Family...Food...Can't get better than that!

I always look forward to Thanksgiving, but this year it snuck up on me. We moved to a different house in town. A house that my in-laws built. We've decided rather than try to sell our house while living in it that we would move out and rent from my in-laws, sell our house and then look for a bigger house or buy land and build. Right now it would have to be a pretty awesome house to get me to move again! I have a love/hate relationship with moving. I like being able to "home in" different places, yet I long to find a home that we can grow old in.

We decided to have Thanksgiving at our place this year. It wasn't a big crowd, but big enough to fill the table with laughter. I decided to cook the turkey the Martha Stewart way. You slather the turkey with butter, then drape over it 4 layers of cheesecloth that has been dipped in melted butter and chicken broth (although she calls for butter and white wine). Well, by the end of the cooking time the cheesecloth looks so brown. Jesse's brother Sam cracked me up when he sat at the table (starving) and with a bit of sarcasm said, "Yeah, I'm really looking forward to your Griswald turkey joyce!" (anyone who's seen The Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie knows what happens to the turkey). I just laughed because he didn't know that it was the cheesecloth that looked so torched and underneath the turkey was a beautiful golden brown skin. It was the juiciest turkey! If I don't say so myself. So amongst all of the boxes that were semi unpacked we enjoyed a nice dinner. Jesse and Sam played football for almost 4 hours with a group of friends and missionaries and were soooo exhausted and sore.

The next day we packed up and headed to Hobbs to see my sisters and mom. June had me take some snap shots of her family. We always get goofy when we're around each other and we were still on our "New Moon" high and were striking some silly poses for the camera. We would take a snap shot, look at it, and laugh so hard that the tears were coming and I could barely breath! I couldn't keep a straight face with Bella trying to climb up my leg because she had enough of our photo shoot. :) We were also going for the look you see on the covers of most 80 s albums where everyone's looking in different directions. Funny stuff. I always have so much fun with June and the rest of my family. June, I hope you don't mind all of the pictures I posted of you, but you're just so beautiful inside and out that I couldn't help myself! You're always so upbeat and positive and that kind of thinking is contagious. I'm just sad that I didn't get shots of the rest of my family.

I'm thankful for my dearest husband and my little children, for my family (both blood and in-laws), I love you guys so much and miss the ones who are away! Most of all I'm thankful for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I would not be able to truly appreciate my family without knowing what brings us true happiness and that's the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyone who takes the time to study it will know as well. I hope I can live my life worthy of these blessings and more. Looking forward to Christmas!

A Vampire, a Ninja, Animals, & Elvis...OH MY!

Oh boy! Halloween was a such a marathon day this year. Our church Halloween party that we usually go to had to be moved to the morning instead of the normal evening time because of scheduling conflicts. It was an 8:30 am breakfast! I know, crazy hu. So, by the time we had our costumes all ready to go the breakfast was over and so we were all dressed up with no where to go. We ended up just piling in the car and ate breakfast with Abe & Cody at Denny's. Bryce was totally into character while at Denny's. He's usually fairly talkative, but while in his Ninja costume he just sat "stealthy" in the booth looking around at everyone while hiding behind his face wrap. Very funny, had to be there.

Jesse of course was Elvis and I was his wife, Priscilla Presley. We really didn't get too crazy this year. Jesse got his glasses at an Optometry Convention a while back and so I was stuck on him being Elvis. I would've made him a white flashy jumper, but I ran out of energy and time! But, I thought he pulled it off well.

I was able to make the kids costumes this year amongst all the chaos of moving. Claire was a Pony, Bella a chicken, Cameron a vampire & Bryce a Ninja. While eating at Denny's Abe asked Cameron, "So, are you Edgar from Twilight?" (Needless to say he got the reaction he wanted from me..."Edgar!! It's EDWARD!") ha ha. Cameron LOVED being in full makeup.

So after eating breakfast we rushed home, put the boys soccer uniforms on and went to their games. Cameron loved having his vampire makeup on during the game. He said he was going to play super good since vampires are FAST! (whatever motivates) After the double hitter we came home, put the costumes back on and went to an end of the season soccer/Halloween party for Cameron's team. After that, we rushed over to Cody & Abe's neighborhood for some trick-or-treating. Everyone and their dog was there at that neighborhood. Bella LOVED trick-or-treating. All the way up to the houses she would giggle. A few times she tried to walk into peoples' houses. They didn't mind so much because she was just too cute! As we crossed the street someone would say, "Why did the chicken cross the road!" Another funny thing that happened was when a lady tried to give Bella a pencil instead of candy. She looked at the pencil and threw it down on the floor and reached in to grab her own piece. What can I say, the girl knows what she wants! After that we went and visited Grandmother and had a nice time there. Then it was back to our home! Another exhausting Halloween, but lots of fun memories.

