Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween!  We love this day because we all get to dress up!  Even Josh got to wear a costume today for his work party.  The kids went trick or treating at his office then we came back to our house for dinner and more trick or treating around the neighborhood.  There's never too much candy on Halloween!  Hayley and her family joined us with their cute costumes - the triplets were a stoplight and Hayley Caleb and Canyon were the Cars characters.  The Hammers and Uncle Andy came for the party so we had quite the group.

 Rease, Rhen, Izzy and JT took off as fast as they could go trick or treating and we didn't see them until they had hit every house in the neighborhood.  We took our time with the little boys.  They had a great time together and didn't mind that we only went to half of the houses in the neighborhood.  

Halloween is always so fun and we love getting together with family and friends!

"Catch me if you can"

We have had season tickets to Hale Center Theatre this year thanks to dad for getting them for us girls!  It has been a really fun season.  The last play of the season is Catch me if you can.  My very talented cousin Trisha was in it so we made sure to go on a night that she was performing.  It was really cute and such a fun story - and Trisha was amazing!  Such a fun way to end a great season of plays!

Movie Theatre

We had Izzy and JT Hammer at our house for a few days while their mom and dad went on a weekend away.  We had a lot of fun with them here!  One night we turned the girls' room into a "movie theatre" and set up a movie for them to watch - complete with popcorn and treats!  

Another night we went to the actual movie theatre and saw Hotel Transylvania.  It was a little bit of a production getting all 7 kids settled by myself, but we managed.  We got there about 30 minutes early so I had the chance to get drinks, popcorn and treats all sorted and given out before the movie started.  Plus Hayley taught me this trick about bringing in the car seat to strap Keen down during the movie.  It was a life saver!  He had to sit the whole time and actually didn't make a fuss at all!  We love having our friends over!

Halloween Activities

Well Halloween season is in full swing around here!  This kids are so excited to dress up and Trick or Treat.  But even though it's not quite Halloween day yet, there still have been plenty of Halloween activities we've been to.

We went to Grammie and Papa's ward Halloween party.  It was super great with a full on costume contest with prizes and everything.  Dinner and donuts were provided and even trunk or treating to end the night.  We had a lot of fun and the kids loved wearing their costumes!

The pumpkin patch this year was really great!  We took Hayley, Caleb and kids with us this year so there was quite a group of us.  The kids had a great time searching for the perfect pumpkin.  Liev put about 20 different pumpkins in the wheelbarrow until he finally decided on the one. 

 Cider and donuts to end the night - Keen really enjoyed his chocolate donut.

One day at the gym they invited all the kids to wear their costumes and trick or treat around.  Once again - super fun for the kids to get all dressed up.  The girls are off track so they even got to join in the gym fun.  

 And Rhen brought home these cute Halloween decorations she made at school.  She is hanging them up around the house to get us into the Halloween spirit.

 Hope you're Halloween season has been as fun as ours!

Beck's new toy

Beck is big enough now that I've been putting him in the bouncer instead of the swing.  He loves to be upright and see what's going on around him.  And he's been doing so good putting some weight on his legs and they are definitely getting stronger.  Plus doesn't he look so cute in it?!

San Francisco

A few weeks ago Josh told me that he was taking a business trip to San Francisco and wanted me to join him.  I jumped at the chance to get away and we got our plans together.  I have never been to San Francisco so I was really excited to go especially on a trip just the two of us.  He told me that there would be some driving involved because he had a meeting in Thousand Oaks and then the next day a meeting in San Francisco.  I didn't mind.  We got to LA on Thursday morning and rented our car.  We got a really comfortable Dodge Durango with leather seats since we knew we would be spending quite a bit of time in the car.  Josh went to his meeting and I went to Target to get snacks for our 6 hour drive to San Fran.  The time went by really quickly and we had a great time just hanging out, chatting and listening to music.  We pulled in to San Francisco about 10:30 pm and went right to the hotel.  The Giants had just won game 3 of the World Series when we were there and Giants fans were everywhere!  It was pretty fun to see!

The next morning we got up early and headed down to the Pier to have breakfast.  It was a beautiful morning and we sat out on the deck looking over the pier as we ate.  Josh had a meeting later that morning but we had a fun breakfast together before he had to work.

 When Josh left for his meeting I had a few hours on my own to explore the city.  It was my "selfie" time as I got to know the city of San Francisco and do all the touristy things that most people have done.  It was super fun and I had a blast on my own!

 Later that afternoon Josh joined me and we rode the cable cars again up the streets.  This was one of my favorite things to do and such a fun way to see the city!

 We walked through China town trying to find somewhere to eat dinner.  We ended up eating in the Italian district at this quaint little restaurant on the street.  

