Thanksgiving!

We took some time off of school and work and ran up to Utah to see Loren's family.  We stopped by BYU and McKenna was thrilled to see some weird green spiky stuff.  It wasn't as poky as the Anthem cacti. We were able to look up old friends, go to the bookstore and get some BYU gear and chocolate covered cinnamon bears.  We didn't see the snow we were expecting, but we had fun!

We also introduced the kids to BYU chocolate milk!  I don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving, but we had a great time playing with cousins.  The boys loved having all the kids around, and McKenna enjoyed being adored by all. We're excited to see more family for Christmas!

Logan turns eight

Oh, how I love my Logan-man-racecar!  He is such a sweet, sweet boy.  He is always thinking of others, and often says "Mom, you look sad (bored/lonely/sick), can I give you some of my candy?  He is also very smart, and is rockin' Anthem Prep.

All he really wanted for his birthday was a remote control helicopter.  Done!  It is so cool that there are a few more under the tree for the other boys in the house.  We also played video games, went to soccer games, and skipped all chores.

Logan chose fish and rice for his birthday dinner on Tuesday, but on Saturday we went out to celebrate at Golden Corral.  The boys love the cotton candy and chocolate fountain.

I don't love this picture, but I love how excited he is. He had much the same face later that week, when he went into his cub scout troop for the first time.

McKenna simply adores Logan.  He can always get her to smile and giggle, just by looking at her.  We love our sweet birthday boy!

Logan's soccer!

Logan moved up to the big fields this year, and it was a bit of a challenge.  It was much harder to get up and down the field, and the nets were huge!  I love this picture because he has his game face on.

Logan also loved to tend the goal, but it is hard when the goal is so big and our guy is so little.  He did his best, and took it very seriously if a ball got through.

Sometimes he needed a little pep talk from his awesome coach.  It was a building year, but they still had fun playing.  I love that we can play into December in Anthem.

By the end of the morning McKenna was all cheered out.

This is how we do soccer.

McKay's soccer time

This is the first year the boys have been on separate soccer teams.  Luckily, we had a dear friend coaching the younger team, so McKay joined them (and Logan hopped in when they were short on subs). 

McKay isn't very aggressive on offense, and prefers to play defense.

He's not afraid to get in there, though!

This is him guarding the goal, which is his favorite place to be.  He is aggressive as a goal keeper.  He usually doesn't let many goals in, and is the go-to for goal keeping.  He is so cute standing in the little goal.

McKay's games are first, so we have a snack and play with toys.  Loren helps coach the littles, so he is on the field all morning.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is another big event in Anthem, we have a huge parade. And, you know, camels.  It looks like they are having a discussion.

McKay was brave as well.

Boys got high fives from a random lion-

and later got some hugs.

Batman closed out the parade--with a float full of superheroes. We brought our own superhero veteran, Julie, to the parade with us.  Logan tried to give her all of his parade candy, because it was 'her day.'  Love that kid.

Diamondbacks!

We've been trying to support all of our local teams, so even though we don't think baseball is a sport, we packed up the kiddos and took them to a Diamondbacks game.  We grabbed some Panda Express and Julie and spent a night at the ballpark, rooting for the home team.  We played San Diego, who eventually won the World Series, so we obvsiously lost.  But we stayed the whole time (Logan made us) and had fun cheering.  Go Diamondbacks!

Baby thoughts

I've dropped down to two classes this semester, so I can spend some time with my baby while she is little.  It has been so fun watching her learn and grow.  Here she is eyeing my birthday cake--which she promptly grabbed and stuffed in her mouth.

My mom was nice enough to make her a 'pink tee-tee,' to match McKay's 'green tee-tee.'  She loves the silky side and sleeps with in every night.

Finally, this is her favorite toy:  Sophie the Giraffe.  She is showing Sophies who's boss!

