Christmas in a Nutshell

Kaddie and Kinz in their Tangled dresses they got for Christmas.

We were able to spend Christmas with family this year and it was great to see everyone! We kept the road between Heber and Snowflake from freezing by attending the temple, the Porter Family Christmas Dinner and movie, family pictures etc. Kindsey was Mary for the Nativity this year.

Southeastern AZ...a beautiful sight! Especially after traveling for 28 hrs straight(one way) with me (in my first trimester) and two kids sick, bad weather, wrecking the van and having to take the only open roads between Amarillo, TX and Heber, AZ.

Kardon's Award

Kardon got a High-Achiever Award at school... Kindsey got the High-Achiever Award (last awards assembly), but I couldn't find her picture.

Fall

Kaddie found a large leaf at the park and then found one in our yard. Happy Fall Y'all!

Halloween

The kids got to dress up three times this year. We had a party on Friday night, Saturday night and Trick-or-Treated on Monday night. It was awesome to go from house to house down the street like I used to growing up. People really get into Halloween here and it makes it a lot more fun! Kenton is a vampire, Kardon a ninja, Kindsey a witch, Kaddie a princess and Kierra as tinkerbell.

Atlanta

We traveled to Atlanta, GA on Oct 26th to visit with Nolan during his layover. Nolan was on his way to AZ after serving a mission in Lima, Peru.

At the airport...
Atlanta in the daylight...there are mormon.org billboards that are a wonderful additon to downtown Atlanta.

Atlanta at night...

White Coat Ceremony

Devin had his White Coat Ceremony on Nov. 18th. Here is a picture of his class...
We were happy to have Devin's parents here for it!

This is Devin's work-out group. The Cross-Fit expert is Matt, standing next to Devin.
(Devin, Matt, Dustin, Stephen, Anna, Loran and Cassie)

This is Devin's study group...Jonathan, Kai, Karen and Jeff.

Gatlinberg

Devin had to spend a week in Gatlinberg for school so we decided to go as a family. Needless to say we had a great time! Here are the kids at the Maze of Mirrors...

Our favorite part of Gatlinlberg was the aquarium. The sharks can be viewed from above, beside and underneath (through tunnles).
The Penguin Playhouse also had tunnels that the kids climbed through to take them to the middle of the enclosure. The kids enjoed watching the penguins swim, play, walk, and eat.

The crew waiting on the swing for the ribs on the grill to finish cooking...

A family activity in the sand....

We also went minature golfing, went to the aviation museum, rode the gondola up the mountain, saw the bears, swam at least fives times (inside and outside) and I'm sure I missed something. I also twisted my ankle running a 5k with the PA students and am still recovering from that. Awesome trip though!

Kierra 1 yr

Kierra thoroughly enjoyed her chocolate cake on her birthday. She is starting to take a few steps and still only has her two bottom teeth! Kierra is a sweet girl and her quick smile has won her a lot of friends.

First tooth

I was going to take Kenton's pictures before his tooth fell out.... too late! It fell out at school today.
Too bad he can't lend it to Kierra haha!

Kenton's 7th Birthday

Kindsey and Kaddie taking a swing at Kenton's pinata

The kids glued spiders and bugs to their Indiana Jones hats...

Kenton put his candles on the buttons...he loved all the details.

Kenton holding his Lego Indiana Jones cake...
treasure map...

The kids had to cross the rickety bridge on the jeep...3 kids at a time.

Look out! Shoot poisoned darts at the native before he shoots you! (using straws and q-tips)

Blood and eyeball drink...is it poisonous? Kenton nominated Kardon to try it first.

Cross the lava using the stones that spell skeleton in hieroglyphics. An egg underneath the stone crunched if they misstepped.

One by one, the kids searched for hieroglyphics using a torch. Then they put the pieces together to get the last clue.

The treasure was in our wooden pirate ship in this treasure chest.

This is a picture of the front of Kenton's birthday invitation.

The kids had a great time and I was pleased at how everything turned out. We had perfect weather in TN too!

BYU vs. Ole Miss

We were able to attend the BYU game in Mississippi last weekend with Devin's parents and sister. We had a blast and it was so nice to get away without any kids! Devin and I made it to the fireside with the team the night before in Tupelo, MS. It was well worth the effort!
This is the tailgating party called the "Grove" that is tradition in MS. It is hard to tell in the picture, but I have never seen so many canopies in one place before...three or four acres packed with tents. People set up big screens, hang chandeliers in the center....lets just say it's a big deal!

Rub a dub dub ...

3 girls in a tub...

Cotton candy

Kierra is trying cotton candy for the first time at the Fair. She is not too sure if she likes it...

Bethel Blast

We attended the Bethel Block Party this year and had a great time! All the games, rides, slides, food and other activities were free. We played for hours and then watched the fireworks from our front yard.

Fair

We had a blast at the fair! The oldest three kids are on the dragon roller coaster.

Kindsey's 4th birthday

Kindsey had a Cinderella Party for her 4 th Birthday. I had to watch the part of Cinderella where she tries on the slipper a couple of times to get the pillow right for her cake.

School

Kenton, Kardon and Kindsey all ready for school.

So there I was....I had just picked Kindsey up from school and had all three girls with me. We had walked slowly back to the van on a typical Southern summer day, only to discover that we are completely boxed in by over-achieving moms and grandmas who are in line 40 min before school gets out to pick ip their kids. Just as I thought I would have to start the van to keep cool and wait it out, Kindsey tells me she needs to go potty. The door at the back of the school I had just come out of gets locked at 2:30 so the only thing I could do was ask the driver in the car behind me to let me out and the car behind her to back up and the car behind her to back up and the car behind her to back up.... lovely. At least I didn't have to stay there all afternoon!

picking blueberries

Picking blueberries was a first for all of us! The boys raced to see who could fill their bucket first. Everyone enjoyed eating them as we went...

...especially this girl!