Household Chores

Brinly has been learning how to help more around the house. She was doing a marvelous job of vacuuming and, I just had to document it.

Also, she is learning to help with the laundry as well...not quite as cooperative:) Cade was sure enjoying the ride!

Our Autumn

Apparently, we went through a little bit of withdrawls this Fall season. We did not see any beautiful fall foliage! So, one day Brin and I took a walk in the 80 degree weather and found a few leaves we could call Our Autumn. It helped, a little.

Oh, and please note the homemade turkey decoration Brinly made in her art class...yes, we are saving it:)

Big Sister, Brin

Brin decided she needed to help Cade with his Cherrio snack. Notice the floor..she thought she would help him eat them faster in order to keep more from being wasted on the ground:)

Turkey, turkey

Family Times:

So, we had a marvelous time in Logan with all the family. It was a fast trip up to northern Utah, but provided great memories all the way! Kim provided a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmin's and a lovely home to entertain all the extended fam.

Brinly and Auntie Lynds having fun with the purple grandma pillow. Lynds is just sparking!

As you can see, Lyndsey is kindof liked by her nephces (as Ali has coined to mean, neices and nephews b/c the English language doesn't provide a word meaning both). Addie is such a doll. Just one question, why do they both have their mouths open?

I just love this photo! Mother and daughter, shining with sunlight.

Cade showing off to Grandma and Grandpa his silly smile. He truely thinks he is smiling and puts on this forced, scrunched up face and just grins at whomever he is communicating with. It's pretty funny! Auntie Katie must have given him few lessons in the pre-existance!:)

Good ol' Grandpa with Katie. He put up a good fight to have a good time while we were there, but still struggled. It was great to see him! Thanks for the wonderful company.

Brinly's Favorite part of Thanksgiving:

This picture doesn't quite show the reality of how favorite this was! Brinly was constantly asking Lyndsey and, "what's that girl's name again?", Kendall to play dolls with her. Oh, it was so much fun!! Kendall and Lyndsey were such troopers playing along with her whenever. She hasn't forgotten!

Shane's Homework:

Shane practicing his head and neck physical exam on Kathy...Jaydon is trying to figure out what is going on?! We had a good time at the Hulses on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was lovely to spend time with them. Brinly and Jaydon had a great time together, and didn't fight! Yippee!!

James, that is definately an interesting view!

What is that?

The first victim, James. He was very willing to let Shane practice on him. What a great sport!

Tamra's House:

Black friday, we spent the morning at Tamra's house doing various things. Our main purpose was to help her with the leaves in her yard.

As you can see, Brinly enjoyed the event. She kept asking where the big comb was...meaning the rake. Cute little mind, so very logical.

Gingerbread Houses:

That evening we had a great time making true blue gingerbread houses at Jay's house. It was a great time. Jay was busy making frosting for the rest of us decorating. Thanks to all her hard work, we enjoyed making a huge mess of sugar and candy.

Two things I've completed!

Ok, I know this seems pretty boring to some...but his is a major accomplishement for me!! I canned 21 quarts of pears on my own, while Shane watched the kids. We will be enjoying pears for a good long while:) I didn't burn myself until the very last little pint. Don't they look pretty!

This is my other accomplishment: Brinly's task chart. We spent a week trying to get this thing put together. We found stickers or clipart pictures laminated them and added velcro dots to them. She can put them on the ribbon when she completes the task. We also started a "behavior jar" as well, where she gets to put in a heart or star in her jar for good behavior and has to take one out for bad behavior. When it gets filled up, she can do a special something (whatever we designate). Anyway, exciting post, I know:)

The Air Show

My USAF pride emerged as I, a military brat, husband, and two children, rode onto Nellis AFB with a bus full of Jr.ROTC cadets, a retired AF pilot Colonel, and a retired AF Sargent. Passing through those gates brought back many memories. Seeing the multitude of AF pilots strutting in their flight suits stirred a familiar feeling of belonging.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, though it was VERY loud. We never thought that we might need ear plugs, but the kids were really struggling with it (Brinly didn't like the noise at all and Cade would cry out of pure fear). So, we found a vendor that wasn't sold out, and paid $1/ set of ear plugs. Here is Cade sporting his while in awe of the airplanes....who he was talking b/c he was SURE that those noisy contraptions were making that noise to communicate to him! It was so cute.

Brinly wouldn't take her hands off her ears...ever! While napping, she still had her hands on her ears, with her ear plugs in:) We love her!!

To the right is mama and Cade, with the ever-so fashionable ear plugs:)

The S.D. Ford Missile...oh dear!

Grandpa and Cade..having a good time!

This was Brinly, Cade, and Shane's first Air Show.
Brinly and Daddy inside some large carrier...huge, eh!

Although our Brinly is adorable in this picture...this is something I would never want to mix. Such innocence in a machine of war (though it is also the means of peace at times as well...just thought there is a bit of irony here).

As we sat on the flight line, we watched the famous Thunderbirds demonstrate their skills in formation flying. It was really pretty amazing to watch, and even more amazing as my Dad explained how such moves physically effected the human body (like flying upside down...he said he hated doing that b/c it literally hurts).

The Dam Tour

We enjoyed a fun tour of the Hoover Dam on Saturday with Kathy (Shane's sister and fam), Scott, and Jaydon. It was really interesting, and the view was great! They are building a new freeway that goes OVER the dam, so there isn't so much traffic ON the actual dam. You can see the construction if you look closely. Anyway, it was quite interesting to learn how we are able to live comfortably in this desert environment. Thank Heaven's for so many people's sacrafices so that our little family could enjoy eletricity of every kind, and plenty of drinking water! We are so blessed.My cute hubby and son smiling on the Dam!

Shane, Scott, Kathy, and kids in a tunnel 50 stories underground next to the dam. Pretty neat.

Brinly and Shane generating electricity for the comupterized household.

Cade really enjoyed the tour, as you can see:)

Brinly and cousin Jaydon enjoyed the tour inbetween naps in the stroller:) Building memories...

Trick or Treat Innocence...

I got to thinkin', and the only thing about Halloween and it is a strange tradition! If anybody has any insights on where all the silly little traditions came from, I'd be interested in knowing. The part that I enjoyed is displayed right here! My two cute kids dressed up, though Cade HATED his costume, as expressed here! It only lasted a few seconds. Brinly loved her little Piglet and had fun trick-or-treating at our local outdoor shopping center. Very fun.

Afterward, we passed out candy, and Cade discovered this! HA, it was great fun.

Brinly, Cade and Shane enjoying the spooking little maze at the shopping area. What a cute Daddy!