Veterans Day

No School on a Wednesday = opportunity to go see our new baby, Beaudie. :) We haven't seen him, since he was 1 week old and at 9 weeks, he has grown so much! He is so precious.

Ren wanted to hold Beaudie a lot. It was very cute. We headed to the park for lunch and playtime. Charlie was with us so Porter wasn't totally bored. They played basketball for a while. And as you can see from the photos and video, Charlie was a busy guy at the park. I think dad's are the best at taking kids to the park! :)

Porter climbed this tree several times. Isn't he so big and handsome? I can't believe this is my baby boy! This big 13 year old, who wants a lap top for Christmas! Ya right!

Quin and Chloe strike a pose.

Liberty and Ren are so beautiful, huh?

This is a good uncle and a Veteran, by the way. And yes, that is Chloe being swung around! She is getting a little big for this, I think! Luckily Charlie has those big muscles. I guess he needs to use them for something.
Ren was running around all over. I love looking at his little expressions as he plays.

That is Ellie getting swung way high over Charlie's 6 foot shoulders! Her arms almost fell out of the sockets! But did she want more...oh yes!

Charlie was able to swing his own children around some too. Quin takes a turn here. They were nice to share their dad for the day!

Beaudie didn't do any swinging around. Isn't he so cute!?

No one wanted to leave the park, except maybe Porter. :) It was a really fun day! I got Quin, Ellie, MJ and Drex to pose for one more photo and I thought it comical that Porter dove in at the last second. He usually runs from the camera. And those are Chloe's jazz hands back there behind Ellie!

Charlie, Liz and I. I love these guys!

November Nonsense

Has anyone heard of David Archeleta? OK...Just in case, he was the runner up on American Idol 2 years ago. He has a hit song "Crush" now and is pretty famous. He is also mormon.

So, last Sunday there was a youth fireside where he came and spoke and sang. Porter was obviously invited and Chloe turns 12 on the 30th, and begged to be able to go. I knew the place would be packed and no one would notice an 11 year old. :) So, a few hours before the fireside, I had stake choir practice. We are singing at an interfaith concert this Sunday. And the stake pres came and asked us to sing for the fireside. So, I got to go to the fireside too. And one of Rusty's assignments of his calling is set up of stake events, so he had an invite.

David (we are on a first name basis now) mostly talked. He talked about how he got in to singing. And his experiences on American Idol. My kids thought he was awesome. But personally I was bored. He is a very young 18 year old. Cute, but young. I did like that he was very humble. He said he didn't know why people liked his voice cause he is all nasaly. He seems like a really nice kid. But when he sang....whoa! His voice is so warm. He sang "Be Still, My Soul". I've never heard that sung quite that way. It was beautiful and amazing and moving. Then he sang "How Great Thou Art", accapela. Again, moving and joyful! He also sang "The Spirit of God". I think of that kind of like a march. But he sang it smooth and gentle and it was amazing. I wish I had those on cd. I hope he makes a hymn cd with those on it. I'd say I was a fan before. Like I have "Crush" on my ipod. But now I really feel like a fan. He is so talented. Now as a speaker, not so much. But a musician, far beyond his years.

So, at beginning of the fireside, before David arrived, we were told that he would not be signing autographs or taking photos, but that he would be leaving directly after the meeting. But at the end when they were preparing to escort him out, he said he had time to shake hands with whoever wanted to. The whole room gasped with joy at the statement! :) It was very cute. I left immediatly, to get home to my little kids while Rusty stayed to put down chairs and stuff. Porter and Chloe both shook his hand. Porter shook his hand and said hi, David answered back with huh? (He didn't hear Porter) So, Porter said hi again, the response was yet again, huh? One more time...hi, huh? Then they all laughed and Porter moved on! That seemed typical to me, Porter can be very quite sometimes. Chloe on the other hand, well, she met David and I think he heard everything she said. She told him she brought him a gift, a scripture bag she made herself. (She was bored on Saturday, so got out the sewing machine and a scrap of pink and green material and made a scripture bag.) David gushed his thanks and said he'd never had a scripture bag before. That's Chloe's story anyway. She vowed to never wash her hand again, but was forced to do so after she used the restroom later. :)

There you have it. I want to get his Christmas CD now.

