Sweet, thoughtful Aspen

Aspen decided today, all on her own, that she needed to wrap up some presents for people today. She is so sweet and so thoughtful. She went around and found things around the house that she wanted to give daddy, isaac and mia and then she wrapped them up herself and put them under the tree. She gave daddy a candy cane box with one candy cane left in it, isaac a crayon, and mia a littlest pet shop beaver (that i'm pretty sure is already mia's, but whatever...its the thought that counts, right? :) I was just so proud of her for thinking of her family and knowing she wanted to give them something. And being so excited about it. I am super proud of my sweet, thoughtful little girl! :)

Halloween (hey at least its before Thanksgiving!)

So my goal was to get Halloween posted before THanksgiving...and here it is! And I have no good reason for not putting pics up sooner; its not like I edit my photos or do anything fancy...I just haven't done it. So we had days of Halloween fun and I never actually got any pictures of anything outside of the house. But Friday night we went to a trunk-or-treat and chili feed with Esther and her family at her ward. That was really fun. Aspen especially LOVED it! She is so social and loves talking to people. She's ask all the kids around about their costumes and was just so fun. Mia was being shy and didn't say one word the whole evening, just clung to my leg. And Isaac, well he is such a joy. He spent half the time smiling and the other half sleeping. And it was really fun to hang out with Esther and her family. We love that they live close to us now. :)

Then Saturday we went with Esther's family to their neighborhood party and Malo and Jeremy took the kids trick or treating in their neighborhood and Ess and I stayed at her house passing out candy with Isaac. Then we hung out and watched Ghost Busters II. Fun stuff.

Then Halloween Malo took the girls trick or treating just in our neighborhood while Isaac and I passed out candy. Holy smokes did we ever have a lot of trick or treaters! Once the girls came home, Aspen passed out candy to all the trick or treaters and I tell you, that girl is so funny! I love her. She had more fun doing that than anything else! She was so cute; she was SO excited every time someone knocked on the door and she'd give out handfuls of candy; I finally had to tell her not to give more than 3 pieces to each person and she said "but i like to give candies!" Sweet girl! She talked to EVERYONE about their costumes, about if they were having fun. She is just so fun. The best thing was when older kids came to the door, she would NOT give them candy until they said "trick or treat." and she'd tell them to say it. And if they didn't say thank you, she'd say "ok, say thank you!" It was just so stinking cute. And after about an hour, Mia started getting involved and excited. Gosh, I love my kids. They are so much fun and get SO excited about things; I love it. I love them so much and it was such a fun few days of Halloween fun with them. :)

And here are some pictures of Aspen, Tinkerbell. And Mia Monkey. And Isaac was a pumpkin one night and Tigger the next two nights. Both outfits were too small for him, but he pulled it off with his big blue eyes and giant smile. Love these kids.













Mia wanted so badly to wear Isaac's costume, so here she is wearing his. She is so funny; she has a mind of her own and wants what she wants. She has such a big personality in a little package and she makes us laugh daily. All these kiddos do. Each in their own way, they all contribute SO much to our family and they all have such fun personalities. Malo and I just are so blessed to have such wonderful, albeit often naughty, kids. Not sure what we ever did to deserve these sweet little munchkins, but we couldn't be happier! Happy Halloween!

Isaac's in trouble!

He's trying so hard to take steps and balance on his own....I've grounded him for life if he does it! ;) This boy cracks me up, he is so determined. His face cracks me up; its his concentrating face.

:)

This kid just makes me smile.

These girls can be so sweet!



I will get Halloween pics up before Thanksgiving. :) I promise.

wrestling

Mia likes to wrestle Isaac,but now he's starting to be able to get her! :)

Gratitude

General Conference was last weekend, and I one sentence struck a cord with me more than anything else, these words from President Monson: "Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings." I can be a complainer. I get feeling sorry for myself because things don't go the way **I** think they should all the time, or I get my feelings hurt and then the whole world is out to get me (ok, slight exaggeration, but you get my point), or I get frustrated that I don't have the nicest things, or that we can't afford to fly to Hawaii every weekend (or ever!ha.) But bottom line, if I "pause to contemplate my blessings," I have everything I have ever wanted. I have a testimony that my Savior lives and loves me, I have a husband who works hard everyday to provide for the children that Heavenly Father has blessed us with, I have a home to live in, food to eat, I have amazing extended family and friends that are just as close as family. I have cheese in my refrigerator-seriously what more can one ask for!?!??! ;) I am going to make a special effort to show my gratitude for the great blessings that I have. :)
Aspen:She is such a great little girl. She's got an amazing imagination and is SO friendly. She loves to talk to people and is SUPER outgoing. She is incredibly affectionate and loving. Not one day ever goes by that she doesn't tell me she loves me. Love love LOVE her. :)
Mia:
This little girl has more energy than I ever knew was possible. She keeps me on my toes for sure. She is also so so so sweet and snuggly and loves to be held. She is also affectionate, but is more reserved about it than Aspen. She gives the biggest and best and rowdiest hugs on earth. Love her to pieces. :)
Isaac: Isaac, my sweet baby boy, is so mellow and happy. One smile from him is all it takes to cheer anyone up. He makes me happy. He is my snuggle buddy. Love him so much. :)
Smalo: Malo is my best friend and the cutest boy I know! He is the greatest husband and works so hard for our family. Our kiddos absolutely adore him and that makes me fall more and more in love with him. Watching him be a daddy has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. I love him so much. :)

I hope that we can all take a few minutes out of each day and think about the things that we are the most grateful for. And take the time to let the people in our lives who have helped us, who have touched our lives and made life better or easier, or just plain more fun ~ tell them you appreciate them! And take some time each day to thank our Heavenly Father for our blessings, because everything we have is from Him. I'm certainly going to try to be better at this. Because I do have a lot to be grateful for.

Sweet boy

This kid is awesome.