Happy Halloween!!...just a little late.

I know I am late with posting, I have thought about doing it many times just never got around to it. We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids all had Halloween parties on Thursday, then we went to the neighborhood Trunk or Treat. We didn't do much trick or treating at the houses because of the weather. There was a down pour of rain with lightning and thunder around 5:15pm. David asked what the back up plan was. I said there is no back up plan. The skies cleared up just in time for the Trunk or Treat at 6:30pm. They were able to score plenty of candy there. We handed out chips and ran out. We figured we handed out 160 bags. We went around to a few houses, then went to a friends haunted house. We then headed to Salem to go trick or treat and Grandpa and Grandma Dopps house. The kids were all zonked out on the ride home. It was a fun day!! Logan aka BUZZ LIGHTYEAR to the rescue!!
Shayla aka Dorothy ...there's no place like home.
Olivia aka THE VIKING
Dawson aka IRONMAN....I am IronMan
Tyson aka A SPIDER...AHHHH

Caramel Apples

On Saturday, we went to Tucanos to celebrate my birthday. When we got there we were told there was a 45 minute wait...for LUNCH!! It is located in the Riverwoods shopping center, so we decided to just walk around while we waited and the restaurant said they would call our cell phone to let us know when our table was ready. Right next to Tucanos is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I have seen it before when we have been there, but never gone in. Shayla saw it and asked it we could go in. We walked in and were surround with chocolate deliciousness. Since we had a wait, I told the kids that they could each choose a chocolate covered Marshmellow to snack on. These were regular size marshmellow, dipped in caramel, then dipped in white or milk chocolate and rolled in some topping. They were only sold by weight which was $17.95 a pound! They ended up being about $1.50 each. David got two chocolates, and I couldn't pass up a caramel apple. The apple was $5.50, I think. It was a Chocolate Caramel Pecan Apple. It was so Yummy!! I did share with everyone. Our total when we checked out was $15.00 for a caramel apple, 4 dipped marshmellows and two chocolates!! I have been thinking about that apple since then. I was searching around on one of my favorite food blogs(http://www.ourbestbites.com/) for halloween treat ideas and came across their caramel apples recipe. She was comparing them to the RMC Factories apples. Alot of the comments from people said how yummy they were. I decided I wanted to try and make them. I took off to the store and picked up the ingredients I needed. Granny Smith Apples, Kraft Caramels, Dipping white and milk chocolate, pecans, candy toppings and sticks. I was excited and nervous to make them. I envisioned my caramel just sliding off the apple and not sticking, but it stuck beautifully. Dawson and Logan were helping me and kept asking when they would be done. I did a few different kinds. Caramel Chocolate rolled in pecans and drizzled with white chocoalte, caramel chocolate rolled in butterfingers and drizzled with white chocolate, and caramel white chocolate rolled in cinnamon sugar mixture. I also did one caramel white chocolate rolled in pecans. I made the kids wait to eat them until after dinner, forcing them to eat their chili..which also came off of our best bites Chipotle Chocolate Chili. They were so Yummy!! I wasn't sure how the cinnamon sugar ones would taste, but they were delicious. Here are some pictures of them. This was the White chocolate/cinnamon sugar aka Apple Pie. They all got cut up before the pic.

This is the white chocolate/pecan..the chocolate/pecan...the chocoalte/butterfinger.

I may be going to the store again soon to get some more apples!!

Fireworks!!

Every year David and I disagree on how we should observe the 4th of July. I want to go see the shows the cities put on, and he wants to stay home and light off our own. This year, we went to Nephi on the 4th of July and watched fireworks. On the 24th of July, I bought him a big pack of fireworks to light off. I took Dawson and Logan with me to buy them, they were in firework heaven. They both tried to carry this out of the store, but realized they weren't quite strong enough. It was fun to see them excited as each one was fired off.

Back to School..here we come!

The time has come to begin another school year. I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids. I have missed being able to sleep in. The girls were to the point that they were asking to go back to school. They were getting so bored at home by the end of the summer. There were things that we wanted to do this summer that we never got around too, but I guess we have next summer. Shayla is starting 4th grade this year. She will be turning 10 next month.

Olivia is going into the 3rd grade. She just turned 8 in July.

Dawson is in Kindergarten this year. He is in the morning session. Today when he got home, his first day, he told me it was awesome because another boy puked in class all over the toys.

Logan has been so excited to go to Preschool. Ever since Dawson went last year, he has been telling everyone that when Dawson goes to Kindergarten, then he gets to go to Preschool. He wasn't nervous at all today. He went right in and started playing.

