Funny Ayla

 She loves clothes, and shoes, and jewelery...she's such a girl sometimes :) Above she is sporting my boots. It was so funny to watch her walk in them. And she totally gets the choice in wardrobe from Aunt Kacey...just so you know.

But this fancy style she inherited from her DAD! Or perhaps it is due to the fact that her waistband needs to be tightened up. Thank heavens for adjustable waist jeans! Can you see that she is trying on another pair of shoes?

The family

 Family pictures 2014. We took them at the Clark County Wetlands Park. It was a shortish walk to this cottonwood grove. One of the few places in Vegas that actually looks like fall. Ayla didn't have anything red in her wardrobe, but I found red poka dot fabric in my stash. The day before I whipped this up for her. The ribbon trim is ladybugs. And lets just say she was NOT a fan of picture day...at all.  

 and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful MOM!!!!! I hope your 25th birthday was as nice as you are, Mom. We all love and miss you sooooo much!!

Phone photo barf

 When I came home from taking Gid to school yesterday this is how I found Ayla. She was very comfortable on the bean bag watching a movie. I scooted her back so that she wouldn't hurt her neck, and thankfully she didn't mind.

 Gideon's homework over the weekend was to disguise a turkey so he wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving. I asked him if we could make the turkey into an Olaf. He loved that idea. I cut out the felt and he glued it on to his heart's content. I did the hair, face, arms, and buttons. He added two more buttons and colored his feet. He was so excited to take his turkey to school yesterday.

 Gideon insisted on bagels and cream cheese for dinner on Monday. I convinced them both to add an apple to the menu. They both loved having this for dinner.

 A christmas present I made from another leftover board. I like this stain much better, and I love the green vinyl!

 Gideon was playing with Ammon's shin guards and cleats. Notice that he put them all on himself...upside down. He was SO proud to be wearing Ammon's stuff. When it was time for bed he asked me very nicely to not move them from the couch so he could play with them the next morning.

 A sign I made from leftover fencing board. The stain is very grey...I'm not sure if I like it, but it works well with the black vinyl.

 While Ammon was at a birthday party I took Zenock out for ice cream. He LOVED it

 Gideon being very particular about dipping his marshmallows in glue and putting them on this ghost paper during the nursery halloween party.

 

A bunny I saw while walking the trails at the wetlands last week

Zenock's baptism

This cute 8 year old of ours got baptized last night at the Stake Center. Grandpa Deitz spoke for a few minutes on baptism during the program. Zenock was SO EXCITED to get baptized. After he was confirmed, Brother Webb asked him to come to the front and tell everyone why he wanted to get baptized. He told us that he didn't know, except that his older brother, Ammon, did it, so he should too. It was so cute. On the way out the door to the van afterward he said, "Hey, Mom. Do you want to know why I am so happy? It's because I have the Holy Ghost!!" It was the cutest thing to hear. His happiness that whole evening was just bouncing off of him. I am so happy that he wanted to get baptized and have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost upon him as his constant companion. We sure to love this second son on ours!

Thank you so very much to our family who traveled from Idaho to share his special day. We really loved spending time with Grandma's and Grandpa's, and we all miss them already. Our growing family is so blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our lives. Today during Sacrament Meeting, Brother Webb asked him to come up to the front so the ward could sustain him the newest member. He was too short to see over the pulpit, so Bro. Webb lifted him up while he was talking. It was so adorable. I hope he always remembers Bro. Webb holding him up in front of the congregation.  Congratulations, Zenock!! We all love you SO MUCH!!

Trunk-or-Treat

 From left to right: Percy Jackson, Wicket, Redneck Brady, Brady's pregnant bride, Yoda, and Hiccup.

 Playing carnival games. Gideon kept picking out ball prizes. Ayla kept picking out the candy. Their costumes are recycled from last year. Both of them LOVED their costumes much more this year. Gid was very proud of his Yoda hat. Throughout the night Ayla kept pointing to herself saying "mine" and petting her tummy. I think she really liked wearing a fuzzy costume.

 Partially recycled costumes from last year. For some odd reason my Leia dress was made big enough to fit prego me into it this year. And the veil...it's from my wedding day :) I haven't worn it in almost 11 years. Brady had a blast getting his camo gettup together. For those curious, his hat says: Si for President.