When Sam showed up on our doorstep it took us awhile to recognize who he was. I couldn't stop laughing! He dressed up as Hansel from the movie Zoolander. He ended winning best costume. You look swave Sam, in a hippie kind of way & my belt looks great on ya! :)

Carving Memories!

Halloween is approaching fast and so Sunday night we carved pumpkins. Nothing fancy, just your average scary triangle eyes and nose pumpkin. That night was probably the first night for it to get below 60 degrees. It's cold in the morning, hot in the day and cold again at night! I feel like I'm changing clothes all the time. I'm such a wimp I know! We'll see if our pumpkins last until Halloween. They might look a lot scarier whithered from the sun. :)

Life Long Learning

In high school I can remember talking with my Volleyball/Track coach; Pam Allen, about Hobbies and to this day I can still remember her saying to me, "yeah, Joyce I'm a jack of all traits, but a master of none." For some reason that cliche has always stuck with me...probably because I never have the patience to become a "master" of anything. There's just too many things that interest me. For instance, drawing. I've always been interested in art. I can remember driving to my grandparents house (a 4 hour drive) as a kid, all cozy in our suburban and looking out at the Capitain Mountains and trying to draw them. Plus, I'd watch the painting shows on PBS rather than watching cartoons. Then, in the eighth grade I took an art class from an awesome artist and great teacher, Mrs. White. I looked forward to that class everyday and was sad when I had to choose between art or athletics (my other love at the time).

So, I put drawing on the back burner until one day when Jesse let me have the day to myself. I spent most of it in Hobby lobby; my most favorite store! I was reading some books on sketching and just had to try it! Plus, my father-n-laws 60th birthday was coming up and I thought it would be fun to try to draw him for a gift. (I know, it's silly. Greg has an artist for a son, but I had to start somewhere). :) Here's the picture I used to look off of...

In case you're wondering about the numbers on his head, it's just a measuring tool to get the head shape right. Here's the finished product...
Like I said, this is my first sketch ever of a person and I know I have much to learn, but I think it's a great start and I'm not seeing myself ending with this one. My next model(s) will be my parents and of course the rest of my family and maybe some of my favorite places. So, life is full of surprises and I love surprising myself. There's much you can accomplish if you just buckle down and do it!

Fall Happenings

Getting ready to move is consuming my mind and energy these days. Sometimes you just have to take a break and enjoy the wonderful days of Fall. Well, after going to Apple Annie's I had to get to work canning my car load of fruit. I canned 24 QUARTS of Pears and Apples, and dried 3 gallon size zip lock bags of apples. I'm so naive when it comes to canning. While picking the fruit I was so excited about it and found myself saying, "this will be easy to can. I should be able to get it done in two days." What was I thinking! It took me close to a week to finish. Cameron tried to help me though. He was so sweet. He'd come in and peel about 10 apples and then shook his head with his hand on my shoulder and said, "mom.... I don't think I can do this anymore....sorry, you're on your own mom." And walked away. Yeah, that's about right, I thought. This was my idea in the first place. ;) I'm very thankful to have learned this area of self reliance. I love the sense of accomplishment I get after completing such a task.

Getting to know Wyatt

A few weeks ago Wyatt came and stayed with us for a week while Abe & Cody went on a cruise. We see Wyatt quite a bit, but it's always with a bunch of other adults and kids so I felt like this would be a chance to REALLY get to know him. After a day or so of getting use to our family dynamics I think he felt at home. I can honestly say that we enjoyed him and I've grown to love him more. He's always loved uncle Jesse, but he seems to like me more too. :) That boy can eat anyone under the table. Anytime I was in the kitchen he was wanting a snack and at dinner he would out eat my kids. It would be nice to do this with other cousins as well someday. It's a great way to get to know someone when they're depending on you for there every need.

Just a few random pictures

I was cooking dinner & I knew that Claire was outside looking at the clouds, but wasn't expecting her to fall asleep. Thought it was so cute and random. Love that girl.

