So be good for goodness sakes!

Sherri...

Thank you so much for bringing your "friend" Santa over to Barbie's house! This was such a fabulous night and so much fun (and not just for the kiddos!).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Carter did not know what to think of Santa...it was hilarious!

Cash-man

Uncle Austin...one of the best Uncles...ever!
Cash "reading" his list to Santa (not quite sure what he wants)
Reese's list which reads (I'll have to scan it later)...

Dear Santa,

I would like a dog.

Love Reese
* After lots of discussion about our family not getting a pet for a long, long time...we came to a compromise that she can ask for {another} toy dog...she says it has to be black all over.

Group shot with cousin, Gage
My munchkins & Santa...no tears this year...HOORAY!

Reese & Cash...so typical of Cash

Cash's "pose"

It is so Michael and we just think it's hysterical that this is the way he stands the majority of the time. This was when he was still trying to figure out the whole Santa-thing.

Still in disbelief that Santa was really at their Barbie's house

What a fun night!

Thanks again, Sherri and Dave!

Bring on the Food!

Carter-girl hit her 6 month mark and it just so happened that we were in Phx for the weekend and staying at my mom's house. We thought it was time for our mini-Reese to try out the whole rice cereal thing. She was ready beyond belief and did amazing! Three bowl fulls later, she was finally full. Phew! Since then she's also tried and loved peaches and squash. Gotta love a baby that's a good/easy eater!

Ummmm...yes....we do occasionally suck on those luscious cheeks!

Virginia

A few weeks ago, we packed our bags (lots of them) and drove {4 hours} to Phoenix. Bright and early the next morning we boarded a plane and headed out to Virginia {6+ hours on a plane} with all 3 of our munchkins. It was a {very} long trip...but so worth it! My step-sister, Denise got married to Stu {major congrats in order} and it was a fabulous wedding.

After their special day, we were so thrilled to stay with my Dad, John, and incredible step-mom, Sherrill for a week.Thank you guys so much for your amazing Southern hospitality! I wouldn't necessarily say that it was a vacation {do those exist when taking along 3 small children?}, but it was certainly a trip I will never forget. I cannot fully express in words how much it means to me for my kids to know my Dad.

They live out in the country in Virginia and it was straight out of a movie. The leaves and scenery took our breath away day after day. Dad and Sherry, thank you again for such a wonderful trip! We miss you so much and love you dearly!

*Beware of picture overload...the fall leaves were so gorgeous that Michael and & I went a little crazy with the camera!

Don't you just love when you get around new people and your crazy, social kids become shy and somber? This lasted about 10 minutes, exactly the time length that the fabulous photographer was capturing family pics.

Gotta love it.

Our little fam

A pumpkin patch that my Dad took us to that was absolutely perfect. It put all the AZ patches that we've attended to shame. Thanks, Dad!

We {heart} Papa John!

Typical Cash

Reese started bawling on the plane ride home. When we asked her what was wrong, she sobbed,"I miss Papa John & Grandma Sherry!" She cherished her time with them.

Carter-girl & Papa John

Hmmm...what can I get into next? Papa John has lots of cool stuff!

This is actually in my Dad's front yard. It was so beautiful that it looked fake. No seriously. It looks like I took my kids to Kmart to get their pics taken and the photographer pulled down the screen in back of them with this picture of a tree and such on it. We were really there and it was really this beautiful.Honest. You need to check it out one day. I highly recommend it.

She gets these poses from her Dad. Promise.

Me and my Dad

This is the road along the side of my Dad's house.

My handsome hubby.

Love. this. guy.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

I have so many more pics, especially of the wedding, so...to be continued!

Halloween (catching up)

Whew...it sure has been a whirlwind-of-an October for us! I've got a lot of catching up to do, so here goes...

Halloween 2009
We were lucky enough to be passing through Phoenix on our way back to Cali from Virginia (more about that later) and got to trick-or-treat in AZ! Super fun!

I definitely missed my annual Halloween party tradition this year...such is life though. Change is good. The break was kind of nice. Moving on...

