The Ray's

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

These are the cards I made for my kids to pass out to friends and family

Emmie's 1st Skateboarding lesson

2012-02-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

Recently Emmie has been trying to skateboard at home and started to ask when she could take lessons. At first I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't know if she only wanted to because Hayden did but she kept saying things where I could tell she was serious. I told her she could try other things if she wanted so she knew she was allowed to try something else and after I told her about other options she still picked skating. Tonight was her 1st lesson. They worked with her one and one and she was doing good and having fun. Afterwards she was so happy and proud of herself for trying stuff. The teachers said she does great pushing a board, once she learns how to turn it she will do great. Emmie also is so brave and when she falls she easily brushes it off so I know she will learn faster being brave and willing to try new things.

Here is a piece of her learning how to go down ramps

Skateboard Theme Room Project

2012-02-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

I am planning on changing Hayden's room to a skateboard theme room. Looking online (mainly Pintrest) for ideas I would see Skater silhouettes on the wall as decals or framed pictures. I knew I could make my own picture by using Photoshop and I was going to find a skater silhouette to us and then it hit me, I should use a picture of Hayden. I thought it would be cool to have the skater be him on the wall. Here is some of the ideas I found online

So I picked a picture out I took of Hayden recently dropping in on his skate board. Using Photoshop I cut out the shape of his body and his skateboard and under Hue/Saturation I changed the Lightness of his body to black. Here is the BEFORE

Here is the AFTER
I added a background and distressed it some. Right now I don't know what colors his room will be. I am trying to find a bed spread I like. So once I purchase that the colors on this print may change but for now I have most the project done and ready to go once I get the colors figured out. Then I need to decide....print it on canvas, make it a poster or frame it.

I think Hayden will find it exciting to have this print on his wall so he can tell everyone it is him. Plus its a nice keep sake.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make a silhouette on Photoshop if you want one

http://thecraftingchicks.com/2010/04/silhouettes-for-mothers-day.html

My girl Emmie

2012-02-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

I took pictures of Emmie last week to make her Valentine card, here is a few I thought turned out cute. She is getting so big, she will be 5 next month and she is real excited.

Football shot of the week

2012-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I call this one "Look mom, no feet!" Hayden was trying hard to not get his flag pulled.

No more training wheels for Emmie

2012-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's official, no more training wheels for Emmie. I knew she could take them off she didn't want to. Normally I would insist she try but I just let it slide. As I would watch her ride her bike with training wheels she would ride so slow and couldn't keep up with the other kids. So I told her if they were off she could go fast and she did. After 2 tries she had it down and was going up and down the street for hours. She is excited to have the training wheels off now.

My Sweetie Boy

2012-02-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

With Valentine's day coming up I started to work on the kids cards. Today I took pictures of Paxton for his card. I thought these came out so cute. I just can't get enough of this boy, I love him to pieces!

Hayden starts Flag Football

2012-01-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

Like Hayden doesn't have enough to do between school, Skate board lessons and his music class he started flag football. The nice thing is its only 5 weeks of games held on Saturdays so it doesn't take up much time and he has a blast doing it. Our neighborhood has a sports club so the games are held in our neighborhood and the cost is so cheap, its crazy not to let your kids do it if they want to. Hayden did flag football last year at this time and loved it. It was his 1st game this last weekend and I can tell a huge difference from last year, he is doing so good! He was doing great at trying to really get those flags and stopped several touch downs. He even made 2 touch downs himself.

The beginning of this play is almost a fail but Hayden pulls through and makes a touch down!

Hayden made Honor Roll

2012-01-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hayden made Honor Roll for the 1st time, he was so excited to tell us. I was so happy for him. He works hard and is so smart. Hayden is such a great kid and we just love him so much!

Hayden the Toothless Freak

2012-01-12T16:43:00.000-08:00

Meet the "Toothless Freak." Hayden lost his 2nd top tooth last night and he was so excited! A few weeks ago he said he couldn't wait to loose it so he could be a toothless freak. I asked him who told him that and he said no one did, he made it up. So I guess he wants to be called the toothless freak... Ha Ha Ha ..... Whatever!

Christmas Day

2012-01-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

Around noon Aaron's dad came to our house to visit. We then went to my parents for lunch and Aaron's mom and dad were invited. After we ate we opened some more gifts. We first opened some from Aaron's mom and then the kids opened some gifts from their Uncle Steven and Aunt Tiffany who live in Idaho. They got them matching capes with their names on it and on the other side it a Superman cape. They are so cute!

Then we started to open gifts from my parents.

My parents got all the grand kids new suitcases which they all needed so bad. When they were little she got them the tiny ones which were great when they were babies and toddlers but they really needed kid size ones now. Even though they weren't a toy to play with the kids were real happy to get them. Hayden and Paxton got blue and Emmie got a pink and white polka dot one.

