So Sick

Porter got sick yet again. Poor little guy got a fever and it wouldn't go away. I ended up taking him to work with me and he slept almost the whole time. Once we got home he slept some more but too just a small break to have his dad read him one of his super-heroes books.

Haloween 2009

This Halloween I was very lazy. We didn't buy costumes until the last minute and scrambled around trying to get ready. But it all worked out and the kids got to go out and get enormous amounts of candy.

Tom stayed home and passed out candy for all the ghouls and goblins while I took our little spooks out on the town.

Every year we take picture of the kids after we finished trick-or-treating with all their loot!

(This was only after one hour around the neighborhood!)

A Camping We Will Go

We went camping the night before Halloween and the weather was great...a little chilly at night but nothing a good fire couldn't cure! The sunset that night was amazing!


Conner was our little scout that went out hunting for wood to burn. He found lots of dead ocotillo branches which burn fast.

Tayler made some delicious roasted marshmallows for anyone who wanted some.

We really enjoy camping together as a family and plan on going out quite a bit!

Carving Pumpkins Unsupervised

This year I decided that I was going to let the kids carve their own pumpkins without any help from Mom (cus I usually take over because I'm slightly OCD). They did a good job gutting them and giving their pumpkin a face (Sorry, I completely forgot to take a picture of the final product).

Twin-ers

Tonight I decided to check on the kids since I let them sleep together and this is what I found. It was so cute that I had to go get my camera and take a picture. Tayler and Porter got dressed for school before they went to bed so that they would be ready as soon as they got up. They even dressed to same to they could be twins. I just love the silly things that kids come up with.

Dirty Laundry

I received this in an email today and wanted to share it.


A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

The next morning while they were eating breakfast,

the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean", she said.

"She doesn't know how to wash correctly.

Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry,

the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see

a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband,

"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.

I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and

cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others

depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

How clean are your windows?

2009 School Pictures

The kids had their school pictures taken a few months ago and I am now finally posting them. I wasn't too happy with the pictures. The color seems to be off and I can't fix it in photoshop. Their hair really isn't as dark as it looks in the pictures. I think I am going to consider retakes. Just in case you didn't know...Conner is in 6th grade, Tayler in 2nd, and Porter is in 1st.

October Weekend

Over the weekend we spent a lot of time improving our front and backyard. Conner and I dug out all the grass that had grown into the rocks and cleaned up all the dead leaves...we did get a nice tan doing it! Tom and our friend Jeff worked really hard in the front building a walkway to our front door. We have been very frustrated with the rocks in the front all over the driveway and sidewalk from everyone walking through them to get to the front door. Tom had to dig out a few shrubs to build it, but it was worth it! I love my new walkway!

Buying a new car has been something that we have been talking about for quite a while. I am NOT a big fan of buying cars to have a huge car payment. I would rather buy a super cheap clunker than have a car payment. But then I end up with a car that has problems and dies on me whenever it feels like it. We decided it was time to break down and buy a car before it was too late and we became desperate. Tom found a great deal on a Toyota Camry. It is just like the one we have but it is a year newer and the interior is gray instead of tan. We know that the Camry is a great car because the one we have has been great for us with very little maintenance. On our way to pick up the car, Tom surprised me by taking me to Nielson's Frozen Custard! Yes, there is one here in AZ, Wahoo!! He knows how much I love the chocolate custard. It was so yummy and reminded me of Utah! It's amazing the little things that you miss when you move away. Next thing I need is The Pie pizza...but there aren't any here in Arizona...bummer!

Flip-Flop Fiasco

Yesterday, my friend Christina and I took our kids to the park to eat lunch and to let them play so that we can have a break. As soon as we got to the park Tayler's flip-flop broke, so she had to run around the playground trying to keep it on her foot. I think she just ended up taking it off. After we ate and the kids finished playing we walked over to the fishing pond to let the kids feed the fish the leftover french fries they did not want. Right as Christina told the kids to be careful and not fall in, we look over as Porter fell into the pond. He was trying so hard to throw his fries super far, that he ended up throwing himself in. Porter said it was a good thing that he already had his swimsuit on.

I though for sure he was going to panic and cry, but instead he pulled himself out and started laughing. He thought it was hilarious that he went for a "swim" with the fish. After we made sure he was OK, we noticed that his flip flop was floating in the pond. Some people nearby hitting a pinata for a birthday party gave us their stick to see if we could pull it out. The stick was too short. We figured we would just have to wait until the flip flop floated to the other end to retrieve it.

The girls thought it was funny that Porter fell in and that we had to wait to get the flip flop before we could go.

While we waited, we realized that both Porter and Tayler had flip flop issues and they were both on the same foot.

It took a good half hour before the flip flop made it to the end of the pond. The kids used the extra time to finish feeding the french fries to the fish and laughing that the fish were going to eat Porter's flip flop.

We had a good time and a good laugh at the park and made it home with a good story to tell. Kids sure do make life interesting!

September Update

I have been very bad lately and have not been posting on my blog. We are still here and doing well. Here is what we have been up to in the month of September:

Porter got sick at the beginning of the moth and ended up going to work with me so that I didn't have to take any time off. He slept so much but he did end up getting better after a few days.

Tyler and her friend Madison have been spending a lot of time together and have had a ton of sleep overs. I am glad she has a best friend like Madison, she is a super cute girl...plus her parents are good friends of ours as well.

Tom and I have been looking for some good deals on patio furniture for quite a while and finally hit the jackpot when we went out to some garage sales one morning. One of the first houses we went to we bought a nice patio table without chairs for $30, a bistro set for the front of the house for $10 (which was green that I just finished repainting), and a brand new in-the-box hammock for $10.

A few houses later we found a set (including an umbrella with stand) for $200. We did not want to pay that much for it but really liked it and wanted to take it home. Since my husband is such an amazing salesman and negotiator, he ended up paying $127 for the whole set! The set is originally a $600 set! Thank you babe! You are amazing, and I never should have doubted you!

Tom has always wanted to own a skee ball machine and he hit the jackpot when he found 4 of them for sale. He bought all 4 and plans to refurbish them and then sell 3 of them for a profit or trade work.

Other than that and work, Tom and I have started another block of classes at University of Phoenix. The kids are doing well and keeping busy with school and friends.

The Barbie Party

We celebrated Tayler's birthday with a Barbie themed party. She invited 10 or so of her friends and they had a blast hitting the pinata, playing Conner's scavenger hunt, running around, eating Subway sandwiches, cake and ice cream sandwiches. Tayler open lots of presents and was spoiled with tons of Barbie stuff.

The kids decided to make a mess with their very bright purple and pink frosting and got it all over their faces. Silly little girly girls.