Magical Forest

It's that time of year again! Christmas is COMING! YAHOO! My absolute favorite time of year! I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done! I really just need to get my parent's gifts and Jason's stocking stuffers then I'm done! I'm thinking I will wait until this weekend to put up the Christmas stuff.

Last night we had a really fun family night! Jason's boss gave him a comp so we ate dinner at his work in the Mexican restaurant! Then we headed to the annual holiday party for the kids at Opportunity Village.

They look forward to it all year! We get in for free and get unlimited rides on the train and this year they had carnival rides. We always go straight for the train first because its usually a half our wait. It wasn't bad at all this year and was only about 15minutes. The kids love the train!


Then we took them over to the firetruck and it was awesome because the firefighters let the kids climb literally ALL OVER the truck! Boy were they in heaven!



Then Jason bought Kelsi some popcorn and we started to walk over to the other carnival rides. We waited in line for this dragon ride for over an hour....ugh. I had to leave the line twice to take the kids to the bathroom. We finally got up to our turn and all 5 of us got to ride! It was really fun! Its one of those tea cup types where you can spin it to make it go faster. And ya, Jason had us whirling around as fast as it could go! The kids loved it! Little daredevils! HA!

Then we walked over to this two story fun house with a huge slide at the top. The baby and I sat that one out.

We made our way inside to get the kids toy sacks. These things are loaded every year. Kelsi's had a mini cash register drawer loaded with play money and coins. She was over the moon! It also had this little place mat that you could actually color and it had a thing of bubbles and all these cool wands in it. Kyler's had a baseball and a bat, a puzzle, a truck and one of those place mats. Keaton's had a ball, blocks and this inflatable ring toss toy.

After we got the loot.. ;) we headed next door and got them each their huge and delicious gingerbread men/girl! And as if that wasn't enough! We walked over to the carousel for another unreal short line and they got to ride that! It was so cute!


It was such a fun night! And I'm so happy we can do fun stuff together as our little family! We got home after 9, so we were all exhausted! I was sure happy to crawl into my bed!

ARIZONA!!!!

Last weekend Jason, my sister MacKenzie and I headed to Arizona for the weekend! Our friend was getting married!

Sister Shelley Haws to be exact. Shelley was one of the missionaries who taught Jason the first discussions over four years ago. She has always been such a great friend to us. She has stayed with us a few times and even flew down to come to our sealing. We just love her. She is the sweetest person!

We were so lucky to have our good friends Jessica and Skyler so graciously let us stay with them for the weekend! WE HAD A BLAST!

We dropped the kids off at my mom's house around 10 Friday morning and we were on the road. My parents are THE BEST!!!!!! They watched all three kids and let us take their car so it would be cheaper on fuel! (My truck has a V-8 Hemi and Jason's is a diesel! YA No thanks!)

Anyway after about 5 or 6 hours we finally rolled into Queen Creek,Arizona! Skyler was grilling burgers and giving Jason a tour of his garage. Needless to say! The burgers were burnt! So we all piled in Jessica's truck and headed a couple towns over to Five Guy's Burgers! Jason and I felt like teenagers again! We sang and danced around in the truck and it was a serious comedy hour there and back!

It was Jessica's birthday the day before, so after dinner we headed to their house and then over to her friend's house for a yummy birthday cake! Her friend was so cute and equally hilarious to Jessica!


The next morning Jason and I got up and got ready to head to the Mesa Temple. That temple is AMAZING! If you're ever in Mesa and you're and endowed member, I highly recommend you go do a session. The sealing was so beautiful! And the sealer was hilarious! And he knew Shelley's family so it was so nice to hear all the beautiful personal touches he put in.


We didn't eat breakfast and still had a couple hours until the luncheon we were invited to. So we did a little driving around. We found a mall and a bunch of restaurants. We decided to share a breakfast at Mimi's. OMG I love that place we shared and omelet and crepes and of course their famous honey bran muffins! DELISH!

We decided we better do some walking if we were supposed to be at lunch soon. So we went over to they mall to look for a gift for the kids. We went right into Macy's and found Kyler an awesome T-Rex shirt and Kelsi a princess shirt and a dress for Christmas! All on the clearance rack! Plus when I got up to the register the cashier scanned a 15% off card! Sweet! I can handle 12 bucks! HAHA! We walked around Macy's for about an hour, and looked at all the beautiful home stuff! And since Jason and I both love to cook, we drooled over all the KitchenAide attachments!

We finally headed down the street to the Olive Garden for the luncheon. It was really strange to walk into a family party where you don't know anyone. Shelley's brother in law invited us to sit at his table. He started talking to us rather quickly and assumed we were apart of the groom's family. It was fun listening to Jason tell his conversion story and how special Shelley is to us. And boy did Jason find a life long friend. These two talked the entire luncheon! :)

After lunch (which we obviously had LOTS of leftovers) we headed back to Skyler and Jessica's. They had taken Kenzie to 2 of their malls. I guess Arizona is known for having a ton of them. We watched the last Harry Potter and Jason got a nap! Then it was time to get back on the road and head to the reception.