Jeanine's Newest Toy!

My sister Jeanine and her daughter Brooke came through town on there way to a football game to show me her newest pride & joy. My brother-n-law David surprised my sister Jeanine with this beautiful new Z28. When they were engaged back in the 80's David bought her one back then also. I remember thinking I was soooo cool when Jeanine would take me to school in it while jamming out to White Snake. It was a very cool car back then, and it is very cool now! I still have yet to ride in it, will one of these days. It's black interior with orange trim on the seats. A perfect "Artesia Bulldog" color scheme. :) So, the Z28 saga has come full circle. Love it.

You might as well have one these days....

My father-n-law Greg just bought the new Camry Hybrid. He took us for a spin around the block and it seriously is sooo quiet and smooth. When it was idleing in the driveway you could barely hear it. Very cool car. Pretty neat to watch the dash board and see the battery charge up everytime you hit the brakes. Looking forward for that kind of technology in a van like ours someday. Happy 60th B-day Greg!

Just a daddy enjoying some time with his girls on a perfect Fall day.

BYU WINS!!

My husband, his brothers and his father have been planning this trip to Dallas, TX to see the Cougars play OU for awhile now. The time finally came and off they went for Labor Day weekend. From what I hear and from what I got to watch on TV the game was very close and exciting to say the least. The neat part of all was that it was at the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium! (I know my mom is just dueling right now; she's a huge Cowboy fan!) My husband used to play for BYU as a punter (a darn good one if I don't say so myself) and so he's sporting his old jersey. Anyways, I had to steal pics off of my sister-n-laws blog, thanks. I'm glad Jesse and his guys got to have an extended guys night! :)

Adventures with Snuffy!

Snuffy is my dad's nickname. He got that nickname from the guys who used to work with him at Haliburton. They said that my dad reminded them of the cartoon character Snuffy that used to be in the Sunday papers. So, my kids carry on the same name...Grandpa Snuffy. I think it's cute.

He's a kind, gentle soul who is always looking to explore. I've had a great time with my dad lately. Two weekends out of this month have been spent with him and going to places I've never been. Just like when I was little. My dad used to take me and my sisters out on Sunday afternoon drives and we'd always, no matter how well we thought we knew the Artesia area, we would find a place that we had never been to. Plus, it was a chance to get a driving lesson and eat an M.R.E. which I loved!

The first weekend trip we met up in Lincoln, NM to find wild raspberries and then go to a u-pick farm for other kinds of fruit. The raspberries weren't quite ready, but I was able to pick some yummy blackberries instead. Unfortunately, I was told that the owner of the Blue Eagle Restaurant in Las Cruces (a very fancy place) bought about $300 worth of berries that same day and nearly cleaned them out. I managed to get enough though. It was fun for the most part, except it started to get very hot and my little ones had enough of the farm hopping.

Behind the farm was a rode that took you to a restaurant which was also owned and run by the owner of the u-pick farm. It's called the Laughing Sheep Farm. We all had such a good time there. Everyone who worked there was so laid back and really tried hard to entertain the kids. The owner brought out her sweet, but HUGE dogs and the big white dog was named Bella. The kids got a crack out of that. We got some ice cream, watched the kids frolic around.

We drove by the Smoky the Bear Museum, but it was closed. My kids were very disappointed about that. We got lost at one point and ended up in Fort Stanton. Huge training facility for soldiers back in the 1800's. The museum worker was dressed up in the uniform of that time period and so that was interesting. Very pretty part of New Mexico that I've seen as a small child, but never really appreciated.

