we were waiting, of course the kids meandered over to the huge sandtrap. My kids were the first one's there. I told them not to get in it because it looked so nice and I thought they'd get into trouble. So they ran around it, poked in it, and got absolutely as close as they could to getting in it. Well, then here comes this other little girl who begins to prance around in it. That was it! From then on there was about 30 kids playing in it. I think they thought they were at the beach!

Halloween Fun!

Ready for a night of Trick-or-Treating!Do you think they knew the same neighbor would be out with his chainsaw chasing kids down the street or that my mother would be calling for Carlisle all night???!!!





Don't forget your bag!




Playing with Papa while waiting for the Trick-or-Treaters!





Cold and tired after a long hard night of trudging down the streets of our neighborhood!

Still Rockin'...

Wow, my mom, grandfather and I went to see Tina Turner last Friday at the Jobing.com Arena! She was SOOOOO AWESOME! Did you know she is 68????? !!!!!Tina was dancing in her high heels, wore some smokin' outfits, and her legs!!!! They look great! My mom has decided, after seeing Tina, that she is going to start wearing high heels on the treadmill to get "Tina Legs"! And as for me, I am getting my haircut like her! We were way up high in the arena, so we took turns with the binoculars! She played all her great songs and her band and dancers were very good! Thanks mom for inviting me!!!

Pumpkin Patch!!

All were very happy to

pick out a pumpkin. I told Sydney we were going to the Fear Farm next door and the little ones were going to the pumpkin patch. She got serious pretty darn fast and said, "I'm not going" She hid her fear pretty well, I must say. She did keep looking over at the Fear Farm frequently during our visit at the pumpkin patch. She is a real chicken at heart!! Josh was pretty brave though, being he had to use the bathroom 2 times over there!I guess he had no choice!

Here is Averie enjoying catching a powdered doughnut at the party! Thanks Jessica for the picture!

Sydney and her friend ready for the ward party. Watch out Cyndi Lauper!

Another Week Has Passed!

The holidays are around the corner. I can just feel the busy coming on!!!I need to post some pictures before another week goes by!

Kallie as Shawn Johnson the Olympian.

Then we have Kallie and her very best friend Dariann. She lives two doors down and are inseparable! According to Kallie, the only difference between them is that Kallie doesn't wear deodorant! Well, we just made it official: Kallie finally needs deodorant and has started using it. She was SOO happy!

Look who is in Surprise!

If you haven't seen it yet, PeiWei is here on Bell Rd. between Litchfield and Bullard. We went Saturday night and all the tables were filled. The lady who took our order said last weekend, the line was out the door and there was a 2-hour wait! The lettuce wraps are my favorite. Jason always tries something different everytime and got the Thai Dynamite. He liked it too. You gotta go!!!

Weekly Round-up!

Josh is the first one to have his costume ready this year, only because he keeps bugging me about when he is going to get it! Sydney is 1/2 way done with hers, I am making Averie's mermaid fin today, and we need to work on Kallie's next week. Not to mention Jason and I have to come up with something "simply smashing" for a party next Friday. I don't have enough time! But, who does?

Joshua jumped into the car so excited and said,"I won Math Around The World"! In his math class they played this game where one kid stands by another kid and the teacher will give a math fact. The first kid who answers correctly wins and moves to the next kid, etc. Josh made his way around the whole room and won! I am especially proud because I stink at math. I think we may have broken the cycle of math retardation!

This was another busy week. Kallie went to JA Biztown in Tempe for a fieldtrip. They had 19 lessons to prepare them to go. They learned all about how money "travels" through the economy, including paying taxes. The "town" was set up with a bank, insuance agency, cafe, grocery store, news & T.V. studio, radio, delivery center, construction office, surf shop alot of other stores and you can't forget City Hall! Kallie was in the travel agency. They got a "paycheck" after working hard in their jobs and got to go to the bank and deposit their check, set up a savings account, and spend money in the town. It was such a great experience. There were even CEO's for each company and the CFO's kept track of all the accounting stuff for their business on an easy computer program. The kids loved it! I had a great time too. I was helping out in the Allstate Insurance.

My Husband...

If you know Jason, this picture may not suprise you. The house is definitely more lively when he gets home. The kids all come to greet him at the door and without fail Josh gives him a "Karate Chop" to the legs pretty much when he gets in the door. He makes life fun, we love him and are glad he's the dad of the house.

Our exercise machine...

Josh is turning into an exercising machine. Lately he is very concerned about his muscles and exercising. He tells us he has been running around at recess, does push-ups, jumping jacks and wants us to feel his biceps all the time. It cracks us up!

A Funny Thing...

Averie is a nut. She makes me laugh. The other day she was in her bed all ready for her nap. I said, "I love you!" and she said it back and I hugged her. I said it again and hugged her and she said "I love you" back. I was playing around and hugged her a third time and said, "I love you" and she said, "Get away!" How soon things change!

Our Pasttimes...

I hadn't taken any pictures in awhile, and thought I'd take some of us doing some of our favorite things! Sad thing is I took one of Jason and deleted it on accident. So, I'll just tell what he does! When he isn't working, he loves to get on Glenn Beck's website and read all the current issues. Jason can get pretty riled up sometimes! Or get on iTunes and down load some good songs!I always seem to be in the kitchen either cooking a meal or cleaning up after one. When all I really only want to do is read these vampire books I am hooked on!

Well, we all know what a 13-year-old's favorite thing to do is. Too bad she only gets 30 minutes a day! What a mean mom I am. When that timer goes off, it's the next kid's turn.

Kallie and Joshua love the Wii. Well, Joshua really loves it the most, but Kallie is a close second. They are playing Mario Kart, Kallie's favorite. Kallie has also been playing the piano lately.

Averie has a new found love for drawing people,coloring anything, and I guess letters! I didn't realize she can make an "H", "I", "F", and "C"! Any chance she gets, she is on the floor scribbling out something or coloring it! It's so fun to see her learn new things!

Sydney's First Day At Imagine Prep!

Last night Sydney was filled with so much nervousness! She didn't fall asleep until almost midnight. As soon as the alarm went off, she got up so fast, got ready and was hurrying everyone out the door. She had a great day! The school looks great and of course, she said most of her teachers were boring and she only got lost twice. She sat with her friends at lunch, had a great time and before she new it, the day was over! She's ready for another day tomorrow!