A Christmas Surprise!!!!

I know this is a horrible picture of me, and I can't believe I put it on here! It is hard to believe that I am really happy in this picture, but I am. A few days after Christmas I walked into my bedroom and found this.......

Mary and Hudson!! They had flown in from Florida for New Years and everyone knew they were coming, but me! I was so surprised!! It was the best present ever!

Christmas with famliy 2009

Santa Clause comes to the Howell family party every year. Marlie was not so sure what to think of Santa this year so Santa sat on the floor so she would not be so afraid.

We had a few family parties at Christmas. It is always so fun for the kids to get together with extended family and cousins.

It is always so fun to watch the kids wake up and see what Santa left them. Marlie was old enough this year to be excited about it. Kayla and Maddi got digital cameras, Mason got his own Nintendo ds, and Marlie got another baby, of course!!!

Tim and Kim were able to come spend the night and have breakfast with us on Christmas morning. It was fun to see Addie and Drew open presents,too. I love the Holidays and being with family! I am hoping that next Christmas the whole family will be able to be together.

Happy 2nd Birthday Marlie

I know I have more picture than this for Marlie's 2nd Birthday, but I can't find them on the computer. I will have to add them as I find them. (This is really sad because as I post this Marlie is over 2 1/2.)

Marlie is super obsessed about babies. She could never have enough of them! That is all she wanted for her Birthday.

She was happy that she got a new baby that she could feed and take care of.

Even though she is only 2 years old, she loves to nurture and be a "Mommy" to baby dolls and real babies. She is such a sweet and loving little girl!

She started crawling out of her crib shortly after her Birthday! It was a sad day for me! She also started to get potty trained right after she turned 2 years old and trained pretty fast and easy! It makes me so sad to see how fast she is growing up and becoming a little girl!

Turkey Trot

This was Mason's first year being in school, so he was excited for the Turkey Trot.

I was so happy that he got first place in the boys for his age and his cute little friend Karley got 1st place for the girls.

Here comes Maddi running her little heart out!

Now that she is 3rd grade she got to run one mile for the Turkey Trot. I am so pround of her to run that far and try so hard.

Happy Haunting Part 2!!!!

We get together with the Gorings every Halloween for the Trunk-r-Treat. I was sad to see how big Marlie was this year, and that she had graduated from the high chair to the big kid table. I usually take individual pictures of my kids for some reason this year I didn't get any. I will have to remember that for next year.

This year Kayla chose to be a Fairy, Maddi was a Skela-rocker, Mason was "Snake Eyes" from G.I. Joe, and Marlie was a Bumble Bee.

On Halloween Dave's Brother Scott came to visit with his wife Shay and their twins Korver and Olivia. It was so cute to see them in their costumes. We decided to go visit Dave's Grandma Morris so she could see the kids all dressed up. I love the picture with Grandma Morris with Easton and Mason laughing on her lap.

We usually carve pumpkins, but this year my Mom painted pumpkins with the kids. Kayla was invited to a fun Halloween party with a bunch of friends from school. (There was over 30 girls there!) The Mom's went all out and the girls had a great time. Don't Maddi and Lexi look scary!!!

Happy Haunting part 1 !!!!

Deweyville had it's first annual pumpkin walk last Halloween. My Brother Tim and his family were here for the weekend, so we decided to go check it out. We saw some very creative and creepy pumpkins, the kids really like it!!

They also had some fun places for everyone to pose for a picture. Some of these are so funny!

Our friends Mandie and Cade have had a Halloween Party for the past few years. It is always fun to get together with friends for a few hours without the kids. They have a fun scavenger hunt that we go on and it is a blast. I am always amazes how creative everyone is with their costumes. Dave was a Biker and I was a princess, and was wearing the masquerade mask that I bought in New Orleans. I can't wait until next Halloween and already have some ideas for our costumes.

Mason turns 6 years old

Mason celebrated his 6th Birthday on October 15th. He was so excited to get the marshmallow gun that Grandma and Grandpa got for him.

I am not very creative, but I tried to do something a little different for Mason's Birthday cake this year. Because his Birthday is so close to Halloween and he was having a Halloween themed Birthday party, I made him a spider cake. Luckily he is easy to please and thought it was pretty neat.

Here is Mason getting ready to blow the his Birthday candle out.

Mason had some of his friends from school and the ward come to his party. They were all dressed up so cute, and they had a fun time!

My visit to the South

The last two years in October my Mom and I have gone to visit Mary. This year we got to go to Louisiana, it was my fist time visiting the South. We went to visit Cam at the beautiful hotel where he worked I got a little side tracked for a few minutes. I went into the casino for 10 minutes and walked out with $40.00. I love the nickle slots, it is a good thing that we don't live closer to a casino. I love the time that I get to spend with my Mary, Cam and Hudson.