Later that evening we went to Aaron's moms side of the family (The Stapley side) for their Christmas get together. We always meet at Aaron's aunt's house, Jannette, and everyone brings a true gag gift. Its always lots of fun. Aaron's uncle took this picture of us before we left. If you can't tell, we are soooo tired. It was a long Christmas day but a great one!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 6:00am

Aaron and I wake up the kids, Hayden and Emmie are ready.....

Paxton is still trying to wake up

walking out to see what Santa brought

All that Hayden saw for him was a note from Santa and he started to cry before he read it thinking Santa didn't bring him anything. I felt bad for him, we hurry and told him what the note said. His present was in the garage because it couldn't fit in the house.

He LOVED his skate board ramp!!!!

Emmie got a doll house

Paxton got a rocking horse that makes horse sounds, it sings a cowboy song and his mouth and tail move. He loves it!

Everyone going through their stockings

Present time!

I think Hayden is excited about his new Wii game

The kids got assories for their Build-A-Bears

All done opening gifts

Hayden trying out his new ramp

After this we all went to my parents for breakfast. Everyone had a great Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

This year we had our Christmas Eve party at Ryan and Tina's new house. The party was smaller then usual this year (people out of town) but we still had lots of fun. Santa came to visit the kids, we had our adult gift game, we had yummy food, desserts and Wassail and we got our new pj's to open for Christmas morning. This year my mom decided to make all the grand kids their pajamas. Even with help it was a lot of work. She, Wendy, Sara and Tina help make all the pj bottoms and paint the words on the shirt saying "Grandma's Favorite." They did turn out super cute though.

my kids with their grandma

2012 Calendar

2011-12-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

I found this cute calendar on Pintrest and had to make me one. It was all made on Photoshop and you can get the calendar templates here http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/12/our-2012-calendar-for-you-a-secret/

On her site she did a wide range of photos, I thought it was cute but thought I would just make it easy for myself and use our family photos we just got taken. I still need to print them but I am excited to print one for my fridge and one for Aaron's office.

Family photos in California

2011-12-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

When we went to California last month to take the kids to Disneyland I wanted to get our family pictures taken on the beach. We needed updated family photos plus I wanted to get them done for our Christmas card. Aaron's cousin who lives there wasn't able to help us take the pictures like she did a few years ago. I asked her if she knew of a photographer that I could hire and she gave me a friends name. The photographer was great! She took us to a beautiful beach, her prices were real reasonable and she went the extra mile to make our photos nice. Taking family photos can be so hard but this time it was pretty laid back and we had a fun time. I had to keep telling the kids to stop playing in the sand and finding shells and smile and towards the end Paxton wouldn't smile because the waves were making him nervous. But overall it went well and I thought they turned out great. Here is some of our photos.

November 2011
Laguna Beach, CA

Hayden's 7th Birthday

2011-12-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hayden's birthday fell on a Friday so he had to go to school. When he got home Emmie and Paxton had a balloon and his favorite candy waiting for him. He was so excited.

That night we took him out to dinner and he chose Famous Daves

Then we took the kids to Build-A-Bear and let them pick out an animal and one outfit. We had a fun night and the kids loved it! (forgot my camera so I just had cell phone pictures)

Hayden chose a dog, Emmie chose Hello Kitty and Paxton chose a monkey

When we got home that night we gave Hayden his birthday present from us. He wanted this Lego Ninjago set really bad.

The next day was Hayden's birthday party. Hayden had his birthday party again this year at Sk8 Asylum. This is the invitation I made.

At his birthday party we had an instructor for half the party and the owner was helping us out too. Hayden takes skate board lessons here now and the owner knew what Hayden needed to work on so he gave him some one on one time and Hayden got some new tricks and techniques down.

The kids watching Hayden drop in

Hayden in the pool

Zach and Hayden

Marcus

Keegan and Brock

Hayden and Keegan

Austin giving it a try

Present time

cake time

The kids were using the real big drop in as a slide

Hayden thought his birthday was the best!

Our Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hayden turns 7

2011-12-09T08:34:00.001-08:00

I can't believe Hayden is 7! It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital with him as he entered this world and made me a mom. It was love at first site and he has been nothing but a huge blessing for me and our family. I thank Heavenly Father every day for him, I know Heavenly Father had a huge part of helping Hayden join our family. He is one special boy and we love him so much. Happy Birthday Hayden!!!

Mr & Mrs Fuller

2011-12-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late coming but I have been waiting on some pictures.

On 11-11-11 Ryan and Tina tied the knot! There wedding and reception was beautiful. We are all so happy they have found each other.

The Wedding
Tina wanted all the nieces and nephews to walk out before the wedding party then go sit with their parents. Paxton and Breanna were so cute.

Dad and Mom
The "I Do's"

Pictures outside, after the wedding ceremony

Mr & Mrs Fuller

Fuller Family

My siblings

Aaron was one of the Groomsmen
Tina and her sisters

Brook and Emily as flower girls. Brooke loves her new cousin Emily.

