Perfect weather, perfect day....

We had so much fun playing outside on Thanksgiving. It was not too cold and not too hot! Well, I guess I got a little hot while out running the bases in our kick ball game...but besides that it was great!

We had it at my parents this year. Brie and Joey weren't able to come to AZ, so it was just the 5 Arizonan kids and their families. Also, Dave's sister Diane with 2 of her kids and Brian's parents joined us!! It was nice to have more people around for the holidays.
We ate a good meal then laid around a bit while the kids played outside on their early Christmas present from Nonna.



Soon after we headed out for a game of kickball. We picked teams the old fashion way and sure enough, the 2 grandma's were the LAST picked!! It was fun. There was a park right there for the kids to play at, but they mostly hung out with us.





Sandra and Fressia decided to climb the backstop, and the boys took advantage and started chucking the balls at them....added by throwing water from water bottles up at them to get them all wet!


Like I said, it was a PERFECT day!!

Speaking of...

.....Fressia, she's my "single" cousin! Anyone know anyone that wants to go on a blind date?? She'd love it! She doesn't get a chance to meet too many great Mormon boys at work, so I figured I'd try and help! Hah, you love me Fressia, I know it!! To help you narrow down who you know, I thought I'd put in some side notes....she's a shorty, like 5'1 or 2. Lives in Gilbert, 26 yrs old, fun personality...Okay, I'm not good at that part, so just trust me, she's cute!
Sorry Fressia, this is the only picture I could find of you on my computer right now, you were the one with the camera on thursday so there isn't much there!

Thanksgiving....

Happy Thanksgiving! Can you believe it is already here!! I thought I'd start off the day by saying how thankful I am for my KIDS! It seems like I only blog when things are crazy or out of whack, so I thought today was a good day to mention their "good" side! Here's my perfect morning:

Tanner came in at 7:30 am and woke me up to ask if he could play on the computer. I said sure, but get Payton up first. (she had just then started calling, "mom" from her crib) Oh yeah, and Brian was already out playing in the annual Turkey Bowl)

I didn't hear a thing or see another child until 8 am! Kamryn came in and crawled into bed. I was feeling better (I've got some sort of tummy thing going on the past few days), so we got up and came out to the kitchen.

There I found Payton just headed to the sink and putting her cereal bowl into it. Tanner was still on the computer and he had gotten Payton up and made her some breakfast!

I love that I can take a break when needed and so far I have a 99% chance that things will be in order when I wake up. At the beginning of this pregnancy I took daily naps from 30 mins to 3 hours and the kids always helped hold down the fort while I rested. Luckily I think I'm starting to get passed the tired stage, so as soon as this tummy thing passes, we should be good to go!

Have a YUMMY dinner today!! Happy Thanksgiving...

Polar Express!!

This weekend we took the kids up to Williams Arizona to ride on the Polar Express and see SANTA! We went with a huge group of friends, which made it even more fun. Tanner and Kamryn loved every second of the trip. Payton would have loved it, but since the train left at 8 PM, (45 mins past bedtime) and got back at 9:30, we thought she'd have much more fun spending her time with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. And she did have a blast there!!


They got to write letters to Santa and see Mrs. Clause before the train left. Then once on the train, Santa came walking through and passed out bells for the kids to take home.

On Saturday we took our time driving home and checked out some land/cabins with some friends in Flagstaff. While we were driving around we saw 7 ELK!! They were all together standing in a circle. Once we stopped and got out to get a closer look, (and once Tanner laid on a horn a few times) they started walking away. Very slowly though, they seemed to not care that we were right there at all!

She wasn't lying...

Earlier this afternoon I loaded the kids up and we were off to Home Depot to get some things for around the house. Somewhere between my house and Home Depot, Payton started calling my name REPEATEDLY. For anyone who's been lucky enough to have traveled with Payton knows that this is NOTHING new. It's her favorite thing to do, and its a daily occurrence.

