One CRAZY month

This month has been a very busy one. It started the week before thanksgiving. We went to Pismo beach for the holiday and the kids loved it. I will post about that another day. Then we started on Drill Competitions. We had 2 in December. They were both on Saturday. If you don't know, competitions last ALL DAY. So there was no time to shop. On top of that Cortlyn had 3 dance performances plus all the wonderful family Christmas parties that we attended. So that might explain why we have been missing from this blog for a while now.Shawnee and her team mates in the drill down. Shawnee did pretty well during this considering this was her first drill down. She lasted longer then most of her team.
This is there kick routine. They got 5th place on this one.
Shawnee in all her dance makeup and fake eye lashes. You can't tell she has fake ones on they look so natural. She has long lashes to begin with. Lucky girl.
This is there Military routine. They are required to do head stands and Shawnee is in the middle. The five girls that you see are the only ones that can hold their head stands the longest. You rock Shawnee. They took 5th place in this dance.
Here is their hip hop dance. They took 3rd in this one. In their dance routine they took 5Th place. They did very well for their first competition of the year. Lets hope they can keep this up and they will take state. Go Westlake Storm. Keep up the good work Shawnee.

Hee Haws

I took the little kids to Hee Haws. It is a cute little farm that has a lot of things for the little kids to do. Plus they have a pumpkin patch that the kids can go and pick their very own. Kenzie loved jumping on the hay trampoline.

Ty has no fear what so ever. He jumped from up above and landed on his feet.

Here he is jumping and doing a trick for us.

Ty getting ready to jump and Kenzie getting out of the way.

This is the pumpkin Kenzie picked. It was just the right size for her. She carried is every where.

Ty's pumpkin. He couldn't carry his because it was too heavy. What a silly little kid

We could not get Kenzie off this cute horse swing. If we let her she would have stayed there all day. But we had to grab her kicking and screaming. She was fine when we went to see the animals and chase them around.

Ty had a great time on the swing too. We went from the swings to see the animals. Chickens, pigs, sheeps, lambs, turkeys, geese, donkeys, cows, goats and rabbits oh my. On a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch and back. Down a big slide with mom and jumped off the hay trampoline. WOW what a day. The weather was gorgeous and the kids had a ball. Until next year. Hope everyone has picked a pumpkin to decorate. I know we have.....

We are having some awesome warm weather for fall this year. So we thought that we would take advantage of it and headed to the sand dunes in delta for the weekend with some wonderful neighbors the Panters. Kenzie playing in the sand. She was loving every minute of it. If she can be outside then she is a happy girl.

Ty loved the sand too but he was more for getting on the ranger with his dad and riding the hills and jumps. He tells his dad to go faster and lets do that again. He is the dare devil of the family.

This is Shawnee's shadow. I think it turned out pretty cool.

You can't go to the sand dunes and NOT make a sand angel.

Cortlyn and her friends Lauren and Kate. They were having a blast running down the hill and crashing at the bottom.

Shawnee doing an awesome dance trick for us on the dunes. She has all kinds of talent to share. Oh wait only if you are not looking.

Hayden spent pretty much the entire time riding his motorcycle or the four wheeler on the sand dunes. He really loves going camping and riding.

Shawnee and Kenzie, she was a little tired. Everyone was headed to Sand Mountain. Good thing it was nap time. I got in a game of cards.

Check out this awesome sunset.

The girls going on a ranger ride with Brad. They so love it when they get to go with him. They will scream and sing songs and giggle. Love these girls. Thanks Panters for inviting us to go. Can't wait for Pismo Beach in a month. We are going to have a BLAST. Wait we always have a BLAST with you guys.

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What do we do in the FALL time?

Well here we are the end of September and the temp outside in over 80 degrees. So what do we do? Well we put on our swim suits and jump on the trampoline with the sprinklers on. I know it sounds a little crazy for the time of year but hey whats is going to hurt? Kenzie loves to jump on the tramp as long as no one else is jumping with her. She wouldn't get on the tramp with the sprinkler so we turned it off so she could have a little fun too.

Ty on the other hand loves the water. He was running, sliding and rolling around in the water. He was having a great time enjoying the last of the wonderful weather before it gets to cold.

Doesn't she have the cutest little bum ever?