Tina and her parents

Reception

Ryan and Tina didn't want to have a line so they took time to visit each table and take pictures with everyone. Here is just some of the guest and their tables.

Dancing at the reception

As Ryan and Tina dance the mom's cry and the dads look bored....Hahaha!

Mom and Son dance

all the boys love to hang all over Jacob

Jacob and Ryan was the best! LOL

We all danced the night away.........

My print FREE at ALL Deseret Book stores this month!

2011-12-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Shopping at Deseret Book this week? Make sure you check in via Facebook Mobile to claim an exclusive deal at your location! http://www.facebook.com/DeseretBook

You'll get your choice of 1 of 3 subway art prints! Simply "check-in" on Facebook Places on your phone and show your check-in screen to the cashier - no purchase necessary! (you DO need to have the Facebook app downloaded to your phone to complete your check in)

This is at ALL Deseret Book stores and runs through the ends of the month!!!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at my parents again this year. After eating we all went to the park around the corner to play football. My mom asked us to wear our Fuller Family shirts from the reunion so we could get some family pictures. We decided to take pictures there at the park.

1st off I HATE our family picture, I look horrible in my shirt but I am posting this for journaling purposes

Brent & Wendy's family

Ryan & Tina's family
Adam & Sara's family

Everyone!

Mom & Dad with their grandkids

All the Grandkids

Back and the house I got some shots of mom and dad alone

Paxton's birthday in California

2011-12-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Our last full day in California was Paxton's actual birthday. Our week in California we pretty much celebrated it every place we went but on his actual birthday we had no big plans so we decided to go to one of our favorite beaches, Balboa beach. We knew it was too cold for playing in the water but there is a lot to do there so we knew the kids would still love to go. It has our favorite restaurant on the pier, Ruby's, where we also like to hang out and watch people fish. Because of the fisherman other sea creatures show up to try to take their bait. This time we saw dolphins, it was so neat.
Singing Happy Birthday to Paxton

Dolphin

On the sand they have a playground. The kids played forever and they didn't want to stop.

Aaron playing with Paxton

At the end of our beach trip we wanted to sit closer to water and watch the waves and surfers. The kids loved playing in the sand. Hayden got his suit on to get a little wet and make sand castles. It was a nice, fun & beautiful day on the beach as a family!

Exciting News!

2011-11-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

Exciting new! I was contacted a few weeks ago by a women saying she is doing a Deseret Book promotion for Christmas and wanted to use one of my prints. It's a print I made that I offered free on my site but they wanted to be able to print it and pass it out at all Deseret Book stores. Even thought I knew about this weeks ago I wasn't sure what was going on because they took awhile to contact me... for me to sign their release. The Business Affairs Manager from SLC's Deseret Book sent the release today for me to fill out and sign. So what's happening is the stores are getting ready to promote and my print will go in EVERY Deseret Book location across the nation during Christmas time. So if you go in their to buy something you should receive my print for free. I know they are passing out other people's prints too so I am not sure if you get one of all the prints or all the prints together.

Here is my site where they found my print http://proclamationpictures.blogspot.com/

Here is the print they are going to use for the promotion

Primary Program

2011-11-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Today was our primary program. Hayden and Emmie did a great job. This was Emmie's 1st primary program. Grandpa and Grandma Fuller and Grandma Ray came to watch. The kids loved having them there.

California Adventures

2011-11-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

The first ride we went on was Ariel's Undersea Adventure. The last time we went to California Adventures it was still being built so this was our first time going on the ride. I was cute and our kids loved it. Emmie was excited to see Ariel because she loves The Little Mermaid and Paxton loved all the fish, dancing and water effects. He talked about it for days. The kids liked it so much right when we got off the ride we got back on.

We were also excited to see they added a Phineas and Ferb street show. Hayden and Emmie love Phineas and Ferb.

Aaron and Emmie
Hayden

Toy Story arcade....one of the best rides ever!

The kids love the Disney Junior show and I was excited for Paxton to see it since Mickey is in it. He loved it!

Paxton trying to catch bubbles

It rained for half the day so I put my camera away and didn't get it out anymore. But we didn't let the rain stop us. As always we had a blast at California Adventures. The nice thing about this trip at both parks is there was hardly ever a wait at any ride, it was so nice!

Goofy's Kitchen

2011-11-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

We always have to go to Goofy's kitchen! Not only do the kids love it but so do Aaron and I. The food is real good and since we always go for brunch they have lots of food to choose from (its a buffet) and we get nice and full so we kill 2 meals at once. We also like how the characters come to our table to visit, play with the kids and pose for pictures. This is also nice for us so we aren't worried about seeing every character at Disneyland, we know we will get one and one time with them at Goofy's kitchen.