Our second trip was to Benson, AZ. I've been wanting to make the trek to Wilcox to buy some apples & pears and so we thought we'd make it another weekend trip because there was just to much to see in that area for just a day trip. The hotel at Benson was very nice and the kids swam twice the first day there. (They slept so hard that night.) Cameron swam for the first time without floaties on and I heard about it for the rest of the trip. Very exciting. The next day we headed to Tombstone. I was so impressed by that town. We hit the historic strip and I was not expecting to see so many people dressed in the time period clothing. Since it was Labor Day weekend they had a parade and so I took snap shots of my favorite costumes. (Too many!) We also got a chance to take a ride in an old stage coach which was fun. The kids and I got put into jail. They tricked us. They asked my kids if they would like one of their toy horses while handing it towards them, my kids said yes and took one, they replied as my kids walk away, "Thief! Sheriff there's some horse thief's over there, grab 'em!" The Sheriff takes the kids into jail and makes a whole big thing about it. I bailed them out and somehow ended up in Jail also. Bella cried for me because she had no idea what was going on. Pretty funny. We had a great time, but ran out of it too soon.
We headed down to Wilcox to go to the Apple Festival at Apple Annie's Orchard. They have some pretty delicious apples, pears, peaches, etc. We rode a tractor out to the orchards and would rush to pick our fruit in time for the tractor to come around and get us. We were all sweaty and thirsty, but my kids never complained. I would say, "wow, picking fruit is hard work isn't it?" Cameron replied, "YEEAHH, but this is the moooossst fun I've ever had working!" So cute he is. We were the last one's to leave that day and we got to meet the owner and eat some homemade apple pie ice cream. I bought about 100 pounds of fruit and am in the process of canned & drying the fruit while kicking myself for buying so much. But, it's so nice to have on hand for our food storage and it keeps me up to skill on my canning skills. It fills my house with the aroma of Fall. One thing that the boys were soooo pumped about was the fact that they got their first pocket knife. It has their names on it and so it makes it even better. The cowboy working the store gave them a good talking to about being careful and stuff and they listened with wide eyes. They're sure growing up.

This trip really took it out of me. My energy was zip for a few days after getting home. Dad, I had a great time. Thanks for the memories and your easy going attitude. I love you very much!

Little Surprises

So once the boys started school, I got to work on making our backyard looking nice again. I've planted a bunch of Perinnials and shrubs that once mature should look great. Anyways, the girls and I were at Lowe's getting some plants and Claire found on the plant a HUGE snail! We were both so excited. ( I knew this snail was going to entertain Claire for awhile, she loves any kind of animal or insect). So, we went back to the plants and found hundreds of baby snails just hanging out on the plant deck where they water the plants. We walked out of there with as many snails that would fit on Claire's arms. Know when we go to Lowe's the kids all want to come and are pumped to find more snails. It makes it nice because I can spend as long as I want at one of my favorite stores without the complaints. If only Bella was as interested.... she's my little escape artist.

This is not a skunk with Bella! Bandit was in need of a haircut. :)

Back to School they go!

Bryce's hair looked better than that I promise. :) ha ha.

I had forgotten to take the camera with me on Cameron's first day of school which was a few days later and had to use my cell phone. I have no mini cable to hook up to my computer so that's why I haven't posted Cameron's first day. But, it's of him and his scooter all excited for his first day. I remember as we're walking to school he kept talking about how fun school was going to be, but when we got to the school grounds his face looked a bit scared and he said that the school was looking bigger to him and that maybe he could come back tomorrow. He was feeling a bit apprehensive until he hit the playground. He's also learning Spanish and is constantly telling me how FAST he can count to 20 in Spanish. (Everything Cameron does is fast!) He has yet to have any homework and hates it. I've assured him that he will be bumbarded with homework soon and it will last for a very loonnngg time.

Bryce the big 2nd grader likes his teacher Mrs. Martinez. She seems very nice and structured. He was so pumped to see all of his classmates again. (In the bilingual program they keep the same kids together year after year, so he's formed some close friendships.)

So, it's just me and my girls. I know they're enjoying the attention and we have a pretty good routine going. They usually get up with me and the boys at 6:45 am. I've set a goal to have scripture study while they eat breakfast. I'm so surprised at how it's become routine and the kids expect it. We're reading the Book of Mormon right now and will move to the Old Testament once finished. It's been a great way to start the day and I just want to thank all of you parents out there who have been such a good example to me and motivated me to do this. You know who you are. :) I truely feel like we're putting our spiritual armor on for the day when we read the scriptures.

AUGUST RUSH!!

