We love our Veterans

This year we went to the Veterans Day parade in our town. Emily was able to be involved in it through her school this year. We made a sign for the kids to hold up as the soldiers and veterans walked by to show them our thanks for all they have done for our country.This is taken at the begining of the parade. The US flag, the AZ flag, and the POW flag.

These were the mounted soldiers representing the Buffalo soldiers that were stationed at Ft. Huachuca, in the 1800's the Fort that is located right next to Sierra Vista.
Now I bet you are wondering if I copied this picture from somewhere..... Nope. This is me playing around on some photo editing softwear that I love. I tinkered around with all the photos in this post.

One of the groups of soldiers that marched in the parade.

Three of my cuties showing there appriciation for our vets. Thanks Dad and Cain for all of your dedication.


This is Emily in the float that she road on. She had to try out at school to be able to ride on it. They sang patriotic songs down the whole parade route. Sorry about the quality of the video it was taken on the little digital camera that we have that's not the most high tech. Emily is located in the lower right of the float.

A little decked out

Halloween is by far most favorite holiday! It's so fun to dress up and deck out the house. Every year we try to tweak the decorations just a little, and every year we acquire something new to improve upon the scariness. Spencer does a great job with his special effects. Here are just a couple of the pictures that we have of the house this year.

Straight from Brandon's mouth

No matter how many times we have corrected Brandon he just can't seem to catch on.

Before during and even after Trick or Treating Brandon went to the doors and said.....

TRICKLE TREAT

I just think that it's funny that he's a boy and says Trickle Treat.

It just brings me back to the days of potty training the boy.

Love you Brandon!

Halloween Goodness

The kids had a lot of fun this year with Halloween. Usually we try to have a unified theme for costumes, but this year was kind of crazy with sports, so we went with what we had. Emily dressed up as a witch this year. I wanted to put make up on her, and make her look really witchy but she wanted to "look like a nice witch" she said. Brandon wanted to be a football player. He had a game earlier that day and we gave him a blue and white mo hawk. So he wanted to keep the mo hawk so he just kept his uniform on voila instant costume. Aubrey was Wonder Woman. This was a costume that we had used for Emily when she was that same age. She was instantly sassy when she put ths on. Tyson was Superman and used Brandon's old costume. He looked adorable. He didn't really know what was going on, but he looked cute. This year we took the kids around the neighborhood, and they loved it. They all got way to much candy and most of it is gone by now. I guess it is good that Halloween only comes once a year, otherwise we would be at the dentist quite often.

To be like Him

Our main reason for going to California was to baptize Emily. It was really great having family and long time friends around to witness this great occasion. Emily has been looking forward to this for a very long time. Brandon was able to give the baptism talk and did a fabulous job. We all sang a song as a family ( I cried of course), and Aunt Kimmy gave the talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a very special night. What a great experience to see Spencer baptize his oldest. It's hard to believe that she is 8 already and is choosing to take on such great responsibilities. She is a great example to her younger brothers and sister. We are very proud to have her as our daughter.

FORE!!!!!

While in California Spencer was able to take Brandon golfing with him. They were joined by Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Jake. This was Brandon's first time golfing and he loved it. He still carries around his prized golfing pencil that he used to write on the score cards, it's quite funny. Brandon has a real knack for it. He was able to connect with the ball and get it in the whole, and riding in the awesome golf cart wasn't to bad either. On the last hole he was able to get a 7 on a par 4. Not to shabby considering it's a course that adults play on. I think Brandon will give Spencer a real run for his money when he gets a little older. Good job Brandon!



I LOVE MY PREPPIES!

We love us some California!

Who wouldn't love sandy beaches and great weather? We certainly don't mind it. Going back home was great this last time. We just went and did what we wanted, and going to the beach was a definite must.Brandon wrote me a little note in the sand. He's such a loving "little" guy.
This was Tyson's first time to California and to the beach. His first time with his feet in the sand. There's no going back now, California all the way!
We went down to OB ( Ocean Beach) where they have some pretty cool tide pools. The kids saw lots of different sea animals and played around on all the rocks.

115 pounds

Every year when we get to go back to CA for fall break we have to stop at our favorite pumpkin patch Bates Nut Farm. They have the best and largest pumpkins. 115, Yes that is how much our pumpkin weighed this year. Although it wasn't as much as last years weighed, it was still a great pumpkin to have. It took the whole group of them to get it in the wheel barrel. Our abundance of pumpkins. You can never have to many.
Our silly kids being silly.
Aubrey and Brandon feeding the animals at Bates Nut Farm. It was a fun time had by all, and a yearly family tradition. The kids always look forward to going to Bates.