Paxton was a little nervous of the characters, he wasn't sure what to think. But like Emmie he was fine with the princesses because you can see their faces. When Baloo the bear from Jungle Book came to our table Paxton cried and Emmie jumped under the table. So he walked off and let Hayden come to him and just waved at Paxton and Emmie.

Paxton with his banana and Mickey pancake

Pluto trying to get Paxton to like him, by the end of our meal he did.

Hayden eating worms and dirt

The workers sang Happy Birthday to Paxton and gave him a cupcake

Disneyland

2011-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

We took a week vacation to California and went to Disneyland and California Adventures. We really wanted to go this year and we thought it would be fun to take Paxton for his 2nd birthday. He loved Mickey Mouse and when he saw him he was excited but nervous. So we didn't get any good pictures with Mickey and Paxton but we tried. We had a great day at Disneyland and the weather was awesome. There was no crowds and the most we waited to get on a ride was maybe 10 minutes. It was so nice.

Our Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Scores

Paxton got a button to wear for his Birthday and we all got one saying we were celebrating his birthday. All day Paxton was told Happy Birthday by the Disneyland workers.

about to get on the Nemo ride

Paxton sitting in Mickey's House

In Mickey's car

waiting for the parade to start

Halloween Night

2011-11-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

Halloween day we couldn't decide if wanted to crave our pumpkin. The kids can't even do it because they are too young for a knife so we went with Mr Potato Head pumpkin. They had fun doing it.

Then it was time to get them all dressed up and take some pictures.

Emmie the butterfly

Emmie and Sofie our neighbor

Hayden the Ninja AKA Lego Ninjago

Paxton as Mickey Mouse

We went over to my parents and ate some dinner then started to Treak or Treat on their street with some of my family. At one point we even went to our side of the neighborhood to Trick or Treat there too. It was a fun night!

Sk8 Lesson's Flyer

2011-11-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hayden started Skate Board lessons a few months ago. I was in there the other day dropping him off and noticed he was on their flyer. The picture is from one of the times Hayden attended their skate camps. Being a mom I had to grab one to keep. :)

Paxton's 2 year old pictures

2011-11-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

Before Paxton turned 2 I decided to take his pictures and not hire someone. I knew it would take a few sessions since he doesn't like to sit long for a camera. I did these on 3 different days and I am glad I broke up the days because he barely made it through each one.

Hayden isn't 7 yet but I got them these matching birthday shirts and I wanted to get a few shots with them together.

We just went to Disneyland for Paxton's birthday so I made him this shirt to wear there. I wanted to get some shots with him wearing it.

3rd and final session

Family Photos- Sneak Peak

2011-11-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

While in California we got our family pictures taken. Aaron's cousin told me of this one lady she knew and I was so excited we found her. She was so nice, did a great job and she was priced right! I will be using some of these for our Christmas cards but here is some she posted on her blog.

Click on her link below
elovephotos PHOTOGRAPHY: Ray Family: {Laguna Beach Family Photography}:

Leah Lowe

2011-10-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

My oldest dear friend Leah Bowles Lowe passed away Saturday October 29th 2011. She had been fighting cancer for awhile. At one one point we thought she won. Then it came back. After her bone marrow transplant several months ago she never officially got back to normal. She would take a step forward then 10 steps back. It finally was time for her to be on hospice the end of this week and let her go in peace. Late Friday night Aaron and I went to the hospital to be with Leah one last time. My time I spent with her there was so good for me to be able to sit by her side, hold her hand and allow myself to except she was done and she needed to go so she could finally rest in peace.

I met Leah when I was about 5 years old. We lived down the street from each other until we both moved out as adults. She is a friend who would do ANYTHING for you. We had so many fun times as kids, teens and adults. It was never a dull moment with Leah. There is so much I want to say about her. I have 100's of great memories of her but right now I just can't sit here and type them out. It's hard to put things into words right now. I will sit down soon and type up all I want to share and say about this great friend of mine. I pray that the Lowe and Bowles family will feel God's love and comfort at this time. I miss you already Leah!

Trunker Treat

2011-10-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Friday night we went to our wards Trunker Treat. Before we left I took a few pictures of the kids in their costumes. The kids had a blast trunker treating.

Emmie showing off her wings

AZ State Fair

2011-10-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the AZ State Fair, it's a family tradition. We have been doing this for many years. It started with my grandparents taking my parents, then my parent's taking us as kids and now we take our kids every year. We always have so much fun as a family and we all LOVE the fair food!

My kids are their cousins on the coaster

The kids love these swings that spin around

Eating Frybread

Hayden
Emmie
Karlee

We LOVE the petting zoo!!!

This goat was trying to eat my jeans

The 3 little pigs....they were so cute!

Emmie and Karlee brushing the goats

Nanners and Pax
My mom took my kids on the Ferris Wheel

Dance Show-Katelynn and Austin went up with some kids. Austin (who was called White Chocolate) was in a dance battle against this guy.

