It's Beginning to look alot like...

So, last weekend we headed for the hills to get our Christmas tree. Right after
our ward Christmas Party we decided to head to Idaho City with friends to get our tree. At first I was excited but as we began to climb the summit to Lowman I began to cringe. My family members will know how that trip and I don't do well. I don't think I ever made that trip without having my parents stop! As an 9 year old my sister Christine told me that if I had salt I wouldn't get as sick. So, as we loaded up our "goody bags" from our store, I got some salt packets. Don't worry it gets worst. Just as we pass Lowman I start opening salt packets into my mouth and washing it down with that cheap nasty orange juice. Not the brightest child I know.


Anyways, here is our lovely tree we cut down. It looks great in our front room and the girls were thrilled to decorate it.

The girls got to practice the bb guns afterwards. We may not have any boys, but our girls do anything a boy can!!

Here's a shot of Justin's Coues deer he got in Arizona at the beginning of the month. Coues deer are very small and this was a "large" one. Justin had a fantastic time and I can't wait to taste what $80 lb. meat tastes like!!

While Justin was gone Brooke lost her front tooth. Her tooth was dangling for a few days, but she wanted Dad to be there when it came out. The day he was to arrive she was playing with Leah and bonked heads and out popped a tooth. Fortunately, Dad was home the following day to experience the second front tooth!



Have I mentioned lately how quickly Leah is growing up right before our eyes!


I am not usually one to post pictures about my birthday, but I had to show the decoration job Justin did for me. He is one who really dislikes streamers and balloons around the house. As soon as the party is over all decor comes down. So, I was impressed when I awoke on my birthday to see the kitchen decked out. And my cute little girls made and decorated my cake! I told them I didn't want the hunting stuff we put on Justin's cake so they made me a Hawaii cake instead. They probably spent an hour decorating it!! I remember the last time my Grandma Hall spoke to me was right after we found we were having girl #4. She said, "Oh, Lynette you are so lucky! Four girls to take care of you!" I am starting to see what she is talking about. I love my little girls!!

On Monday Justin came home and was watching the news when they talked about the tree lighting ceremony going on in downtown Boise. We thought it was a great FHE activity so we quickly found shoes and coats for all the girls and dashed out the door. We showed up with the tree lit and not another soul in sight! Apparently, it was on Sunday. As always, a day late and a dollar short. (one of my Dad's favorite sayings) So, here is a shot of the girls leaping like frogs down the sidewalk on a cold foggy evening!

The Real Reason for Trophies

So last week I finally went through some of my old teacher boxes to clear the attic. (I am guessing so Justin can fill it with more of his outdoorsy gear) As, the girls were helping me unload the boxes they came upon a trophy I got about ten years ago. It is a very large trophy for a very small event. My girls were in complete awe. "You won this Mom!" "You got a trophy Mom" "Wow!", "I can't believe you won a trophy!" on and on. So, then Brooke asked if she could put it in the house. Sure. I come in later to find it proudly displayed above the kitchen cabinets. So I have come to the conclusion that the real reason for trophies is to show your kids that you were once pretty cool and athletic. Now, I don't think I am that old and still consider myself in shape, but I am starting to see the true value in trophies!!

Halloween Happennins

It's hard to believe Halloween has come and gone. The girls had Halloween off from school (now there's smart teachers!!) So, we spent the morning carving our pumpkins. A little late, but we did get them done! It is funny how many times my little girls personalities come out when we are doing projects like this. Since Justin was at work, I did the carving and cutting and the girls did the designing and scooping. Hailey was so excited for me to cut her pumpkin open so that we could clean it out and start on her face. As soon as I lifted the "lid" she looked inside and said, "Gross! Mom you can clean it out I am going to watch my movie!" Then, I'm carving Aubrey's pumpkin and the eyes aren't looking the same. "Aubrey, do you want me to make this eye bigger to match?" "No, Mom. That looks great! Thanks!" Then, comes Brooke. She has already drawn her face with a pen. I start carving. She keeps checking on me to make sure it looks right. I cut one eye out and she puts it over to the other side to make sure the face will be "symmetrical". They each come with their own personality! P.S. Aubrey and Brooke were kind enough to clean out Hailey's pumpkin for her.

So here are our Trick or Treaters: You can see that Leah very quickly realized what Halloween was all about. By about the third house she knew to hop out of the stroller, knock on the door, say "Hoween" and grab as much candy as the person would allow. She was a die hard and trick or treated with the big kids all evening!



The Giraffe who hated to wear her hood, but she was so stinkin cute when she wore it!

Our Cinderella. There were a "few" tears over little costume details and she learned what "your mascara is running" means. She would cry and I would have to fix her makeup and tried to calm her down. Five minutes later the tears started up again and the reapplying of makeup continued!! But she is a very pretty Cinderella!

Our cute witch! I have a problem with ugly witches so she is our beautiful witch!

And our Sacajewa. She even had the privilege of wearing a feather from one of her dad's hunts.

Do you notice that none of them are wearing ski parkas, gloves, and scarves. You can actually see their costumes!! It was a beautiful, warm Halloween. The first nice Halloween since I have lived here! Yeah!

Fall Family Pictures

Thanks to Ginger we were able to take some family pictures this week. These are just a few I have edit so far and will post more later. It's not until I see our family pictures that I realize...geez we have a lot of kids!! (Don't let Justin know that!)I have felt like a chicken with her head cut off this week. Between Halloween activities, school activities, my calling, canning grape juice (you know that $2 can of grape juice at Wal-Mart really is a smokin deal!!) taking pictures and editing them, plus all of the other Mom things I do, I am ready for a little down time!!

