Happy Birthday Jason!

(I'm a tad bit behind - crazy life, crazy computer, you know normal around here!)

Jason always says important days are "just another day." But to me birthdays are special. And so is Jason. So Happy Birthday baby! You are such an amazing father to our kids, great husband to me, tireless technician at work, energetic sports enthusiast, and quite simply a fun guy to be around. Thanks. He even had to do two of his most "favorite" things on his birthday - help move furniture and take family pictures - but still had a good time.

Here are some pictures of us hanging out at Aunt Wendy's after going out to celebrate his and grandmother's birthdays. As you will see we don't fancy toys to have fun, just some napkins.

A New Home

Here's what this space in our living room looked like right after we moved some toys, a table, and our desk.

A few hours later it looked like this!!

And then this. It looks like it has always meant to be there.

Then it looked like this.

I wish I could tell you all the great music we are now enjoying, but we need a few things first. One, a piano tuner and two, some instruction. Since the only piano teacher I know lives in Utah, I am going to have to get on the phone and do some investigating.

I am so excited about the new addition to our home and can't wait to have the kids arguing about not wanting to practice!

A SUPER Halloween

Here's What You Need to Have a Super Halloween:
A wonderful Aunt Amanda

Bright fabric

Lots of shopping and work

Rushing home after church

Putting on our great costumes

Walking around with our friends

Kyler always being in the front

Kassidy talking to herself saying "There's nothing to be scared of. It is just an owl in the bush."

Konner saying his bag is "Too heavy," and conning Grammy into carrying it

Not getting scared at the scary house

Not taking off their masks even once

Having such a good time they are now sleeping in their costumes

Hope you rHalloween was just as SUPER as ours was!!

Our Pumpkin Heads

It is now our tradition to "carve" up our pumpkins using Mr. Potato Head accessories. We find it much less messy and something even the babies can help with and enjoy. We didn't get to them until late Monday night (hence the jammies) but they were excited and the pumpkins (or our cousins as Kyler is now calling them!) turned out great. Kassidy loved hers so much, she had a fit when I wouldn't let her sleep with hers and both Konner and Kassidy must visit them every morning when they wake up. (On a side note, I do think that I might let Kyler have a stab at really carving a pumpkin this weekend, though. I think he wants to take a hand at designing one for himself.)

The Soggy Pumpkin Kids

Tanaka farms is now our traditional joint to go pick our pumpkins. We walk through the fields to find just the right pumpkin. This year it was a bit soggy and muddy because of a persistent drizzle, but we braved the elements and turned it into a nice morning.Juliette joined us and the kids picked up a baby pumpkin each.We braved the corn maze and didn't get lost. However I am still puzzled how it seemed like we were walking uphill both going in and going out! Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amanda beat us to the center - I blame it on the older folks we were trapped following.
We found the right pumpkin for each of the kids plus tired them out so they slept on the way home, not a bad morning!

Horsing Around!

Last Saturday morning we had the privilege to visit and ride some horses belonging to Grammy's neighbor's parents who are also G-mama's realtors (that is a lot to explain!). We walked around the stable grounds. Konner and Kassidy did such a great job and I think were less hesitant than Klyer was! We enjoyed the treat immensely. Thank you Tug and Shiloh for letting us ride around on you, and thank you Charlie and Kathy and Kelly for sharing with us. Here's some favorite pics.

A Lovely Weekend with Lovely Ladies

I attended a women's retreat last weekend with my mom, Terri, Tami and Amanda last weekend. It gave us some things to think about, some time away from the kids (well except my mom since I was there!), and some time to chat and catch up with old friends gathered there. I had a good time, thanks ladies! Here we are...

Green Port Fest

(Sorry there has been a gap in my blogging, my internet has been acting, silly!)
Last Saturday Kyle, Crystal and Malino asked if we wanted to tag along to the Green Port Fest in downtown Long Beach. They told us it was free, so we thought why not. It was a little crazy at first with some rain, but when it cleared up we had a fun time. We got to take a boat ride around the harbor, learn about the ports and their efforts to be more "green," eat lunch, and wait in a 1 and a half to two hour line for a balloon man. We actually stood in a lot of lines that day, but we didn't mind, because everything was free. No seriously, EVERYTHING WAS FREE! Parking, bus rise, boat ride, train ride (if we had taken it), a reusable water bottle, those grocery bags, water, lunch (really - hot dog, chicken sandwich or pizza and a drink), a small tree to plant for ourselves, a popcorn snack, a concert from a local group, and those coveted balloon animals. We didn't go to many of the booths, too busy standing in the balloon line, but it was a great day. We are definitely putting this on our calendars for next year. I mean come on, it was FREE!

A Night at the Drive-In

The PTA at Kyler's school invited the students and their families out for a drive-in movie last Friday night. The kids were to make a their own personal cardboard car to watch the movie from. There were soooo many cute cars, trucks, limos, you name it, and all the kids were together to watch the movie - the rest of us sat in the back in our chairs. They showed the movie on a screen hung from a handball backboard and even had snack bar stocked with popcorn, candy and nachos! It was a WAY cute idea and a great evening out.
(Check out the licence plate, it's frame, and the hood ornament - just a few personalized touches!)