Halloween 2012

Getting into character

The kids with the Ballard boys...Tate and Easton.

Jen kickin' it Gangnam Style with Big Red 

Halloween in Lewiston has once again (2nd yr in a row), come up short as far as fun goes. Fortunately, we had some good friends of ours from Smithfield call and ask us to join them! It was great going back to our old stompin' grounds. Normally I don't dress up for Halloween, but when you go trick or treatin' with Jen Ballard, you better come prepared. Emilee was Spiderman....go figure, can you tell what she was obsessed with at the time? Haydn, an NBA player. Riley was a skeleton...original, I know. Gracie was a vampire and Jake was Frankenstein, although he would only go for part of the actual costume. So in reality, he looks just like a zombie. I, on the other hand, was sooo creative and bought a red cape... Little Red Riding Hood. A little red lipstick was all it took to make me look like a grown up Red. We had a lot of fun catching up with old friends and enjoying the unseasonably warm Halloween night!

Baptism Pics

I wanted to take a few photos of Gracie without wet hair for her special day...here's what we came up with.

Can't believe she is 8!

When I am Baptized...

Gracie was baptized Oct 13th. It was really a special day, and the first time it's rained in forever :)  Delon had several siblings there and I had my parents and grandma attend also. I'm so grateful to our family for their support and love. Gracie really is a lucky girl to have so many who love her and were there for this special occasion.

As soon as she was baptized and came into the dressing room, she said, "That was so fun. I want to do it again!" I'm so proud of her and am grateful for such wonderful examples in my life that have helped me in teaching my own children.

After the baptism, we had lunch and visited with the family...it was a great day!

 In their "whites"

 All clean...

 Family photo op....oh Riley.

Gracie and her cousin Sydnee...two peas in a pod.

It's Great to be 8

On Sept. 19th Gracie turned 8 yrs old. This little girl has definitely kept things interesting in our family, a little drama here and there. But I love that she believes she can do whatever she wants as long as she works hard at it.

She is taking dance this year and unfortunately, has my flexibility. She sees all of these other girls in her class doing the splits, putting their feet up by their heads and doing backflips! Of course she can't do these things yet, but almost every night she is upstairs stretching and practicing and can now almost go all the way to the floor in her splits. She never gives up. One thing she does get from me is being a perfectionist, which helps in so many areas, but is frustrating in others. Her school teachers all LOVE her and can't say enough good things about her. She has so many friends, and she is such a good helper. We love you Gracie....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 No, I wasn't trying to make these photos look cool. They were very overexposed for some reason and this was the best I could do after editing. 

 She's official now...she has her own set of scriptures :)

 Birthday cake....

Gracie had a little "friend" party on the weekend after her birthday. She invited her cousin Sydnee and two friends, Rachel and Sophia. These girls get along so well...I swear they are all exactly alike. I made cupcakes, punch and popcorn....and while watching a Barbie movie, they made decorated door hangers for their bedrooms. They had so much fun and loved having all that space in the barn to dance and play basketball:)

 Getting all the sequins and glitter stickers out...

 Finished product

 Unwrapping presents

Cupcakes...mmm

Jake turns SIX!

Jake had his 6th B-day on Aug 30th.  I can't believe this kid is already going to Kindergarten. I love having him around, he is so much fun. I will definitely enjoy the alone time, but it's just not the same. He's like my little sidekick and he makes me laugh all the time :)

In case you can't guess from the photos, Jake is obsessed with Angry Birds...hence the screaming bird and laughing pig noises in my head. :)

 Time to open presents...

 New Angry Bird game

 This guy will color for hours...

 This pic captures a perfect moment in my crazy "loud" life...

 My attempt at the red bird...hopefully this doesn't offend anyone :)

 Handsome  

Testing out the sling shot....Jake provides all the sound effects.

First Day of School

The kids started school on Aug 23rd this year. I swear it keeps getting earlier and earlier.  Needless to say, they were actually ready to be busy again and see their friends. And this year they are all in school...Jake is in Kindergarten. Can't believe I am already here....

 Haydn  7th

 Emilee  8th

 Gracie 2nd

Jake  Kindergarten

Riley  4th

Brigham City Temple Open House

On Aug 18 we had the privilege of attending the Open House @ the Brigham City temple. I remember hearing the announcement in conference and thinking, "How lucky are we to have another temple so close?!"

We attended with Delon's parents because his mother was meeting her family there. She has some deep roots on her mom's side apparently. My kids weren't too thrilled to go at first, but once we entered the temple, they couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect it was. Riley even asked, "Mom, why can't our house look like this?" Don't even want to answer that....the list is too long.

All of the details are amazing...it really helped to remind me that our Heavenly Father notices everything, be it big or small. If it matters to us, it matters to him and He always knows, no matter what.

I am so grateful to be a member of the church and to partake of the blessing the temple brings.

After the tour, we headed to Maddox for lunch and enjoyed a little down time. And the kids enjoyed one too many rolls!

 Taking it all in...

 Happy Family

 The old people...

 hanging out

 Beautiful

I love how simple but majestic this temple is :)

Family Photos

The end of July we had one of our good friends, Wendy Coombs, come out to our property and take our family pics.  This is one thing I like to do every year, so I was in a hurry to get these done because it had been a little over a year and a half. (I know, I'm anal that way). Here are a few of what she took, can't wait to get them up in the house!

 Emilee

 Gracie

 Haydn

 Jake

 Riley

 The whole gang :)

 The girls

 Sunset family pic

 The guys

We managed to get everyone smiling at the same time :)