I love October

2011-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

1. Halloween Night

2. AZ State Fair

3. Scary Movies on TV

4. Cooler weather

5. Getting costumes for Halloween

6. Pumpkin Sno at Bahamma Bucks

7. Halloween parties

8. Pumpkin candles

9. Trunker Treats

10. Getting ready for Christmas

Kids Halloween Party

2011-10-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

My sister decided to have a kid Halloween party for her kids friends, class mates, ward members and cousins. Well, almost all of her kids friends are my kids friends and of course we have the same family. So my kids were super excited to go to this fun Halloween party. She had different stations for the kids to do stuff. Between games and crafts they were busy but having fun! All the kids looked so cute in their costumes.

Paxton's turning 2

2011-10-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

Paxton is turning 2 soon and I saw this cute idea on Pintrest so I had to make Paxton one.

2nd lost tooth

2011-10-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

During Fall break I took the kids to the cabin for a few days. Our 1st morning there I woke up at 6:00am to Hayden on the side of my bed whispering "Mom...mom....I lost my tooth." He said he felt something in his mouth, he spit it out and noticed it was his tooth. He was so excited and happy for the next morning to see the tooth fairy came. The funny thing is the only 2 times he has lost a tooth it's been at the cabin.

Letters to Santa....Already?

2011-10-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Last week Hayden decided to start making a list of things he wants for Christmas. Now Emmie is making them too and Hayden's list keeps getting bigger. I guess they know Christmas is around the corner and wanted to make sure they wrote down all they wanted. I keep finding new list in the front room where our Christmas tree sits during Christmas.

DIY Mickey and Minnie Shirts

2011-10-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

Since we are going to Disneyland for Paxton's 2nd birthday I wanted to find him a cute Mickey Shirt that either had his name on it or his age. I found several cute ones on Etsy but they cost over $25. I almost just bought one but realized I could make one myself. When buying the stuff Emmie said she wanted a Minnie shirt so I ended up making her one too (even though she has no idea it's for Disneyland.) I maybe spent $10for everything I needed for both shirts and it was super easy to make. So I thought I would share how I did it in case your kids are Mickey and Minnie fans too. :)
Click on the pictures to see and read them better

11 years of Marriage

2011-09-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today is our 11 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been 11 years, it has gone by so fast. I don't know what I would do with out Aaron by my side. He does so much for our family!

To celebrate our 11 year Wedding Anniversary I made this slideshow for Aaron

We're going to Disneyland!

2011-09-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

I can't wait! Our trip is booked and it's all a suprise for the kids. Paxton is turning 2 and loves Mickey so I thought it was a good excuse to go. I hope Paxton is excited to see Mickey and not get scared. I know the kids will be so excited when we tell them we are going. I was thinking of telling them on the drive. I can't wait to see these guys!!!

Emmie in Glasses

2011-09-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Emmie's glasses came in so we went and picked them up last night. Emmie loves them but its definitely going to take some time for her to get use to them. She keeps asking us questions about them like when and where she should wear them. We have to keep telling her she needs to wear them all the time expect when sleeping and showering. Even this morning she asked if she gets to wear them to school. In 5 weeks we go back to the eye Dr to let him know if her eyes still cross with the glasses on. Her eyes don't cross a lot, it happens off and on, but just the short time she has been wearing them I have seen them cross a few times. If she keeps doing that she will need surgery on her eye muscles.

Here is Emmie waiting for her bus before preschool. It's her 1st day wearing her glasses to school.

Hayden starts Skate boarding lessons

2011-09-20T09:47:00.001-07:00

Until now Hayden taught himself everything he knew about skate boarding. He was doing so good all by himself but we thought it was time he took lesson to get even better. Usually he is playing soccer this time of year but with Skate boarding and his Let's Play Music classes we thought his plate was full. He is loving his skate board classes. Even though he is new to his group at Sk8 Asylum he can do most the stuff they already know and is better at some things they have been taught. One thing he struggles with is turning his board around to come back down a ramp. But he is trying and getting better. Even though he has had only 2 lessons I already see him doing better and he has already learned a hand full of new techniques and tricks. I enjoy the classes too because it's so fun to watch him skate.
Hayden practicing dropping in and turning around on the small ramps

Emmie needs glasses

2011-09-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

For awhile now Emmie's eyes have been crossing out. We took her to a specialist and he said she may need surgery to fix her eye muscles but during her exam he also noticed she was slightly near sighted. So he suggested she try glasses first to see if they stop crossing with the glasses before we do surgery. We went to Costco to order her glasses and we chose these cute purple and pink pair. She gets them sometime this week. She was sad she didn't get to wear them home. We go back to the Dr in 6 weeks to talk about her possibly getting eye surgery so we will see what happens.

Halloween Prep

2011-09-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

This time of year I get excited for Halloween to come and can't wait to get costumes for my kids. We are half way done.

