I'm BAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!

Ok, so it's been brought to my attention by several people that my blog has become severely neglected. One friend even asked for me to update as a Christmas present to her (Merry Christmas DEE!) So at last I have a long list of post to update you through Halloween. Fortunately we had a pretty uneventful November so it won't take long to get completely caught up.
Anyway, why have I been so absent you ask. Well, most of you know already but here are my two major excuses.
Reason #1

Ok, so this isn't OUR baby but I keep forgetting to have Junior take the ultrasound to work and scan it in. All babies look the same at this point so it'll have to do until Junior gets one up.
We're having a baby boy, due April 5th (the day after Vita's b-day, he's hoping and praying it comes on his birthday). Both the boys are very excited for a new brother. Kalei is pretty bummed she's not getting a sister but I'm sure she'll accept him when he comes.
Names being considered
Sister (Kalei)
Batman (Tavita)
Arrow (Tavita)
Skyler (Brayden)
Lafe (Mom and Dad)
Taivin (Mom and Dad)
This pregnancy has definitely been a tough one. I started feeling sick when I was only a few weeks along. The nausea/throwing up gets worse and worse with each one and it was a bugga this time around to say the least. In addition to the nausea I had intense migranes and a lot of pains I haven't had with the others. We had a little scare at the beginning that put me on brief bedrest but everything turned out fine and baby is healthy.
The Lord provided a tender mercy by allowing the me to feel the baby kicking very early on. It helped a lot when I was having the weird pains to know that baby was ok, I would've been a nervous wreck if not.
Things are good now, I started feeling better right around Halloween. I still have occasional migranes and a lot of pains all the time which is hard because I ran throughout my other pregnancies and haven't been able to with this one. I really miss having running as an outlet for stress but am glad that is the only real lingering issue I have.
Baby is VERY active, the most active one yet. For some reason #4 has me more scared then any other baby. It just seems a lot more overwhelming to me. In spite of that we are SOOOOO excited for this little guy to join our family. The kids talk about the baby all the time. The love pulling up my shirt and seeing how much bigger my belly has gotten.
Reason #2

That's right, we're taking a major plunge here and moving down to AZ and it has been much more of an emotional roller coaster then I ever expected. When we first moved here 5 years ago I was dying for ANY avenue out. I didn't like living in Utah, I didn't like the cold, I just wanted OUT! Fast forward 5 years and we have become very comfortable here. Out neighbors have become some of our closest friends. The kids have an almost idyllic situation when it comes to playmates. There isn't a day that goes by that there isn't a pack of kids running around and living on a cul-de-sac they have a pretty big range of play space. We love having the mountains so close by to take last minute day trips to. We love how family oriented it is here and the endless events and activities provided to families.
On a whim Junior applied for two jobs; one in Hawaii, one in Arizona. Both are places we have talked about returning to. Both came back with offers. Initially we thought we'd take the job in Hawaii, since we still ache to go back there even after being away for 5 years. However, it never felt right so Junior turned it down. When Arizona became a more viable option we started really fasting and praying about what we should do. It was a LONG decision process but in the end we decided it was the right thing to do. Even after all the praying and KNOWING it was right it took every bit of our self-control not to back out of the whole deal. We DID NOT want to go. We didn't want to leave our house, our nieghborhood, Junior's 5-min bike ride to work, the convience of having him come home everyday at 4:30 etc. Financially it didn't make sense either. The housing market is still so bad we are having to turn our house into a rental just to turn around and rent a house down in Arizona. The list of reasons to stay put goes on. In the end, it all boils down to the fact it feels right so we're going with it. Junior will be working for Phoenix Children's Hospital as their Clinical Analyst for cardiology. We're really excited for the opportunity. Junior said long ago that he would love to work for a children's hospital. Their cardiology department is new so he'll be their first analyst which gives him the chance to kinda do things his way as well as provides a lot of room for growth. Junior starts on Janurary 3rd but it's still up in the air when the rest of us will join him.
We are so excited for the new adventures that lie ahead of us. We're excited to be living by old friends and family. We're excited for no snow (ok, so maybe that's just me).

Anyway, all that matters is I'm back in action. Enjoy the myriad of posts below. I can sleep more restfully knowing that I'm caught up through Halloween. Now only November and a bit of December to go!

Halloween Festivities

Ok, so Halloween was about the time our camera went from somewhat broken to just about all the way broken (we got a new one on black Friday and our old camera became the kids prized possession). Here is a quick rundown of our festivities.
Halloween begins very early in our house. Tavita is slightly beyond obsessed with this holiday. Our decorations were up early, we did a lot of crafts, and had many a gatherings with friends. All of which I got little or no pictures of. Here are the few we did take/ stole from friends cameras.
One night we made candy corn buckets for decorations and had ghost milkshakes for desserts.