After visiting their town for a few days we headed to New Orleans for a day. On the way there we stopped and a very red-neck restaurant on a bayou for lunch. We got chance to try fried cat fish, crab cakes, and fried frog legs. The fist night we got there we walked down to Bourbon Street. We had just gotten there when the heavens opened up and it started to rain like I have never seen rain before! We had to walk back to the hotel without an umbrella. We went to dinner and nearly floated away down the road, it was so crazy!!!

The next day we went to the French Quarters, and the Garden District. They were both so pretty! We had to eat a famous Bisque and it was delicious! I was amazed to see beads still stuck in trees from Marti Grass 6 months earlier.

We also went and found a cemetery there, it was quite strange to see the graves that are above ground because of them being above sea level. While we were there we figured we should drive around and see some of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It was amazing to see some of the destruction that seemed so fresh, and then jut next door houses that seem untouched or that had already fixed up there homes. It was a great trip and am glad that I was able to see that part of the world. Mary and Cam moved shortly after my visit , so I am looking forward to visiting them next wherever they live the next time I get to go visit.

Fall Soccer

This year Mason was old enough to start playing city soccer. He cried the day I signed him up. He did not want to play and that he would not play. Well his first game came and he was hooked! Watching 5 year olds play soccer can be a little frustrating, but so much fun!!!! He is a great little soccer player and can't wait for Spring soccer to start.

Kayla decided to hang up her dancing shoes for soccer cleats last year as well. She joined the All-Stars competitive team. It was a new experience for her, but she caught on quickly! She was the smallest player on her team, but very quick! She was one of the only girls who had not played on the team before, and I was so proud of her hard work and determination. She is getting ready for the new season to start next month.

I guess you could say I am now officaly a soccer Mom. It is a bit tiering getting the kids to and from all their practices and games, but so worth every minute of it. I enjoyed watching the girls dance, but for me watching the spoting events are so much fun!!! Maddi is also playing fast pitch softball and just got done playing her first season of Basketball. I will get some of those pictures posted one of these days as well.

Marlie's Major Messes

Well all of you who have had a toddler know that they can make messes faster than you can clean them up. I also learned the hard way that putting a 20 month old in th car for 5 minutes to keep them safe from wild lambs, can turn into a 2 hour adventure. Luckily the Officers were nice enough to not take me to jail for child neglect, but then even drove to Dave's work to get the extra set of keys for me. As you can tell Marlie even had my cell phone in the car with her. She thought it was pretty fun at first to tear apart my car while we all watched, but as it got darker she got a little concerned. It was definitely a night to remember.

Not long after the great lock down, I left her with my Dad so I could color my Mom's hair. She was being a little,too quiet so he went to find her, this is what he found. No, this is not Gene Simmons from KISS. Just Marlie playing with Mommy's mascara. What a crazy girl!!!!

You think I would learn not to leave her alone for more than 1 second alone, but I always want to think that she is playing with her babies like a good girl. This is what I find more than not.... A HUGE MESS!!!!! The top picture is Marlie painting her toe nails, then the next two pictures are really gross, but I had to make the best out of a "POOPY" situations. (Sorry if it make you sick!) Then the last pictures are Marlie doing her hair and using a lot of hair wax!!!

I would love to say that these are the only messes that she has made, but not so lucky. Thank goodness she is so stinking cute!!!!

Back to School

Yes I know school is 2/3 's over, but finally her are the pictures.

McKayla started 6th grade this year and entered into the Intermediate School. I was a little nervous for her, but she adjusted very well. She even let me walk her into school and take a picture of her. I am sure that won't last long. She opened her locker on the first try. She has had some big assignments to do this year like the Mesopotamian project, World Fair, and the Science Fair. She has worked really hard and they have all turned out so nice.

Maddi started the 3rd grade and was so excited because she got the teacher she really wanted. She also had a few of her very best friends in her class. She is learning her multiplication and passing off her times tests.

Mason started Kindergarten this year and I think It was harder on Me than it was him. He got an Awesome teacher and loves everyday of school. He only goes a half day, I miss his big hugs while he is gone. He is learning to read and write and is learning so much!!

Fair time again!

(I know this is 6 months late, but I still need to do it!!)

This is the 3rd year that McKayla has raised a lamb for the fair. It is always one of those things that half way through we wonder what we have gotten ourselves into, but it always ends up being a good experience and we are glad when it is done.

Here are some pictures of the kids racking, washing ,and walking their lambs. They spend many hours in the heat getting their lambs ready for the big day.

McKayla did a great job and her hard work paid off. She got 1st place (Star Choice in her wight group.) Then she got to got the final round with the top 50 to compete for grand champion. (There were over 300 lambs total this year in the fair.) She hung in there for a long time and ended up getting 6th place over all, we were all so excited and proud!!!! Next year Maddi gets to raise one ,so we will have 2!!!