 We also found the house that was in one of our favorite movies "Just Like Heaven."  It was so funny because we were walking up one of the very steep streets to one of the cable car stops when we decided to stop and take a break.  While we were sitting there we looked up this house to find out where it was in the city and if we could possibly see it.  It turned out to be less than a block from where we were at!  It was kinda fun to see.

We ended the night at Ghirardelli Square and a big fat ice cream sundae.  It was delicous!  We were really tired from a long day of exploring and had to be back on the road early the next morning. 

Saturday morning we got back on the road to LA to catch one of Garrett's soccer games.  6 more hours on the road may seem long and boring but we had a great time.  Spotify became our best friend because we could find any music we wanted and listened to it.  The music ranged from Neil Diamond to Creed, James Taylor to Eminem.  Ah good times!  We also played the people version of 20 questions.  I stumped Josh a time or two and he got me more than once, but it was so funny to see who we came up with.  A few of them; Roseanne Barr, Lance Armstrong, Brigham Young, Dennis Rodman, Mike McCarlie.   Such a fun way to pass the time.

 It worked out perfectly that we were going to be in town for one of Garrett's games.  We have been wanting to see a game since he moved to California so this was a good chance to do it. It was also a game that my dad was going to as well so we picked him up from the airport and shared a room with him.  They ended up tying the game and Garrett played really good.  

We had such a fun trip and it was so nice to get away just the 2 of us!  Thanks Josh for inviting me along!

Our Kids

We love Saturday mornings.  It's a day that we usually get to hang out at home for a few hours, have a delicious breakfast and get some things done in the yard and around the house.  Josh is awesome cause he usually makes something good for Saturday morning breakfast and the kids love it.  While we were waiting for breakfast to cook I snapped a few pictures of the kids.  Josh and I were commenting that we can't believe we have five kids.  Here they are all lined up!

 And being silly!

 As I was taking these pictures I got thinking how fast the time has gone and how I can't believe that, not only do we have five kids, but all five of them are getting so big!  Rhen is now 5 (and counting down to her 6th birthday already even though it's still 6 months away.)  She just started Kindergarten and loves walking to school with Rease and the other kids in the neighborhood.  She is my sweetheart.  She loves to draw pictures and gives them away to anyone and everyone she can think of.  She also loves surprising me by making my bed or cleaning up the room.  She is such a tenderhearted sweet girl and I love having her around!

 Rease is my big girl.  She loves being in 2nd grade and tells me that her favorite part of the day is lunchtime.  She is a super reader.  We read the Great Illustrated Classics books with the girls every night and she looks forward to it all day.  She loves to have fun and is friends with everyone.  She is a great example to all of us because she is not afraid to share the gospel with her friends.  She is really looking forward to being baptized next year.  I love this girl!

 Keen is crazy.  There isn't a better word to describe him because that's just what he is.  He is always into something or making a mess.  He loves to eat and usually makes a mess doing that.  His hair is wild and crazy.  And he is big enough that his feet usually can't keep up with what he wants to do so he is a little bit clumsy.  Overall he is a big, fun, happy boy that loves to give kisses and hugs.  And I have to admit, he is a little bit of a mama's boy right now and I love that he loves me!  What a boy!

 Mr. Beck is the sweetest baby ever.  Seriously he has been the best.  He just blends right into the family and doesn't make a fuss.  He loves all the attention he gets from his sisters and brothers.  He smiles all the time and is so so happy.  We love him so much!

 Liev is a lover boy.  He tells me at least 2 or 3 times a day that I'm beautiful and that he loves me.  He always wants to give kisses and hugs especially before he goes to bed.  And he has a tender little heart that gets hurt sometimes if anyone talks mean to him.  Most nights he takes his blanket and pillow into the girls room and sleeps on their floor because he gets scared.  He is the best boy and so helpful as the oldest son.  

We sure love being parents to these kids of ours!

Beck's Haircut

My boys haven't had good luck keeping their hair as babies.  All of them have been born with pretty thick dark hair but by the time they are 2 or 3 months old, it starts to really thin out on top and makes them look like an old man.  Beck was no exception.  It got to the point that I couldn't take the baldness on top with just a few whispy combovers anymore.  So we got the clippers and decided to give him his first haircut.

This is the day we cut his hair - it's not a great before shot, but you can see how thin it is on top and the sides and back are still pretty dark and thick.  Ugly.

Beck was a trooper and didn't cry at all during the shaving.

 And this is the after shot.  You can definitely tell the size of his head now - large and round.  But oh so cute and much more handsome with his hair all one length!

Unwrapped

Beck loves to be swaddled at bedtime or naptime.  It makes him be able to fall asleep and feel secure.  But usually by the end of his nap he works his way out and ends up like this instead.  It's always that left leg that gets out first and then he can weasle the other parts of his body out - either way he is a cute sleeping baby!

