Some holiday going-ons....

A visit from "Auntie Clause". Our dear Aunt Rakell dons this adorable little red outfit and showers gifts on her loving great nieces and nephews each year. She exhausts herself I'm sure, but the kids really love it! Thanks Kell' we love ya!All the ladies.


Too fun!!

Ginger bread houses, a MUST at the holidays....Some pretty ladies making some pretty houses. Thanks to Grandma Sue we are never short on icing!


Josh gets them started while Teagan checks out the goodie table and decides what to eat and what to decorate with.

Alex is really into army stuff right now. You'll notice the "dead" ginger bread men that just got taken out by the pretzel bazooka. Hmmmm....should I be concerned???? Such a silly kid!

A dance recital....Sadie danced at the festival of trees as well. She loves to dance!

Thanksgiving in paradise!

Thanks to Grandpa Ron We spent Thanksgiving this year in Maui with Josh's family. It was amazing but, when is Maui not amazing?? We started off at the SLC airport on to San Francisco on to Honolulu on to Maui. It was quite the excursion just getting there and as a result of so many transfers and unpredictable weather and a plane being struck by lightning (crazy right?!?) It took us a bit longer to arrive in Maui than we had hoped. We spent about 7 hours at the San Fran airport because the plane we were supposed to take to Honolulu had been struck by lightening and some lengthy repairs etc. were required. Fine with me! I'd rather get there safely than have the plane fall apart over the ocean!! The kids made the most of their time in the airports that day and it all became something we laughed about and forgot shortly after inhaling that lovely tropical air :)So excited to leave! But how much longer?!?!
A gorgeous rainbow in San Fran. The first of many we would see that week.
Yeah we're here! Let's load up the rentals and get to the beach!!
That's a happy kid right there! Gotta love the ocean!!
A little nap after some quality beach time. I love those sandy little toes!!

The kids competed in a build- a- raft competition put on by the resort we were at.

Discussing how to build the thing.....
and finally putting in the water. Maddy and Jona's team won. Alex was a gracious loser :)
This was a day at Big beach, and it was.

Cuteness kiddies right there!
Josh caught some nice surf :)
Some beautiful ladies :)

Me and my girls :)
Gracie was my little nanny all trip. If I didn't have Kai then you knew Gracie must have him :) I love how much she adores him, he does too!
Run!!
The view from our balcony.
I love this pic of the girls taking a pic of themselves with Hanna's phone :) classic them!
Thanksgiving Luau feast! Look at the girl below totally grossed out when they brought out the pig hahaha!
Sadie and the girls went up and demonstrated a little hula for us.
The Gazebo!!! A most delicious little eatery that is just a gazebo and they happen to make the most amazing breakfast!
Oh my, my, my!!! banana macadamia pancakes with coconut syrup and a huge mountain of island style fried rice and hash. yum, yum, yum!!!
Just some fun in the water!
Josh and Teagan enjoying the water falls in the pool and some quality hot tub time with Gramps.

A day in Paia. A very cool little town.
We are such a sight when we go on vacation! There are lots of stares at our huge bunch :)

Halloween left-overs!

I forgot to post about my cute SIL's halloween party with all the Magleby's. This is a tradition that we all look forward to. From her famous soup in pumpkin bread-bowls to the pumpkin carving and cake walk; Krista really is the "Hostess with the Mostest" and I didn't want to forget to post about her party! A crowd of Magleby kids. I love this group!! We are missing the two eldest cousins though :( darn growing up and having jobs to be to! (we missed you Tay' and Tan') Cousin Johny in red at the top is an honorary grandkid at these events :))
Wrapping Grandpa up like a mummy. Fun!!
Beautiful cousins and besties! Madeleine is sooooo lucky to have her cousins Sydney (above) and Hanna. She loves them more than she loves Justin Bieber! (me too!)

8 months old

8 months old and this little guy is on the fast track to walking (yikes!) I'm not ready. I want him to be an infant forever!!

Right now he is pulling himself up to anything he can. Yesterday he started letting go of things and balancing on his own for up to three seconds at a time. He totally knows what he's doing because he'll concentrate really hard to stay balanced and not sink to the floor.
This pic was mid laughing :) I love it!!
Here he was being such a show-off for his adoring sibs by pulling himself up to the ottoman and dancing and shaking once he got up. He was laughing his head off at them laughing at him! Fun times around here at night :)
My beautiful boy. We love him so much!

It's over, thank goodness!!

It was the usual: pumpkin carving, multiple parties, parades and let's not forget the trick-or-treating. The kids had so much fun and got way too much candy and goodies! They were freezing cold and a little damp when they got home but I think they accomplished their mission well. We love Halloween and now, let's move on....My darling, costumed bunch :))
Beautiful Cleopatra (at school anyway). The next day she went trick-or-treating as a Bingham Miners fan? I think it was less work and way warmer to be in jeans and a hoodie than a thin dress, go figure...
He thoroughly relished being The Joker! No one says "why so serious?"creepier or better than Alex! He collected the biggest bag of candy out of all of them and he came home worn out and soaked. He enjoyed a nice hot bath for an hour :)
Gorgeous Princess Tianna and her frog prince. She lasted about 15 houses and she was soooo ready to come home. She still finds Halloween to be a bit too freaky, especially the darker it got. She had more fun handing out candy at the door.
T-man was either Batman or Robin (or "Ramen" if you ask him). It was just dependent on his mood at the moment. I love his expression in this pic! He is cooking up some trouble in that mind of his! He only made it to three houses and he wanted to get home, he was way too cold! (he might be my brightest child)
Kai was utterly confused (and maybe a bit disgusted by our bizarre behavior?) I think he was ready for sanity to be restored at our house, if our house was ever sane to begin with!

Hope you all enjoyed a spooky, fun, festive Halloween. It's going to be Turkey time before we know it!!!