After a while, I turned and asked her what she needed. USUALLY she just smiles and continues to say my name. But this time was different...She told me, "My shoe!" I then asked, "Where's your shoe??" She pointed at the window (which was rolled down) and said, "At the window!" I was like, WHAT?? Did she really throw her shoe out the window???? This was my FAVORITE shoe I had ever bought for ANY of my kids! It lasted all summer, stayed on her (until now) and matched everything!!

Sure enough, we got to Home Depot and she only had one shoe in the car. Driving home I was trying to figure out where she started the whole "MOM" thing....and I began looking in the road as I drove. I was almost home, (but still on a major road) when I SAW IT!! It was in the middle of the street. I pulled on over and ran into the street to get it. It was still in good shape and didn't appear to have been run over.

Random story yes, but I still can't believe she actually chucked her shoe out the window!! She can't even reach her hand out of it, so actual throwing had to have been involved!

He did SO good!

Tanner had his appointment this morning to have his front tooth pulled along with one filling done. He was actually pretty excited about it! He hit his tooth when he was one, and it has been brown/gray every since. It turned pink last month and it was clear that there was an infection inside it now. It was literally eating away his tooth(you can see a little hole in the top by his gums) Everything went great! The tooth was all broken on one side inside his gums and they couldn't get it all out, so over the next year or so the dentist said he'd have random pieces of a tooth fall out!??! They used laughing gas, and it relaxed him so quickly and perfectly. It was about 35 minuets that he had to lay there with his mouth open! Anyway, now we're waiting for the numbing to go away so he can eat some lunch and go to school to show all his friends!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What a crazy past week we have had! But with today actually being Halloween, I think I enjoyed the whole thing the most tonight! We headed over to the Goff's (do they have a perfect Halloween last name or what?) for a yummy Halloween dinner, then we were off to the best Halloween street in Seville! It was packed and was so much fun. The kids loved seeing all their friends pass by also.


Here's Payton with one of her BFF's Bella. She's on Sucker #8 out of the 20 she had tonight!

The girls and I took a candy break while the boys went in the Thompson's scary haunted house!!

Lunchtime gone BAD!

Kamryn views my blog probably way more than even I do, so I try not to post her mishaps so she doesn't look at them as attention for her wrong doings! BUT, the pictures of this event we're too nasty not to share! (For example, I left off pics of her CHOPPING her hair off last week, because I for sure don't want that to happen again!)

I sent them outside (at least that was a good decision) to eat their corn dogs. Kamryn came in a few mins later and asked for more Ketchup. I handed it to her and told her she could give herself some. BIG MISTAKE!



I don't have a hose in the backyard, so I made them strip down and head around to the front yard, where I hosed down two naked girls. But now I still need to bring the hose around to clean off the table and patio!!

OH, and check this out. I had JUST OPENED this Ketchup before serving the girls lunch. Over half gone! Shows just how COVERED they were. It was pretty gross....

Martin Halloween Party!

Thanks Crystal for planning and putting on the Halloween party this year! Everyone had such a blast. Of course the the older kids crashed in the car on the way home pretty quickly, and Payton was wide awake when we got home 25 mins later....(at least she was happy and awake!) Here's some pictures of the fun night up at Grandma's house...

Yes, that is Brian in the picture.....DORK!


Payton throwing a ball to knock down the cups.


Kamryn doing the bean bag toss.


Tanner looking cool. I should have taken a picture of the two goldfish we were lucky enough to bring home.....All night Tanner has reminded me that I need to go to PetsMart first thing in the morning and go buy them some breakfast. (how does he even know what PetsMart is?!?!)


Do I really want to claim this guy??? I know you're jealous Jared that you could't be here to join the Joe Dirt brothers....

Kamryn's First GOAL!!

With only a couple weeks of soccer left I figured I'd better get some pictures of Kamryn playing! I picked a good week to have a camera there too!! Half way through the game she kicked off the ball and just took it right down to the goal and scored!! She had the biggest smile on her face I think I've ever seen. It was too cute.



