POST Thanksgiving POST

I should have posted this before our Christmas Tree post, but I didn't have my camera with me on Thanksgiving day (always seems to happen to me!), so I didn't have any pictures to post. However, my siblings did post pictures, so I'm going give links to their blogs if you want to see some Thanksgiving pictures! Poor Anna was sick that day, so I stayed home with her during our traditional Thanksgiving Breakfast at G&G Kayner's home (which is not photographed), and she stayed home with dad during dinner at my parent's home.

• Turkey Day photos on my parent's blog
• Pictures on my sister Honor's blog
• Pictures taken with my sister Karen's camera

Maybe next year I will have my act together! Until then I get to enjoy other people's photos! :)

Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree hunt is on!! After an hour of searching through all the trees we couldn't find one that we liked better than the first one we saw in the pre-cut section. We could have saved ourselves a lot of time had we just taken the one we saw first! However, the children had fun looking and playing in the trees :) ...And surprisingly enough everyone remained happy and carefree through the whole experience!! :)



The children were so excited to ride the train! They all crammed into the back of the caboose and surprisingly there was enough room for me too, but very uncomfortable!

Snow!

Last week Brian got home from CA and discovered that it was heavily snowing in the mountains, and he really wanted to see the snow. So, he convinced me to drop everything I was doing and drive into the mountains :) We decided to go to Crystal, and saw a little bit. Had we driven a bit higher we probably would have had more on the ground. It did snow just a small flurry when we were there :)

50's Halloween!!

I was so surprised when I was able to convince all my children to dress thematically this Halloween! It started with Megan...she wanted to dress in a 50's outfit, and when Amelia saw the picture she wanted a skirt too (originally she wanted to be a fairy), then of course, Anna was on board as soon as she found out that Amelia and Megan wanted the same costume (originally she wanted to be a Chef). Zachary was a little bit more of a challenge...he really wanted to be a karate guy, but I told him that I could only find a karate outfit at a karate store and it would cost way too much, so by default he chose to join the group! :) I wish Zachary's jacket was leather, but I really didn't want to buy a jacket just for Halloween!

Flag Football

Zachary has been doing Flag Football this last month and he really enjoyed it. The short season is now done, but he is looking forward to next year.

Zachary running with the ball! Believe it or not, but that guy trying to snag Zach's flag, didn't get it!! Zach ran for a couple more yards before someone got him :)

Zachary just realized that he was going head to head with his good buddy McKay! I love the facial expression! :)

Names To Go By (thanks Honor)

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)

Bibs Expedition

2. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR'S NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Paper Rain Tour

3. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)

Moose Tracks Sinckerdoodle (doesn't sound very Gangsta)

4. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) E-Kay

5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Green Bear

6. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) White Stanford (if we are getting really technical...I don't have a middle name, so it would be Blank or None Stanford :)

7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Kayem

8. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)

The Red Water

9. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)

William Kenneth

10. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Journey Hot Tamales

11. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Duncan Frampton

12. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)

Hartwell Halifax

13. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)

Autumn Daisy

14. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Apple Shoesy

15. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)

Cereal Evergreen

Sorta fun...something I haven't seen before...most of the get to know you things I have seen and done, this was something different, so I thought I would post :)

New Piano!! :)

Look what I bought on Craig's list today!! :) I really LOVE the piano!! It was built in the 1920's, and so it looks/is antique...Brian is having a hard time with the less than perfect look, but I think it adds to the beauty :)

However, I would like a little input...the arrangement of the pictures and furniture need help!!

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

PROBLEM #1: I think the sailboat pictures are too big/tall above the piano (they are just leaning on the piano right now...I would hang them, not lean them). Should I swap the sun/vase/ picture frame /lantern ensemble for the sail boat pictures? I do like the silhouette the sun ensemble makes above my hutch....sorta a triangle. However, the hutch is shorter, so the sailboat pictures might look good above it...it could look too top heavy?? I don't know?? Any ideas?? Perhaps something I haven't thought of.

PROBLEM #2: Also, the furniture arrangement...I like the set-up, but I'm not loving all the dark furniture at one end, and the light couch at the other end...think I should swap the couch and the chairs?? Also, does anyone think I need drapes?? What color?? Any other ideas?? :)

We're Alive!!

We are alive and well, and this will be a long post, so I can update you on all the things that have happened in our lives the last 2 months (so pathetic...I know!) August was a pretty quiet month. We didn't travel, but Brian did!! He was gone 3 weeks during the month (home on weekends, but gone during the weeks...coming soon to our blog..."Where in the World is Brian?"). The weather wasn't very nice, so we did a lot of home body activities, and....

PAINTED ZACHARY'S ROOM! I love it! I will have to post pictures soon...it is bright and fun. It took 2, almost 3 days to finish. Brian was out of town, but my saintly sister, Karen, come over and helped with the painting (and kept my sanity in check!) :)

September was a lot busier...here are some things that kept us busy:

WILD WAVES!! We went to Wild Waves with our friends the Robinson's on Labor Day. The weather was cold and overcast, but it never rained on us. Since the weather was so yucky the park was pretty quiet. We didn't play in the water, but the children had lots of fun riding the rides :)

SCHOOL STARTED!! YEAH!!! Megan is in 6th grade and that means MIDDLE SCHOOL! I really must be getting old! She has really enjoyed everything, but the bus...she has to ride with H.S. kids too, and sometimes she hears things she wished she hadn't. She now takes a book, or her iPod. :)

Zachary is in 3rd grade! He has a wonderful teacher this year, and I think it's going to be a great year for him :)

Anna started First Grade!! She loves to read and so far enjoys doing homework...we hope that sticks! :)

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES! Megan is now a member of the middle school band...she is playing the clarinet. Zachary started Flag Football, and all the girls are now taking dance. Our after school schedule has filled up!