Paxton loves Mickey Mouse mainly because he has this snuggle blankie with Mickey's head on it that he has slept with since he was about 6 months old and became obsessed with it. He always wants to sleep with Mickey and will even take it places now. It's name was baby, then he called it Mick, and now he calls it Mickey. So he had to be Mickey for Halloween. I saw several costumes online but I loved this one with the puffy body. On Halloween he will wear a long sleeve black shirt and black tights.

Emmie wanted to be something girly and cute. We looked at several things online and she liked the butterfly. I just got part of Emmie's Halloween costume in the mail. I just need to have the tutu made and find a top for her to wear. The wings and headband I ordered turned out so nice! The lady I bought them from made them and hand painted them. Emmie can't wait to wear them.

Hayden wants to be a Ninja. I keep telling him "BORING!" I always see tons of Ninja's on Halloween. But we found this one cape and mask that's one of the Lego Ninja guys. He also loves Legos so I thought this would be different but when I try to find any Lego costumes they don't exist. So for now we might buy this cape and mask that's one of the Lego Ninja guys and just have him wear a Ninja costume under that. We even thought about painting his face yellow like a Lego guy. But we will see if we find everything we need to make this costume work. But for now, this is the plan and Hayden's excited.

Hayden learning to drop in the pool

2011-09-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

We took Hayden to Sk8 Asylum and I told him if he dropped in the pool I would get him an ipod. He is always begging us for one. We were telling the owner of Sk8 Asylum (who is also our tax client) the deal we made with him and he started to help Hayden practice so he could get the ipod. Well, after many tries he never did it alone with out the mat but since he was brave enough to try we bought him a hat he really liked. He has been skate boarding less then a year now and has taught himself everything he knows. I am so proud of him! He does so good and its so fun to see him skate and grow. We finally broke down and signed him up for skate boarding lessons at Sk8 Asylum to help his progress and get even better. I am excited to see how he does.

This is Hayden trying to earn that ipod.

Emmie back in dance

2011-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Now that school is back in session Emmie started up dance classes again. She does some ballet, tap and tumbling. The 1st day before taking her I had her pose for a quick photo. She just loves her dance classes!

1st grade crush

2011-09-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

I was going through Hayden's backpack and found a picture in it. I knew he didn't draw it so I asked him who did and who was Reagan. All he could say is "Why?" with a big smile on his face. I showed him the picture and he said "She's in my class and gave it to me. I don't know why." He was starting to act shy. I thought it was so cute. See the hearts in their eyes? Cute!

Paxton's Favorite songs

2011-09-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

11-11-11

2011-08-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

My brother Ryan got engaged several weeks ago to his girlfriend Tina. We all knew once they started to date that they would most likely get hitched, they were a perfect match. We are all so excited for them and glad they found real happiness. I am also excited to have a new sister- in-law. I just took their engagement pictures and just did the "Save The Date" card for them to send out. It's fun and exciting helping them plan their wedding and her shower. It's going to be a beautiful and joyous occasion. I am so very happy for them!

Emmie's 1st day of preschool

2011-08-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Emmie started her 1st day of preschool and this will be her last year in preschool. Emmie is tall for her age so everyone keeps asking me if she started Kindergarten this year but she is only 4 so she has one more year to go. She is excited to start Kindergarten next year and be in the same school as Hayden. This year she will be doing a Kindergarten prep and its a different program then she has been getting. I feel good about it and really hope she catches up to other kids her age so when she starts Kindergarten next year she will be able to stay caught up with the whole class.

Before her bus came to pick her up I took some pictures of her
Looking at these pictures she looks so grown up to me. She is growing up so fast.

Emmie loves her new backpack
Emmie looking for her bus

Emmie getting on the bus and meeting her new bus driver and aid

Later that day......
Paxton and I were waiting for Emmie's bus to come to our house and drop her off. I had to take some pictures of my cutie!

Paxton kept saying "Bus" all day he was so excited to see Emmie get home

She's home and she had so much fun! She came home with a certificate from her teacher saying she had a great day in Pre-K

Emmie needs a sister

2011-08-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Recently Emmie has been making Paxton dress up with her and making him play house. The thing is he loves it, they play so good together. Emmie is a mini-mommy and Paxton just adores her. I know soon enough he will realize what he is doing and not want to wear the tutu's anymore but for now its funny and I am definitely saving these pictures to make him clean his room or something when he is older. Or the his friends get to see them if not. LOL

The kids asked me if they could turn on my ipod and dance and this is how they came out of the room to dance. It was too funny!

Emmie had a friend over and Paxton loved playing house with them

Emmie starts preschool soon

2011-08-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

Emmie starts preschool next week and while Aaron and I went to Sedona for a few days last week we missed her meet the teacher night. Her teacher said we could come by anytime to see the classroom and come meet her. So we took her down there the day Hayden started school. Since he started she is even more excited to start too. This year she will be doing a Kindergarten prep and its a different program then she has been getting. I feel good about it and really hope she catches up to other kids her age so when she starts Kindergarten next year she will be able to stay caught up with the whole class.

