Bdays, turkey day and more

We've had a busy past few weeks. Aubrey turned 4 this year. We started her special day with her traditional smiley pancake breakfast, which she's requested the last 2 years. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated with a small family party that day. We threw up some decorations and had cake and ice cream in the afternoon, and she was so excited to be turning 4 years old. She is still a really good girl -- cooperative, helpful, sweet (most of the time), and generally well behaved. She really is a big blessing in our family.

Who can resist chocolate chip pancakes with a big whip cream smiley face?

The following weekend, Aubrey had her official birthday party. It was princess themed so all the girls came dressed as their favorite princess/ Disney character. Aubrey dressed up as Tinkerbell and we had about 5 girls over from our church for the party. We played Pin the Frog on the Princess and decorated tiaras that the girls could take home. The rest of the time, they played, ate pizza, cake and ice cream, and watched Sleeping Beauty. It was a low-key party and all of the girls were so calm -- which was a huge help for me since I am still not feeling completely like myself yet!

The Pretty Princesses!

Decorating our Tiaras

Ready for birthday cake (round 2)

Opening presents

Also, this year, we decided to spend Thanksgiving at home. We spent it with our neighbors who have become like family to us. I seriously don't know what we did before we knew the Dobbs. They help us out in so many ways -- I truly am grateful for them. We ate TONS of food, played games, and just relaxed and talked while we munched on more food. It was great!

The surgeon - ready for his first incision
We're definitely outnumbered by the kids!

Evan diving into his yummy jello
The kids playing and playing some more
Dallin taking the kids for a spin around the Dobbs' awesome backyard

And lastly, since our last General Conference, we have been working on a "Warm Fuzzies" jar. For those of you who listened to Thomas S. Monson's talk, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, we challenged our kids to earn 100 warm fuzzies, and when they did, we would reward them with something special. Well, they did it! And they chose to have a campout in our basement. They specifically thought of this reward on their own, and we thought it'd be fun. We let them eat popcorn and snacks while they watched a movie and then they set up the tent and slept in it with Dallin. (I slept upstairs in my comfy bed! :) We would have camped outside except it was really cold and snowy outside.

Catching Up on Halloween

OK, so here's a quick recap of Halloween this year:

Ward Halloween Party

Every year our ward has a trunk or treat at our chapel. This year was no exception, although they moved it indoors because it was quite cold that evening. My dad was in town visiting so he and Dallin took the kids to the party. As usual these days, I stayed at home in bed. But the kids had so much fun. They came home with a ton of candy, played all kinds of games there, and they got to walk around in the costume parade. This year, Jacob really wanted to be Darth Vader, Aubrey was a princess (of course!) -- Snow White to be exact, and Evan was superman. Dallin and I usually dress up, but since I wasn't up for it this year, he got dressed up as... well, I'm not exactly sure what he was supposed to be. But maybe you'll have a better idea than I did once you see .

Ready for the party

Yeah, I'm kinda at a loss for words, too! :)

Pumpkin Fun
Also, while my dad was here, the kids went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm over in California. It's about a 2 hour drive (or more, I think) over there, but it's a cute pumpkin patch, complete with a train ride, petting zoo, hay ride, all kinds of playgrounds and things for the kids to climb on, a puppet show, and more. We usually alternate going between Bishop's Pumpkin Farm and Apple Hill, but being that I wasn't feeling well, we thought it'd be best for Dallin and my dad if the kids went to the pumpkin patch. A good time was had by all.








Trick or Treat
My kids absolutely loved going trick or treating this year. It was fun because this year, Evan really "got" it. After every door, he'd turn around and yell, "Let's do that again!"

A Mischievious Looking SuperManI know I'm biased -- But she is Soooo Cute!

I know you're thinking, "Luke, I am your father"

Ready for some candy!

And finally, I'm including a few other random pictures from the last few weeks. The first is of Jake finally learning how to ride a bike with no training wheels. It's taken him a while, but he's finally starting to get the hang of it. Here he is practicing behind our house.






