The BIG apple

We were excited to see apples on sale for 67 cents/pound in our local grocery ad...what they failed to mention was that each one weighed 5 pounds!

So we took out the cores, added apple crisp filling, baked them, and topped them with a homemade caramel pecan sauce. Yum, yum! The picture doesn't do them justice, but they really were delicious. We could only eat 2 for dessert for the whole family, and had 3 giants left over! :)

A lot of stuff

I am just so efficient with blog posts recently, that I have to resort to cramming a bunch of non-related things into one post if I ever expect to keep up, so enjoy the randomness!

Zoee and her flock of babies. She's such a motherly little girl, not only to her babies, but to food, pieces of paper, just about anything. We got Sonic corn dogs on our way into Mesa the other day. I heard her singing "Rock a baby..." and looked back to see her cuddling and rocking her corndog...so funny!

Fighting the mighty vacuum

Our spooked house

Pumpkin decorating

Ready for Fall Festival & Trunk or Treat

The kids insisted on trying the pool the other day. The 80 degree weather forced the AZ babies out after about 10 minutes...just too chilly! :)

Planting the garden with my little helpers!

There's been a little confusion around her lately about what exactly the potty is for. I tried potty training for a month and then I gave up. I have one cute little stubborn girl! :) We'll try round 2 in a couple of months...:)

....And after a busy week, enjoying Saturday night family movie night & popcorn!

Rodeo!

Our Stake put on a foot rodeo. It was a lot of fun for the kids.

chicken chase

mini pony rides

stick horse barrel racing

roping the straw steers...and riding them

horseshoes

We stood in line for mutton busting (sheep riding) for Jaden for an hour and a half. Then they had to end it, just a few before Jaden's turn. Oh, the tears!

Luckily, mommy knew the rodeo queen, and was able to get a little horse ride to make everything better! :)

This was a funny thing to have in the middle of all these houses and people and city. The truth is, it made me homesick. I wish my little cowpokes could have this everyday!

Five Years Later..

Five years late, we finally went on our honeymoon cruise! We had such a great time! Catalina Island was lovely! Ensenada, Mexico was not as lovely. We ate, we went to shows, we ate, we took naps, we ate, we went off the boat for a couple of hours, we spent some time in the hot tub and pool, then we ate and went to bed. If was so great to have no schedule and no responsibility for a few days. I was ready to see my babies again by the time it was coming to an end, though!

Off the ship and over to the Island of Catalina.

Our server dancing with a napkin on his head. We got a show each night during dinner. It really was quite fun and entertaining.

 Ensenada, Mexico

Fluffy, cozy cruise ship robes.

Pool & water slide on the top of the ship. Daniel is the taller one, standing in line with all the kids.

We had a new towel animal on our bed each night.

The souvenirs we brought home for the little banditos. 

Grandma Than & Grandpa Dennis stayed with the kids while we were gone. Other than Grandma falling in the pond once, and setting off a false alarm on the house, there weren't too many major incidences.

We got to hit a garage sale day before Grandma left. She found some great tunnels to take home to her nursery (She's the Primary President.) She and Zo had a great time trying them out.

We just couldn't let them have all the fun themselves...

I am married to a very obnoxious man, that I dearly love.