Pumpkin patch

We went to the Galloping Grace pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago.  It was great, as usual!

Jace is a natural on those horses.  He has no fear (which is weird for him)

Makenna does great too.  We went to the Galloping Grace ranch a few times this summer and my kids just LOVE to ride the horses.

This was my favorite picture of the kids... until I looked closer...  Jace had chocolate in his mouth and it drooled out when he smiled!  haha

This one is cute too

Scott turned 30!

Scott turned the big 3-0 on Oct. 13th.  I love that he is a simple man.  All he wanted to do for his birthday was go hiking!  I can do that.  So we headed over to the Sandias to do our favorite hike.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  

Stacy came with us too.

Oh, and we saw a rattlesnake on the way down.... AAAAHHHH!  I almost stepped on it!  Double AAAHH!

Well that wasn't all we were going to do for his birthday.... a couple days later I had a surprise party for him!  Now let me tell ya just how big of a deal that is.  I think I have surprised him 1, maybe 2 times in our entire marriage and it wasn't nearly as big of a secret as this... but I pulled it off!  Rhett invited him to play tennis at the community center... when they got there we all jumped out of the bushes!  I knew he wouldn't want anything fussy, so I thought it would be fun if we played sand volleyball.  It was probably his dream party.  (again he's a pretty simple dude!)  

Sorry, not playing tennis!

I was surprised.... it was a really good game!  Hopefully we'll play more in the future!

These cupcakes were bomb if I do say so... red velvet cupcakes from allrecipes.com

Happy Birthday to my man of life.  Love you muchas!

politics...

My cousin, Tyler, put this video on his blog.  President Benson said some things that are so relevant to us today.  Politics seem to be a touchy subject these days.  Many of my friends have said they want nothing to do with politics or news because it just makes them sad or angry.  Believe me, I understand that.  But I also think that we need to be strong.  It is our generation that President Benson spoke of that needs to defend the constitution.  It is very clear that the constitution is now "hanging by a thread."  I would like to be one of those that stands up for the constitution, for as President Benson said, “the constitution will not be saved in Washington, but by those in this nation who love freedom.”  

It is now time to choose people to represent us.  I feel, as many others do, that it is very hard to find politicians that feel the same way that I feel.  Politicians that are good, wise, and honest.  Although this may be the case, I think it is ultimately better to go with the person that will uphold the constitution more than the other person, and that will defend the family more than the other person.  So that is what I will keep in mind when I go to vote on Tuesday.
Thank you.
That wasn't too bad, was it?  :)

Balloon Fiesta

This year we decided we were going to do the big mass-ascension thing.  We've just never wanted to wake up that early.  Scott's sister, Michelle, was in town so we knew we had to do it.  We decided we didn't want to miss a THANG, so we woke up before 4:00 AM and got to the park and ride by 4:40... Got to the park around 5:00... WAY TO EARLY PEOPLE!  We sat there in the dark for a good almost 2 hours before anything exciting happened.  The kids were so tired, and sitting in the dark doesn't help!  Let's look at the bright side of things, we didn't sit in any lines!

I loved that we got to see some balloons glow before the sun came up... no need to go to the glodeo this year!  

 The first balloon with an American Flag.  The symbol on there is a Zia.  (hehe mom)

So pretty in the morning sky

Jace was in LOVE, but a wreck at the same time!

This is not even close to how many balloons were there  

ya know... DIY

I'm a DIY kinda gal.  I make my own wall-hangings, cut my boys' hair, try to make homemade food as much as possible... I'm all about doing stuff on my own and it saves a buck along the way... so NATURALLY, it only seems LOGICAL for me to pierce my own daughter's ears!  Right?  My sister provided the gun, I went and grabbed some earrings, and we just did it.  Random huh?  They might be slightly, and I mean slightly crooked, but I think they are super cute!  It really is not as hard as it sounds and I highly recommend just doing it at home!  ($10 too!)  I mean, how much training do those Claire's teenagers get anyway?!

This is right after so her right ear is a little red.  It's fine now!

Another DIY I have been doing lately is highlighting my hair.  Again, not as hard as it sounds and I can do it just how I like it.  Well... I decided to get it done professionally this time.  I went to a new girl, and somehow there was a miscommunication on what color I wanted and so I got...

PLATINUM!  Sorry for the lame pic.  Holy cow it was a shocker at first.  I'm going to try to get used to it, otherwise I might need to DIY some lowlights!

Switchfoot- in the flesh!

Remember this post devoted entirely to my favorite band Switchfoot?  Well... on my way to San Diego I had a layover in Utah.  I went to sit down and who was sitting next to me?  Jon Foreman from Switchfoot!  My parents were meeting me there so I decided to wait till they got there cause I had it all planned out how I was going to have them take a pic for me!  They got there a couple minutes later, and my mom and I went to talk to him!  He was THE nicest guy ever.  We small talked for a couple minutes which I wasn't expecting.  I think he really appreciated that I had been a fan since I was 14 and that I've been to a lot of their concerts.  We took a picture together...

So then after that we were buds!  haha, no but he said hi to me another time and then said bye to me at the end!  It was awesome!  (I sound like a teenager!)  His other band-mates were also on board, but they all sat in different areas which I thought was strange.  It was so awesome to see them in person though and deserved it's own post!

