THE COLOR RUN-SLC

I was geared up to do The Color Run in Salt Lake and take my girls.  Unfortunately Lance had to work the race so as usual its just the "sister wives" and all the kiddos.  We definitely needed to go in full gear and I was excited to see what really happens since I am always in the store and have not seen any of the action.  It was a very early morning and everyone did pretty well.  We let the kids ride scooters and had 4 crashes out of the 8 kids with only 1 lost Alex!   Pretty good I'd say!  I think the kids really liked it but they were sad they didn't get to go up on stage. They all loved the mess and doing snow angels in the color zones.  For us it was a lot of fun but also a lot of work to make sure all the kids were roped in.  It was like herding cattle mostly.  Next year I think we may have to do a just adults and some of the big big kids!
What I loved most about this was that my clan was there.  I have such an amazing family and friends and I love that they came to support Lance and I.  I really have a team of backup at all times and I just Love them!

NEW YEARS EVE

With or without tonsils being removed we were hosting the NYE party this year.  It made it much less stressful knowing that Ava would be fine and be able to play with all the kids.  We sent all the kids downstairs to play wii and watch movies while we had our own party upstairs.  We had lots of food, treats, a little dance party, maybe a "worm" off with Melissa and I, cocktails and lots of fun.  We also combined parties for a bit with Marilyn and Kim.  We love to host and love having everyone here.  I'm not sure why we didn't take more pictures and why Sun is missing in the girls photo:(
Some of my very most favorite people!

ROCK CANYON SLEDDING

We were looking for some sort of activity to do with everyone over the holidays beside eat and eat some more so we hit Rock Canyon park for some sledding.  It was a such a great time.  Even meem who was not thrilled about going had a good time.  It was also pretty warm until the sun went down.  So once the cold set in and  3 broken sleds later we called it a day!  Next time we will be better prepared with fabulous, non breakable sledding gear!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween came and went super fast this year but we did manage to get in a little bit of fun.  The girls knew very early what they wanted to be so it was nice to have costumes purchased and not scrambling at the last minute.  Sloany was to little so she snugged in her pj's.  The girls got to go to Marilyn's Halloween party again this year.  It is so great that she includes them in the festivities and they love it.  Meg also got to wear her costume to a birthday party and for sure we take a day to hit Cornbelly's.  They keep making it better and better each year and I really like taking them there.  They come home exhausted, filthy but with a fabulous painted face!
This year for Halloween we went to Shan's house for dinner and then headed to a neighborhood near by that  Shan and Haley had loved the year before.  It was fun to have everyone together but hard to keep track of them all being our group was so big.   It was such a nice night and didn't get cold till the sun went down.  The kids were without coats most of the time.  Sloany was perfect and just enjoyed the ride.
What's Halloween without an adult party?!  Lance and I had decided to be gnomes this year.  It was a nightmare to track what we wanted down but I got them ordered.  By Friday night neither of them had arrived.  I was so upset!!  They were awesome! So we had to go into improvise mode.  Luckily Gina had a few back ups for me and Lance hit up Taylor Made.  Shan Clint, Haley and Gabe killed it with their Neapolitan costumes!  Everyone really looked fabulous and it was a great time.  I love to get together with everyone.  Especially if it involves cards or Just Dance!

SAM'S UGLY SWEATER PARTY!

I believe that this is the first "ugly sweater" party that we have been to. Hosted by our friends the Floyd's at Noha's. My mom and I took apart my stockings from when Lance and I first got married and sewed them to fabulous green sweatshirts. They turned out awesome! Everyone looked great!
We ate way to much junk, some of us drank way to much, way to much from a straw that is and we danced like rock stars! Great night!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Carving pumpkins is just not my favorite thing to do. It was my first year ever cleaning out the inside of my pumpkin. Without our dad here we all had to step it up which meant disgusting guts! Ava just wanted to stab her pumpkin and meg wanted something carved on all sides. We tried out the cookie cutters this year and they work awesome but Lance says that is cheating. Lance carved one for my dad that we took to the cemetery!

Meg had a Halloween Program at her school that was so cute. She told a joke and was a doo-wop girl that danced to a bunch of Halloween songs. She was awesome. She also looked so beautiful as a Spanish dancer.

I helped in her glass this year and we made hand print ghosts. They turned out great even though Lance told me I am not a "crafty mom" and the kids loved it!

Ava had her Halloween program and parade at school as well. She is my little spider queen and sang fabulously!

This year we finally got great weather for trick or treating. It was a very busy day so when lance got home we had time to grab a bowl of soup and we were out the door. The Floyd's caught up with us and we all wandered through our neighborhood. I love to trick or treat! Especially now that the girls are bigger. I love that Lance likes to go and we just mozy through, chatting and hanging out! The kids were ready to come back so much earlier than the parents were!

STARVATION 2011

Every year this is the one trip that we are so excited about and so determined to make sure it happens. We are incredibly blessed with amazing friends and this seems like the one time that we all set aside to spend it together no matter how crazy busy we all get. This year we were missing a few families but it better be the last! You know who you are!!!

It was a very mellow year with no one getting hurt, no drama and the kids were all surprisingly good. We were definitely overwhelmed with girls this year, poor Brady and Trev! The worst part of Starvation is not even the clean-up but all the freakin pictures! So bring them on!