We had a butterfly... (Carter, 5 months)...just loving the costume thing...

A soldier...(Cash, 2 years)...and yes, that's a popped leg on his pose, gotta love it...
And a "cheetah kitty cat"...Reese (4 years)...Loved Halloween this year!

Carter-girl and G money...we're so cruel to dress them up like this...yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Cousins that are 6 weeks apart to the day.

Cash was SO excited to be able to match Baby "Dage."

*Incredible Camo costumes were created from scratch by my amazing little sis, Brittany. I am so proud of you, sister and we're extremely grateful for such a rockin' costume for Cash! So... what are you going to make them for next year? ha... sort of just kidding!

Barbie working her make-up magic...can you tell Reese was just a tad bit excited about this part???

Cash's turn. Thank heavens for jet-lag. I was so worried that Halloween would be a down-right disaster after just flying in from the East coast (3 hr. time diff) the previous night...but alas, we had our prayers answered because Cash was uncharacteristically subdued. Made for a fabulously fun night.

*A side note...he actually wore the hat the entire night. See...I wasn't incredibly cruel last year forcing him to wear the disco afro wig...it prepped him for years to come!

Gage's turn..he was such a good sport

Group shot with my fam

(It was so nice just being together. Thank you for everything, guys! We love you!)

Super grandma with all my little goblins

It was so precious...this was how Cash wanted to go for most of the time in my parent's neighborhood. What would we do without Barbie???

Austin (a.k.a. The Best Uncle Ever!) devised a sweet ride for the kids. They got to go Trick-or-treating in style! Thank you Aus for helping the process go by MUCH faster this year and the kids loved it. thank you!

They had it rough.

Our darling little butterfly (thank you Morgan for snuggling her!)

After hitting my parent's neighborhood, we got to head over to Michael's parents neighborhood and go with all of that side's cousins. loved being able to do that.

This is certainly not all of the grandkids...but a fun portion that I was so thrilled to hang with before heading "home" to Cali.

That's still weird to say!

Happy Halloween.

We've been busy...how 'bout you?

Well, we have had a VERY busy couple of weeks. We're finally starting to feel somewhat settled here in Cali (still weird that we don't live in AZ). We headed to Virginia for a beautiful family wedding (more to come when I'm not so exhausted), celebrated a fabulous Halloween with family in AZ (definitely more to come on this one as well), and have lived to tell about both (quite a feat with 3 little ones and a cross-country trip that was a total of 11 days). It was certainly touch and go at some points of our trip!

*Before I sign off I have to give a shout out to an amazing photographer, Kim at bubsiedesigns.com. Her work is incredible and I would love, love, love to win her give-away!

P.S. Here's a little sneak peak of our trip...

Moving!

Well, the time has come for our little family to say Good-bye to...

and Hello to...
Michael has been commuting to Palm Springs, CA for work since May (4 hour drive). He spent way too many nights alone in a hotel there while we tried to survive as best as we could back home without him.

Needless to say, we were ready to have our family together...whatever the cost may be.

We are excited to embark on this next chapter in our lives and we're thrilled to think of all of the family time we'll be able to experience (something that Grad school and commuting hasn't allowed much of). It has been extremely emotional for us to handle all that we're leaving behind (both of our families, the best ward EVER, friends, perfect preschool for Reese, and on and on), but we know that this is where we need to be. It is a wonderful work opportunity for Michael, but more so, an incredible chance for us to slow down and soak in these precious days with our children, who seem to be growing up way too fast.

My tears are still "on the verge" pretty much 24/7 right now because this whole experience has been way more than I anticipated, but it has allowed so many chances {already!} for me to grow in ways I never expected...and the journey has just begun.

To those HP friends we leave behind...you have no idea how much we love and appreciate you!

To all of our family and friends...we're only 4 hours away...start planning your visits!!!

Bathing Suit Beauty

Little miss Carter took her first dip in our pool. In true Carter fashion, no big reaction...but her siblings LOVED the fact that she was in the pool with us! Love these munchkins.