We had a pumpkin carving party with the Shorts, Halls, and Hoovers. Had yummy soup in bread bowls to kick off the night!

Then the pumpkins came out. The boys did pretty good this year at scraping their own pumpkins. Kalei just stared in hers saying "YUCKY!"

The kids soon lost interest and ran off to play. I slaved away carving while Junior took a nap. Ok, so really I traced a little of this pattern while Junior was carving another pumpkin. He is our master carver and carved all three pumpkins. Some freehand and some with a pattern. They turned out awesome but we totally forgot to light them on Halloween. OOOPPPS!

Wouldn't be Halloween without some yummy dirt n worms!

The Tuesday before Halloween we had our annual Halloween carnival. The kids love it. Their favorite is always the spook alley.

Finally the long awaited night arrived and we headed out for some serious trick-or-treating. Ok so I only tagged along for a handful of houses then headed back to hand out candy. However, while I was gone our street had around 60 trick-or-treaters. By the time I got back (which was still early) we were only getting one every 20 mins or so. I had a glorious 1 1/2 hours of snoozing on the couch handing out the occasional handful of candy.

We came back and the kids started in on their much anticpated free for all of their loot. This little girl DID NOT STOP from the minute the first candy hit her bucket until bedtime. It was crazy how much she put away. Candy become very limited after Halloween night so she might as well get it while she can.

For some reason Tavita felt the need to hide while eating his candy even though every other kid had a bucket to themselves so there weren't any prowlers.

Brayden didn't have too much interest in the candy. He was having more fun running around playing with friends. It's become a tradition for us to have a post-trick-or-treating gathering at our house. Everyone brings a non-sugary snack to try and counteract all the sugar intake. The kids run wild while us adults enjoy eachothers company and hand out candy. Trick-or-treaters love it because one house yields several houses worth of loot.

Jaker's Pumpkin Patch

One thing Utah does not have a shortage of is pumpkin patches. They are all over the place, offer all different activities and at all different prices. We've been to quite a few of them but one remains our favorite. It's not just because everything but the pumpkins are free (though that is a huge bonus), we love that it's so small and family friendly. There's a cute old man that runs it and the kids look forward to going all year long. They have haystack mazes, haystack mountains to climb on, a corn pit, petting zoo (all typical farm animals except a random kangaroo, made me laugh), hayrides, and of course PUMPKINS!
This little girly could've spent her whole time here. It was actually incredibly comfortable to lay down in!(and yes, she wears those two tutus ALL the time

Jumping for joy!

Getting ready for the hayride.

Every year we've gone to this patch, we have seen a flock of geese flying South.

The kids with their picks. It was totally by coincidence their pumpkin size coincided with their age.

We also took a trip to a 2nd patch with Tavita's preschool. They had fun, but like I said we all prefer Jakers.

My Baby Sister Got Married!

I still can't believe it.
When she was living with us a while back I thought it wierd when she'd ask to borrow the car because there was no way she was old enough to drive.
We dropped her off at BYU-I, and I felt like she didn't belong there either, I felt like I should still be there.
Then she started bringing this Ben fellow around. I thought that was really wierd. She definitely wasn't old enough to be talking marriage.
But she is! She found a great guy and we're so happy for both of them!
The wedding was great and the kids LOVED thier trip to Idaho. I don't know what it is about that place but it's magical for kids. It must be all the wide open space to just run. Kalei still asks all the time to "Go to Idaho, see Auntie and the Kittys" (Ben's family had a cute litter of kittens running around)
Can't go to Idaho and not pick some potatoes!

Cute kiddos waiting for the newlyweds to come out of the temple!

The happy couple!

Getting their cake ready. This is two sibling wedding in a row where I've been strutting by grubbies as everyone shows up for the reception. Oh well, the cake was ready just in time!

Head table

The dinner spread. Junior and I are definitely used to cooking for polynesians. There was A LOT of food leftover.

Smart couple, taking the time to eat!

LeiLei and her Grandpa!

These two got along 100x better than the last time they were together. It was so fun to watch them.

Cutting the cake! I was very glad the lights were dimmed cause that sucker had a lot of flaws.

Our ever-expanding family

The day after the wedding Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to one of Idaho's little secrets: BearWorld
I was feeling utterly exhausted and couldn't stop throwing up so Junior and I hung out at the hotel room while everyone else went and had fun. We were sad to miss out but man did we thouroughly enjoy those few hours of quiet!
Everyone crammed into our van to drive through and see all the animals!

