QUILTING!!

Okay, so I think you can officially say that I'm obsessed with fabric.  I quilt because  I love fabric.  This is a direct result of my very good friends' influence (thanks Jill and Carolynn-I mean it).  I am having so much fun.  I just had my first 2 quilted and bound (the 2 on the bottom)!  I have 4 quilt tops ready to be quilted and 3 quilts ready to start.  My cute girls have asked for fabric for Christmas.  They are loving it too!!!   I'm grateful my sweet husband is understanding of my new obsession and loves how happy it makes me.  He has enjoyed snuggling under my 2 new quilts in front of the fire or TV.  Too fun!  Stay tuned for more sharing.

Finn's Birthday

My sweet, quirky Finn has turned 4 at the beginning of this month.  He is a complete delight.  He smiles shyly a lot.  He is an independent player and loves to snuggle with me.  He started reading a month or two before he turned four.  He begs to read with me every night.  He looks so much like my dad it absolutely cracks me up!  What a sweetheart.  He had a fun birthday.  More Geotrax, a batman cave-what more could a four year old want?  He had an Ironman cake.  He sat on the counter the day of his party so he could just stare at his cake.  I made him lunch and asked him to sit at the table.  He refused and ate lunch on the counter to continue looking at his Ironman cake.  Funny thing though, when it came to eating it, he didn't want to have any.  He picked his piece and then stared at it and said he was done.  That happened the next day as well.  Like I said, QUIRKY!  What a fun aspect of our family!  Poor thing is sandwiched in between 2 intense, aggressive, crazy brothers.  Happy Birthday Finn!!!  We love you!

Carving Pumkins

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  Carving pumpkins night is usually chaotic and dramatic but it seemed to go pretty smoothly.  It's always nice when everyone is happy with the outcome!  Halloween night was not too cold or windy (like the previous days) and turned out to be tons of fun this year.  Anders went to a neighborhood Halloween party where he had a "teenage" good time.  He started out trick-or-treating with his little brothers which was so kind of him.  Anna was a fairy with her adorable neighbor friends who were also fairies and her very good friend who was a BYU fan.  Elli was a fairy like witch.  She trick-or-treated with the big girls this year and her good friend and her cousin Katie.  Bret and Anders took the little boys.  Tait was a football player, Finn was a knight and Hans was a cowboy.  Hans had no interest in holding his treat bag and leaving the house.  We tried to convince him he'd have fun.  Finally I went through the whole scenerio, "Take your bag to the door, say trick-or-treat, open your bag, they'll put candy in your bag and then you can knock on another door."  He grabbed his bag out of my hands and walked out the door saying,"let's go!"  His attitude was, "well why didn't you say that in the first place."  His two cousins, Ben the cow and Jett the other cowboy came later to trick-or-treat with us.  Grandma and Grandpa Howard were there along with the cow and cowboy's parents (Keri, Jess, Mikan and Zach).   After a fun night, Bret and I hustled off to our indoor soccer game.  Yes, laugh all you want.  We're feeling what you're thinking-aren't you a bit old for that?  We won, however.  And we played a bunch of young bucks (college students).  It was an eventful and highly successful Halloween!

Watching Bret's Cousin at One of His Training Jumps

Last weekend as a busy one!  Finn, Tait and Elli had a primary program practice, Anna had a volleyball game, Bret and Anders had an end of the season football party, Bret and Anders went to the BYU/TCU game (sad).  But earlier in the day, Bret, Anders and Hans went to watch Bret's cousin in one of his training jumps.  They had an absolute ball.  What a thrill it was for Bret and Anders (my military obsessed son) and Hans to watch those helicopters and those jumps so closely!!  These pictures are just some of the incredible pictures they took that day!  They hope to take Finn and Tait next time.  They were at their practice.

Who is This Crazy Kid?

Hans is absolutely a nut!  He has so much spunk and in all honesty, he scares me a little bit!  He will take on anyone, he growls at anything and doesn't hesitate throwing something or hitting someone to get his point across.  It is especially intimidating because he has this incredibly low voice for a 2 year old.  He has put many siblings in tears as a result of his aggressiveness.  Here he has found some sprinkles we were using for Halloween sugar cookies and has spread them all over the table.  He licks his hands and picks up sprinkles and then licks some more to eat them.  He has just graduated to a toddler bed (tears).  He was at first putting the side of his crib down by sitting down and pushing his back against the one bars and pushing on the bars on the opposite side with his feet.  He could then lower the rail down.  That wasn't all that dangerous and since he never did it at night it was not an issue.  He progressed to just flipping over the side while the rail was up.  The first few times it was obvious he had hopped out.  He then became very graceful and he would sneak downstairs without us knowing.  He is now in a toddler bed.  I tried to put a safety handle on the door but he has figured out how to rip it off.  I then put duct tape around the safety handle thinking he wouldn't be able to get the end of the tape off, but no that didn't work either.  For now, naps are gone and I want to cry!  I love my little Hans but to have just an hour and a half to not have to worry about what he's into was priceless!!!

Tait's Starting to Love the Horses

Tait is getting more comfortable with the horses.  The little boys brush them and feed them.  Unfortunately Finn and Hans appear to be allergic to them.  Perhaps their allergies are just aggravated by their new winter coats.  It was a beautiful weekend.  Not only did we have fun working together, we watched movies, football games, ate yummy food and just plain relaxed and enjoyed each other.  

A Working Weekend With My Parents in Wyoming

Well, it's fall and that means going to the ranch to get some wood for the winter!  It always starts with grumbles but ends after having tons of fun working together.  I was so impressed with everyone this year.  We know that Tait is always a start to finish worker.  Finn and Hans were surprisingly focused and Elli and Anna were great as well.  Dad and Anders manned the splitter.  They have a connection where they really don't have to speak.  They know what each other's going to do!  After we got home, we unloaded the truck in a huge, evening windstorm.  It was certainly memorable!  When we were finished splitting and loading the wood, we watched all 6 of our kids enjoy some fun games with no fighting!  They played forever together, laughing and being KIND.  It was such a fun moment and one I'll remember for a long time! 

Anna's 12th Birthday

Well she's finally 12.  It feels like she is already at least 12.  This was a big birthday for her.  In church, she now attends Young Womens along with the other 12-18 year olds as opposed to being in Primary with the 8-12 year olds.  She is thoroughly enjoying Young Womens.  Weekly activities have been especially fun.  She is making new friends and can't wait for her other friends to graduate from Primary and join her.  She is a wonderful, responsible and capable young lady.  Now starts the social and make-up battles that have been brewing!