Thanksgiving 2013!

For this Thanksgiving, my girls had an extra long weekend. They had the Friday off as well as Monday. It was kind of nice. We didn't do much, just stayed at home. I did mention that Lisa came over Thursday night and stayed the night with us, with her kids. The kids had a blast having a sleep over. Not much sleep was had!!! Ha ha! They went to bed late and got up early.....crazy kids!

Lisa and I got up early and went to Zumba from 6-7am. Then we got ready for the day when we got home. The kids played in the morning and we decided to take the kids into Lethbridge to a movie. They were all excited and we took them to Monsters University. Well, maybe not the best choice for my Cadence. It freaked her right out. Even though it was a funny show. Everyone else loved it. Cadence had to sit on my lap the whole time. So when we were walking out to the truck afterwards and I asked if everyone had fun. She started bawling. She didn't have fun, she was too scared. I felt so bad. So we stopped at the Pet Store on the way home. We had fun looking at all the pets. Then we went into the Dollar Store and got a few things. They all got to pick out one toy.

On Saturday we spent the day cleaning house and getting a few things done. Richard did a couple of jobs in the morning. Then he called us and asked us to come help clean up a someone's yard. The kids were excited, and we went and helped pick up big sticks. It was a lot of fun. The kids wanted to do more. The lady gave them each a Halloween bag full of candy. That made there day. It was a fun little service project.

Then we got all ready and headed to Cardston for dinner at 4pm. We got there just in time. Shelly had set the kids table and put a little pumpkin (the decorative kind) on their plates. The kids loved that! So I had to take a picture of all of them with their pumpkins.

All the kids showing off their cute little pumpkins!

We ate a yummy dinner. Then some yummy dessert. I opted out, and had a tiny piece a while later. I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake and that's what it was. Pumpkin cheesecake. It's just way to sweet for me. But I felt bad, so I took a little piece!! Ha ha!! It's all my mom's fault, she never made any "real" cheesecake or anything with pumpkin!!

The kids had fun running around and playing. Then we all went out to get a big family photo taken. Mandy brought her fancy camera and we had Aunt Guyla take the pictures for us. It's kind of hard to get that many people all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time! ha ha! But I think it turned out ok.

Here's the Spencer family. We are all there. Eric and Shelly have 5 kids and 11 grandkids!

We didn't stay too long. We got home by 7:30pm. We quickly got the kids showered and into bed. Then my parents and Megan came over with a movie and we had a movie night with them. It was actually really fun. I popped some popcorn and we watched, "After Earth". I thought my kids would keep coming out, but I think they were all exhausted, because they all fell asleep really quickly!!

On Sunday, we just went to church and stayed home and relaxed. It was a beautiful day out, so we went for a family walk after dinner. Then we stopped and the kids pet the horses and fed them some grass. It was a fun day. We ended it off with watching some AFV on Netflix. It was perfect!

Monday we woke up and Richard made a delicious breakfast for everyone. It was so good. Then we cleaned up a bit and I got things ready to take out to the farm. Then we left at about 11am to go to my parents place.

It was super nice out and the guys were out getting things ready for skeet shooting. So we all went out and took turns shooting. It's always a fun thing to do, even though I suck at it!! ha ha! Oh well! The kids had a blast going for rides on Grandpa's new quad. Then they would walk out with us a pick up the skeet that didn't break. It was a lot of fun.

Jill and I shooting together. Cam was working the clay pigeon launcher!

Cody and David shooting together!

Grandpa pulling most of his grand kids with the quad!

Away they go!

Richard and his awesome stance!! Loved it!!

Megan the crack shot! She hit every target she shot at!!



Megan and Richard.

The rest of us sitting by the truck watching! It was a fun morning!

Driving by the pond, which is now about half filled in. So weird to see. I have lots of memories with that big old pond!! It was our swimming place in the summer!!



Cody with some kids on the quad!

Richard shooting Cody's rifle.

Richard walking out with some of the kids to check out the targets.

The targets were WAY out there!

Then we went in and had a yummy turkey dinner. It was so good. Everyone was there except for Steve and Stacey and their kids, Shelley and Travis, and Brent. Oh and Cam's girls weren't there. Brent came out later.

After we cleaned up after dinner we were all sitting around and relaxing. The kids were playing everywhere. We ended up going back outside and the kids were raking the leaves into big piles and jumping into the piles. They had a blast playing with all the leaves.

Keira being so adorable in a pile of leaves!!

The kids going for another quad ride with Uncle Cody.

Having so much fun with all the leaves!

Yeah!!! Love DJ's rooster hat!

Most of the kids!! Keira didn't want to sit in the leaves! DJ was too busy playing with the leaves to look at the camera!!

