Red Rock Country

For our anniversary weekend, our family helped out with the kids and Jeff and I were able to go to Sedona. My parents had Treyson -- Jeff's sister, Amy, took Griffin -- and my brother, Brian, was able to watch Kai for us. THANK YOU TO ALL!!!!

It really is reviving (?) to be away from the kids. If even for a day and a half.

The place we stayed at was through my parents' time share, called Sedona Pines. The resort was lined with these mini-pod-like cabins. It also had an 18 hole miniature golf course. Fun! Fun!

I have learned, over the years, that whenever Jeff says, "What are we playing for?" -- it usually means he's pretty confident on winning. I wish I could say I wasted him, but we tied.

After sleeping in the next morning (aahhh) -- we drove to Bell Rock for some hiking. This specific mountain was said to be part of the many vortexes they have in Sedona. We didn't know what to look for, therefore, we didn't find anything or FEEL anything. Bummer.

(Jeff is pointing out the peak we hiked to.)

For lunch, we bought stuff for a picnic and went to Slide Rock. I knew we wouldn't get in the water because it would be ridiculously cold. However, there were two guys that must have been dared to jump in and it was the funniest thing. They jumped in one at a time but it was the exact same reaction as soon as they surfaced. Complete shock. Terrified that their bodies would never be warm again. Intense struggle to get out of there. The second guy had a hard time climbing up the smooth rock ("Slide" Rock) and his face showed a fear I never want to feel. I couldn't believe that his friends just stood there and watched him in pain for so long. Finally the first guy who jumped in went over to help him out. It was crazy.

The getaway was much needed and so fun. I loved being alone without the kids, only thinking about each other. Thanks again, hon, for a great trip.

Numero Siete

JEFF + CAROLYN = LOVE

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!

I can't believe we've been married for 7 years. It definitely goes by fast. I know there are days that go by without me telling you how much I appreciate you and I'm sorry. You work so hard to make sure our family has what we need. The boys love you to death and I hope they'll soon realize how lucky they are to have you as a father. You are an excellent husband. I love when you help out with the dishes or trash or baths without me having to ask. I love that you still think I look good. I love that YOU still look good. Thank you for keeping us on track with the spiritual aspects in our lives and thank you for trying to teach Griffin everything you can about the Gospel. You are so patient with me and my occasional moodiness. I love you so much and I'm grateful for everything you are and do.

---- Me

Twilight at midnight

Am I enough of a Twilight fan to go see the first showing last night at midnight?

YES.

Was I a bit disappointed?

YES.

Did Edward look really intense and weird almost the whole movie?

YES.

Did Jasper look just plain weird?
YES.
Were there any funny and enjoyable parts?

YES.

Did my sister, Katie (who has not read the books), like it?
YES.
Were the people sitting behind us really annoyed because we tried many times to get a picture of us sisters together?

YES.

Do we think Katie can take a picture without blinking?

NO.

I love the one where Katie is licking the side of the picture. Frame #4.

And frame #7 is me trying to hold Katie's eyes open until the very last second. Not successful.

JILLY BEAN !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILLIAN !!!

Oh man !! What would we do without Jill. She is the best sister anyone could ask for. Beautiful, sweet, caring, funny, great sense of style (with enough clothes to share), spiritual,

lickable.... ....I mean LIKEable.

Willing to share -- her glasses.

She's always willing to help and be there for me and my family.

Love ya Sis!!! I couldn't have asked for anyone better.

LAME-O-LANTERN

Actually the Jack-o-lanterns we made this year were pretty neat, but I just thought the title was fitting, seeing how it's taken me this long to post about Halloween.

The reason being because we ended up with zero pictures of us in our costumes. I spent quite a bit of time on Treyson's and NOTHING to show for it.

As for Griffin and Kai, I'm sure most of you can just imagine them -- Griffin was Black Spiderman and Kai was Red Spiderman. There were plenty of those costumes out this year. Since I've tried to keep a family theme going, Jeff was Peter Parker, I was Mary Jane and Trey was the Sandman. The shirt I made for him was pretty dang cute and unless my mom got some pictures, we may have lost the memory forever.
DANG IT !!

Here are the few Halloween pictures I did get:

Griffin had a Fall Festival at school where he acquired a classic party favor:

Quite a studious looking bunch.

Now back to the pumpkins. Jeff got his done first. He opted for the traditional scary approach. I was kind of in a time crunch to get mine done -- so I went more "simple chic".

As I was trying to take the above picture, I kept getting blurry shots because I turned my camera on the no flash setting to get the full effect. I got frustrated after a while and wondered what would happen if I purposely moved my camera around while taking the shot. Here is the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING result:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!?? I couldn't do that again if I tried! 20 MINI JACKS ON ONE PUMPKIN !!! ...... I...... uh...... I'm still speechless. What do you think?

This was my brother Jason's disgusting display (the pumpkin, not his face):

Less volume please.

There are usually only two ways Griffin and Kai play well together.

The first is: VERY LOUDLY during Treyson's naps.

The second is: Normal Volume but at bedtime, when they're both supposed to be silent and on their own beds.

Can someone tell me why this is?

Prayers

Griffin has been trying hard to put in additional phrases while praying, along with the usual -- "Thank you for this day", "Bless Jason and Todd" (family missionaries -- even though Jason is home :), "Help us to be good", etc.

Kai, on the other hand is just trying to get the basics down. He does really well repeating what we say, but when it's left up to just him, all we get is:

"Heh-ye Fadda -- Anem"

(And, no I didn't spell AMEN backwards on accident, that's how he says it.)

Tonight during prayers, Griffin went ahead on his own and Kai, not waiting for his turn, joined right in saying his "Heh-ye Fadda - Anem"... "Heh-ye Fadda - Anem" ... "Heh-ye Fadda - Anem" ... "Heh-ye Fadda -Anem"..... over and over and over until Griffin finished.

It would probably be ten times better if you could actually hear him saying it. Oh well, it was funny to us.