Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Dana Point, Las Vegas, Ragnar, Utah, 2 Deer Hunts, Halloween and the Rest of Oct.

President's Club '09
Every year Rob's company does an award trip for the employees who make their goal. This year it was at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point. The hotel was gorgeous and we had so much fun being on a trip with just the two of us. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our camera...I guess that's what happens when we don't bring our kids along:) We had to use my phone for the few pictures that we ended up taking. This is the picture of the view from our balcony. This was the other view from our balconyOne of my favorite parts of the hotel, were the fresh flowers in vases throught the hotel. The day we arrived, the flowers were purple...a few days later they changed them to orange.
More flowers
We spent a day doing a tour of Newport Beach Harbor. Rob was chosen to be the captain of our boat.
This was the view from the treadmill in the gym at the hotel. This made running a little more enjoyable:)
Isn't this gorgeous?!!!
Brooklyn's 4th Grade Musical
The day after we got home from our trip to California, Brooklyn had her 4th grade musical. I may be a little bias, but I think Brooklyn is the most beautiful 4th grader:) About 25% of the 4th graders missed this musical, due to an outbreak of swine flu.
Alyssa Got Braces
In September Alyssa went to the dentist for a cleaning, and we were told that she might need braces because her permanent teeth didn't have enough room to grow in. 2 weeks later, she had 5 teeth pulled and new braces. This is her before picture.
I cannot tell you how excited this little girl was to get her braces. Her two sisters are insanely jealous:) Alyssa got to choose her color pattern for her elastics...she chose purple, black and orange...for Halloween.
After
Las Vegas
Rob babysat overnight with all 4 kids for the first time ever. I left for Vegas the day before he did to run the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. He had them for 2 1/2 days and even drove alone with them for 5 1/2 hours to get to Vegas. He did a great job! Unfortunatley for him, now he might have to do it more often since I know that he is fully capable. We stayed and Rob's brother's house in Vegas, and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins!
Kids are easily entertained:)
I drove up to the race with my two friends Kaye and Rebecca. We had two teams this time, and they ended up on a different team:( I did however, get to run on the same team as my brother Adam. We had so much fun with the kids in our van. I use the term kids, because I was the oldest person in our van of 6 people. Is 32 really that old??? Natalie and the kids met us all at the finish line. Hunter and Rex had a little too much fun playing in the dirt waiting for us to run into the finish line.
My team running in...For some reason I am always at the back of the line...Maybe it's because I was wearing flip flops:(
All of us with our medals
My girls all plan on running these races when they are old enough.
After the race, I had about 1 1/2 hours to take a nap before going to the BYU/UNLV football game. I had only slept for 20 minutes in the past 36 hours during the race. I'm so glad we went though!
Rob was so excited to finally be able to go to a BYU game again! I'm not sure why we were all wearing our BYU shirts, but Rob wore light blue. At first I thought maybe he forgot to pack his BYU shirt, but a few days later I saw it in his suitcase. That's a little weird Rob:)
We had GREAT seats in the north endzone of the stadium. You would never have believed that BYU was the away team. The stadium was at least half full of fans wearing blue. UNLV's color is red:) We are so sad that they have dropped to 25 in the rankings:(
Rob left during half time to go and get more snacks. He was like a paparazzi with the BYU team. They went back onto the field right next to Rob.
Max Hall
Rob gave "five" to the players as they walked back onto the field. He thinks they thought they were supposed to know who he was:)
The kids had so much fun at the game! Ash especially loved the cotton candy:)
Some nice lady offered to take a picture of our family after the game. Thanks nice lady:)
We were able to meet our beautiful niece Paisley for the first time. This is Rob's sister, Brittany's new baby girl. Her dad, Ryan, did a great job on her blessing.
Rob's parent's cabin looked so cute decorated for Halloween. Is there any question as to where Rob gets his outdoor illumination skills from?
Utah
My brother, Ryan, changed my parent's go-cart track from dirt to concrete. It looks awesome!!! Rob is the current day-time record holder of the go-cart track, and Ryan is the night-time record holder.
Ash looks a little scared riding with Grandpa:) This is about the spot where Alyssa and Hunter crash...pictures will follow:)
My brother, Dave, got home from serving in Iraq for 4 months. He lives just outside of D.C., so he had been home for 2 weeks before he flew to Utah to see all of us. We all met at the airport to welcome him home.
Dave, Maren and Liberty (and Baby Kya in Maren's tummy). We are all so proud of Dave and all the other men and women who risk our lives to defend our liberties! Dave got home just in time for a new baby. Maren had Baby Kya on Sunday. She is gorgeous!
I love this picture of Hunter! This one is definitely better than when the little kids were all playing swords with their flags.
