IT'S GREAT TO BE 8!!!

Whitley is 8!!! How did that happen.  She woke up this morning and looked in the mirror and decided that yes she had grew and now she looked like she was 8.  :)   

This year she wanted a friend party at a salon so everyone could get a  pedicure.  After pricing that out I decided she could take one friend for a pedicure or 8 friends for hair and fingernails. She voted on hair and fingernails. It turned out to be an awesome decision.

We loaded up all the neighborhood girls and the  girl cousins met us at beauty school in provo. Within minutes of walking into the doors we were off.

 6 head of Hair were curled






1 was braided. :)



and one was both!!
 When the girl curling Whitleys hair was finished she asked her if she liked it. Whitley looked right at her and said it looks good but your not done. You can't just leave it all down or I'll look weird and then proceeded to tell the hairstylist that the sides needed to be french braided back. I may have ruined this child. :)




Fingernails were painted.







I do now believe that these girls are seven and eight years old.  They picked some funky colors. Not one girls did all her nails the same color. It was usually in a every other one pattern. Whitley also insisted that they paint a flower on EVERY nail not just like on one like normal.  :)




When we were all beautiful we had to take a group picture... that started out like this.




and ended up with the girls doing there best model poses!  It was hilarious!






We then headed back to our house to eat Pizza, cake and ice cream.  (loving that we could do this outside with awesome weather!)



Then presents. Whitley got spoiled for sure!




It turned out to be and awesome day.  Love my 8 year old!!

Hooray for Halloween!

Halloween was fun this year! Well Halloween is always fun. 

This year we had a zombie doctor.......( really hating the part that he is too old for a cute costume)




Anna and Elsa from Frozen.. ( Just like every other little girl in the world)

 


I got the "prprivilegeof helping in Whitleys class halloween Party. I had to do a game for 75 kids. We ended up doing Halloween bingo and the kids had fun.  This is Whitley's class all decked out in there Halloween Glory!




Then it was time for the Halloween parade. It was awesome weather and they got to parade around outside. It was even borderline Hot.



Karden was acting a little too cool to stop for a picture.. ( but I can tell from those eyes he was still excited when we hooted and hollered for him!)




That night was Trunk or Treat in Goshen. The kids had a ball and got way to much candy in 20 minutes!  Short and sweet! Just the way we like it. We also had a suprise visit from the Headless Horsemen.




Then back to my mom and dad for Chili and donuts that must be eaten off the cats tail. :) Its a Halloween tradition.

Autumn Awesomeness!

 This year the weather has been so great, we have been taking advantage of every opportunity to do something fun. 

The last camping trip of the year we  headed to Chimney rock. The kids like always loved to climb all over the rocks.



Grandma Molly Came out for the day and brought some crafts to paint.



Berkley may have got more on herself and the table than the birdhouse.. But she had fun.




For Fall break the kids and I went over to Jakers in Springville.  We had fun at  pumpkin patch to burn some energy.



 The kids loved the animals and the tractor ride and posing for pictures. ( ok so maybe I made them pose for pictures)





We also had girls weekend! Now my mom is on break from there mission, we headed to st george. The weekend we could go also ended up being the senior games in st george. You know what that means.. Lots of rich old people who can afford the Mariott. We ended staying in the roach motel.  e should of knew by the door...



and the rat trap outside... to run far far away.



We found someones elses shirt in our "clean" room.



and My mom and Aunt Patty did a bed bug check.



  We didnt find any so we were safe.. But dont get me started on the breakfast or the leaky fridge. It made for some good laughs. We decided we  are official "Mariott Snobs!"

We headed to Mesquite for some Bingo and got skunked! Thats what happens when you take a missionary gambling.. Her face is covered to protect the guilty!



We also went to Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point with some free tickets I had won. The kids had a ball! We got there at 4:30 and drug them out at 8:30 because it was a school night. They could of played for hours more.  We got lost in the corn maze!



Played in the cornpit!




And posed for pics ( okay I made them do it again)




 Fall at its finest! I am not ready for Winter.

Preschool Rocks!

Berkley turned 3 in August and with that came the discussion of whether or not to put her in preschool.  After much deliberation ( and the fact we have a HUGE orthodontic bill)  Ryan and I decided that we were going to wait a year and put her in next year.  We just told Berkley that she can go to school when she is 4. She seemed fine with it.

The first day of school came for Karden and Whitley and as we left he school the first morning and got in the car to go home. Berkley asked were her school was.. I told her that she can go to school when she is 4... That is the exact moment the youknowwhat hit the fan!!.  She proceeded to lay down on the floor of the trailblazer and sob, and scream and blow snot until I literally had to pry her from the car.... Repeat this scenario everyday for 1.5 weeks.  Not fun by any stretch of the word.

I know when I  have lost the battle, So I admitted defeat and began searching for a cheap preschool that still had openings.. The stars aligned and the Maple Mountain High School Little Eaglet Preschool had one child move away the very morning I called. It was only 150.00 for the entire year and I snagged the spot right away.

Berkley was so excited to FINALLY start school ( so was I, my arms and ears were tired)

She had to pose for pictures on her first day of school!





Her Backpack is almost bigger that she is.




The First day or preschool calls for a themed outfit!!




She walked right in like a big kid...She is loving school and has even started to sing the songs instead of just staring at the teachers now.





I have to admit the second day of school was a lot harder for Mom. The house was a little too quiet, But now I am amazed how much stuff I can get done in an hour and a half! :)

An Awesome August!

