Lots of Stuff

So I can't believe that it is already the middle of December! Life has been really busy with lots of fun events. Here are some things that have been taking up my time...

My latest attempt at being crafty, hair flowers for Haileyand Lily :)The Pirate Park Turkey Trot- this year I decided to dabble in race organization on a very small scale. Next year I think that I will attempt to make it a bigger event. the weather could have been better but let's be honest we live in Oregon and it was the end of November. I chose to look on the bright side the weather could also have been worse.Here is the crew before the start of the race.I love this picture of Lily staring in amazement at Noah, she finds him very entertaining!Our good friends came down from Seattle for Thanksgiving, we had not seen them in 5 years, it was so fun to see the kids interact and to hang out. It was too short but we plan to go to Seattle soon! She is an amazing cook! The Dads are helping the kids make fun oreo turkeys, of course I did not take any pictures of the final product. If you are curious you can go to her amazing blog www.gourmetmomonthego.blogspot.com It is on my sidebar so you can link directly to it.Hailey and her good friend making chocolatesWe left the day after Thanksgiving to go to Boise where we were able to attend the sealing of my sister and her husband to my nephew. What an amazing experience!! My boys were always wanting to hold my nephew, as you can see he is a healthy little guy :)I love this picture, you can barely see Noah peeking, cute little boys!Getting ready for the Polar Express to take us to the North Pole!The Conductor showering the kids with the hole punches of their ticketsHailey asked for 4 inches of snow in OregonNoah asked for a light saber, yeah he really needs another one of those :)Cute little reindeer!Jackson asked for a snowboard, huh?Not sure what Lily asked for :)Our annual Christmas tree quest was pretty easy this year! We found it, the guys at the tree farm cut it down with a chainsaw and helped to put in on top of our car. 12 foot tree for $35, gotta love living in Oregon!It looks much better in person, I think I need to take some photography classes!And to top it all off I turned 34! How did I get to be in my mid 30's with 4 kids? Time goes by too fast!!!!

Hailey's Baptism

We had a wonderful time this past weekend as Hailey made the decision to be baptized. We had a lot of family travel here for the event which was so nice of all of them! It is hard for me to believe that she is 8 already!

Family shot except where is Lily? Asleep in her carseat but of course she did not get the memo to sleep for an hour and decided to wake up and be hungry after the talk on baptism. Thanks to my friend Kristi who took her and kept her happy until after Hailey was confirmed.Beautiful girlDaddy's girlMommy's girl - Yes she will probably be taller than me in a couple of years!If there was ever any doubt about how much Hailey is loved! Thank you to all family and friends for their love and support.Mike's birthday was on Sunday so with the help of my beautiful sister we made him this beauty. Chocolate Peanut Butter cake-a.k.a. heart attack on a cake plate

It is so yummy and beautiful though, just don't read the recipe!

Jack getting ready to help him blow out the candles

The last day of a crazy October

Halloween was a crazy day at our house! It started off with beautiful 10 mile run that I have been wanting to run since we moved here. It was great to be out before the sun was up and be able to watch the sun rise. I am always glad when Haloween actually arrives because that means that I have made it through Sept. and Oct. The start of school, meetings, 3 birthdays, soccer 5 out of 7 days a week, piano, tap, and a newborn are enough to push anyone to the brink of craziness. So what crazy woman schedules family pics on halloween in between Haileys last soccer game and trick or treating. Oh that crazy woman was me! I will post pics of the photo shoot soon! Let me just say that planning outfits for family pictures is such a pain in the rear! I am glad that it is over and that we actually got some really cute pictures thanks to Mari and her amazing skills!

So Halloween started a week early this year with the ward party and trunk or treating. It took about a week for the kids (with some help) to blow through their candy so of course we needed round 2.

This year we had a candy corn, Commander Fox, Anakin Skywalker, and a cute little fairy

Noah using the force3 of the 4 kids Lily decided that it was time to sleep when trick or treating time rolled around, I have not pictures of Lily in her costume because of thisA dang cute candy corn

Jackson will protect us all from the evil Lord Vader

It has not slowed down much but I am always so happy when November comes!

All Girls are princesses

For Hailey's b-day she got to invite a few friends to go to the play " A Little Princess" at the local highschool. They were offering a tea party beforehand which turned out to be really cute. They had cute little plates of food and the cast made a appearance. The girls felt extra special which is the whole point of the play.

Cecilee and Hailey at the tea partyCecilee, Hailey and Sydney after the playHailey with her autograph bookThey had little crowns for the girls to decorate at the tea party. I was happy to give mine to Lily.

8, how did that happen?

How is it possible that Hailey turned 8 last week? She is going to be baptized next week which is crazy to me. It seems so surreal that I have 4 kids, I think it is surreal to some other people too. At the gym about a month ago an older woman thought I was on the highschool cross country team, seriously? Anyway back to Hailey. It was not her year for a "friend party" but we started our celebration with a pancake puff breakfast.

Of course I forgot the canned whip cream but she did not care, thankfully!The only thing that she asked for was an Ipod, she was so excited!We went and got manicures, it is always fun to have a little girl time!We went to Applebee's for dinner (her choice). I think from now on we will stick to Red Robin, they are much faster and they sing. After dinner we went home and had some yummy cupcakes!

How cute are these?

Thank you for the adorable shoes Natalie!

Jackson turns 6

Jackson finally had his birthday after months of waiting and asking!

10 4-6 year old boys at the Lego store= 1 happy birthday boy

The cake, no I did not make it. I was going to attempt it but decided that for my own sanity and Mike's sanity I would just order it this time.Jack and Luke building their Lego racersAll the boys.

We had his party the Friday before his birthday we got to celebrate again on his actual birthday. Since the day was going to be busy and Hailey had soccer practice until 6:45 we decided to have presents and "cake" on the morning. Let's be honest Jackson could not wait any longer either.

Who is more excited Jackson or Hailey?Jackson's cake this year was made of donuts, he loves maple bars!Jack at Red Robin with the signature balloon ears!New webkinz which he named Vincent the Vampire BatHad to include this picture of his new glasses-Cute Boy!!! Love you Jackson!!!