Fall Fun 2010

We have been so busy this fall! This is a long post, but it has some super cute pics of the kids! I promised them that we would make cookies, so we did! Half of the dough was regular sugar cookie dough and the other half I dyed orange to make some candy corn cookies. Here's some pics:

Gabe enjoying some cookies after he decorated them! I think he used half of the bottle of sprinkles on these 2 cookies!

I think she enjoyed them!
Here are the little candy corn cookies. I dipped the top and bottom in colored chocolate! Not a very good pic, but they were fun to make!
Next we picked out pumpkins! This was Shelby's first time and she had fun because Gabe was so excited! She kept watching him and laughing because he was so happy!

He has been talking about "pumpkin orange" for so long! When the time came for us to actually go and get one, he was so excited! He picked one of the biggest pumpkins out of our group!

Here are the cuties all dressed up and ready to go! They got to dress up a few times this year. We have a family Halloween costume party and it was so much fun. I am going to have to find some pics of me in my costume! All I can say is....wow!

Super charged Buzz light year! He loves buzz and was totally stoked to go trick or treating!

Shelby loved her costume and it was so cute on her! It fit just perfect!

These silly glasses were a given to them in their treat bags from our family party!

Shelby loved them, she actually found hers and put them on all by herself! She is so funny!

I was trying to get them to come in for dinner, instead, they played in some leaves! It was a nice evening why not right?!

I couldn't get him to look at me, he kept saying cheese and looking away! He is such a sweetheart! This was caught mid action!

Loving the leaves!

I love this one of her! She loves to explore the world, this her to a T!

All dressed up for Sunday! She is slowly getting used to nursery! Mommy loves nursery! Thanks Tam and Jackie for your patience with her!

They both had new outfits on and looked so good! They were both in a silly mood this day! For me it was one of those days where my heart was so full of gratitude to the Lord for blessing me with these amazing kids! I think he knew that I would need them both in different ways to help me through some tough times! They bring so much joy to me, I don't know what I would do with out them!

My handsome little man! His smile brightens the room!

Shelby's FIRST Haircut! I can't believe I actually did it, but it is still curly and it looks so cute!

Gabe wanted one too! He looks great!

So cute!
All in all this has been a great fall. We have had a lot of fun in between all of the craziness of life! School is starting to wind down and then comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am so excited for both of these holidays. My mom is doing well. Her first round of Chemo was pretty rough! Hopefully this next round will be better. She talked to her dr. and he has given her some sleeping meds along with some strong pain meds. I am so grateful for my family and my kids. The Lord sure knew what he was doing when he blessed me with all of them. My parents have been amazing examples to me in my life. I don't know what I would do without my sisters and brothers, they are great friends and wonderful supports for me. My kids are why I get out of bed every day! Because of them I have experienced true joy in life. Thanks to all of my friends and neighbors who have been so willing to help. My heart is very full and I love you all. (a bit cheesy yes, but I'm done!)

These were supposed to go on the last post!

It's raining and pouring...

I have totally slacked on posting this whole summer! We have been really busy with the 4th of July, Gabes 4th birthday, family things, and life. The hard thing is, life just keeps getting crazier and crazier! My divorce is almost final, which we be a good thing to be done with. It's been really tough and lonely at times, but I know that it is the best thing for me and for Gabe and Shelby. We just found out about 2 weeks ago that my mom is now battling cancer. She is going to be in for a tough ride. Last week while she was in the hospital, we also had to put my grandma in an Alzheimer's unit. Total overload right now! Thanks to everyone for their support, prayers, meals, and everything else. I have learned so much this past year, I have gotten closer to the Lord, and I am so thankful for my family. I guess we learn the most when we struggle the hardest.

Chicken Oatmeal!

So this morning as we were eating breakfast, Gabe said that he wanted oatmeal- so I got him some apples and cinnamon oatmeal, made it, and gave it to him. He sat their eating it for a while and then he said- "mom look, chicken!" I laughed and said no- they're pieces of apples. He looked at me and smiled and said "no, it's chicken!" He insisted over and over again that it was chicken! So I finally caved and said OK- lets call it chicken. Sounds delish I know- so if you don't know what is sounding good for breakfast- stop on by, I make a mean chicken oatmeal!

Picture Time!

So I decided to get the kids pictures taken for Mothers Day. They turned out great! Shelby cried the whole time almost, but we got some cutes ones of her still, and Gabe, he is always so cute- how can you not get all good ones!?! Here they are:

I love this one- I love watching her walk and explore- she is constantly on the go- this is totally her!

I love his smile!

I love this one! Her eyes are so pretty!

He is so funny- look at that grin- what a handsome guy!

Here are a few of them! There are so many that are super cute- Thanks Emily for the great pics and for putting up with us! Check her out emilybaileyphotography.blogspot.com.