My mom and brother
My mom spent a month before we all came to Utah to visit making quilts for all of the grandkids and men. They all turned out sooooo cute! Jessica, are you still bummed that they all have to stay at Mom's house?:)
Since my sister, Jessica, married into a Hawaiian family, she has finally decided to learn how to do all of the different Hawaiian dances. They perform as a family in Missouri. I never knew your hips could move like that Jess:) She taught all of the granddaughters how to do a dance.
Happy 10th Birthday to my baby Brooklyn! I cannot believe she is that old! We had a costume Halloween party, like always, only we forgot to bring our kids costumes this year. Luckily Natalies's mom has all kinds of costumes at her house. Natalie took the girls over and dressed them up. Brooklyn was Miss Utah. Brooklyn was so excited for her birthday, she wore her birthday crown all day on her birthday...and she even tried wearing it the next day:) We love you Brooklyn!!!
The bakery near my mom's house has never let me down! Until this year:( I called the baker and told her that I wanted a witch cake. Instead, I got this. Thanks to my sister-in-law Stephanie, she helped me spice it up by adding all of these plastic spiders. It turned out cute after that:)
I tried to add new games this year, since we always do the same things for Brooklyn's party. We did pumpkin bowling on the basketball court. It was great for the older kids, but the little boys just wanted to knock down the bottles that the girls were trying to roll the pumpkins into.
The next game we did was wrapping the kids like mummies. This turned out to be lots of fun. Rob was determined to wrap Alyssa faster than anyone else.
Taylor wrapped Ashley
Kinzie wrapped Hunter
Taylor did a great job with Ash
Ryan wrapped Gracie
Dave wrapped Libby
Our last game was a hat and broom race. The kids & adults loved this one:)
The birthday girl
Doesn't Rob look cute wearing a witch hat?:)
Brooklyn opening her presents
Rob wanted to mix things up this year and have the kids go down to the "Haunted Forest" and scare the adults. The kids all thought it was a great idea, until they got too scared walking down into the forest:) Cooper had a blast scaring the other little kids with his mask:)
Brooklyn blowing out her candles
Hunter was so exhausted after the party that he fell asleep eating his cereal. He was even still holding his spoon:)
Remember the go-cart hill??? Well, we told the kids that they could only go counter-clockwise around the track because we figured the other way would be too dangerous because of a big hill. Apparently, counter-clockwise was just as dangerous because Alyssa crashed riding her razor, and Hunter did a flip and landed on his face when he was simply running around the track. Alyssa put her brakes on as she was going down one of the hills, and the scooter stopped, but she kept on going. Her face got banged up pretty badly.
And, she broke a bone in her hand. The night it happened, we didn't even know she had broken it. By the next day, when it was still hurting, my grandpa got her an oppointment with an orthopaedist that he knew to get it xrayed. It was Brooklyn's birthday that day, so we didn't want to spend the day in the emergency room. Once we got to the orthopaedist's office, we were in and out in 20 minutes. Xrayed and casted. Plus, I only had to pay a $40 copay. We are so lucky to have a doctor for a grandpa!!! The advantage to having 21 people staying at one house, is that Alyssa's cast was immediately filled with signatures. There were a lot of disadvantages to having that many people in one house. On Saturday, my 10 month old niece started throwing up with the stomach flu. Hunter came down with it the next day, and then it dominoed throughout the family. By Thursday, the 19th and last person out of the 21 got sick. Ashley and I are the only ones that didn't get it. That is especially amazing, because Brooklyn and Alyssa threw up the entire way home from Utah. About 30 minutes after leaving Alpine, Alyssa threw up all over the dashboard of the truck. An hour later, Brooklyn was throwing up. Alyssa even threw up in my mouth, and I still didn't get it. Rob was supposed to go on a fishing trip in upstate New York with his boss on Thursday. His flight left at 6:00 am, and at 3:00 am he woke me up and informed me that he was finally sick. What are the odds? At least he got sick before he boarded his 5 hour flight to New York:)
Rob loves having a son that will spend hours looking through binoculars for deer. My parents always have so many deer in the field behind their house.
The is apparently the largest non-typical elk to ever be shot in the world. It was shot in Utah so it is on display at Cabelas. Of course Rob had to take Hunter to get a picture with "Spidey".
Dave wanted one too:)
This picture is so sweet, because all the little grandkids are looking at the pictures Dave has from Iraq. They think he is so cool!
Now that the go-cart track is paved, the grandkids all spend so much more time at the bottom of my parent's yard. Just about everything in my parent's yard is named after the grandkids. This is Marshal Cooper's office...named after my nephew Cooper. My dad better get busy, the 18th grandchild is going to be born in December:)
Hunter (I don't really know what he is doing)
We took the rhino up American Fork Canyon with the kids that were not under quarantine for being sick...Even though in the end we almost all got it anyway:) Libby and Hunter had so much fun on the rhino.