Rollerskating!

Flash back to the 70s. Leilani, Mark, Cathy, Patty, Rusty, Kathleen, Pam, me and Robin sitting.

When is the last time you went rollerskating? For me, high school! So, my friend, Leilani and I planned a skating night. We invited the whole ward basically. In fact, "Rachel and Leilani's adult skate party" was even announced at the pulpit on Sunday, which was pretty funny.

When we first started skating, I was so stiff and I stayed close to the wall just in case. Rusty wanted me to keep up with him, but he was so much faster than me. But as I got more comfortable, I started to pick up a little speed. It was so cool, skating around and around. I loved it. There were a few regulars who game me a couple of tips...I must have looked pretty pathetic or something! :)

We could even request songs. I did two, Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyes Peas. My family should remember skating to Eye of the Tiger at the Snowflake rink! With the lights low and the disco ball spinning! I tried to think of other songs that we loved to skate to, but I couldn't think of names.

Rusty and I take a break. When the backwards skate began, I was out! Rusty was nice and sat down with me.

I know, I look a little awkward. But by this time, I was feeling pretty good. I think this was right before Rusty decided to spin me! Yes, he really did. Hey Rach, do a twirl. And me...NOOO! As I hit the ground. He cushioned my fall, since he was holding my hand. In fact, he was lucky he didn't come down with me!

My friends, Robin and Laura.


Leilani and Mark. Mark and Rusty were the only guys who came. Most of the girls who were there, had to ditch their hubby's because they wouldn't come! Rusty is so cool, right. He loves me so much, he took me skating. :)

We skating for nearly 3 hours. As the night wore on, I got a little brave. Especially as the I was coming around the bend where the camera was out. I would try to do little tricks or poses. (Hey I wasn't the only one, lots of others were doing it too!) Well, at one point, I lost my balance and went down again! This time I didn't have Rusty to save me, though he was pretty near to help me up! I didn't notice at the time, but I hurt my wrist pretty good. It was just a little spill, but I guess I'm getting old. It was bruised and sore for about a week! It was worth it! :)

Happy Halloween!

Candy, candy and more candy. That is what Halloween means to me! :) I didn't even buy any candy until the day of, so that I wouldn't eat it before the big day. As usual, the kids dressed up for the big evening. Ren was Buzzlightyear. MJ was a witch. Ellie was a pirate, as was Chloe. Porter was a marshmellow. Could you have guessed that from the photo?

It is so fun to see a little guy, like Ren go trick or treating for the first time! All day, the older kids kept asking him if he wanted candy. I think he was getting a big frustrated as he said yes for the umpteenth time, and they would reply, ok, tonight you can have some!

Porter, Chloe and a friend, Summer went out knocking together. They were way too cool to be seen with me and the little kids, of course. And much faster too. Ren was really slow, as he walked the whole way. Ellie and MJ were constantly telling us to hurry! We just went around one side of our neighborhood and I ended up carrying MJ and Ren's bags because they were too heavy for them. That is a sure sign that they had more than enough sugar!

Ren was so precious. I really enjoyed watching his excitment as he waited for candy to be dropped in his bag for no apparent reason! I asked many times if he was ready to go home. He'd just reply, "Mom, I one more."

All night, neighbors kept saying "To infinity and beyond!" or "Buzzlightyear to the rescue!" Ren knew they were talking about him. It was cute to see his face light up with recognition. At one house, they had a bunch of camp style chairs set up in the driveway. One was a Buzz chair. Ren noticed it and pointed and said "Mom, there's me!" It was so adorable!

Buzz, the pirate and the witch getting ready to hit the neighborhood. In all the early photos, Ren is pushing his lazer button and saying "Got you!" He was cracking me up!

