i'm thankful for my little turkey

caden was asked to either recite (totally his forte) or sing a solo of the Third Article of Faith for the children's primary program this year. he chose, we practiced--shown here, and the amazing 7 year old had it down after about 5 attempts. please just picture him, so handsome, hunched over the podium, clearing his throat to begin, singing ever so sweetly, warming the hearts of everyone. he received TONS of praise and really thought it was no big deal himself. after refusing to recite his line last year, i love these little victories for him. and for the record: kendra beautifully bore her testimony of feeling the spirit when i gave the homeless guitar playing man money at costco, brady recited (i think he was the only memorizer/non reader) his line about Joseph Smith--you couldn't understand him but he tried to talk slowly and clearly and raylee happily sat in daddy's lap watching her siblings. gotta love the little innocent joys of the gospel.

oh yeah, the pumpkin patch

is that a GLORIOUS picture or what??? we did sneak in the pumkin patch this year, and it must be documented--better late than never. the kids love "the farm" by Spreckels cuz of the live animals. luckily my children choose rather quickly and we are usually waiting for daddy's prime pick. they got em wagoned up and headed to see the animals. it's always nice to share these holiday moments with family, kendra was more than willing to help Zoey choose her squash to carve. ryan and company soon joined to make masterpieces and we all continued on with our halloween.

4 costumed kids, 3 different schools, 2 parades to watch and a partridge in a pear tree

im pretty sure children were put on this earth to make us laugh. i gave up my hopes and dreams of themed costumes for the kids and let them pick their own, and boy did it show their personalities. the kids' teachers had different ways to celebrate. so this is just a hodge podge of what they all did. dont ask me how caden got that pumpkin in his backpack but his teacher reported that he worked at it for a while. ray's preschool class took the oh-so-coveted bus over trick or treating at the district office. Brady and Kendra's school had parades. everyone had a great time, you couldn't wipe the smile from Brady's face. we were grateful to have family there, we were a great cheering section. we love this time of year, and there's still so much fun to have.

halloween is for grown-ups too!

these pictures say it all, we love our friends who wanna be silly, chow down and just enjoy this super fun time of year. jared wanted to have photos up of halloweeen pasts so this year was pretty nostalgic for us and our guests. the hubby also requested my trifles, so those along with a cauldron filled with chocolate lava satisfied all sweet teeth and we enjoyed greeting our party people as they arrived. we missed our friends that couldnt make it for varied reasons, but new faces came and added new entertainment. jared and i will always be thrilled to host, this is in fact, one of our favorite nights of the year.

daddy date with child #3

we have been trying to sneak in solo dates with the kids so jared HAD to take brady to the california air show when i heard they were gonna have monster trucks this year. they scoped out all the big planes and then settled in for the big show. brady was well equipped with his headphones, beloved hat, spiderman shades, and backpack of snacks. he loved the planes that shot smoke out, and of course the monster trucks. jared liked the jet dragster--i think thats what they are, anyway that was daddy's fave. when brady arrived after a tiring 4 hours he was all smiles and reported that this was "the best day of my life"!!! so in appreciation he wrote daddy this lovely thank you note--unprompted, cuz he's just that sweet.