SCERA SWIM LESSONS

The girls just finished swim lessons for the year. Meg already is a fabulous swimmer but needs just a bit more confidence in herself. Ava is a little fish! She has no fear and LOVES the water! They all are becoming such great little swimmers and love that they get to do this with their friends.

ROAD TRIP

About a week before Christmas Lance told me he was going to take from Christmas to New Years off. I said what should we do, go on a road trip? I was just kidding but he was on it and that is what we did.

LAS VEGAS:

We left Saturday the 26Th and headed into Las Vegas to stay with Lances sister and her family. We got there about 4 and Adrienne made dinner for us, which is my fave cause I hate to make dinner then we all headed to the movie. I took the three girls to see Princess and the Frog while Adrienne, Lance, Kyson, Brooks and Ella went to see Avatar. I did not have my camera out yet so no pics which I am very sad about. The next morning we haded into California. We made a pit stop in Primm to shop at the outlets. NO GOOD! We will not do that again plus there is not really any good places to shop there.

HUNTINGTON BEACH:

We made in into Huntington about 5 and YEAH, Jenn had dinner all ready for us! That night we just hung out and chatted! The next afternoon, Monday, the boys went golfing while Jenn and I took the girls shopping and to lunch at South Coast. We didn't buy much but still had such a great time. That night we had dinner at the house and went hot tubbing. Tuesday morning we headed to Downtown and the beach. The weather was amazing and the girls LOVED the beach. We lucked out on everything falling so much into place this trip. That night we went to dinner to have fish tacos and it was $1.00 taco night! They were super yummy! Then they had blocked off Downtown and had a lots of booths and vender's there. The girls even got balloon animals from Cinderella.

We also got to meet little Jack! He is so cute and the girls loved him. I think Jack liked them too even though he hid from Ava most of the time. Also I think Lance un did all of the training that they had done before we got there. Jack loved to lick Lance's whole face and bite on his ears. We left Huntington about 5 AM the next morning and headed into ST George.

ST GEORGE:

We arrived in St George about noon to stay at the Brailsford house. I have said this before but it is so nice to have such a great place to stay whenever we are in St George. We met up with the Palmers and the Conders for the next couple days. The boys golfed and biked while us girls mostly hung with he kids and got in a bit of shopping and lunch. The kids just ran loose and played pool, pet shops, ponies and watched lots of movies.

New Years Eve we got pizza for the kids, take out for the adults and mostly reminisced about the good ol days! It was a great time and we LOVE these families so much! I was terrible with he camera in St George as well=(

I am not sure how everything turned out so great but we had an AMAZING time! A very much needed break from it all. Thanks to all for putting us up and I think we may have to do this more often.

MOVIE NIGHT

Tonight we had movie night at the Larsen's. Clint set up a HUGE screen and system for us to all watch Bedtime Stories. It was just like the drive-in only not in a truck and also no making out(that was my fave part of the drive-in)! Thanks to the Wests for being great friends but also for inviting us to do so many fun things!

STARVATION OVER THE 24TH

We spent 5 days at Starvation Reservoir again this year. I was recently reminded that great friends are hard to come by. We must be so blessed because we have the most amazing friends and are so thankful for all the great times we have together. We look so forward to this trip every year and it is always so much fun. We had 15 adults, 17 kids, 4 dogs, 3 trailers and 4 boats. Lots of horseshoes, wake boarding and eating great food! I have to say my fav part are the nights around the campfire with no kids just talking. What more could you ask for!

Duncans-Palmers-Conders-Tucketts-Wests-Helms-& Manolakis Families! All of the kids did really well considering there were so many of them. They played in the sand, loved to be on the boats and watched a ton of movies thanks to Hotel Tuckett! The Manolakis Fam brought a pinata for the kids and it was such a big hit!

Meg had a good time but struggles a bit went the boys wont play with her. Ava did pretty well but was a bit to whiny, surprise. As long as she was on the boat she was good to go and made friends with all the dads that had boats!

Until next year....

SUMMER HAS STARTED...FINALLY

It is finally starting to feel like summer around here. Thankfully there is no more rain, Meg has shifted mostly back to her usual self and Ava is no longer sick! I am also feeling much better and not nearly as loony as the past month however I am struggling a bit with my time management and feel like there has got to be a way to make everything fit nicely in to my schedule! Crazy me! There is one thing that has been so great...

I recently got some fab advice that has made everything quite a bit easier. JUST ASK! For some reason it took me 9 years to get it or at least use it but I just cannot believe how really simple it is. As help full as my man can be I think we gals just want our minds read and I spend a lot of time mad for so many little things that would probably get done if I would just ask and without all the sarcasm and anger behind it. I hated the idea at first, they should know after 16 years right??? Hmmm, Not always! I hope saying this does not jinx it but THANK YOU BABY, for all of your help!

Anyway enough mush, on to summer. As crazy as life has been we have been doing lots of fun things with our bestest friends!

ZOO
BIKE RIDING

We have been struggling to get Meg to ride her bike with training wheels for a year. We finally decided that maybe the one she has was to big and we will try a mini one and see how it goes. She has been riding the new one great and now we just need to get the training wheels off, soon hopefully! My girls live in rain boots for all occasions and I love it because they come on and off very easily to leave the mess outside!

BOATING
A great day on the lake with the West Fam. PUDDLES

Playing at the Larsens in the irrigation water.