The Marshmellow. Porter made a joke to me. He said, "Mom, get it? I'm a 'marsh'mellow!"

Rusty and I went to a Halloween birthday party for a good friend, Robb McCormick. We dressed up in these white 'painters' outfits. We printed up some hazmat signs and taped them to ourselves. We looked pretty good, if I do say so myself! Rusty's idea, creative. I don't have a photo, but one was taken at the party. I'll try to get my hands on it.

Chloe, the pirate and Summer, aka Daphne from ScoobyDoo.

Ellie is eating a eating a sour patch string thing. I love those!

I think this is Porter's candy pile! We always weigh it too. I don't why that started several years ago, but this year Porter raked in about 11 pounds, Chloe and Summer candy was just under that at about 10 pounds! You could get a tummy ache just by looking at all that! :)

Do you see the joy in Chloe's eyes?

Ren loved dumping his candy out to get a look at it all.

He couldn't carry that very far.

Traditionally, Porter sorts his candy. This started in kindergarten, when a teacher sent home a paper to have them sort their candy. He still does it, even writes it all down. Milk Duds were the most popular candy this year...he had a grand total of 42 little packs of those! Snickers and Laffy Taffys were the 2nd most given out candy, he got 32 of both of those! Ugh!!!

We were all playing in the family room, watching tv (sort of), counting candy, eating candy, telling stories of doors the kids knocked on or what friend was texting to say how much candy they got.

I love Ren kisses!

These things make me happy!

Ever since Porter saw some You Tube pogo stick clips he has been wanting a pogo stick. Of course, they are like hundreds of dollars. But we have a friend, Mark, who has all the toys...and he let Porter borrow his pogo. So, we've been having some fun! (Rachelle, what was your cousins name, the pogo stick guy?)

Porter's record is 110 bounces without stopping. He has a few blisters and his wrist is a little sore...no pain, no gain right?

The stick is a flybar. It gets some pretty good air!

Bouncy

Rusty hooked up the gator (is that what is it called?) to his bike. We got this tag-a-long from the same friend, Mark, who loaned us the pogo stick.

Since we were all outside playing pogo and riding bikes, Chloe got out her skateboard. Why not?

More pogo!

Chloe tries. Some of these photos were really fuzzy, and some not. I don't how to control that with my camera. ??
Ren gets a turn on the bike. I was pretty worried that he might decide he was 'done' and just let go while Rusty was pedaling along, so Porter ran behind them pretty much the whole time! What a nice brother, right?
Even I get a try on the pogo. Porter makes it look easy. Yes, I need some shoes, and maybe even some regular clothes on. What can I say...it was Sunday afternoon. Church ends at 4, so I just put on my jammies to be comfortable. Obviously, I lack something that is required to pogo well! The kids were laughing with me, not at me!

Puzzle Time

I love puzzles. A few Sundays ago, the kids brought out this puzzle. We've done it before, several years ago...we haven't done a big puzzle since before Ren was born, I think. It's only 1000 pieces, but I don't think I could handle more than that!! It took a few weeks of everyone doing a few pieces whenever we had a few minutes. We were so proud of our accomplishment, the little kids decided we should have a photo shoot!

Ellie is like a mini Vanna, right?

MJ is proud and loud!

I always like to kiss Ren!

Two thumbs up for a job that is finished...and no missing pieces.

Ren and Ellie thought it was such a hoot to see themselves 'asleep'. I'd take a shot and they'd say...let me see. Then they'd lay down again, ok mom, ready.

A date with the toothfairy.

MaryJane finally lost her first tooth! It's been loose for months. It's been wiggled and waggled, pushed and pulled. Not by me though. Loose teeth gross me out. Mrs. Grant, a teacher at MJ's school who is known for pulling teeth (she pulled 2 of Ellie's) gave it one final tug! Voila. One tooth fairy visit, coming up! Very exciting stuff!