Then Grandma had popsicles for all the kids. That made them all super happy. They played outside as they ate their popsicles. It was beautiful outside. We couldn't of asked for better weather. So nice!! Then we came inside and we all got to have some yummy dessert that Emily made. It was some delicious chocolate pie and skor pie. So yummy!

Cute Evan eating his popsicle!

The kids busy eating their chocolate pie!

Uncle Cam giving DJ a crazy horse ride.

We left soon after that. I had some tired kids and they needed to get to bed early that night. They all had school the next day. I was driving bus for my Aunt Dixie for the rest of the week. So I was able to pack lunches and have everything ready for Richard. It was a very fun Thanksgiving weekend!!

Climbing Bears Hump!

One Saturday in September Richard went out with his brothers and mom and dad to help move his Grandma and Grandpa Bowlby. So we decided to go into Cardston with him. After lunch my sister, Megan, came and met us at Spencer's. Then we decided to go into Waterton to climb Bears Hump. Megan has never done it before. Lisa came along with her kids too and I had Ella and Declan.

We got there and unloaded the troops. We made everyone run to the bathroom first then we were off. It ended up being a really windy day. But we decided to go ahead anyways. We took a lot of little breaks for everyone to take a little breather. Everyone walked themselves, except for Spencer, who got a ride on his mom's back!

Here's some of our crazy group!

Lisa and Spencer. She was quite the trooper!! Way to go Lisa!

I was very impressed with how everyone did. We didn't have too many complaints! We stopped about halfway and got a really cool picture of our whole group. A nice person stopped and took the picture for us.

Here's the whole group! That's a lot of kids! Ha ha ha!!

We were getting close to the top and there were some very tired kids. A nice guy told us we had 5 more turns left. So that helped us get to the top. The kids were busy counting the corners. We finally made it. YEAH!!! We got up to the top and the wind was CRAZY! It totally freaked DJ right out. He thought he was going to fly off the mountain. So he was clinging to me like a monkey!! ha ha!

YEAH we made it!

I picked DJ up at the top, so he wouldn't be so scared!

Such a pretty view!

We went to the side a little bit and took a few more pictures. I had Cadence and DJ crying now and a little bit scared of the wind! It was pretty crazy up there. But the view was amazing! Megan was so happy she hiked up with us. It's a steep hike but so worth it once we get to the top.

This picture makes me laugh. Not sure what Abbi is doing, DJ is clinging to me like a monkey, Cadence isn't happy, and Brianna is as happy as can be!!

Proof that Declan and Ella made it to the top with us. Declan was freezing, so he tucked his arms in his shirt!!

Then we started back down. I had a few kids that were tired and just didn't want to go too fast. So we were in the back. Megan went ahead with most of the kids. Thanks Megan!! Lisa and I were in the back with DJ, Cadence and a few others.

Megan and the kids going down.

Spencer and Lisa. He was a happy camper!!

DJ then decided that he had enough. He sat on a rock and didn't want to move. I kept telling him that we were so close to the end. He started coming and then started screaming at me. He had a total melt down. He wanted me to pick him up but I told him no. He was screaming, and we kept walking. So he was screaming even louder, but at least he was following us. We got a lot of looks. But I didn't care. We were 2 minutes from the bottom. He was so done. He wouldn't stop crying. Oh the joys!! I was so proud of him that he hiked the whole way though.

DJ, just before his HUGE melt down!!

We then just went across the road to the lake and had a snack. Then we headed back to Cardston. It was a fun afternoon. I'm so glad we decided to go!

Random Catch Ups!!

I am really trying to get caught up on my blog. So I thought I would do a random post of a bunch of pictures and things that have gone on in the last while.

1. One day I could hear my kids out on the deck laughing really hard. So I went out to investigate. They were all playing on our slide off the deck. It was really funny. They were making a train and having so much fun. Then they'd try to race each other back up to the deck. They were having a good time!

Abbi, DJ and Cadence ready to go down as a train!

Going down the slide.

Brianna was the bridge that the train had to go under!

2. During the summer some time, we were at my mom's house. I can't remember exactly what we were doing but my girls were playing with Keira. I heard Abbi laugh, and she came around the corner pushing Keira in the little baby stroller. It was so cute. I had to take a picture, because I have a picture of my girls in the same stroller with Stacey's kids pushing them. Too funny!

Cute Keira in the baby stroller!

3. At the beginning of September our ward had the Annual Ward Corn bust out at the Magrath Stake Campground. Richard was asked to help set up a bit earlier. So we all went with him about an hour early. My kids were super excited because it was hot out and they were going down the water slide. They did it for the first hour, and then we ate. Then they went back up and did it for another hour. They had a blast. DJ went down a few times....but then he'd be mad at the bottom, because his face got wet! Silly boy!! We all had a good time!

