Festival of Trees

I love the Festival of Trees and this year we got an opportunity to volunteer for it! We got to stand among the trees and learn the stories that went with each tree. Some were so heartbreaking. But its incredible that something so beautiful can come out of something so heartbreaking for so many families. 

 We volunteered through Chad's work and we got these super awesome shirts.

 This was the Rocky Mountain Display that Chad helped decorate.

 The whole set sold for $10,000!

 I got to guard this Willy Wonka tree in honor of a young boy who passed away on vacation. It was the best tree there I think!

This was a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving weekend!

We ended up in Rupert this year on Thanksgiving and we had a nice time. We were the only family there since my brothers visited a few weeks earlier. The girls had fun helping grandma in the kitchen. 

 YUM. It's not T-day without one of these.

 How good is my hubs to dance with his little girl. An often occurrence in our home.

 The feast! We ate ham since there was only a few of us.

 Lots of games were played a foose ball games too.

 Friday we spent shopping, car repairing, painting a table for mom while she was at the temple, and then at night we went to a movie.
The next morning we attended the festival of trees and teddy bear breakfast. They got in to see Santa right away...our favorite place to see him!

 And sang on stage with him.

 Saturday we picked up Jace and headed to the BSU vs Utah State game! It was so fun to see these boys together again.

 They picked up right where they left off, wrestling around and creating a little rivalry for the game.

 We were afraid it would be too cold since it was a late game but we stayed pretty cozy in our little corner of the stadium.

 Jus and Carrie met us there and my dad tagged along with us. grandma watched the girls and I was so glad she did so that we could enjoy the game!

Chad yelled so much he lost his voice!

 And the boys had fun cheering on their teams.

 We ate at Pizza pie before the game and really wanted to steal their decor on the walls!

 Jace wouldn't pose for a pic with anything BSU in it so we settled for the pizza sign.

 And they pulled out a win!!! It was a really good game.

 And BOTH boys crashed hard on the way home. We dropped Jace off around 1:30 am I think! But we were all so glad we went. But knew that 9am church would be brutal!!!!

There's so much I am thankful for every day but I love the feeling of EXTRA gratefulness this season brings. We are so blessed and I love my little family and my life. It's not perfect always, but its perfect for me.

Chad's 36th

One of Chads only requests for his birthday was that I go to lunch with him at the Red Iguana down in SLC. SO I made some arrangements and that is just what we did! 

 I'm sure there is good food there but I ordered something weird and didnt love it. But I did love having a middle of the day date with him!

 Later at night we showered him with gifts

 And ate his traditional cake. He had stake meetings to attend on this evening so instead of partying he was faithful and went to his meetings. What a good guy he is! We celebrated on the weekend with friends with dinner and a movie.

I sorta like him alot and grateful for him every day. Hes an awesome dad, husband, EQ pres, coach, you name it, he's awesome at it. Hope this next year brings you LOTS of happiness!!!!

Eagle of the Month and soccer banquet

We were so pleased when we got notified that Mollie was picked as Eagle of the Month for being Kind! We are so proud of her and know that (when she wants to) she can be the kindest person ever! She does have a big heart!

 We also got to attend her soccer banquet where she got a similar award for being the team friend who was always nice to everyone. These girls played hard and as a result will get to level up in their competition ring! YAY GIRLS!

 She has some tournaments coming up so she sold pie cards to help pay for it! We were happy this paid for BOTH indoor soccer and her tournament!

 We did a little mother/ daughter scrimmage and it was so fun! I haven't got to play soccer in years and it was a good time playing against these talented little girls! The girls won however and were super proud of themselves!

Watch out for next year girls!!!

This is Halloween!

Since Harry Potter is a new discovery for our family we decided to theme our trunk around it for trunk or treat! Because we live in an old ward, hardly anyone knew what we were. but doesn't Chad make a great Hagrid in that Moanna wig?!

 Bri had had preschool carnival that is always fun and so we started our day with that.

 Cutest Harry Potter ever!

 Bat girl.

 Batman and Bat girl

 Super girl

 We then ran to the big kids School carnival. They had a blast running from place to place. And probably 50% of the costumes we saw were harry potter!

 We also hit up cottage glen's trick or treating to say hi to the old people. A favorite of mine.

 And the amount of candy my kids bring in always makes me want to puke a little....Gosh they got SO much! And after the trunk or treat they went out for MORE! They got several full size candybars that they were so excited about!

 Rylee was happy with her small stash and me and her stayed in the rest of the night and passed out candy.

 We donated some to the bishop and even threw some away! But mostly we ate aLOT. But I guess that is what is supposed to happen! Happy Halloween!