The little things...

I am finding more and more that it is the little things in my life that are bringing me so much joy, especially right now. Two of these "little things" are Gabe and Shelby! They are so amazing! We bought a family fish for FHE on Monday, well it died on Wednesday! His name was Boo! So on Friday I went and picked up another fish, and as I was picking Gabe up from Chantel's house I told him that I have a surprise for him. After we got into the car I showed Gabe the fish and said Surprise! After he looked at it for a minute I asked him what we should name him, he said Surprise! So now we have Surprise the fish! He is a red Beta fish. Gabe is so funny, but he and Shelby love it. Shelby will stand there and point and scream in excitement at the fish. It is so funny!
I love this little guy! His hair is so crazy some mornings- he knows how to bring a smile to my face everyday and I love him so much for that!

The big news...

So many of you have been asking some questions, and it is about time that I answer. Yes I have been in Kaysville a lot lately, that is because I now live here with Gabe and Shelby. Jon and I have been separated since the beginning of February, and we will not be getting back together. This has been a devastating time for me, definitely not something that you ever plan on happening in your life. I am so grateful for my family and the many friends and neighbors who have been such a great support and help the last little while! You have been answers to many prayers, and I am forever grateful to you. I love you and wanted you all to know how deep my appreciation goes. Thanks for everything!

Fun in the kinda warm sun!

The kids have been wanting to go outside so bad, so we finally braved the not to super warm weather here in Utah! Here are a few pics from our day! This was the first time that I have put her in the swing and she loved it! She is so happy to be outside and now she wants to be out there even in the rain! She stands by the door and crys to go out and play!

Gabe loves the slides! He goes up and down all day! He is a pretty independent little guy, and he would play out there all day!

Gabe being silly!

Shelby did not like the grass! She wouldn't put her hands down in it! She was crawling on her knees with her hands up in the air so she wouldn't have to touch it! Funny girl!

LIFE...

Life will always go on! This is going to be a long post, so buckle up! I am behind, so here goes: Shelby turned 1! She is growing up so fast! She is so fun at this age, and now that she is walking she loves loves loves to be outside.

She was so happy as we celebrated her big birthday! She got this little penguin punching bag from my parents and she hated it! She didn't want it to sit back up- she wanted it to stay down, it was so funny!

She didn't really take to the cake! We even fed it to her a little and she wasn't too interested!

After her birthday it was time for Easter! We had the traditional Easter egg hunt for the kids at my parents house, there was even one for the adults this year, and we each got only one egg. Inside was a $20, thanks mom and dad for the fun, the money, and the great memories! We then went to tasties in Kaysville after all of the fun!

Here is Gabe dyeing some Easter eggs! He was so excited now that he knows his colors! He is doing really well with his talking too!

Here he was after the egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa hansens house. They always have so much fun doing all of these fun things with all of their cousins.

Here are Shelby and Gabe on Easter/Conference morning with Grammy and Grandpa!

The Easter bunny brought them some fun things! They each got some sunglasses and Shelby loves to put them on herself. She did such a great job!

Shelby's 2nd Easter! Now that she gets it a little better than last year, she was so excited for everything!

Gabe was so protective of his eggs that the Easter Bunny left for him to find! He is so funny- he was so excited but kept watching Shelby all day so that she wouldn't get his eggs!

Conference was so great, it always is! And just like usual I really needed the spiritual boost! I always hate when it is over, but then I have so much to work on, it's good that we get a 6 month break in between sessions!

New Beginnngs!

The holidays came and went so fast this season! We have been having a blast! Here is an update: For Christmas this year we stayed home! It was so nice to begin our own little family traditions and to just be together as a family! Santa was so generous this year and our family was so blessed! Gabe is so funny, when we went in his room to wake him on Christmas morning, he pulled the covers back over his head and wanted to go back to sleep! Of course once he got up he was super excited! Shelby was so cute, even though it was her first Christmas and she really didn't know what was going on, she still had a great time!

Shelby was all smiles on Christmas morning! I love it when my kids are happy!

Gabe so loved his Handy Manny workbench that Santa brought him! I was worried that the noises that it made would scare him because he generally doesn't like toys like this, but he totally loves it!
Here is Jon modeling some of his Christmas gifts, he got some boots, a few shirts, a coat... lots of good things!

Here he is loving the singing and dancing toolbox complete with all of the tools! Don't ya love when you have to buy something last minute because you realize that not everything is included with the "other stuff!" However Santa was prepared with batteries!

Here is my sweet smiling shelby! She has been pretty happy lately and I love it! She has such beautiful blue eyes!

As for the New Year, there is a lot going on and through it all, I still really blessed! I have a lot of personal goals that I am working on and also a few for my family! What a great time of year it is! I am looking forward to the many memories and growing times this year will bring!