Update

So, I was being chastised by Justin and Brooke for not keeping our blog current.
We had a snow storm last weekend. The girls were so excited even though there wasn't enough to stick, there was enough to scream and run in the backyard! Sorry, it's a bad picture because I didn't want to go out myself!

We met Ginger and Gregg for our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It was so fun to wander and find just the right one!






This year I have started taking family and senior photos and am having a blast. I have finally found a hobby equal in expense to Justins! You need a new gun, great I would really like the new Nikon D90. A new scope? Well, I would really like a nicer lense. You really need a new backpack? Perfect, I am in need of a decent camera bag. You have to go to Alaska or Canada to get a caribou. Well, I have to go tropical to get great beach pictures and Arizona to get..... a picture of a cactus (and thaw out in the middle of February!) It keeps me happy shooting and editing photos while he's off wandering around in the woods. This is one I took of cute Cash, Ginger's little one.


Fall brings the hunting season and my "hunting widow" season. And for those of you who's husbands don't hunt will think either I am a fantastic story teller or have lost it with four kids. Those of you whose husbands are obsessed with the hunting thing will either laugh or cry because it sounds all too familiar. He hasn't been hunting "a lot".(He reminds me.) But it's the deer hair in the washer that I found after he washed the game bag. (For those outsiders, that is what you put a dead deer in! Lovely, eh!!) Then, there's the antelope skull right outside the garage door. Which makes the most lovely smell as you can imagine. And the skunk smell still lingering in our garage from the dead skunk he kept at our house and skinned on the back porch. Yes, it is legal to kill skunk. And no, it is not normal to skin the animal in your subdivision. I had one of my young women tell me that her family drove around the neighborhood trying to find the source of the smell after 3 days!! Most of our neighbors find our household quite amusing. I would post a picture that I took but I think I will already be in trouble when Justin reads this blog!!

We have enjoyed walking in our subdivision raking and playing in the leaves.


Other than that we are keeping busy with school, our callings, having fun and being a family of six!!

The Little Things

So, Leah is starting to discover exciting new things about life: the light switch, shoes, and her belly button. It's so cute to see her walking around with one finger on her belly button. And if you come to our home and misplace your shoes it is probably because she tried them on for size! As you can see from the picture she's very excited about the wonder of a light switch! It's amazing what little things bring her sheer joy! She's growing up way too fast!

One of the Reasons

So, Saturday we had quite the thunderstorm. The street looked like a large river heading down the street. Brooke and Aubrey kept running out onto the driveway to get a little wet. Justin told Brooke to go stand in the gutter. She hesitantly walked near the gutter and dipped a toe in. The next thing I know Justin goes running past me into the "river". I go running the opposite direction to get my camera! For the next five minutes, Justin and the girls jump and run and get soaked. Aubrey comes in wet and cold announcing, "This is the bestest day ever Mom!" Justin is such a fun dad and is always looking to create memories with his girls. Just one of the reasons I love Him!

Ahhh.....Hawaii

Justin and I just came back from spending a week in Hawaii with Paula Jean and David. It was a well needed break from the norm and we had a fantastic time!

Our first stop, the island of Kauai. The first evening in Kauai we just bought food (if you think food prices have gone up, go to Hawaii to appreciate your food prices!), checked into our room and wandered the island finding a good beach. We awoke the next morning to beautiful scenery and of course, Justin fishing.

We then headed up to the North Shore and took in the beautiful sights of Hanalei Bay and the beginning of the Napali Coast. We set up camp for the day at Tunnels Beach and swam, snorkeled, laid out, snork-fished (my made up word for Justin snorkeling while fly fishing at the same time. It was very entertaining to watch), swimming with turtles, eating raw, gross coconuts, and getting burned. (I'll add a few more pictures later from the beach that Paula Jean took. It was an awesome beach!)



Friday we kayaked up a river, hiked into Secret Falls, checked out Poipu beaches, snorkeled, and tested out the hot tub at the Marriott Resort (for future reference).



Saturday Justin flew out early to spend the day with his brother Mike in Maui. They had a great time snorkeling, rope swinging in a waterfall, exploring Maui, eating octopus, fishing, body surfing, and eating at Mike's beautiful restaurant. (No wonder he came back tired! Thanks Mike!) Paula Jean, David and I took a stroll on a cruiser bike and tandem bike. (Talk about entertaining. Paula Jean and I were down right scary on that bike!!) We then flew to Oahu and snorkeled Hanamu Bay and enjoyed the nightlife scenes in Waikiki.




Sunday we went to church, picked up Justin from the airport, toured Pearl Harbor and hung out on the West side of the island.


Monday was our "we have to do as much as we can in one day" day. Justin and David started the day off in a cage 3 miles off the coast of the North Shore surrounded by sharks! They took an incredible Hawaii shark encounters tour and loved it. Justin said as a litttle kid he alwyas wanted to be like those guys in National Geographic. Well he had his chance and even grabbed the fin of one of the 18 feet Tiger sharks. Am I the only one amazed that Justin has only lost the tip of his thumb so far in his life? Meanwhile, Paula Jean and I found a nice beach, layed out, played cards, and enjoyed the scenery!



Then we headed to the awesome Shark Cove for a quick snorkel expedition, showered at the beach and spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.




Tuesday was spent doing last minute shopping, hanging out on the beach and trying to soak in the last few rays of sunshine!
Thanks Paula Jean and David for a fantastic time. (the word "Poipu" will never be the same). Thanks Mike for a great time in Maui. Thanks Mom for helping with the kids and letting us use the time share. Thanks Gail and Marilyn for helping out with our girls. And thanks Honey for letting me talk you into taking wonderful vacations!