And the next few pictures are of the kids walking along the river with their Daddy (one of their most favorite things to do!) We love the Truckee.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

After experiencing a good bout of morning sickness this pregnancy, I am happy to report that this past Wednesday, I started to feel better. Don't get me wrong -- I still get nauseous in the morning and at night, but at least I can get out of bed now and function on a somewhat normal level. My kids are ecstatic that I am returning to "normal" -- being that I have totally ignored and neglected them for the last 6-8 weeks. It's been a bit of a bummer too since Halloween is one of my most favorite times of year. But this year, I was forced to skip all of the trick or treating and halloween fun and opted to instead lay in bed. But enough complaining... it's time to catch up on some of the fun we have had.

First up, this year, we went to our local pumpkin patch to go on a hay ride, play in the pumpkin patch, jump in the bounce house, and look at the animals in their small farm. We ran into our friends, the Petersons, while we were there, so that made it more fun too.

Also, earlier this month, we decided to head over to the Zephyr Cove area in Tahoe for the weekend (Dallin's boss has a beautiful cabin there right on the water, and they offered it to us). It seriously was in one of the most beautiful places and being right on the water was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't do much while I was there because I was sick, but the kids and Dallin had a blast playing on the private pier and on the beach.

The kids and Dallin enjoying the hot tub

Roaming the beach

The view from inside

Private pier

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I'll post about Halloween next entry!

How I Broke the News...

...to Dallin.

Baby #4 due early next summer! We're very excited!!

Due to some pregnancy sickness, I am taking a brief hiatus from blogging until I am back on my feet again!

So Far Behind

Thank Goodness for General Conference because I find that I am home more during these 2 days than normal and I am feeling motivated to blog. So, first up: Aubrey's gymnastics. Aubrey has been begging me for the last 6 months to take gymnastics. So, I finally caved and we signed her up. She absolutely LOVES it. She asks me almost every day if today is gymnastics day. She's in a small class of 4-6 kids and so far, she's loved jumping on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. It's been fun to watch her finally get to participate in her own activity, instead of tagging along to her older brother's activities.


Since I have to sit in the waiting room with Evan during Aubrey's class, I decided to sign Evan and I up for a mommy and me class at the same time... just to keep him busy. He also LOVES it and I can hardly contain him during the class because he is so excited. This boy loves hanging on the rings and he is a whiz on the trampoline (I think because our neighbors have one so he gets some practice!)

Our Little Gymnast

Concentrating while crossing the balance beam

Doing her first flip on the bars

Next up is the annual Reno Hot Air Balloon Races. This year, we did our usual thing: got up early, set up our chairs inside the park, watched in awe as all the balloons got up off the ground, and hit up Pegs for our traditional breakfast there. As usual, the kids love every minute and Dallin and I sit there and talk about why we love Reno so much!

And finally, I just got back this morning from a literally whirlwind trip to Utah to visit with friends and to attend my mission reunion. I arrived yesterday and my friend Val who was my best friend my freshman year of college picked me up. We seriously haven't seen each other in like 7 years, but we keep in good touch and we always pick up where we left off. It was so great being with her and meeting her kids and seeing where she lives. We just reminisced about the 'good ol' days' and caught up. It was great.

She then drove me to my friend Laura's house who was also one of my best friends from freshman year. We did much of the same -- caught each other up on our lives and I also got to meet 1 of her kids, which was so fun.

Then, I was off to my mission reunion in Draper. This was a blast -- I haven't seen most of these people in at least 12 years! It was crazy how much everyone looked the same. My mission president and his wife were there, and it was so neat to see how everyone's lives have been blessed from serving in Hong Kong. I seriously loved every minute I was there.

Right after, I got picked up by my friend Kelly who is one of my dearest friends from my single's ward in D.C. We stayed up WAY TOO LATE eating milkshakes, onion rings and french fries with fry sauce and catching up! I almost didn't want the night to end so I could stay with her and chat longer.