Cadence coming down!

Brianna flipped around, just as I took the picture!!

Abbi flying down on the tube. DJ watching her!

Cadence coming down with this tube thingy!

4. One night my kids got some boxes and made a train. DJ was the conductor and everyone else was sitting behind him. DJ loves playing with boxes. The crazy boy always has a bunch in his room or in the living room. Sometimes it drives me a little crazy and I will throw them away. But then he just goes and finds some more!! Funny boy!

DJ was starting to cry because Cadence flattened a box!! ha ha! Kind of funny!

5. I decided to be more organized this year and I made up some chore charts for my kids. I made one for Saturday, which we rotate. Then we have the nightly chore chart. It has made life so much easier. My kids have been so good at doing their chores without too much complaining. I love it when Brianna does her chores. She goes the extra mile every time. Her and DJ were cleaning the boot room one night and they were down there for 30 minutes. I went to check on them and they were just finishing sweeping the floor. The room was spotless. I loved it!! I also made a chart for each kid for the mornings. The mornings were driving me crazy because I sounded like a broken record always reminding them what they had to do. They each have a chart on their door with a dry erase felt. So they can check off when they did each one. That's worked really well too! Yeah!

The Saturday Chore chart on top and the daily jobs on the bottom!

All the girls morning charts look like this.

DJ's was a little bit different.

6. At the beginning of August I went to get my hair trimmed. I really liked the style that I had. Well my hairdresser had other ideas. We kind of kept the same style just went a little more extreme. So my right side is longer then the left. But the left side is super short and my hair is spiky! I wasn't too sure at first, but I love it now. It's super easy to do and fast. I've gotten a lot of compliments. Not sure, if it's because it's so different or if people actually really like it!!! ha ha!

I look a little funny here, but you kind of get the idea what my hair looks like!

7. Cadence came home sick one day, because Brianna was sick. Cadence wasn't really sick, I think she just missed Brianna. Anyways, I couldn't fine her and DJ in the afternoon. I was walking around looking for them in the house and I found them in DJ's closet with the door closed. They were watching a show on the I-pad! I had just finished cleaning DJ's room out. It was a big job and when I was done he was super excited that he could actually see the floor in his closet! Crazy boy!!

Cadence and DJ watching a movie in his closet!

8. Richard and I worked really hard a few days in a row cleaning the garage out. It was a disaster. I kept telling him I wanted it cleaned so I could start parking the Escalade inside. So we cleaned and organized the entire garage. It felt so good to get done. We even built some more shelves up top, so we could clean up the floor. It looks awesome. It's been 3 weeks and it's still clean and organized! So nice!!

The garage looking so clean and organized!

Richard's side with all his work stuff. So nice a clean!

My good looking, hard working man!!

9. Richard and I went on a date one Friday. We went to Toys R Us, just to see if there were any sales. It was fun to just walk around and look. I came around the corner and bumped into this crazy turtle!! Richard thought it was really funny! He looked crazy!

Scary looking turtle!!

10. Lisa and her kids came and slept over one day. In the morning Spencer was being super sad and just didn't know what he wanted. He kept going to the fridge, but we didn't know what he wanted. So I asked him if he wanted to bake with me. Well his face lit up and he ran and got a chair. It was super cute. So I got the mixer out and Spencer and I made some banana chocolate chip muffins. He was a really good helper and he loved doing it. So cute!!

Spencer adding stuff to the mixer. Such an awesome helper!

11. At the beginning of September our road in front of our house FINALLY was paved!! Yeah!! It was a very happy day. My kids went out in the afternoon and spent hours upon hours just riding everything they had. The twins next door came out and played with us. I'm not exaggerating when I said we spent hours!! The road was blocked off, so we didn't have to worry about cars. So much fun!! It makes it so much easier for the girls to ride their bikes or scooters to school. They ride almost every day!! Love it!

The kids out playing on the road. They were lining up to race each other.

On your marks, get set, GO!!!

12. In September, mom and I decided to do salsa again. We love the home made salsa. So the night before I was chopping up the peppers and onions and tomatoes. I hate chopping onions. Doesn't matter what I do, it always kills my eyes. So I decided to be smart and I wore goggles. I almost got away with it too, but Richard came into the kitchen and about died from laughter. He got a picture of me.....and I look crazy!! Ha ha, but it worked no tears from this girl!

I was just finishing chopping up the onions, when I realized Richard was taking a picture!!

Back To School!