It didn't quite work out how I wanted with Dawson and Logan. They are on different schedules and so Logan is with me in the morning, and Dawson is with me in the afternoon. Dawson told me today that he was excited to be home alone with me, I guess Tyson doesn't count.

So, Hello to a new school year, I hope all goes well.

Tyson Walking

I don't know how to rotate this video, so just bear with it and rotate your screen if possible, or just turn your head sideways. Which ever way you do it, it is so cute!

Olivia's Baptism

Olivia was baptized on July 3rd. We had a lot of family that came and supported her as she made this important decision. There were 2 other boys baptized from her class. We all split up the program. Olivia's Grandma Moulton played the piano, and I gave the talk on The Holy Ghost. It was a very special day. After the baptism, she was confirmed by David. We all went back to our house and took pictures, then had a BBQ. Olivia is excited to now be able to go to Activity Days with Shayla.
Olivia right after she came out of the water and wrapped up in her new white towel. The smile on her face tells how happy she felt about her decision.

The family picture.

Olivia looking at how pretty her dress was sparkling in the sunlight.

Redneck Swimming Pool

The kids were outside playing in the sprinkler one day when I looked out and saw this... They had filled the wheelbarrow with water and were sitting in it.

Tyson is 1...well 13 months now

My baby turned 1 on June 10th. He is so fun to have in the family. He is learning to walk and as of today, we walks more than crawling. He loves to watch his brothers wrestling around and sometimes, it seems like he wants to join in. He can climb up the stairs and gets on a off the couches. He has also gotten off of our bed once. He is not too fond of water and lets me know everytime he has a bath. I LOVE him curly hair! David thinks it is too long and that we should cut it, but I am afraid if we cut it, the curl won't come back. I is always happy and curious about everything. I tried all day to get a good picture of him, but everytime I tried, we wouldn't smile, ot would try to grab the camera, so this is what you get.

Here he is enjoying his cake. We cut off some pieces for his sisters and brothers to have because we knew he wouldn't eat the whole thing.

All he wanted was the frosting. We tried to turn the cake and show him the inside, but he turned it back around and grabbed more frosting. When he was done, he tried to throw the whole cake on the floor, but I stopped it in time.

GO PINK DIAMONDS!!!

Shayla started the softball season the end of May. This was her first year on the Falcon league. Which is where all the girls play, no more coach pitch. She was excited because her best friend was on the team with her. They played a great season and were undefeated for Santaquin. They were able to go to the State Tournamnet in Salem. It wasn't the whole state, just a few cities from Springville on south. Shayla thought it was cool that they had actual score boards. The tournament started on July 7th. They played a game at 5pm and WON! On Wednesday, they played at noon and WON, so they had to play again at 5:20pm. They lost that game 6-4, so they had to play at 8:00pm. They came back and WON 7-1! Thursday was the last day of the tournament. Their first game was at 3pm. It is double elimination, so they really wanted to win all the games and still make it to the championship game. They did WIN the 3pm game and moved on to the 5:20pm game. They were nervous because this was the Spanish Fork team they had lost to the day before. They did great and WON 3-0! Shayla got some great hits and one of the points was scored by her. This win put them into the Championship game. The game started at 7pm and had no time limit, and they played 6 innings instead of 4. They tried hard, but were not able to win. So, the took 2nd in the tournament. If they had won, they would have had to play that same team immediatly after the game had ended, because that team had not lost a game yet. I don't think the girls would have lasted another game. They were getting tired from already playing 3 games. It was a busy 3 days, but was a fun experience. Shayla and Haylee after getting their medals.
Thank to Melani and Jon for coaching the team! They did so great.
Shayla and her Medal.
Before one of the championship games, the girls all painted their faces with their number on the forehead. Shayla was number 5. I told her it also looked like an S for Shayla.

Our Basement

It has been quite awhile since we started our basement remodel. We are finally to the point where we can say it is done. We used our tax return money to put in the carpet. It feels so nice and cozy downstairs now. I use to not like going down there because it seemed like a big storage room and was always cold. Now, it seems like a home. We haven't moved the girls down yet. David still has the project of building the bunkbeds to do. I still need to paint the shelves in another closet. The girls are begging to move down. That is what we were hoping by having them involved in the process. After I move them down, I then have to repaint the girls room upstairs before I move the boys into it. Tyson will then have his own room. I haven't felt comfortable yet having him share a room with his brothers.