Tanner also had a good day. He loves to be out there running around with his team, but is usually just "watching" all the action and rarely touches the ball the entire game. Well, today coach had him play a little defence and I think it was more his style. He only had to fight the ball off of one player instead of get in the midst of 6 or more!

Sun, Sand, and Water....

This last week we headed down to Mexico for a few days with some friends. It was a short trip, but we still managed to get in all in (quads, banana boat ride, jet skis, etc...) and it was a lot of fun. Also, the weather could not have been better!! The girls got their hair braided with their cousins the first day, and they thought it was so cool. Payton would shake her head back and forth to hear the beads slapping on her head. I REALLY didn't think she'd sit still for the process, (I can hardly get one pony in her each day!) But she did! Of course we gave her snacks and drinks....but the best trick was when the lady handed her the squirt bottle in between uses! Also for the record, Payton was so good and so happy the whole time!! I was in heaven...(this is not including the drive home-haha) Of course I took WAY too many pictures as usual, but here are some of my favorites....


Here's the girls last night....this is Payton sad face after a 5 hour drive home(we had an hour stop at the border) with no nap, and then having to sit still while I unbraided her hair!

Quick story....Payton saw the ice cream vendor on the beach and she stood by him just staring for a little while. He started chatting with her and seconds later pulled out an ice cream and handed it to her!! She came back over to us so excited. It was too cute of him, so I sent her back with a dollar to give him, and he just looked and her and smiled and told her to keep it. It was fun to watch it all happen from a distance.

Happy Birthday PAYTON!!

Payton is 2 years old! Even though she's just now turning 2, she seems to be getting easier than she has been the past few months. Just happier and more easy going. It's probably because she can communicate better and has less or a reason to get frustrated. She's slowly getting nicer to the little ones around her, but we're still working on that one!

My favorite thing about Payton right now is just the funny things she says.
~It cracks me up every morning when I get her up, she looks at me and says....bre-fas. (breakfast)
~80% of the words she says all day are things like, bre-fas, lunsh, dinna, snact, tweet, tandy. (can you translate all of those??-FOOD in other words)
~Her other favorite phrase (like most kids her age) is , "I do it".
~She loves to play with her brother and sister and follow them around and try and do everything they do.
~She's pretty mellow and not a very hyperactive child, UNTIL it comes time for FHE or sacrament meeting. Then she gets on some kind of high and loves to run in circles and make loud noises and try and be funny.
~She's always happy at home.....but she does not like the car. I can count on her whining or crying about 90% of the time we have to drive anywhere. BUT she may be getting better....she did SO good driving to and from Mesa yesterday!!!

Playhouse Disney

On Tuesday night my sister Heidi and I took the kids to see Playhouse Disney Live. They loved it and Tanner thought it was so cool that he was at the place where they play basketball. We'll have to try and take him to a game this year, I bet he'd love it. Anyway, it was a fun night and I enjoyed the time with just the "big" kids!

Oh, what to do....

About 2 months ago Payton had an ear infection...(her 7Th or 8Th since she had tubes put in a year ago) Anyway, from that she began to pick at her ear lobe. She'll pick and pick until it bleeds. It used to be both ears, but one side cleared up 100% about a week ago. I just can't figure out a way to get her to stop! We've tried bandaids and that seems to help a ton, but they don't stay on very well. And as soon as it's ALMOST healed, she's got the scab all picked off again. She often wakes up from her nap with blood all in her hair also! Well, finally today I put two and two together and noticed she's got a little cut on her arm and one on her leg (like the size of a little mosquito bite) And those have been there for almost a month also! She keeps picking those scabs as well. What to do.....maybe she just likes blood???

Here's a picture I found where you can see her little red ear if you click it bigger. It doesn't look too bad here, probably because she had just gotten out of the bath! I'm sure most of you have seen it in real life the past couple months anyway....

Hey, I just noticed you can see the one on her leg that won't heal also!!