With Auntie Jennica on a ride. We have a similar ride here and Brayden will have nothing to do with it. But these two seemed to enjoy it.

Getting kisses!

One good looking group!

On the way home Kalei started complaining her tummy hurt. We didn't have anything on hand in case she truly got sick so I hurried and grabbed the cake pan. Luckily she never used it. Now I can continue to bake cakes with peace of mind.

Daddy's 32nd birthday/ Summer Finale Fail Yet Success

So, shortly after school started we wanted to do a final summer outing. Just so happened to be a few days before Junior's birthday. The plan was for Junior to come home from work early, head to 7 Peaks (the waterpark) and party til the sun went down.
Well, went to 7 Peaks, it was closed. FAIL!
No worries, we figured we'd head over to the community pool. It was closed, FAIL
Ok, we'll just head over to the splash pad at the Riverwoods. All water was turned off so they could do some plumbing. FAIL
We decided to skip the swimming and head to a movie. There were no kid-friendly movies playing at the $1 theater (the only theaters we're willing to take kids to. Ahh, who am I kidding, the only place we're willing to take ourselves too as well.) so idea #4 FAIL!
We figured the day was a flop but then I remembered a fun little park I had spotted near the Riverwoods so we decided to check it out. It was a BEAUTIFUL park with two playgrounds, hills and best of all, a RIVER/STREAM! There were a few kids swimming in it, and the boys didn't hesitate to jump in and join. It was quite nippy but they had fun none the less. Kalei wasn't having it but she had fun playing at the park. Finally a SUCCESS!!!

That day also happened to be the day Junior's coupon for a free meal at Tucanos showed up (a yummy all you can eat Brazilian place). So after we spent a few hours swimming and playing we dried up, cleaned up, and headed back to the Riverwoods to eat. Not only do we enjoy eating here the kids LOVE it too. Combine the fact kids eat free with a birthday coupon and it's a steal. Whole family ate a feast for $20! I think Tucanos regretted the "kids eat free" policy with Brayden. He easily out ate Junior and I, he had the servers in shock. All 3 kids think their grilled pineapple is the greatest thing ever invented.
Junior and my highlight was watching the kids eat lemons.

The kids highlight of the night, having the servers come sing and dancing along.

We ended the night with a rented movie and popcorn. Overall we considered our Summer Finale to be a success!

1st Day of School!!!

The first day of school was a long awaited event for both Brayden and Tavita.
Much to Brayden's chagrin Tavita got to start school 1 1/2 weeks ahead of him (for some reason Kindergarten starts later then the rest of the schools here). Tavita was excited to go to the school "where you get a blanket and have a castle party." It's the same preschool Brayden went to 2 years ago (My Smartworld). It's a great school, very interactive, lots of arts and crafts, music, and incredible teachers; but I didn't want to go back since it was in Lindon (15 minute drive). I know it sounds whiny but when you pass at least 4 other preschools and are tracking through snow it's not fun.
Anyway, after enduring an entire year of listening to Brayden say how much he missed his old preschool and Tavita say how much he wanted to go to Brayden's old school we caved. Actually it was after our good friends/neighbors said they wanted to send their daughter so carpooling came into play which meant only driving half the time.
It has worked out really well and Tavita enjoys school. He loves all the different crafts they do and is always walking around the house singing songs he's learned.
Here's a rundown of how a day goes when Tavita gets home.
M: How was your day?
T: Good
M: What did you do/learn?
T: Played on the playground and I don't know.
(after about 1 1/2 months of this response and me going through his backpack to try and figure it out it has become this )
T: Why don't you look in my backpack and find out!
M: Oh, it looks like you learned about the letter S. What sound does the letter S make?
T: I have NOOOOO idea
M (in my head): Wow, that's $135 well spent!
He is starting to recognize his numbers and letters and is always trying to sound words out to read so I know it's sticking, he apparently just doesn't want to show it.
His coloring has gotten very good and he talks constantly about all his friends he's made. His best friend at school is Aiden.
I was actually on bedrest for Tavita's first day of school so I didn't get any pictures. Here are some I snapped the following week.
2 uncooperative preschoolers and 1 very hopeful little girl (she was quite upset when I didn't let her stay with Tavita and Emma)

Tavita and his teacher Ms. Diana

Brayden was sooooo excited to start kindergarten, ride the bus and go to school with the "big kids". For the 1 1/2 weeks Tavita and his friends that are in 1st/2nd grade went to school, Brayden was going through sheer torture.
The night before his 1st day of school he laid out his clothes, filled his water bottle, packed a snack and made sure he had everything packed and ready to go for the next day.
That morning he was up and trying to head out the door at 6:30 am. Problem is his bus doesn't come until 8:08 and he only has about 100 yards to trek to get there. Finally at 7:55 I broke down to his begging and we departed for his day. Tavita hoped on his bike, Kalei was in the stroller and we started at a nice leisurely walk that lasted to the end of our driveway. He caught a glimpse of his friend Jeremy who was just as excited to start kindergarten. So our walk turned into this:

The Parent Paparazzi was out in full force that morning to snatch some pics of all this:

Here is Brayden with his 2 best buddies. Carson (the big 1st grader) was more then happy to show Brayden and Jeremy the ropes.