Halloween!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I love Anthem for Halloween.  All the houses are decorated, the weather is beautiful, and house parties and haunted houses abound.  There is a trick-or-treat at the businesses, a ward trunk-or-treat, and then a neighborhood trick-or-treat.  The houses are so close together here that we get a lot of ground covered in a short time.

This year Julie, Stacy, Robert and Lilly joined us for the fun.  The boys kind of phoned it in for their costumes, but we sure had fun!

Yes, when McKenna was a cow I made her wear a bow on her ear.  First it was one of those big flowers, but Loren said it looked like a first place ribbon at a county fair.

Don't mess with the stash!

That go double for me!

Lilly was kind enough to collect some candy for McKenna.

Who thought it was for playing with, not eating. 

I don't even know what to say here.  It was just funny.

Go Cards!

So I found some cheap tickets to the Cardinals game.  Obviously, we had to go.  The boys have just started getting into watching football with Dad, so they were excited at the chance.

We won, we had some hot dogs, and everyone was happy! McKenna did a great job, she only needed to be held the last half hour.  She was a big hit with everyone around us.  The boys are anxious to go back.  The SuperBowl is here this year, but I don't think our Cardinals have a chance.  

I love that the boys got some Cardinals hand-me-downs.  They looked great!

McKay turns six!

With McKay, the smaller the smile the more excited he is.  Sometimes he doesn't want you to know that he is happy.  But those dimples don't lie!

He decided he wanted a bigger family party rather than one with friends.  We had Julie and Annette over for dirt pie, steak and shells and cheese.  He got some panda stuff, lego sets, and light sabers.  He was in heaven. Rather than an activity (bowling, swimming, etc.) he chose to play video games.  So we bought him Mario Kart and we had a family race off.  Needless to say, the boys are amazing at it.  I am not. 

I have to include this because Logan is sticking his tongue out, which he does when he concentrates.  It reminds me of my grandmother, Violet Kueffler, who did the same thing.

What?  The force I have.

Loren and McKay went on a special trip, just the two of them, to pick out a special gift. McKay picked out the crossbow. He has had a great year, and (finally!) grew two inches.

McKenna loves the bullets.  Happy birthday my sweet boy!

School Pics!

Rather than having the same old boring school photos, my friend April at talkstoryphotography.blogspot.com took some pictures of the kiddos. 

Logan has been on a reading kick lately.  McKay is not a fan, and keeps on trying to interrupt so Logan will play with him.  So I keep hearing, "McKay!  I am reading!"  I caught him with a flashlight and a book late one night.  I didn't have it in me to stop him.

McKay has been a huge fan of origami lately.  We have got him a ton of books and have paper scattered everywhere.

I have become quite adept at making cranes and flapping birds.

McKenna is scooting all over the place.  She is a very fast army crawler, but doesn't seem interested in crawling.  She is already pulling herself up on furniture, and has gone up four stairs.

She likes to sleep on her hands, so everytime she wakes up she has a palm print and individual fingerprints on her face.

She also has two new teeth!  She is a great teether, I didn't even know she was teething until I saw them.  I hope the rest of her teeth are as easy.

First Day of School

After a busy summer we settled back into our school year.  Logan started second grade and McKay started first.  This is my first year with them gone all day, and I'm thinking it is going to be a little lonely.

Logan is in Mrs. Wilcox's class, he excels in math and reading.  McKay is in Mrs. Murdaugh's class, he excels at spatial and kinesthetic learning.  He is mostly excited about getting two recesses this year. 

They are going to their second year at Anthem Preparatory Academy.  I sure love these sweet boys!

Jumpstreet!

Once each summer the boys get to go to the trampoline park, Jumpstreet.  They get bouncy houses, trampolines, and foam pits.  It is a little boy's dream.

McKay doesn't hold back.

Neither does Logan.  He loves to play tag on the trampolines.

These two boys crashed early on, but McKay was able to shake off most of his injury.

McKenna was able to bounce and slide a bit...

Before dozing off mid-bounce!

Later she took some tentative steps

Baby smiles for all!