It was so cute. I guess their first date was at Cafe Rio, so that's what they served! YUM! I was pretty tired and we had planned to meet up with my sis and the rest of the gang to go to Cold Stone. And I almost had Jason out the door when he ran into Shelley's brother in law again. OMG Literally another hour of them gabbing and exchanging phone numbers, we finally left. -Honestly that it something I really admire about Jason. He makes friends so easily, and is so likable! I don't know why, but as I get older, I feel awkwardly shy....I digress. Oh and these adorable girls were some of the little flower girls..they were so cute and followed Jason and I around the chapel when we were walking around. They were adorable and insisted on showing me where the bathrooms was! Made me miss my babies!


So we got back to the house and piled up in in the truck again. Good thing Skyler drives FAST!! Because we got there just in time before they closed. Boy was Kenzie happy!



The girls and Jessica's brother Jared who lives with them, stayed up and watched a disappointing SNL. We all went to bed.

The next morning was early church! We just went to sacrament and Skyler and Jessica made us a delicious breakfast before we were on the road!

I had such a great time! Great company, so many laughable moments and just a fun fun weekend! I'm so thankful that I have such a great family that I can depend on! And great friends who welcome us with open arms into their ADORABLE home! I'm also so grateful that I got to spend time with my sister! She and I stayed up a few nights in a row and gabbed and hung out. It was so nice since its such a rarity that that happens with our busy lives!


This cute pic is us and Carl! Jessica's "friend" who she takes everywhere and takes super funny and cute pics of it! :) Kenzie and I thought it would be fun to document another funny milestone in Carl's life! :)

We drove home and picked up our kids! We were mutually excited to see each other! And it was nice to be home! But I really wish we were back in Queen Creek! :)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Miles! Thank you for the best excuse for me to go to Arizona for my first time!

Oh church!

Boy are Sunday's crazy! Especially this last one. Sacrament feels like the longest of the 3 hours. I try my hardest to bring snacks, crayons, coloring sheets, small toys and books. I usually have to get up at least twice to take out a crying kid, or someone needing a potty break. Back to Sunday, we had made through the actual sacrament and two of the three talks. The high councilmen (our old bishop) was up speaking, when the couple's toddler in front of us, crawled under our bench. I just instinctively picked her up and sat her with my kids. Her parents didn't even really to have her come back to them, so I just figured I would let her play with our toys and crayons. She sat with us for a while. The next thing I know Keaton is making his way down our row, then up the isle, then up on the stand. Like that wasn't mortifying enough, Kyler AND Kelsi chased after him!!! I was so embarrassed!! I made Jason go get him and he took him out in the hall. I quickly passed the little girl back to her parents.

After Sacrament was finally over with we just sat on the bench exhausted from the hour. Already feeling like a loser mom, I was really nervous when I saw a brother from our ward coming our way. He sat behind us and told us how grateful he was that our kids ran up on the stand. He said it made him so happy because all his kids were grown and it brought back a stream of good memories. He then went on to tell us not to feel bad or stress because we're going to miss those moments.

That really hit home because I have been having that exact thought a lot lately! Every time I get mad, every time they make a mess, every time they embarrass me at the store or in a restaurant , at the end of the day I know they are growing up so fast! I just love my little monkeys SO MUCH! I know there will come a day where I will look back and wish that my problems were that minimal.

This Sunday was also Keaton's first Sunday in Nursery. We've been counting this day down for a while now. I'm in the primary presidency and Jason is in the EQ presidency. So there ate a lot of Sundays where we are both conducting or teaching, So we were constantly having to juggle this constant nonstop ball of energy! From what I heard, he did ok. I'm glad his big brother is in there with him- until January that is. They said during singing time Keaton sat on Kyler lap the whole time. So precious! I was so happy to hear that because we told Kyler he needed to protect his brother.

Jason had an unexpected meeting after church so we had to wait an extra 20 minutes in the car! Proved my point that we need to drive separate! Jason still disagrees! HA! On the ride home from church I was telling Jason about how the nursery leader said Keaton had a rough time and it will take a little time for him to get used to going. (Um ya I know how it works..this is kid number 3! HAHA!) And Jason confessed that he had gone in to check on him and that's when he started to cry! So sad! And funny at the same time! Jason totally missed his little buddy! Still! Bad bad Jason!

After church we ate a quick lunch and I headed out to go visiting teaching. I love going! I love the ladies I visit and my companion! It's really hard to keep our visits short because we've really become friends and I look forward to our adult conversations. Even if they always lead to child birth and our kids diets! HAHA!

After I got home I totally got a wild hair and went in my kids room, in de-junk mode! The had a ridiculous amount if toys! Many that go untouched and just get in the way. We've been telling the kids that they most likely will not be getting any toys for Christmas because they don't even play with the ones they have. Ya mean mom! I'm sure they'll still get a couple. Anyway, 3 huge, very full trash bags filled with toys now sit in the back of my Durango! And out of their room! AHHHH...total sigh of relief! I still have a ton of organizing to do but I will be very happy to drop off those toys to the DI, just in time for Christmas. We are so blessed and I am happy to help this in need by donating our unused toys! :)