Grandma

My sweet Grandma Pike died a couple weeks ago.  I'm going to miss her so much.  She has lived a long life and I'm sure she's so happy now.  I can't wait until I get to see her again.  She was the sweetest, funniest, happiest woman, and has been such a great example to me of the kind of woman I want to be.  

I wrote some things down that touched me at her funeral, so I wanted to write them here since this is my journal these days...

-grandma said, "Keep the commandments, and you'll be happy."  What a simple yet true statement.

-All she cared about was to see her kids happy

-My Aunt read the scripture on charity in 1st Corinthians and it was amazing to be able to say that my grandma was all of those things.  That is what I aspire to be some day.

-My grandma's advice to her daughter was to serve others every day.  Make time in your schedule to serve.

-My grandmother LOVED: dark sees chocolate, handsome men, and soap operas!

My sister took this picture when I was able to visit grandma this summer.  This was the last time I saw her.

 The day of her funeral was the hottest ever recorded in LA: 113 degrees!

 Sistas!

cousins!

It was a sad day and a joyous one.  We were able to celebrate a beautiful life and be together as extended family.  I will remember forever the spirit I felt when I sang "I am a Child of God," "I Often go Walking," and "Families can be Together Forever" with my cousins.  It was one of those testimony-building moments when you know without a doubt that the church is true.  I knew in that moment.  I am SOOOO thankful that I will be able to be with my family forever and that I am able to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I will be with you again grandma!  I love you!

Dixon Apples

We went to Dixon apple farms this year, and holy cow, those apples are YUMMY!  They grow "champagne apples," and they are the yummiest I've ever had... crunchy, sweet, and a little tart.  Now I know why people wait for hours in line to get em!  (luckily we went early and only waited 45 min!)

Potty training

I started potty training Jace this week.  There are 2 things I have been waiting for before I potty trained him...

1. He would actually sit on a big potty (in case we didn't have a potty chair around)

2. We ran out of our massive diaper supply

Well this week, both of those things happened, so I gave it a go.  I cannot believe how well he is doing!  He is highly motivated by the sticker chart/candy thing.  He goes every time I put him on the potty!  I'm so happy!!

This is his new smile he gives me, with his head to the side, haha

I don't know why I think this is so cute but I do!

Ok so Makenna may kill me for this one day...  She has had a really hard time keeping dry at night.  I think it is because she sleeps pretty soundly, but it still has worried me a little!  Well, we have told her for the last year that we would take her to chuck e. cheese if she went dry for 7 days.  She has not done it all year...  Finally she did it!  We are so proud of her!  I'm hoping this is the end...  PLEASE! Please!  She has now gone 13 days.  Hopefully she keeps it up!

Scott has been teaching Jace his basketball stance... not bad huh?!

Makenna turned 5!

On Makenna’s birthday we invited the Burns over for dinner/dessert.  We had spaghetti and breadsticks since that is her favorite!  She loved having all her cousins over, and she had the biggest smile on her face all day.

For Makenna, turning 5 is something she has been looking forward to for a long time!  When she turned 5 she expected to:

-Become an angel (this is what she kept telling me, I had nothing to do with it)

-Never pee at night again (we’ll get to that later)

Those are two big goals!  So far she has lived up to both.  :)  We’ll see how long that lasts!  I love that she really tries so hard to be a good girl.  Sometimes she acts so much more grown up than she is!

Here are some really cute things about her:

She is a walking advertisement; when she sees things at the store or around the house that she’s seen in a commercial, she will tell me about it:

“it’s not clean unless it’s oxyclean”

“swiffer works better than a mop”

“Electrosol is the diamond standard”

etc. etc. etc.

Those advertisers are definitely working on her!

She is an excellent listener/memorizer.  There are a few books we have that she can recite from start to finish.  They are not short books either.  Long ones with lots of words.  It’s crazy.  Scott and I always look at each other like “what in the world?!”

Makenna is loved by many… boys that is.  She always gets along so well with boys, and they love her for it.  I know of at least 3 boys that have little crushes on her.  :)  She loves them too.  The other day she says "I like _____ just as much as I like _____."  Then she thought for a minute... " I just don't know which one I'm going to marry!"  I definitely had a good laugh after that one!

She always wakes up with a smile on her face.  I don't think I have ever seen Makenna upset in the morning!  If only I could always wake up that way!

Makenna LOOOOVes to talk.  She will talk your ear off... even if she doesn't know you... It's cute, but can be very tiring at the same time!

She always takes time to smell the roses!  No, but seriously, she always stops to smell flowers.  She loves flowers and gardening.  She takes very good care of "her" garden that's in the backyard.  She has a green thumb!

She loves to wear makeup.  She puts her eye shadow on all the time and actually puts it on very well!  Sometimes we'll go somewhere and I realize that she's wearing it... awkward... no I do not let my 5 year old wear makeup people...

Makenna loves making friends.  Whenever we go to the park, she says, "I'm going to go make a new friend!" She's so friendly, she'll just walk up to anyone and become their best friend!  I love that about her, because I have never been that way!

There are so many many things I love about her.  She really is such a special little girl, and I'm so glad I get to be her mommy!