I took some pictures of her in her class room

Paxton really wanted to pose against the wall too

So pretty soon it will be just me and Paxton at home for half the day. I don't know what Paxton will do with out his sister here to play with him. The good thing for him is Emmie is home by lunch so they will still have lots of time to play.

While Hayden's been gone all day Emmie makes Paxton play house and school with her. Paxton just goes along with it. When I saw him running around the house in this back pack I couldn't stop laughing. It was just his size but it being purple and princess, it just cracked me up.

Hayden goes back to school

2011-08-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

I am excited for Hayden to be in 1st grade...No more half days for him. He loves to stay busy so I think all day will be really good for him. The night before school started Aaron gave the kids their blessings and I had such a good feeling that they will do great this year. They are growing so fast!!!!
After we woke up (way to early for me) I took some pictures of Hayden before we went to the bus stop.

Hayden excited to start 1st grade

He kept saying "1st Grade Rules!"

walking to the bus stop
Hayden looking for the bus

Not many kids were at the bus stop, most parents drove their kids to school for the 1st day. Sara and I let Hayden and Karlee take the bus then we followed them to school to make sure everything went ok.

Hayden just getting to school

After they play on the play ground they have to line up with their classes and they say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing a patriotic song.

Hayden's teacher about to walk them to class

And they are off to another year of school!

Back-to-School Swim Party

2011-08-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

With school about to start I thought it would be fun to throw a swim party for Hayden and all his friends who go to his school that live in our ward and close by us. I made an invitation and I drove Hayden around to pass them out.

We had a great turn out and the kids had such a blast. Some of the kids I invited ended up having their younger siblings come with their parents which turned out nice so Emmie even had some of her friends over to swim with her too.

The rock slide was very popular, kids were constantly jumping off of it.

We had the kid get out of the pool for some pizza

I asked the kids to all sit on the slide for a group shot.

Then Grady started to slip off the slide and they all came tumbling down.....

So emotional over a house

2011-08-03T13:13:00.001-07:00

These last few weeks we have been talking to a home builder and planning on moving in about a year once the house was done being built. Well, these 2 weeks were emotional and exciting at the same time. We went through so many ups and downs and now to find out all for nothing! We can't get a FHA loan because they only go up to 300k and we need more then that and the Conventional loan requires us to wait about 3 more years before they will loan to us. MAN!!! I was starting to let this house go mentally and get excited about getting this house of our dreams. Aaron and I both really felt like it was going to happen. But I trust in Heavenly Father and know it wasn't meant to be right now. When I really thought about moving I would get teary eyed. I was so sad to leave our street and great neighbors, I was sad for my kids to loose all their good friends in the neighborhood, I was sad to leave the neighborhood since my parents and all my sibling live in it too. I also do love this area and the people in it. What this neighborhood has is so rare and to purposely leave it is a scary decision. I was scared we would regret it. I personally don't feel like Aaron and I have any close friends here that do things with us but we have lots and lots of great neighbors, ward members and other people we know through out this whole neighborhood we really like, trust and know are great examples for our family. So even though I am bummed about not getting this house right now I wanted soooo bad, I am remembering why I do love it here so much and that's something money really can't buy. And besides I do have a nice home already, my dream home can wait right now.

Lessons learned in the home, last the longest.

2011-08-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

I saw this quote and loved it. I knew I wanted to display it in our home. I made me one and decided I would share. Go to my Proclamation Site for this freebie! http://proclamationpictures.blogspot.com/

This is also featured on Sugardoodle.net's Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/SugarDoodlenet/194810092036

Skate Camp & Play Dates

2011-07-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hayden spent a week at Skate camp at Sk8 Asylum. He just loved it! He enjoys getting to skate all day and hang out with other kids besides just sit at home with us. Plus when he goes he learns more and gets better each time. I can't believe how well he does for skating less then a year and never having a lesson. We are thinking of maybe doing lessons for him soon so he can learn more techniques and tricks.

Here is some photo's Sk8 Asylum posted on their facebook page

The last day they have a pizza party and get some free stuff!
He got a new shirt, goodie bag full of candy and stickers for his helmet and board and he WON a new board. We Love SK8 Asylum!

While Hayden was busy skating I made sure Emmie got to have fun too. She had several play dates during the week. One day her friend Avery came over. I had no plans to take pictures until Emmie and Avery looked so cute playing dress up and house. I kept calling them the "Sassy Girls." Once Paxton woke up from his nap he was their baby and he just went along with it. It was so cute!

Hayden SK8 Asylum

2011-07-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

One of the days I picked up Hayden from skate camp he was still skating so I recorded him in the pool skating for a bit. He was excited he could go high up on the side of the pool. From me recording from above its hard to see how high it is but it kind of shows the idea.

Swimming

2011-07-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

This is what we have been doing most of July.....Swimming!

