Tave's Christmas Party

I had a big, HUGE mommy mess-up. 

Weston gets invited to a lot of Birthday parties (due to school and sports, he just knows more kids right now). Tave was finally invited to a party. and not just any party- his best friend, Michael's. He was SO thrilled and couldn't wait and talked about it the whole week before the party. It was a BIG deal to him.  

But... I was actually out of town on the day of the party and completely FORGOT to tell Jeff (who wasn't around for all the pre-birthday talk) about it.

I realized that night that Tave had missed it and I cried. Really, truly.  I felt like such a bad mom.  

I hoped that he would forget about it and just didn't bring it up. But he knew it was on a Saturday and when the next Saturday rolled around he was so excited  "Mom! Today's Saturday and Michael's party is on a Saturday, is it today?!!!"  

Um, no....I had to tell him.  And he cried and I cried again. Boo. Bad moment all around.

Here comes the good news.  Since he's been missing his friends and we missed the party they all went to,  we decided to throw our own special Christmas party for Tave.  

It was a hit and we had so much fun:

When they arrived, we colored gingerbread people pictures:

Then we played  "Jingle, Jingle, Bell" (duck, duck, goose)

the kids came up with all sorts of Christmas things to say.  Like "Reindeer, Reindeer, Santa" and "Christmas, Christmas, Present"  It was hilarious:

After the game, we had a gift exchange. Everyone brought a gift and we played Christmas music while they passed the gifts around the circle. When the music stopped they got to open the gift they were holding. They loved it!

Then, the yummiest part - Cookie decorating! Everyone took it very seriously and worked so hard on their gingerbread people:

We had a great time, and most of all, it made Tave feel special to have his own little party with his friends. 

Definitely a win for this mama!

Halloween!

The boys decided months ago what they wanted to be for Halloween. Since they had picked Avengers characters, and there were now 6 of us, I figured it'd be easy to form the whole team.   We had so much fun at our old neighborhood trick or treat lane.  It was so fun to see our friends. 

Black Widow & Hawkeye

I didn't want to buy or sew mine and Jeff's costumes, so it was all about the accessories.  You can't see behind him, but he has on a pretty sweet quiver of arrows I made out of a mail tube. I also painted the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on his shirt.  I spray painted some of the boys toy guns for me and made a bracelet of bullets and then also my black widow belt buckle. Oh, and I've been wanting to go a little red for awhile, so I saved it for now.  I'm liking how it turned out. The boys love it and Weston asked me to keep it awhile. I think I will. :)  

Weston, aka, Captain America & his buddy!

Tave or HULK

Ryder:  Iron Man!

West had so much fun with his friend, Jaron. They sure miss hanging out daily!

Since the boys have missed each other, my friend, Rachel came trick or treating with us in our neighborhood. It was such a GORGEOUS day and the boys had a blast. I'm so glad we all hung out!

I love these kids!  

The two babies are missing from this pic, I can't believe we have 8 boys between the two of us!

Cute Callen hung out in his seat while the boys ran door to door.  He was so happy to talk to us, and have his Thor stuff off!

Happy Haunting everyone!

Zoo day!

We have annual passes to the zoo..so one day we decided to squeeze a trip in before it got too cold.  

We brought along some new friends we have made. 

We love this family and have so much fun with them!

Kristen and I thought we would be so smart and go on a Monday while school was in...that way it wouldn't be too crazy. hahaha...little did we know it was the last day of fall break for Salt Lake. Oh well..we still had a blast, crowds and all!

The kiddos.  The boys get along with C & M so well!

I love this shot of the kiddos watching the baby elephant:

Ryder only asked to see one animal: a BABY giraffe. I'm SO glad we had one to visit!!!

The polar bear was definitely the highlight! She kept swimming and doing a flip and then jumping up in front of the window. The kids loved her!

It was quite the adventure doing the zoo with these four kiddos by myself. I'm so glad Kristen was willing to come, we had a blast!

Welcome Fall: Grotto Trail Hike

We went up Payson Canyon to welcome in fall.  It was stunning and the absolute perfect time to go.

We have met some good *friends in our  new ward, and they took us to the perfect spot: Grotto Trail.  

We had so much fun with them...it was a fabulous morning hike!

(not edited - gorgeous colors!)

I am sure we have lots more hiking days ahead. Love this family of mine!

Weston, Annie, Emily, & Tave

Ryder doing what he loves:  running (away!)

 I love Amy and her cute girls.  I see lots of fun get-togethers ahead!

 Chad & Amy took us to a look out a few miles up the canyon (after the hike).

This is what makes me love where I live. What a beautiful world we get to  live in.

I had to take a few shots of my boys:

 Ryder: dare devil, sweet, crazy, fun, busy, runner

Tave: funny guy, silly, happy, easy-going, energetic

Weston: Sweet, kind, compassionate, caring, loving

A small part of our collection from the hike:

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*It's a small world: Chad was in mine and Jeff's singles ward. I randomly ran into him at the library with his three girls. We talked about where we lived and I mentioned we were moving soon. When I described where, Chad said he thought that was right by his house. Yup, we are now neighbors and I got to meet his wonderful wife. We love this family!