 I made Ammon's Percy Jackson shirt with tshirt vinyl. Love the stuff! Zenock's pants were recycled from last year's Luke pants and dyed green. I added some "leather armor" to it, and partically covered a black shirt in it as well. His armor chest plate is made from vinyl upholstery stuff. It's hard to tell, but he has 3 belts on. One across the chest and 2 on his abdomen. Look up Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon 2 and you'll get the idea.

 The kids got to have hot dogs for dinner. These three loved it.

 Ammon loves chili, so he made an "Idaho Haystack." Smart kid, he is. I did that too!

 After dinner and before the trunking treating began the whole ward sang happy birthday to Ammon. Here is Ayla enjoying a piece of birthday cake. See how she's eating it normally with a fork in the top photo? Well, below she decided using her hand was faster.

 And messier...

And more tasty.

We painted pumpkins this year. All the kids, except Ayla, did their own. From left to right: Zenock's spear, Gideon's blue blob, Ayla's Olaf, my happy face with some help from Gideon, and Ammon's Percy Jackson sword.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Kids friend B-day party this year

 The boys wanted to play capture the flag, like in the first Percy Jackson book. In order to have enough kids play we combined parties again this year. Ammon's team was the Blue Olympians. Zenock's team was the Black Dragons (like Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon). We did a pinata after the flags were caught by each team. Gideon got the first wack at a bad guy. One side of the pinata was the bad dragon from How to Train Your Dragon 2. The other side was a bad guy from Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.

 Boys love wacking the bad guy. It was a little harder this year since everyone got to be blind folded and spun around a few times.

 Zenock showing us his bad guy side: the Alpha Dragon.

 Ammon showing his bad guy side: Kronos.

 Zenock's team: Black Dragons. Ellie, Kevin, Hunter, Elijah, and not pictured is Christopher and Mason.

 Ammon's team: Blue Olympians. Kyle, Emma, Ben, Bryson, Isaiah, not pictured is Trevor.

 Thanks to all the kids who came to play at the park with us!!!

Mom's cupcakes were really good, right Ayla?

Happy #10 to Ammon!!

 Before breakfast today Ammon got to open his presents. Gideon and Ayla were more than happy to help him with the opening part.

 They were also wonderful helpers holding up all of Ammon's presents so we could see what he got. There's the Heros of Olympus #1-3, Webolos stuff for scouts advancement, a Red Ryder BB gun, cansister of BBs, and new tire tubes for his bike. 

 After the big kids left for school, the little kids helped me make Ammon's cake. They make great beater lickers!

And the finished product! TADA!! For those who don't know, this is Percy Jackson's sword, Riptide. It's from his very favorite book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Any guesses how long this thing is????? Okay, I bet you already gave up. 35 inches is the correct number. We took it with us to the trunk-or-treat party at the church tonight. The whole ward sang happy birthday to him and then helped us eat the cake. Happy birthday Ammon!! We are all so glad you have been in our family for TEN years!!

Preschool field trip number 2!

The Pumpkin Patch. Gideon was really nervous the whole time, even crying for a while. He refused to go on the bucket ride with Brady and Ayla. Ayla was loving it though, looking very content swinging around and around.

 We made Gideon go on the swing ride, even though he was refusing because he loves the swings at the park, and this is basically the same. He cried for just a little bit, and then stopped. I saw a smirky smile toward the end of the ride, which I noticed he was trying to hide.

 They also had a bounce house and an inflatable slide, which both of them didn't like at all. There was a petting zoo with goats, chickens, ducks, and two rabbits. Ayla was in HEAVEN! Gideon didn't want to touch anything, but he liked walking around looking at the animals.

 They both were no cooperating for a cute picture with the giant pumpkins.

At the end of the field trip the kids got a prize bag to take home. In each one was a baby pumpkin. Gideon carried it around with him the rest of the day. Ayla took a bite out of hers, which made Gid really concerned and unhappy. I had to sneakily throw it away before it got more bites and more yucky.

Happy Birthday to Zenock!

 The lucky birthday boy got to open his presents before breakfast!

 Kite, green tie, Max Steel toy, r/c helicopter, and scriptures were his loot today. We then ate and quickly got ready for church.

 Please use your imagination when looking at this cake. It's supposed to be Toothless's face. The green eyes didn't show up very well on top of the black frosting, but they are green, I promise.

 After naps we took dinner and the cake to Brady's work since he couldn't get the day off. Frozen pizza and homemade cheese breadsticks were his dinner picks.

The cake was delicious! Everyone had black tongues and teeth afterward :) We are so happy to have this cute boy in our family. He gets baptized on Nov. 1st, which he is SO excited for. HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY ZENOCK!!!