Wow! August this year was fun and super busy.

Berkley decided one day that she needed to make a cake. So she proceeded to dump flour and the tortilla chips in to a bowl ( and all over the floor) I couldn't even get mad because she was so proud of herself.

Her footprints are even pretty cute!

We also went to get Whitley a back to school trim and ended up cutting off 9 inches of hair and donating it to locks of love

. She looks darling... but older!

The Utah County Fair was also in town in August. They had a new event this year.. Monster Trucks! The tickets were only 5.00 each so we decided to check it out. We were not dissapointed. The kids had a great time

And loved watching the monster trucks smashing the cars.  I could of done with out the lawnmower racing but it was definatly worth the money! :)

We got to spend the day with Bradley and Brooklyn When there babysitter was out of town.  The girls decided to sing FROZEN songs on the karaoke machine... It sounded like ferrets on Meth.  My ears will never be the same!

We also ventured to the splash pad and  had to get some snocones after playing in the water for almost 3 hours.

The Utah County fair also brought along the demolition derby ( and the only picture I took that night) It's always a "smashing" good time!

The next Tuesday was back to school time~~

Karden is a mighty 5th grader this year... Yikes!!! He's teacher in Mrs. Gregory and she seems really nice. So far the homework is plentiful... It may be a long year of pestering the 10 year old to do his homework.
 

Whitley is a 2nd grader and her teacher is Miss Robison. She is a first year teacher who is super fun and nice. Whitley is loving school so far.

Last weekend we headed to the drive inn for the last time this season.  By the end of the second movie it was COLD...

 Not sure I'm ready for fall to come. 

Summertime fun!

Summertime has been a blur... a fun, busy, blur! We have seemed to have something going on every week, and most days of the week as well.

We started off the summer with the grand parade in Provo on the 4th of July. I don't think I have ever been but it was a good parade ( zero baseball teams)  Glad for good friends that went and staked out the spot we sat in at 2:30 am. I rolled into the parade around 8:45 for the start time of 9:00. It was perfect. 

  The kids favorite part of the parade was the giant balloons.

That Night we went to Amber's house and had a BBQ and did fireworks. Berkley LOVED the sparklers!!

Next big event was Spanish Fork Fiesta days. We went to Movie in the Park and the movie they played was Despicable Me 2, So of course the girls had to be themed as the minions. Whitley even won second place in the "Sound like a minion contest" She thought she was pretty darn neat!

 
We also hit the children's parade, activity tent and fish rodeo. The kids all caught a fish. Karden used his bare hands and the girls used nets. Berkley loved her fish and kept wanting to kiss it... Yuck!

We also had rodeo tickets and took Whitley with us this year. She thought it was so fun!

But didn't understand my love of the rodeo hamburger! strange child!

We left the next day to go camping in the Uintas. We took a little ride one day and ended up at lower Provo falls. It was a pretty waterfall.

The kids decided to wade in the water.. But it was WAY too cold for me.

There was also some bunker making for the army guys,

Ice cream eating,

And trying to catch Minnows in a bucket... Good Times

We also made a trip to Hogle zoo to see the new exhibit with the lions. It was pretty neat and more complete now the zoo is not half closed.

Karden was super excited he found the snake that was on his shirt in one of the cages.

Of course the carousel is a must!!

Our youngest cub was over family fun time!!

Next up was to make this 10 year old a Brace face, Metal Mouth, tin grin. Etc.
He was not happy to get braces but did great!

After the braces were put on he was alot happier!

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Norman made his day by bringing him a milkshake!

  He has done great with them so far!  1 day down 3 more years to go! sigh!

 Next adventure... Heber Valley Girls Camp. We got to go up overnight to the camp that my mom and dad are missionaries. We tried to get a cousin picture.. well this is the best we got!

 It was the taj Mahal of girls camps! Hot showers, Pavilions! It was fancy!
We had a great time.. and Great food Thanks to our 3 chefs! ( Jeremy I don't think that is acceptable at a girls camp) :)

We also got to go to the lake and either pick the canoes or the paddle boats. Karden and Ryan Choose the canoes and had a fun time.  Karden learned how to paddle, ( well tried to learn)

 I choose to paddle boat, I  was originally going to take Berkley and Whitley with me but due to the weight issue I ended up with my dad and Berkley. I also was the only one paddling while my dad took a rest ( he he) It was hilarious because it is lots more work than it looks. We were pooped in 20 minutes! We were pedaling our guts out and going turtle pace.

Whitley and Brooklyn ended up going together and were going to fast they were creating a wake behind them.

While we were all together we decided to celebrate Gavins and Berkleys birthdays. Berkley loved her candles on the cake and all the presents she got! She was spoiled and got bored opening them so I ended up bringing the ones we got her home. Ill let her open them on her real birthday!

We also had these big bucks just wonder through camp! It was really neat! 

We also completed another year of swimming lessons. The kids did awesome this year. I was sitting on the deck one day and they had Whitley jump in the 12 feet and swim the long way on the pool. I was slightly freaking out but she did great! Last day of class they got to  jump off the diving board and go down the slides. They loved it!

Karden Showing me he can do it!

Whitley did amazing! She gained alot of confidence as well! 

Add in a million friends over to play everyday, splash pads and a week that we had 7 birthday parties!  It has been a crazy but fun summer! Love these kiddos!!