Oct 2011-Happy Halloween!!

The weeks before Halloween are always filled with fun 'trick or treat' park days, church Halloween parties and lots of chances for the kids to wear their cute costumes! I especially loved the cowgirl 'jessie' costume that my mom handmade for McKinley. Well, she actually sewed it for Carter but he grew out of it too fast so McKinley was the one who got to wear it for Halloween and I LOVED how different she looked next to all her cute little princess dressed friends! Carter's favorite part of his costume was of course the 'cap gun' I got to go in his cowboy gun holster, made his day! I can get him to dress up as anything as long as it has a good weapon accessory! :)

Oct 2011-GIRLS weekend in Oceanside!

Thanks to our girlfriend Heather for bringing us all together! What a fabulous treat for all us moms to sneak away to a beautiful beach house for two days and two nights of relaxation and bonding! We look forward to it every year and I especially love coming up with fun new 'girls just wanna have fun' activities....think karaoke, hot tubbing and even dancing:)

Oct 2011-Sundays at church and Open houses

Since Chris leaves early with his church work most Sundays it is just the kids and I hurrying to get to church on time! They do a great job of sharing two bathrooms and helping each other get ready! Most Sundays after church they spend driving to open houses with me. It started out as a lot of fun but now even bribing them with a stop at a new park isn't exciting enough! This house with beach views in Dana Point was amazing but we couldn't see ourselves living there with the schools and youth groups small and struggling. We were told the public elementary school in the area was so poor parents opted out and drove their kids to neighboring schools!

My favorite time of day with McKinley is in the morning right after we drop the other kids off at school and it's just her and me! She is so fun to tickle and tease and snuggle!

Oct 2011-Fall flings and house hunting

Our friend Scott found us a house with the best backyard in town! Problem was, the guy was still living there and only interested in selling for a premium--which did not line up well with our 'bargain hunt'. Still fun to look!

One of the best things about living in Rancho is the free city parties which the kids love! Here is McKinley trying on a Tangled wig for Halloween! And also cute grandma at the hospital for her knee replacement surgery that slowed her down for many months but now she is finally back to her old self this spring 2012!

Oct 2011-McKinley at Lily's Disneyland party

It's a treat for any child to go to a birthday party at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure park! And thanks to some fun friends of ours, both Madison and now McKinley have had that opportunity! I got to spend the whole day taking in the magic of princesses and fairy tales with my 3 year old while the rest of the kids were at school and with their dad. What a treat!

Oct 2011-Brayden's Baptism in Arizona

Our kids were so happy to meet Poppy and Grandma Johnson in Arizona to celebrate cousin Brayden's baptism. We played games at the park and of course took the big girls to Last Chance. But the kids' favorite part was playing with all their first and second Cousins in Arizona!

Oct 2011-Mom&Dad visit, Halloween parties!

Kennidy was so excited for her good friend Madison's big Halloween birthday party! Mamo helped us make her into the prettiest angel ever!

We had such a fun week--house hunting, watching general conference and of course making homemade cinnamon rolls with grandma for Chris!

Sept 30,2011-Family Pictures!

After five years, we finally got to go back to our favorite photographer, tiffanyportraits.com. We were so glad to have Mom and Dad in town for the pictures this time too!

Sept. 2011-Carter's Handprint day!

Since Chris and I still had our ceramic handprints from kindergarten, we decided to make one for each of our kids at the same age too! Now it's Carter's turn!

And birthday flowers from my Dad--even in my apartment, he still found me:)

Sept 23,2011-spoiled on my Bday!

Just a few girls met at the park for lunch and it was so fun to visit while watching the kids play! Then that night Chris planned a fun date night with yummy hot pot dinner and karaoke--two of my favorite things:). He knows that I love fun date nights with friends and it meant a lot that he took the time to plan one just for me!

Sept 2011- Activity Days

I am loving my new job in our church as Activity Days leader with my friends Paula and AnneMarie. Its like 'practice young womens' as we teach 8-11 year old girls twice a month for an hour. To kick off the new year we dressed as cowboys for a Stake party. The girls LovEd it!

Sept 2011-School picture day!

First pictures from outside the new apartment....

Sept 20,2011-Little things left..

One of the sweetest things I found when doing a final walk thru the house was this 'play set' Madi had stashed behind a door so she and McKinley could still have their tea parties while I was packing everything up!

Last goodbye to 41 San Sebastian:(