They call me Flash or the Energizer bunny. Why you ask because I am super fast and go 24/7. I never stop, and I keep going and going and going. I usually crash around 10:30 or 11:00 only if there is nothing going on. Yep that's me Ty. I love my life.

kids pictures

Iwas a little cheap this year and did not get the kids school pictures. I also decided to finally take a photography class. Well between everything I figured I could go it. So here are the results of my photo op with my kids.

Aren't these girls GORGEOUS? Super glad that they belong to ME!

Here are some HANDSOME looking boys. Yep sorry they are taking to. They belong to ME!

Not bad for the first time. I am still learning. Maybe one day you will see my photos in magazines. Or NOT!!!! I love to capture my kids and all their silliness. We had a lot of fun this day. Going to the temple with the beautiful flowers still in bloom and feeling of the spirit that was there made this so fun.

It's GREAT to be EIGHT

WOW this girl is eight already. Can you believe it? She was baptized by her dad and then confirmed by her grandpa Bert. What a special day it was. She was surrounded by all her family and friends. We had 4 baptism's from our ward and they were all girls.

Here is the hair. We put it up and did three twist braids. It stayed nice and neat even after she went in the water. No redoing this girls hair. This was the way to go. Simple but elegant.

You can't forget the shoes. What girl doesn't like her shoes.

Cortlyn picked her dress out herself and this is what she choose. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!! I think she loved the billowing of the dress the best, that is was like a big ball gown the princess' wear. She absolutely looked like a princess in this dress.

We went to the temple to get some pictures of her in her dress and she was having a ball with it. I think we took over 80 pictures just of her. She didn't care it was all about CORTLYN. We are so proud of her and her decision to be baptized.

Birthdays

This kid decided to turn 13 this year. Time sure does fly. He got the Leven Thumps book series, rain poncho and rain pants for camping, BYU sweatshirt, money, walkie talkies and a Westlake hat.

Kenzie wanted to wear the hat too. She sure is a cute fan.

Haydens awesome cake. Chocolate cake with a yummy filling and vanilla frosting. It was super yummy. We are so proud of Hayden. He is a sweet kid and will help out at any time without complaint. He love you buddy.

Cortlyn's birthday is only 5 days later. So we get to have LOTS of yummy cakes. She wanted a doll for her birthday. She got one and loves it. She also got some shoes, a fashion set that she can color and design, Junie B Jones books and a set of crayons and markers with a BIG sketch pad.

Cortlyn had vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. She told me just how she wanted it. A round cake on the bottom and cupcakes on the top. She loved it. Did I mention that she turned 8. I can't believe she will be getting baptized. I am sure getting OLD. All my kids are growing up. Awe the days when you could sit around the house and play dolls, color in a book and play play dough and trucks. No not anymore. We have dance and violin and ball games that we have to go to now. BUT I wouldn't change it to anything. We really love Cortlyn she is a spark in this family and brings on a lot of drama. She is not afraid to show anyone anything. She just digs right in with no fear. We love you Corty.

Thats one BIG elk

Brad had the opportunity to go hunt an elk on some private property over Labor Day weekend. Well he shot one. It was huge. They score them and it came in as a 400, with a 6 inch caliper on the antlers. This elk was enormous. As you can see from this picture the four wheeler was off the ground while they were loading it on to the trailer. Plus they rolled 2 four wheelers just trying to get it off the mountain. They think it weighted in over 1500 pounds. We received over 250 pounds of meat.

As you can see it was a nice looking elk. Yes Hayden and Ty were able to go with him. They had a blast. Ty was a trooper and he is ready to go hunting again. He asks Brad at least once a week when it is his turn to shoot a deer. While they were gutting the elk Brad told Ty to move because he was sitting at the end where all the guts were going and he was getting a little on him. He just said no I OK. So he sat there watching the whole time getting messy and telling the guys to cut off his head. Gross I know.

You can see just how big this thing really is. Brad it standing up he is not lifting the head up. The antlers are all proportionate which makes it an even nicer elk.

This is the place where the boys went. So beautiful. They had a great time. I hope you had a chance to locate Ty in all his camo gear. He blends in really well. Its kind of like finding a Where's Waldo. He was excited to get to wear his new hunting clothes. He is definitely his dads boy.