Sorry fam that I haven't caught up on my posts lately. I have so many busy hands on projects going on that I have to force myself to sit and do this. Ok, so August started out with a trip to Wet-n-Wild in Anthony, TX. I haven't been there since I spent my 15th b-day there. :) Mom, do you remember how fun that was? ha ha) Jesse and I took the kids and split up most of the day. I stayed with the little ones and Jesse and Bryson hit the big rides. I had a great time in the wave pool. Would've sat there all day. At the end though I watched scared to death as my husband and 7 year old went down "The Screamer." Bryce may look physically tough but to me he still seems so young to go down such a scary, steep slide. It's six stories high and basically a straight shot down. But, he did it and wanted to go again. Jesse asked me if I wanted to try it and at first I immediately said "NO WAY!" But, the more I thought about it I thought, you know..I have gone bungee jumping. If I can do that then I can definitely try this slide. When we finally got to the top it was windy and it had a skinny wrap around walk way to the tower. (Not a good mixture to ease someones nerves). I made Bryce go first and he was sweet. He told me I should cross my arms, keep my legs open and don't open my eyes! I took his advice, although I couldn't help but open my eyes after coming out of the tube making my way down the straight down slide. I quickly closed them and screamed like a little girl!! I felt 10 years younger when I hit the bottom with all of the adrenaline rush that I had. It was amazing!

Jesse has been one busy "travelin" man. I think he's been gone just about every weekend except a few from one event to another. So this was Jesse & Abe's 3rd Dust Ball Rally Race. They picked up a new passenger Sam. So the three brothers ended up in Las Vegas, NV. Even with all of the hick-ups along the way, it looks like they placed first! Again! It's too bad there's no cash prizes because we would be cashing in! Anyways, the boys had a great time, but were very tired when they got home as you can imagine. When the brothers are together sleep is not a necessity. :)

Bella's #1

I'm about a month late posting this I know, but better late than never I say. ;) Anyways, so my youngest turned the big #1 on July 23rd. I'm always a little bit on the bumbed side when all my kids turn one. I so enjoy the little baby stage and so when they turn one it's always a slap in the face of how fleeting time is.

Bella is such a joy to have in our family. She has such a magnetic personality, she watches people intently and then tries to mimic them whether it's laughing when we do or dancing to the Wiggles. If we're in the car and a good song comes on she gets so screams because she can't get out of her car seat to dance. So she'll just wiggle her head side to side and arms. The first thing she does when she sees Jesse in the morning is touch his leg and run while laughing so that daddy will chase her down the hall. She knows that daddy equals FUN! As far as talking...she says mom & dad word of course and she is just constantly babbling something out. It's so cute. She'll babbly something to you over & over until you finally acknowledge her and then she'll be satisfied with that. We LOVE you so much Bella!

Painting with pudding

It's been awhile since I've let the kids paint with pudding. It was a hot summer day, too hot to go outside. The kids wanted something junkie and were bored so this killed two birds with one stone. This was Bella's first time and once she figured out that you could eat it, it was "all over." No pun intended. :)

Adventure on a whim!

This summer I haven't made too many plans except to have as much fun as possible! As a kid summer was all about bike riding ALL day, gardening, mowing the lawn (yes, that was one of my favorite things...now with allergies, not so much) and bug collecting. A few days ago I woke up and had no plans, but I just had to get the kids out of the house and away from ALL of the electronics. I didn't feel like hauling everyone to the swimming pool and wanted to do something different. So, I decided to take the kids hiking up to Dripping Springs. I have been wanting to do stuff like this all summer, but just haven't had the chance or the will to do it. :) Last year when Jesse and I tried to do it we just couldn't make it up to the top, but I was determined to make it. I loaded up the double jogging stroller, some WATER and snacks and away we went. We also wanted to collect some bugs while there as well and boy did we find the jackpot of Butterflies. The hike was about a 1.5 mile hike on a constant up hill slope on loose rocks. It was pretty tough at times. My legs and back were on fire! After about 1 1/2 hours of walking we made it up the trail to the springs. There wasn't that much water, but we didn't care. I was just glad to have set a goal and reach it. I think the kids learned that lesson also because both Cameron and Bryce remarked about how they wanted to turn back lots of times, but if we would've done that, we would not have found our butterfly "Goldie." Cameron kept telling me how proud he was of me for catching the butterfly. He's so cute.

Going down the trail was much easier. It only took us 30 min. Here's a snapshot of that.

It was a great outdoor adventure.A huge lizard we found on the trail. Bryce wanted to take it home, but there was no way we could catch it. It took off running on its hind legs. Not that I would want to take it home anyways. :)

It's getting hot! Time to wet the kids down a bit. I guess this is one of the old cowboy "resort" buildings. One tired group. Finally we made it! Bella's asleep in the stroller. Dripping Springs. Not much "dripping" going on, but it's still beautiful. This is the start of our 2009 bug collection. We're still gathering bugs from home and will add to them at the reunion. We actually had a few more, but their bodies weren't intact enough for display. :)