Hunter, Jaxon and Libby had fun throwing rocks into the river. Jaxon almost fell in as well when he tried to throw a rock in that weighed more than he does:)
Hey Dave...What are you doing walking out of the trees with a package of wet wipes?:)
My sister Jessica, my sister-in-law Maren, and myself...Rob almost ran into me with the rhino as we were posing for a picture. Nice Rob!
Hunter's wound from running on the go-cart track
Jessica, is that you driving the rhino??? Do you see that Mom?
I love the mountains in Utah!!!
Adam took all of the little kids into the front yard to play golf. It was a great idea until he left and the kids started hitting each other with the clubs:)
Hunter and Jax
Rob drew out for a deer tag in Utah this year. He hunted around Strawberry Reservoir this year instead of going to Vernal. Ashley went up with
Rob the day before opening day to scout the area with him.
On opening day, my brother Dave and Alyssa went hunting with Rob. Too bad I don't think they even saw anything more than a spike.
Rob had his gun out, but never got to shoot it at anything other than a target:( The next hunting day, all of the kids and I went hunting with Rob. We drove all over and saw nothing but doe.
Ashley's 1st Grade Field Trip
Ashley's field trip this year was to the Phoenix Botanical Garden. The only highlight was the butterfly exhibit. This kids loved seeing hundreds of butterflies.
A butterfly even landed on my friend Sarah's head.
Ashley and her friends
Ashley was chosen to hold the mouse. Hunter got it next, and lost it. Luckily I found it because the guide was a little upset when she noticed Hunter didn't have it in his hand:)
Pumpkin Patch
Why is it that kids pick the first big pumpkin they see, and then they change their minds as soon as you've put it in the wagon??? Ashley is my most indecisive child!
The pumpkin patch we go to every year always has cute photo ops.
Halloween
This year Brooklyn was a gothic witch, Alyssa was a candy corn witch, Ashley was a pumpin princess, and Hunter was a fire fighter one day, and Lightening Mcqueen the next.
Rob was nice enough to be the only dad helping with games at Ashley's class Halloween party. The kids in the girls classes always think Rob is so cool!
Hunter wasn't thrilled to be a firefighter...hence the sad face:( Alyssa was sure excited to have him come to her party though:)
Alyssa and her BFF Courtney
Brooklyn's classmates were all so excited to meet Choncho...I swear nobody knows his real name:)
Rob carving the pumpkins with the kids
Hunter was proud of his little spoon that he used to carve out the tiny pumpkin that he picked at the pumpkin patch.
The kids STILL carving
Voila! They turned out so cute!
We had a party again on Halloween night before the kids went trick-or-treating. I seriously spent 8 hours in the kitchen getting ready.
The spider cupcakes that I made took me forever!
The spider web dip
The Spider Deviled Eggs
The cousins eating dinner
If you saw this crazy witch trick-or-treating with Brooklyn, just know it was NOT me! This is Rob's mom:) She is a great witch every year...the kids love it!
The kids decorating their Halloween cookies
I love decorating for Halloween even more than Christmas. It's a lot less work! I was so sad to take my decorations down:(
Rob is the master outdoor illuminator. The picture doesn't quite do it justice. He put about 30 sets of eyes in our ficus trees over the porch. So cute!Kaibab Hunt
This year both Rob and I drew out for the deer hunt in Kaibab. Rob went up 2 days before me to hunt with his brother Kris. I thought for sure he would have something by the time I got up there, but he didn't:( He even passed up a 4 x 3. Once I got there, the biggest thing we had a good shot at was a 2 pt. Ashley found a 4 pt., but as Rob was getting out of the truck to shoot it, Hunter started yelling, "I want a deer!"...over and over. That buck ran away really quickly!!!
The lodge that we stayed at in Jacob Lake had a fun little playground for the kids. Is it any wonder why Alyssa is always breaking bones or getting stitches???
Ashley hanging upside down
My girls always flash a peace sign in pictures for some reason:)
Rob and Hunter on the swing
Rob wanted to take my car out the first morning we were there because there was more room for the kids to lounge around while we hunted at 5:00 am. I was so proud of my car and all the places it could go. There was seriously an inch of dirt on the back of my car. After the morning hunt, we ditched my car so that we could take Rob's truck and the rhino out. When we got home that night, my tire was COMPLETELY flat. I mean completely!!! Rob successfully put on my spare tire, I only had to help him jack up the car:) He was constantly looking around to make sure that no other hunters were watching his wife jack up the car:)
We actually really had a lot of fun on this hunt. I was kind of dragging my feet about going, but we had a blast! Rob may be sad that we didn't come home with a trophy, but I like the hunting... minus the killing and the gutting:)
Hunter was determined to find a buck for us:)
Brooklyn is my only child that doesn't like hunting. The other two girls LOVE it! She and I were the "rhino hogs"!
This is the only picture that Rob took while hunting with his brother Kris. Thanks for going Kris!