Air Show

A couple of weeks ago we went to Nellis Air Force Base for the air show. I'm pretty sure this was a dream come true for Tony. We got to see the Stealth Fighter, and Predator which is flown by remote, amazing. The thunderbirds were very cool. We had a great time, all of us but Ben... It was so loud, I think he was trying to match the noise as he screamed.

Notice the side of the plane between us...my motivation for dieting.

Halloween

We got to be in Escalante for Halloween this year and I was so excited to be there for the annual tradition to mass produce homemade doughnuts. Every year I miss that, and it was so fun to get to help with that again. There is nothing like those homemade doughnuts, just ask every kid in Escalante, parents to for that matter. We made 30 dozen. Lots of work, lots of fun. The kids of course loved trick-or-treating. The nice thing about Escalante is the houses are far enough apart that you get to walk off everything you're about to eat.

The kids love their Grandpa Keven, he's great with them. See what I was saying about the faces. :)

That's Hope under that mask. Ben doesn't know what to think. It goes well with her princess dress though.

Fun in the Leaves

We loved the fall weather while we were in Escalante and everything that comes with it. Under all of those leaves are Ben's typical fists full of cars. Once they started playing he let go and then realized they were still in there somewhere, then came the fun search for "treasure"(they are to Ben anyway).

Emilee and Lehi

We've had lots of fun since I last posted. Emilee and Lehi got married, and Hope got to be the flower girl. That came with some confusion. After she figured out (and got over the disappointment) that she wasn't going to turn into a flower, she was so excited, and she did such a good job. It just didn't last quite long enough. Emilee and Lehi are a great couple and it was fun to get to share a special weekend with them. They are both lucky.

If Hope knows her picture is being taken, she has a very hard time not pulling a funny face, I'm pretty sure that come from Tony's side (Grandpa Keven)!!

Hope's New Dance Class

Hope started dance class last week. She's taking tap and jazz and couldn't love it any more. She's been so attentive and good at following instructions. Miss Lori wears her out so she comes home ready for a nap. Mom really enjoys that aspect. (sorry about the color on the last two)

Hope the Popsicle

Hopester wanted to play hide 'n go seek the other day. So she hid and Tony and I started looking. We looked and looked.....and looked. Finally after about five minutes Tony noticed that the fridge was open a crack. Hope had shoved everything from the bottom shelf on top and actually fit down there. She was so proud of herself and couldn't stop laughing when we found her. When she finally consented to getting out she was so excited because her hair was really cold. Life is never boring with kids!!

Trying to Stay Cool

This is one of our kids favorite waterparks. It has parrots and pirates and big palms that all have fountains coming out of them. And of course the ability to target dad, the best part of all. We've had record breaking temperatures this summer, and although I can't wait for it to finally start cooling off and my power bill to go down, there are some things we sure miss when it has cooled down.

My Right Hand Girl

When Hope was younger I used to anxiously await the day we could make cookies together. Now she's old enough and not only loves cookies, she wants to help with everything. Lots of times we have a great time and I love that we get to do that together. She's getting great at breaking the eggs and loves to measure; she's quite the cook. Sometimes though it's a big challenge and tests my patience. She's gotten so confident she doesn't always wait for instructions. The other night we were making calzones and she decided she could handle the garlic powder by herself. Thankfully they weren't as bad as expected. She also loves buttons and can't wait to get to turn on the mixer, chopper or blender (recently before I could get the lid on). I know I'll appreciate all of it when I can turn her lose and she whips up something yummy.

My Brothers

Val, Alex, Mike, and Daniel, aren't they handsome. Even they can pull off hot pink ties.

The Girls

Anya, Emilee, me, Jess, and Amy. How lucky I am to have such amazing, fun sisters.

Dave and Monica

Dave and Monica on their big day. They both looked so good!!

Hope and Ben

Hope and Ben dancing in the rain, while everybody else hid from it, while we waited for Dave and Monica to come out of the temple.

Conference

In April we got to spend one session of conference on temple square with just about the whole family. The weather was perfect and we all road trax for the first time. Ben, Hope and Ivan couldn't get enough of the fountain. It couldn't have been a better day.

Our new blog

We are always wishing we could see family and friends who live too far away more often. Hopefully this will help you feel more in touch with our lives and we'll get to hear from you too. Stef introduced me to this like two years ago and I loved it then, finally I'm getting ours done. I hope this will be fun for everybody and that you'll enjoy being able to see us (Hope and Ben) anytime you want and keep up on all of their new things. Here's a couple of photos from our last few months to get started.