Thanksgiving Preview!

I need to get pictures from my mom, all 1000 of them, but here are a few that were sent to us. We had a BLAST at Thanksgiving up in UT. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Jacqui, Jeff and family for being wonderful hosts. I will write more about it later, but it was a non-stop party and a fabulous time with my entire family (that's 26 people under one roof!). 

Look how gorgeous Alisa is! All my kids are beautiful, but I thought she looked stunning in these shots.

Pioneer day celebration

My dad set up a petting zoo for our pioneer day breakfast. It was a hit!

Hard at work

The Jokester

Jake suddenly got clever. Nah, just kidding. He's always been clever. But he recently started pulling practical jokes.

The other day the kids all got out of the car to "race home." This is where I pull over a few houses away from our house and they all get out and run down the sidewalk, trying to beat me. Since Brookie got out to race, we ended up coming in pretty far behind the other kids. When we got there, Jake had blood on his nose and mouth. I asked if he fell running. Now, I am only slightly ashamed of my reaction when he said yes. I told him not to drip on the carpet and to get in and get some tissue to wipe the blood off. Heartless, I know. Anyway, it turns out he had run in and put ketchup on his nose and mouth. Totally fooled me (as compassionless as I was)!

A few days later he was eating an apple in church, which was a milestone since he hasn't been able to eat one in quite awhile (too many teeth gone). All of the sudden he holds up his tooth, all excited, and tells me it just fell out. He even fooled the 12 year old sitting next to us. When he threw it at me to let me see, I found out it was a tooth-shaped chunk of apple.

Such a little prankster. Reminds me of my little brother Josh. Soon he'll be licking my glasses, right mom?

Ah...Summer at Lake Powell

I am pretty sure we spent half our summer at Lake Powell. No, I'm not joking. We went twice with each family. Scott came when he could. We went weeks at a time and had a blast. Thank you to both our parents for the great memories. Just last night Alisa asked if we were going to Lake Powell for Christmas.

Here is our first trip with the Crane's in June. We had all of my siblings and our kids, and it was great! We have started tenting it on the beach, which works out great and leaves some extra room on the houseboat. My kids sleep better that way, too. My parents bring a slew of kayaks and when we aren't tubing or swimming or eating, the kids all stay entertained on them, going on exploring trips together. 

 Michelle and Darin came out dressed like twinners, not knowing what the other was putting on. That also happened with the Seaman family. Weird. :)

 I must mention our three babes born last year. Brody, Lily, Addison. They are all so adorable and different... and my mom was sure there would be no babies born last year. All three were born before the end of the year (Lily was December 31st).

 Ashley and Olivia are lifesavers for the moms on board. They are both great with the older kids and the babies, so it is SO SO SO much more relaxing for us! Thanks girls!

 I can't tell who this was, but both my kids braved the knee board this year and loved it, although they faced a near death experience the next trip with the Seaman's. Jake was up and going and having a great time. When he finished, he let go and the waves knocked him over so he was upside down. He was stuck that way for about a minute while I frantically yelled at Scott to get the boat around so I could jump in. I jumped in, but by that time there was a man and wife on a wave runner that had seen his poor legs kicking out from under the knee board, trying to get free. The man jumped off and pulled him out. It was SO SCARY. So we tried to be calm, but I was freaking out. Then not 10 minutes later, Alisa wanted to try from the shore. As we pulled the slack out of the rope she changed her mind, let go, hit the waves, and went upside down as well, stuck the exact same way. This time, Caleb did a manly dive right over the side rail of the houseboat and rescued her. After that, my kids were not so keen on trying the kneeboard, but ended up doing it one more time on our last trip of the summer. Whew! It was really scary. Lesson learned: kids do not need to use the strap on the knee board. I am so grateful they are alive and they have all but forgotten about it!

 All in all, I think the kids consumed 8 bags of cheetos before the end of the week. Ew.

 The War

It has become a tradition to have a water fight at the Lake. My dad got these great suck and spray guns and everyone goes to town. There are surprise attacks and team switching. It's fun!

 Brody safe and sound inside

 Look at that range! Right to the head.

 Babies are not left unattended.

 Lisa may kill me for this, but then again, she may not even see it! :) Ha, ha. Nice pick.