I know I am biased because I am their mother, but man, I have beautiful children!

Gingerbread House Festival

These are a couple of the amazing gingerbread houses that we saw at the Gingerbread House Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

Noah and Caleb decorating cookies.

We all agreed that this was the best part of the whole thing. On the way out the kids played in the leaves and you can see they had a great time.

Getting Old

Yesterday I turned 29. Even typing it makes my eyes roll. For the past several years my birthdays have been rather depressing (I suppose a lot of people feel that way)so, with much opposition from Ben, I try to act like it is any other day. Ben got me a KitchenAid mixer. When I asked for it, I didn't really think he would get it, but...SURPRISE!

One of Ben's grandmothers has Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so we went up to Bountiful and were able to pick up Noah for dinner. I am not the one who dressed him in shorts...and that is all I will say about that.

Thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes!

Mommy's Little Helper

Hope really enjoys helping around the house.

She loves to shop - She gets that from her daddy. ;)

Doing laundry.....

And then folding the laundry.

Making food.....

And, of course, eating the food.

Messy Pumpkin

Noah drew a dragon breathing fire (with a little help from Ben) and Ben got out his Skil Saw. They had a good time, and even Muffin enjoyed watching. You can see his eyes glowing in the corner of the first picture.

Sasuke and the Bumble Bee

Noah was able to spend Halloween morning with us. He wore the Sasuke (a Naruto character) that Gma made for his birthday.

Happy Halloween!!!

Playing in the leaves with Caleb at Uncle Brian's house.


My nephew Caleb.


Trick-or-Treat at Dad's office.

Baby Doll

Hope has her first baby doll. Right away she put the little bottle up to it's lips, and then held her and patted her back. Very cute, and smart for a one yr old, wouldn't you say?


That was the first time I gave it to her. She doesn't seem too interested now, but every once in a while she will pick it up and hug it or pat it on the back.

"Car" Dancing

This is Hope dancing to the tunes of her princess ride. She dances like this all day. I know you can only see the back of her head for most of it, but look how she grooves!!!

~ Happy Birthday Ben ~

Wednesday, October 8th, was Ben's birthday!

Hope really, really enjoyed the balloons.

Ben got an IPOD with video, something he's wanted for a long time.

Happy Birthday Ben, I love you!

At the Duck Pond

Last weekend we went to the duck pond on BYU campus. There are a lot of ducks for such a small pond and even a few turtles! Check out the hairdo on the duck on the left.



You can see a few turtles on the log in this picture.




Hope enjoyed all the ducks and even "tossed" them a few pieces of bread. But after a while I guess she decided she needed it more than the ducks cause every time I would hand her a piece she'd eat it instead of dropping it in the water. Even though she got her cute shoes all dirty, it was a fun day.

Walking the Dog

Hope and I go for walks around the neighborhood almost everyday, and sometimes this cute little doggie will join us. She recognizes us as we approach her somewhere halfway through our walk, and after greeting us she'll either run up ahead of us, or begin to follow us. If she gets too far ahead though, she always stops and makes sure that we are still coming. Yesterday she took a few detours to harass some birds, which was very entertaining. This has come to be what Hope and I enjoy the most about our walks.

Where Did My Baby Go?

Seven years ago last Sunday I became a mommy. Noah was born at 3:19 pm after 2 long exhausting days of labor. He was only 5lbs. 6 oz., but he was the healthiest baby in the nursery, where the nurses had nicknamed him "Mr. Handsome". He is truly a special spirit, and I am both proud and baffled that Heavenly Father chose me as his earthly mother.
It is difficult to be Noah's mother, because I don't get to be around him everyday and see the amazing little everyday things that he does and experiences. I am very sensitive about my relationship with him, and that is why it has taken me a few days to publish his birthday post. Choices and mistakes that I have made, have made Noah's life more difficult and confusing than usual. Two moms, two dads, two houses, two families.....He is actually very lucky that so many people love him and want to be around him. Of course if you know him you would know why. Not only is he smart, but he is funny, sarcastic, creative, compassionate, caring, athletic, talented beyond belief and his capacity for love astounds me.

Here are a few cute pics I found of him as a baby/toddler.







Here are some pictures of his party.











Grandma made a Satsuke (sp?)costume for Noah. It is his favorite character from Naruto. He loved it!

A Cupcake Day

My little Hopie is always as precious as precious can be, but the past couple of days she has been particularly adorable.


Here she is in her birthday tutu checking herself out in her tiny mirror and then looking in her purse.


Hope misses Noah. Today she pulled this shirt of his out of their closet and put it on her head and walked around for a while. After she smacked into the wall cause it was covering her eyes, I decided to put it on her. Looking proud, she smiled, clapped and continued walking around.



Lately she loves playing with her reflection, whether in the mirror, or the silver pot in the cupboard. I guess she has a new buddy.

Sunshine on Saturday Morning

As I was unlocking Hope's crib to get her up for the morning Noah rushed in the room with a big smile on his face and asked if he could get in with her. I said sure. They both thought it was so funny for him to be in there. Hope would lay on him and say "aaaaaawww", which is what she does when she snuggles with something. Finally, Noah got underneath her pink blankie and I guess, was trying to hide from her. They both thought this was funny, too. So here are my pictures of waking up on Saturday.

**** As a side note, my talented husband built this crib. I have a better picture of it, but it loaded sideways for some reason. *****

About My Kids

Noah
Hope

Just a Minute to Brag

A gift from my Bennie Boo. They are beautiful, thankyou!