After a really fun summer, it was time to go back to school. Summer went by WAY too fast! I wasn't excited about school starting at all. The kids were excited though, so that's what counts! This year Abbi, Brianna and Cadence are in Grade Two!! Abbi asked ahead of time to be in a different class then her sisters. So that's what we did.

They all woke up early that day and got all ready. They were a bit excited!! We had to do some first day of school pictures before we took off to the school. It was nice out so we did it out on the front deck.

My three cute girls ready for their first day of Grade Two!

Abbi so excited to meet her new teacher!

Happy Cadence couldn't wait to get to school!

My cute Brianna all ready to go!

Cadence was being very goofy that morning!

We took Brianna and Cadence to their class room first. Their teacher is Mrs. Oberg. They got to choose where they were sitting and they chose to sit by each other. They were happy when I left them in their classroom.

Brianna and Cadence at their desks!

Then off we went to take Abbi to her class room. Her teacher is Miss Nielson. Abbi was acting super shy and didn't want me to leave. We finally found her a desk by someone she knew. That made her feel better. She gave me a hug and I left.

Abbi gave me a big smile before I left!

DJ and I came home and we decided to do a fun first day of school party again. DJ helped me make a sign that we put up. I got everyone a new watch that I put on their plates. I thought they would be excited about that and they were! It was just a half day. So we went and picked the girls up at lunch time.

Then we came home and the girls were super excited to see we made them a surprise lunch party. So we made the pizzas and sat down and ate lunch together.

That afternoon I had an appointment with Mrs. Oberg. She wanted me to come in so we could talk about Cadence and her needs. I went in and we went over to Mrs. Fisher's room so we could talk with her too. It was funny, because Mrs. Oberg said she was nervous to have 2 of the triplets in her class. Iguess last year, when they met the grade two teachers my three girls were super wild and laughing over everything. I laughed and said, No they are not like that in school. Which Mrs. Fisher confirmed! We had a good laugh over it!

DJ's first day of school was on Thursday of the same week. He was a little nervous but excited to go. He was ready really early on his first day too. Of course, I had to take some pictures of him on his first day.

DJ was super excited to go to school!!

It was so nice out, so the kids rode their bikes to school. The girls have been riding their bikes or scooters to school every day! I walked beside DJ. He thought he was so big to ride to school with his sisters. It was cute. The girls all gave him a big hug and kiss before they walked to their classes!

Cadence and Brianna ready to go ride their bikes to school!

DJ and I both got to go to his first day of pre-school. When we got their DJ refused to go in. I kept telling him that I wasn't going to leave him. I finally got him into the room where I sat down on the floor with him so he could play. I had to fill out some papers. He was still being shy, but he finally started playing with the train set with some other boys.

Then everyone had to help clean up. He did that no problem. Then his teacher, Mrs. Clifton told the kids that their parents were going to the other room and they got to listen to a story and make a craft. So all the parents got up to leave. One boy started screaming (really loud), which totally freaked DJ out. He started to cling to me and was about ready to cry. I told him I'd stay with him for a minute. Then Mrs. Jones came up and asked DJ if he wanted to sit on her lap. DJ knows her from last year, we went swimming with her a few times, when I drove the bus. So he said yes and went and sat on her lap. Phew!! He was so excited to show me what he made when I came back. He was a happy boy when we left!

He rode his bike home from pre-school. I walked beside him. He got tired half way home and had to take a little bit of a break! His first real day of pre-school was the next Tuesday. We had a hard time going. He didn't want to go and was scared. I would stay with him for a bit till he would finally leave my side. He only screamed one day. He just didn't want to stay. He had had a bad morning and didn't want to go. But he wasn't sick and I told him he was going to school. He was mad at me. Anyways, I ended up leaving him at the school screaming. I tried staying with him and it wasn't working. So I left and cried all the way home. I felt horrible. I waited for 10 minutes and then called the school to make sure he had stopped. They said, yes he did and he was very happy. I ended up going back anyways, because I was the mom helper. I was worried that he would be all clingy and start crying once he saw me. But no, he was a happy camper. Silly boy!

DJ taking a little break in the shade. It was pretty hot outside!

School has been going good for everyone. We are back into the swing of things. We have a good routine going. The days are busy. The girls are all in piano and they go on Thursdays after school. On Mondays, they all go to clogging. Then on Wednesdays they stay after school for choir. So they are busy girls! On every other Friday I do Activity Days for the older girls. The teacher for the younger girls invited my girls to come. That made their day and they love going!! We've been doing the nightly reading with each of the girls. They all love to read and it's nice to listen to them! There's also a lot of piano practising going on at our house too. We are always busy!!