Paxton just loves the pool, when he wants to swim he calls it "Wa Wa" (water). He hardly ever wants to sit in his floatie, he loves when we hold him and play with him.
Paxton thinks its so funny to splash
Hayden just jumping in

Hayden and Paxton love to dunk the basketball

Hayden jumping in

Aaron taking Paxton down the slide.....he loves it!

4th of July Parade

2011-07-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to Showlow's 4th of July parade. We always have fun, mainly trying to get all the free stuff they pass out. This year we got several free Popsicles, a coupon for a free pizza and of course candy.

my family waiting for the parade to start

My nephew was so funny, as soon as we saw the parade coming he stood in the road with his hands ready to catch some candy.

Kids waiting for candy
This dog was so cute!!!!

4th of July Fireworks

2011-07-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

Since all the Arizona wild fires and fire dangers everyone was canceling their firework shows. We heard Taylor was having one and it was only about a 20 minute drive from the cabin. We heard they had a rodeo then a firework show after. We didn't want to pay to see a rodeo so we drove close to the rodeo grounds to find a place to park and watch them. We found the most perfect spot....a park. And right after we parked our cars we noticed the place they were shooting them from was right in front of us (where the park ended.) We were pretty happy to find the best spot in the whole town and to have a pretty cool playground for the kids to play on to keep them happy and busy until it got dark enough for fireworks. So even though we were at first disappointed that Heber's fireworks were canceled it ended up being a perfect little firework show for us after all.

My kids and their cousins

Emmie got glow sunglasses and the boys got big glow sticks

What a view!!!

4th of July at the cabin

2011-07-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

We spent a week at the cabin for the 4th of July. Here is some pictures from us hanging out around the cabin with our family.

This was Paxton's 1st time playing on the playground with the other kids. Before he was too small and now he was climbing all over it like a pro.

The kids loved playing games in the garage

More games and rides in the forest to look for animals
And of course BBQing

Lost Tooth

2011-07-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Finally.....Hayden lost his 1st tooth!

For so long he has wanted to lose a tooth like every one else his age. It seems like at least once a week for a few years he has brought it up and asked when he would lose a tooth and every time someone else he knew lost one he would get so mad.

We were at the cabin and Hayden was outside playing with his cousins. He was holding a baggie with silly bands in them and I guess he put the baggie in his mouth and when he pulled it out the tooth just came out. It wasn't even loose and he said it didn't even hurt coming out. The bad thing was...he literally lost the tooth outside. We looked for awhile and never found it outside. But that night he wrote a note to the tooth fairy and told her what happen. He was so excited to see the money the tooth fairy brought the next morning.

Morris Family Reunion 60 year anniversary

2011-06-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the Whiteriver to camp for our Morris family reunion. This year marks 60 years of when the Morris family (My grandpa, his parents and his 12 other siblings) moved from South Carolina to Queen Creek, AZ. 60 years ago a family of 15 moved to AZ and now there is over 500 of us!

Here are the signs as we arrived to the camp ground

The nights were so cold a few nights we had Paxton sleep with us so he stayed warm

During the day the kids loved to play in the river

my mom helping the kids catch baby trout
Hayden caught a Crawdad.....yuck!
Sara and I relaxing by the river

Kids playing with the crawdad

Breanna and Paxton

Look at all those kids in the back!!!! We took drives in the evening to Lone Pine to see deer and elk.

Paxton loved throwing rocks in the river

One day we went fishing at Cooley Lake. Adam , Ryan and the kids caught about 4-5 fish

Saturday we always play games together. We had to get into teams and make team flags, it was so fun.

Our flag was a pigeon to represent my Grandpa who raced pigeons

4 way volleyball

Tug-a-war

Hayden and Karlee at the talent show saying the Preamble to the United States Constitution

We had a cake and the end of the reunion the celebrate the 60 years

Paxton saying names

2011-06-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Everyday Paxton is talking more and more. He is starting to talk really good and recently he is saying more names in our house besides mom and dad. He first started to say Libby our dogs name but now he is saying Hayden and Emmie. It's so cute!

Hayden on the news!

2011-06-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Or click on this link to see Hayden on the news!

The next Tony Hawk superstar skateboarder may just be from Queen Creek

Aaron's grandparents are so cute, they took pictures of their TV when Hayden was on and then they emailed them to me

Hayden's Kindergarten highlights

2011-06-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, school is out but Hayden's Kindergarten teacher just provided all us parents with all the pictures she took through out the school year. Have I mentioned how awesome she is???? She is a great photographer and she loves to take a lot of pictures. She also made an awesome slide show that she will be mailing out to us sometime this summer and I can't wait. Here is some highlights of Hayden's year in Kindergarten.

Field trip to a dairy

Turkey Trot

Spirit week

Spring Sing

Another Spirit week

I just LOVE this collage Hayden's teacher made!

THE END