Here's my baby getting on the bus (I may or may not be one of those mom's that cry as their kids go off to school)

After he got on the bus, the kids and I quickly loaded into the van and followed the bus so we could see Brayden at school (I had just wanted to drive him for his first day but he was adament he be allowed to ride the bus)
Here's our big boy ready to step foot into a real classroom for the first time.

Brayden and his incredible teacher Ms. Francis (The 1st day of school happened to be yellow day, Brayden was totally prepared and didn't even know it!)

Our neighborhood had a HUGE group head of to kindergarten this year so we had to get a picture of all of them when they got off the bus (3 of them escaped home before we got the picture). It's so fun to watch this swarm of little people pile off the bus.

The kids' trek home went much like their trek to the bus stop.

Two happy boys, feeling very grown up after their first day!

Brayden has done very well in kindergarten so far. I had a hard time at first when the work he was doing was more simplistic then the work Tavita was bringing home (they spent the 2 weeks of school learning colors, Kalei could've kept up) but it seems like their slowly becoming more academic. He has started learning more sight words and his cutting skills have really improved.
I recently went to parent-teacher conference and his teacher had nothing but good to say about him. He's excelling in all aspects of school and his the "leader" in the class.
He has already gone through 2 girlfriends, whom he proudly admits to holding hands with but knows better then try to kiss them because "their daddy's will come after me." (His daddy is passing wisdom on to him)
If you ask him what he likes best about school he'll proudly say "Riding the bus and recess"
What can I say, we have 2 academically focused boys!

Tavita and Kalei's Big Adventure

This summer Tavita and Kalei went out on their own. They up and left us for a couple days and took a trip to Idaho. Ok, they weren't completely alone, Grandma and Grandpa took them up to go visit Auntie Janessa and Uncle Ben (Brayden chose to stay back for a birthday party). They may have only gone as far as Idaho but you woulda thought it was an adventure of a lifetime. They had a blast. I love looking at the pictures of the trip because they look like they were best friends through it all. While their relationship is improving, this summer, they couldn't stand to be within 20 feet of each other.
One would imagine Idaho to be nothing but a vast expanse of potato fields. If that is what you are imagining right now, you are absolutely RIGHT! However, they did find a few spots amongst the fields to have some fun.
Getting ready to go for a swim

Hanging out on the tractors. The majority of the pics that came back were of these two cuties and every kind of tractor you can imagine. I'll only present two of them at this time. They happen to be the same kind of tractor but trust me, there were A LOT!


Chowin some cotton candy

Playing with the cows

Jumping with Uncle Ben (I still love my kids wound up with an Uncle Ben, such a classic Uncle name)

Riding the carousel

Here are a few other random pictures I snagged.
Hanging out in their little fort they built

3 little monkeys jumping on a bed

I don't know if I mentioned this story before but its a classic. It's old, but had to be recorded. This past spring, my mom came in for a visit. We picked her up and stopped to play a little laser tag on the way home (a favorite past time for the boys).
My mom sat out with Kalei and I took the boys in. The guy (I'll be generous and put him at 22-23) running the show was proudly showing off how they added a smoke machine on your way in to make it seem more like a subway (The laser tag is supposed to take place on the streets of New York). We were about 2 min into the game when the fire alarm started going off. I gathered the boys and headed for the exit. We walked into a room FILLED with smoke and the poor employee running around yelling "It won't turn off, it won't turn off."
Apparently in the meantime, my mom and Kalei were downstairs when the alarm went off and a guy came running out of the kitchen yelling, "FIRE!!! Everyone out, everyone out." My mom and others who had family in playing Laser Tag were a bit worried since we hadn't come out and the rest of the building had been evacuated. It just took us a little longer because we couldn't see 6 inches in front of us while we were trying to get out.
We got outside and the parking lot started filling with fire trucks and police cars. they all went in, in full gear. It was a great show for the kids, way better than any game of laser tag. These nice men were kind enough to pose with the kids.

Needless to say, the next time we went back there was no more smoke machine.