Anyway, after this trip, I realize that I have been blessed with some truly amazing friends over the years. They are all intelligent, driven, classy and devoted mothers who truly serve as examples to me. So, thank you to my friends for driving me everywhere during this crazy trip. I had a blast!

Did You Know....?

So, Jacob has absolutely LOVED going to school this year. And he is a big science kid. He LOVES watching the Discovery channel and anything about wildlife, outer space, or bugs. Anyway, yesterday he came home from school and ran into the house excitedly. He was about to burst with excitement because he could not WAIT to tell me what was on his mind. He yelled, "Mom, did you know that the earth spins around and we don't feel it at all?!"

He was even more surprised when I told him that I did, in fact, know that and he is now convinced that I am a genius (which we, of course, all know that I am)! It was really cute.

Also, they've recently done some fun activities in his class. They're learning about the sense of smell and did an activity where the kids had to smell something that was hidden from them and guess what it was. Some of Jacob's answers were hilarious:

What the item was............What Jacob wrote down

Vinegar ..............................gurbij (aka garbage)
Cinnamon ........................ham
Chocolate .........................choklit

Also, I am way belated on updating my blog on our annual hot air balloon races in Reno and Aubrey's new gymnastics class. So, hopefully I will post soon.

First Day of School

The first day of school has finally arrived once again! Aubrey actually started pre-school last week. She LOVES it already! She has really grown up a lot this last year, which makes me a little sad, I have to admit. Jacob started first grade this year, which means he's in school ALL day long. I can't believe my baby is in school all day long, but I know he is ready for it (and so am I!) And now that leaves me with Evan at home. He is my mellow, easy going child, so being home alone with him will be a real treat, I think. Anyway, I'm including a few pictures of their first day of school below. Enjoy!

My Little Sisters

My two little sisters came out to Reno last week with their families and it was so great to be with them. Ligia, Matt and Maddie came out mid week, and while they were here, they got to go floating down the Truckee, we went to Great Basin Adventure with them and we even snuck in dinner at La Famiglia, which I think is THE BEST Italian restaurant here. The rest of the time, we relaxed, went swimming at the pool, and hung out with my other sister Becky, and her husband Garrett, and daughter Adeline who arrived on Thursday. After everyone arrived in Reno, we went to Tahoe. We started off in Sand Harbor and had so much fun on our tubes and inflatable raft that I bought. It seriously was so much fun paddling around on that thing. Then we headed south to the Tahoe Keys where we rented a house. Friday was also Dallin's birthday, so we celebrated by making him a delicious meal (thanks to Lee & Matt) and brownies covered in 37 candles!

The next day, we hit the private beach in the Tahoe Keys with the kiddos. On Sunday, we went to church, then went walking on a little nature trail by the house. In the afternoon, Dallin and I took the kids out on a little bike ride over by Camp Richardson. Then finally, on Monday, we got all of the kids ready and went hiking with them. We got a little lost on the hike, which meant we hiked a little more than we should have, but all of the kids were troopers and did great! In between all of that, we watched movies, ate great food, tried to catch a nap here and there, and of course played games like mad gab and scattergories. I was so sad to see my sisters and their cute families go after such a fun-filled week. But hopefully, us getting together will become a more "regular" thing. So, thank you to my sisters for making the effort to come out and visit us. We had such a blast!!

My sister's pictures came out a lot better than my did, but I at least wanted to post some pictures of their visit before I forget all of the fun things we did!

After floating on the Truckee

After dinner at La Famiglia

Evan crawling into the jaws of death at Great Basin Adventure

Madeleine in her cute leopard print bathing suit. Where can I get ME one of those? SOOO cute!

Garrett helping Adeline get used to the sand

McQueens in South Tahoe

CA Giles relaxing on the beach

Aubrey LOVED playing on the tubes, which she called "tubas."

The whole crew by Emerald Bay

The Beginning of our hike