greenland.

looking back 2 years.

we've been talking a lot about missionaries

the last little bit anticipating spence's return.

it's been 3 weeks now and mabel has finally warmed up to him.

it's awesome to have him home,

but kinda sad not to have a missionary

out from the fam anymore.

so when connor was examining the globe last night,

he pointed & informed us where he's going on his mission.

greenland.

we told him he'd have to wear warm clothes.

woot woot!

pretty good thanksgiving i'd say.

we are...

grateful.

this year we've tried to

help the kids recognize

all the blessings our

Heavenly Father & Jesus has blessed us with.

even the simple ones.

so, this year we are thankful for:

Family, Jesus Christ, pockets, rain, scriptures, food, prophet, cars, dogs, nice people, pumpkins, warm tubby, trips, clean house, movies, medicine, friends, McDonald’s, grandmas & grandpas, gas, apostles, sukison, school, piano, fish, sausage, sunsets, chairs, games, ledatards, Sara, warm sun, coconut, backpacks, home, voice, testimony, raspberries, books, exercise, Temples, Connor, missions, sacrament, good helpers, trees, birthdays, that mom makes good food, daddy’s work, wood, garden, animals, forks, clothes, Daddy, Bella, music, loves, grass, Heavenly Father, grocery bags, straws, cups, Elsie, hands, gloves, when Grandpa Jaxon comes to our house, cable box, Book of Mormon, trains, naptime, scriptures, cheese, prayer, eyes, closets, jammies, shoes, bodies, Mabel, Mama, snow, spirit, fans, pictures, leaves, blankies, priesthood, pantry, Holy Ghost, paper, Joseph Smith, drawings, plates, carrots, toys, airplanes, nose, hats, camera, wind, water, napkins, tape, stuffed animals, bibs, go out to lunch with mama & kids, lights, sink, smiles, window well covers, earrings, dresses, sweaters, mountains, teeth, Connor’s drawing, blue sky, compost pile, mama's curly hair, catching lizards in Mesquite, being a mama, Mesquite, candy, flutes, country, Mama to feed Elsie, sippies, santa, being married to daddy, gingerbread houses, coats, being a forever family.

{each night for the last month

we've each said something that we are thankful for,

written it on a leave

and attached it to our "thankful" tree.}

black-eyed, brown eye boy

connor got his first black eye last week.

he and a friend were jumping on the tramp

and bonked heads.

he's been pretty proud of it!

none of the pics i took did it justice,

but this gives you an idea.

4 months old!

it is amazing that elsie is 4 months old already!

as you can see she is enjoying her mush.

here is how our baby girl has grown...

11 lbs 13 oz (25th%)

25 inches long (90th%)

16 inches head circumference (50%)

our sweet girl is the most mellow baby i've ever seen!

she is full of smiles and loves to snuggle.

she doesn't look too much like connor or mabel,

she has her own look.

she's started laughing and is so special.

we are so grateful for her!

a rainy night

halloween was so fun this year!

after a few parties and carving pumpkins,

the kids loved trick-or-treating in the pouring rain!

we had: cowboy connor, fairy princess mabel,

& fairy princess elsie.

if mabel looks the same as last year...

that's because she is.

up until a week before, she planned on being a cowgirl with elsie,

but decided to switch on me last minute!

luckily, she wanted to be a fairy princess and we had everything ready.

and, of course, mabel wanted elsie to be whatever she was.

so that's the story of how we turned 2 cowgirls into 2 fairy princesses.

it was my turn to walk the kids around this year.

the rain made it wet, but that didn't stop us!

connor didn't want to stop until his bucket was "full to the top!"

lake powell 2010

we had the best time at lake powell over UEA.

we spent the days and nights:

building sandcastles

eating lots of good food

riding in the tube

slipping down the slide

fishing...no success though

having a dance party to michael jackson

eating s'mores

riding in the skiboat

lying under the stars

hiking

playing in the sand

watching a bonfire

wakeboarding

being in our swimsuits all day long

watching fireworks

playing on the houseboat

relaxing

writing messages with rocks

visiting the goblins

and lots more that i can't think of right this second.

it was a pretty fun weekend.

soccer wrap-up

our third season of soccer is over already!
connor continues to love to play.
each season he's getting better and better.
he's a great defender and loves to score!

thanks for all those who supported him,
whether you could come to the games or not!

surprisingly,
this season i only brought the camera to 2 games!
i know, shocker!
anyways, here's some of the highlights:

he's very proud of his soccer "medal" or soccer dog-tag.
way to go conna-man and coach brown!

C is for baby white tiger CUB

our fhe activity last night was
going to see these cute baby white tigers!

they came from lagoon and the local vet is taking care of them
until they are old enough to go back.

the vet had a fundraiser to collect money
to help feed & take care of them,
so we got to play with 2 week old baby white tigers!

they drink a milk cocktail every 3-4 hours.
which, might i add, is how often elsie eats, just not as much!

for preschool on thursday the kids need to bring
something that starts with the first letter of their name.
so connor wants to bring a picture of him and a white tiger CUB!

school time again

connor was definitely not as nervous
for preschool this year as last year.

he was actually pretty excited
and that made me so more excited
for him and the fun adventures he'll be having.

he is lucky and goes with 4 boys from the neighborhood.
school is a lot funner with good friends!

he's also sporting a new backpack.
it has pencil holders per connor's request.

elsie's blessing day

what a beautiful day sunday was.
elsie was given a name and a blessing by her daddy.
then we all celebrated at the house
and enjoyed the afternoon together.

i truly feel so blessed to be her mother.
what a sweet girl elsie is.
she is by far our most mellow baby.
so far her favorite things are sleeping, eating and smiling.
pretty good combo i'd say.

i remember when...

i came across this today
and thought back about when we had the "incident".
for those who don't know or remember,
when connor was 2 he swallowed a screw in mesquite, nv.
we hadn't even been there for 2 hours and we ended up in the hospital!

thankfully, all ended well.
funny boy.

i often wonder what my kids are thinking,
especially when they do things like this!

or like 2 weeks ago when mabel
shoved pieces of baby wipes up her nose?!?

again, thankfully, all ended well
thanks to a long pair of tweezers.

my turn

this last week, we've had what we like to call

heidi's birthday celebration:
celebrating the last of the 29's and the first of the 30's

this year cory has outdone himself
by planning a daily adventure for me and the kids.

we have:

gone out for ice cream {subzero, the kids loved the liquid nitrogen smoke}
spent a day at cherry hill with cousins {thanks kate & abby}
rode ponies and fed pigs
watched a movie on the house {sandlot of course}
walked a nature trail on a bird refuge
roasted hot dogs and s'mores up a canyon
visited the copper mine {never gone before and so cool!}
gone out for lunches
gone bday shopping for a ring {thanks connor, mabel & elsie!}

thanks babe! for making me feel so special
and bringing me back to reality {3 kids has kinda thrown me for a loop}

the big 3-0

we've had some big birthday's lately.

this is a little late, but
here is my birthday boy.

happy birthday babe!

the world through his eyes

connor loves to take pictures with the camera.
many end up shots of feet, the ground, the clouds or the ceiling.

but they are all precious to me
because it's his view of the world!

a first and a last

my friend and i gave elsie her first photo shoot yesterday.

let's just say, now i know why
you photograph newborns before they are 2 weeks old!
can you say grumble-y baby!

we did get some pretty cute shots though.
i was pleased.

and this is how elsie finished...

and at last...mabel said good-bye to the bink!
yeah for us, i mean, her!