Snacks after school have been jazzed up too. I've never really been great about giving snacks after school...if the children tell me they are hungry I tell them to grab a piece of fruit or a handful of goldfish crackers. This year I thought I would make some fun after school snacks. I've done something different each day since school started, and I've really enjoyed it....I'm not sure how long it will last, but for now, I'm having fun!

Here are some Mini Caramel Apples that I made...I've also made Edible Indian Corn, Carrot Patches (we used peanut butter instead of hummus),and Snail Snacks.

THE FAIR!! I love the fair...the smells (except for people smoking), the tastes (corn dogs and cow chip cookies), the exhibits and all the people! Brian on the other hand hates the fair, but he is willing to compromise for me, but he only lasts for a few hours, and he has to comb the aisles of all the stuff for sale. He never buys anything, he just likes to look (except one year we did buy a mattress and that was the best purchase we have ever made!!!)

Since we just went to Wild Waves, we told the children they could each go on one ride:

Megan and Zachary decided to ride the Wild Cat! They had a blast! :)

Walking away unharmed and happy!

Anna chose the safe route...a boring ride that rotated in the air. She was debating between this and the swings. She ended up loving this...however, after she saw Amelia ride the coaster, she wished she had chosen that ride.

Amelia chose the Lil' Coaster in Sillyville. She was very excited to go on the ride, it seemed a little fast for her, but she insisted.

Holding on for dear life!! Look at those eyes and death grip on the bar! :) We were laughing so hard, so were onlookers around us!

She survived! And a happy face still...she is still talking about the ride at the fair and claims she loved it :)

Megan's Mystery Birthday Party!!

Megan had her birthday party last weekend! The girls played a Mystery Game...each guest arrived in costume and had a character to play. They had a script to follow and they had to figure out who the assassin was! Between each round we served a course of their 3 course mystery meal. The menu was all coded, so the girls didn't know what items they were ordering. Some girls ended up with all their utensils in one course, or no utensils at all for pudding or ice cream! The girls truly had a great time, and Megan loved her birthday celebration!! :) See slideshow below....

Happy Birthday to our Beautiful Girl!!

A few days ago Miss Megan celebrated her birthday! I've been slacking a bit with blog posts, so this is late. She started her day with an agonizing hair braiding session (I really wanted to try a new braid style...turned out pretty cute, I think :)...then she went on a "hike" (the trail was closed but they had fun anyway) with the Achievement Girls....then as a family we went to "Space Chimps" (the children liked it...but we adults thought it was so very lame!!! We usually like the animated films, but this was really bad...we've decided we are Pixar fans, and this is NOT a Pixar film at all!!!)....anyway, we then went to dinner and topped off the day with a trip to Petco...Megan has been begging to look at all the animals...we didn't buy anything, but the children loved looking around at all the pets :) Megan had a pretty nice day, and on Saturday she will be having a friend birthday party that should be a blast! :)

Enjoying the Great Outdoors!

Last weekend we took some time to visit one of our favorite places...Mowich Lake. We thought we might get some fishing in, however the lake was still covered in ice! We still had fun with the snow in July!

This was the first day that Mowich Lake was open, but we were shocked by the amount of snow that was still on the ground. This was a hug pile that the children turned into a sledding hill :)

The mountain was looking very majestic on our journey toward Mowich Lake!

Don't hate me girls!!! We are missing 3 ladies in this photo, but this gives a basic image of us getting ready to leave YW camp :(

Tagged by my Mom!

My mother extended the invitation to add this to my blog, so here it goes...

I am - - - avoiding my housework!
I want to be - - - happy always!
I need - - - to finish my housework!
I wish - - - for my family to happy always!
I'm scared - - - that my house will not be clean for Megan's birthday party on Saturday!
I will never forget - - - the happy day I was sealed to Brian :)
What the world could do without - - - is anger and hate!

My turn to tag someone - - - anyone reading this, who feels the desire to add this to your blog...you're it!

Water Bums

Brian and Zachary were invited to water-ski yesterday, and although Zachary didn't actually ski (he just hung onto the knee board), he is getting used to the water and someday wants to learn how to ski like his dad.

Independence Day Celebrations!

We had a great, relaxing holiday! We did miss our sweet Megan, who is in UT with her Aunt Karen, but other than that, the day was fun! We spent some time at the lake with my good friend, Dyan. Then we went home and shot off some fireworks in the driveway!

The girls looked darling in their patriotic outfits!

Lightshow observer...
Too loud?...
Our Pyro Techs...
Happy patriot....

Oregon Adventure...

We had a great time in Sunriver, OR last week. We enjoyed being with family, and enjoying the beauties of Oregon. We visited a Lava Cave...very cool (temperature and visually!)

Crater Lake...
Family Shot...
Sibling Love...