The Creative Family

I saw this book on another blog and it looks really neat.
Here are the blogs that talk about it.
http://sewliberated.typepad.com/sew_liberated/2008/04/post.html
http://petitelefant.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html on 10.23.08
both of these blogs look like they have fun ideas.
Hope you can Enjoy

Fall Festival

This past weekend we got together with my brothers and their wives and girlfriends. Jay was the onlyl brother that wasn't there. Ruth had called me during the week suggesting that we have a fall festival, meaning we all get together for the day, play games and have a dinner. So we called everyone and it turned out to be so much fun. Garrett and Ruth came down from Logan with thier girl Adalaide. Chris and Meg came up from Sandy with their girl Lily, and Jeffers and Britny and their girl Emberlyn came up from Provo. They also brought Quinn's girlfriend. We played alot of sports. We set up a badmitton set in the backyard. It was beautiful with all the leaves falling, There are a bunch of large trees in our yard adn neighbors yards that are turning bright yellow and i love to look out the window. We also went to the park and played frisbee. Then the men played basketball while the women decorated cupcakes with the kids. They loved that. Then we all went to the church where we all played volleyball while the kids played on the side. It was such a blast. Volleyball was something we could actually all do together and everyone enjoyed it. Budd and Iwere happy to find this out of course, since we love volleyball. Oh, i almost forgot, Shun, the japanese boy staying with us and his friend Kohei, also spent the day with us and we enjoyed them being part of the family.
It is not over yet. We came home and enjoyed a great dinner together, with Chilli, artisan breads, pasta salad and a great spinach salad. Somehow we had enough for everyone and extra. Later we let allthe kids get their Halloween costumes on and took pics and then they went around to each door in the house and did trick or treating. It was so cute and they really had fun. After all that, we still had enough energy to carve pumpkins, until the kids got tired and everyone needed to head home. What a fun time. We are so happy to have some family closer now and hope that we can keep getting together each month.
Here are some pics from the day.
Brinlee in her fairy costume. What a pose!


Cute baby Emberlyn with a great smile

Brinlee with a cupcake at the park

All the cousins

Biking in Zion

A few weeks ago Budd and I and the kids were able to go to St. George to visit my parents for the weekend. Saturday was a fun filled day. In the morning we drove over to Zion with my Dad and brother Jay. We took the bikes with us and biked in Zion. They now only have shuttle buses that are allowed on the main road so were able to bike with no traffic. You just have to stop your bike when the shuttle buses come and let them pass and that only happened 3 times. It was so beautiful. What an amazing way to see Zion. We really enjoyed, and after that we want to get back into biking more. The bike ride was good work out and when we got back to my parents we crashed for a bit. Then at 5:30 my mom and I went to the dinner and General Relief Society broadcast. Right after that I met up with Budd and we went out the the Tuachan, the outdoor theater. My mom got us tickets to Les Miserable for my bday and, wow, it was amazing. We really enjoyed the night out. Thanks Mom

Emberlyns Blessing

My little brother Jeffers had his little girl Emberlyn blessed on Conference weekend while we were all together. My oldest brother Chris just moved back to Utah from Hawaii, so we are happy to have them closer so we can do more with them. So we were actually to able to have my whole family together again. That is twice since July and hopefully we will be able to do that more with everyone in Utah now. Here is a pic of my family and the kids swinging at the lunch after the blessing. It was such a nice day. We love baby Ember. Oh and one pic of Spence that i forgot to put in the last one and is a classic.

Kids!!

Here are a few photos of what the kids have been up to....messy as usual. They love to help me when we make cake, cookies or zuchinni bread, mostly because they get to lick the beaters. Spencer has been way into swords and so Budd made some out of a swimming noodle and pvc pipe, hoping it wouldnt hurt so bad when they hit eachother. It is the orange one Brinlee is holding in the pic. THey have been a hit at our house. And of course I threw in a photo of them being the darling kids that they are. I made sure to take one of them ready for church before we went out the door. They are full of energy.

Kate is 30!

I cannot believe it, but yes, as of Sept 22, I am now 30. Life really does fly and I am determined to enjoy it even more. I loved General Conference last weekend and it caused me to reflect on my life and how I want to choose to joy in this lifes journey. It is a choice we have. I realized that sometimes I just let life happen to me and I don't think about how i am reacting. I get stressed and down and stuck in a rut. But after listening to the Prophet and Apostles I realize that it is truly my choice to be happy and laugh more and love this wonderful life we are given. I feel so blessed.

So, onto my bday. I wanted to make it somewhat memorable, since is was my 30th. So when we got a free nights stay at a B & B for going to a condo presentation, I chose to go on my bday. So my great friend Mary offered to take the kids over night. Which of course they were so excited for the sleepover. Budd and I took off for Salt Lake where we ate at our favorite restaurant Thai Siam on State street and 13th S. We love that place and suggest it to everyone. Then we stayed the night at the Armstrong Mansion, a beautiful 100 year old victorian house made into a nice B & B. We stayed up late watching movies and slept in the next morning. What treat. We had a delcious breakfast and then headed up little Cottenwood Canyon to the very top, where we hiked to Cecret Lake. It was a beautiful day and we even saw some snow. It was so nice to go hiking, so refreshing. We have become determind to do it more often. The overnight stay and day was such a breath of fresh air and it made us feel sane and free again. We realized how badly a short vacation like that away from the kids and with your spouse is needed once in a while to keep your sanity. SO we want to start switching with other friends where we will watch their kids over night once in a while and vice versa. We are totally willing to do it for anyone that lives close and wants to switch off, so you better take us up on it. Here are some pics of us at Cecret Lake and the Armstrong Mansion. I love the one with Budd and the reflections.

Girlfriends

I am sitting here during priesthood session catching up on everyones blogs. But man I sure wish i had something fun to do. Next conference i need to plan a girls night out. I truly miss just hanging out with girlfriends. It seems that as we all get married and start having kids that those fun and crazy, act like silly teenager nights just dont happen any more. I miss those days and think I need a few of those days still to keep me young and free. What do you think?
Who is up for one soon? I know I am!