Canning

Canning season has come and gone for the year and we didn't miss a single bit!  We were busy trying to can in between all the other things that go on with life and this is what we somehow we managed to squeeze; pickles, tomatoes, peaches, pears, salsa, beans and grape juice.  For some reason I didn't get as many pictures this year, but here are a few to show what we've done.  Rease and Rhen were even good helpers this year!  I love having our pantry shelves full again!

Hawk Hoedown

Butterfield Canyon had a Hawk Hoedown to celebrate something they had all earned at school.  The kids were really excited to go so we took our friends Izzy and JT with us.  It ended up being kind of a flop of a party, but the kids were excited to go and dress up like "cowboys."  And we got this cute picture of them before we left.  We love our school and feel like the kids have great teachers this year.

Rease

This is kind of a random picture of Rease that I took for no particular reason.  And I'm not sure what is up with this smile of hers.  But I just wanted you all to see how big my girl is getting!  7 years old and in second grade - it hardly seems real that I have a girl that big!  She is so darling and has been so fun lately.  She really loves to help me with Beck and is always offering to change his diaper or his clothes.  She is a great oldest sister and I love having her as my daughter!

Beck's diaper

Well we pulled out the old plastic diapers that Grammie gave us a few years ago.  She had some saved in her storage from when we were kids and finally divided them up and gave them to all of us to use.  They are old, plastic and gender specific but they still work.  I only had one package of size 2s to use up so I decided to use them with Beck.  They are girl diapers with pink roses and balloons.  He doesn't care.  He's confident enough in his manhood to be able to handle it.

The Hopkinson Kids

Just an update on my sister and her cute kids!  The triplets are 8 months old now and getting so big and cute.  They can hold their own bottles now so it makes eating time much easier!  Norah is a chunk and Pippa is just a tiny little thing.  Millie just hangs out in the middle of the two of them.  But they are all doing so good and we love having them around!

 Canyon is best buds with my boys.  They play together almost every day and it is super fun for them.  And as you can see, they get into their fair share of mischief.  Liev is constantly taking his clothes off and today Canyon decided to follow suit.  They are crazy fun kids!

Ninjas

Liev and Keen have recently become interested in swords, knives and ninjas.  They always stick things in their pockets or in their pants and pretend that they are "ninjas with swords."  I thought this was hilarious.  Liev got the plunger from our vitamix and used it as his "sword."  This is the only place he could put it that it would stay.  Josh could not stop laughing when he took these pictures.

 And this day the boys decided to use real knives to play ninjas.  They got into my canning stuff and borrowed these knives to play with. Josh was watching the kids while I worked this day and these are the pictures he sent me.  Nice.  

Crazy Hair

Keen has some crazy hair.  It's really cute sometimes because it's thick and curly.  But lots of times it's just a mess because I don't do anything with it.  Most days when he wakes up it looks something like this.  It's pretty wild bedhead!

Museum of Natural Curiosity

We have loved having our pass to Thanksgiving Point this year.  The new children's museum is super fun with lots of things to do for the kids.  We have been a few times and this time we took Hayley and her kids with us.  We had a blast and there is even stuff for the triplets to do while the other kids play.  Such a fun spot and a good break for the kids!

Painted faces

These two boys are pretty cute I admit.  But they are pretty sneaky too.  I know I am in trouble when it gets really quiet in the house.  That means trouble.

 This week it was the stamp pads.  

I could just spank their bums.  What little devils!

2 Months!

Hi guys!  I'm two months old today!  If you can't tell, I've been growing the past couple months - especially my head.  I'm very sweet though and for some reason mom always wants to kiss me.  I get a little tired of her kisses sometimes, but I guess she just loves me or something.  I smile a lot now - that seems to make the grown-ups happy.  They're always talking to me in this weird baby voice and when I smile at them, they just keep doing it.  It must be some sort of game grown-ups like to play.  Kinda weird.  I love being the baby of the family cause everyone takes care of me.  My brothers love me and my sisters always want to hold me.  That makes me feel good.  I sleep all night which makes me and mom happy.  Overall, life is pretty sweet.  I get held, fed and changed all day long.  Basically I get anything I want.  That's what I get for being so cute I guess. 

Dr. Erickson says I'm pretty awesome too.  Here are my stats:

Weight: 13.34 lbs - 83%

Height: 24.02 inches - 83%

Head: 16.4 inches - 84%

School Pictures

The girls came home with their school pictures today.  I almost started to cry when I saw them because they look so grown up!  I can't believe I have a 5 and 7 year old.  These two girls of ours are so sweet and are doing so good in school.  We are so proud of our beautiful girls!