Just Lounging Around 11/20

 Our kids have been waiting so long for Cory and Dee to visit. They took full advantage of any snuggle time that they were willing to give.

This little love became quite fond of Dee and actually would choose her over me when it came to being held. It was really kind of cute!

11/19 Private Tour~ West Wing

 First off... Can I tell you how excited we were to have Cory and Dee come to visit us here in Maryland? We have been counting down the days for this to come. The day after they arrived We had a private tour scheduled for the West Wing of the White House. We got a babysitter and got to enjoy a nice Adult day! It was a triple date!Our tour guide was fabulous, he made sure we got all the little tidbits and showed us around rooms like the Oval office and the formal dining halls. It was really so awesome to see in person.

 Cameras and pictures were not allowed inside, but we did get to pose out side by the Presidential Seal.

 After Touring the White House, Our tour guide took us over to the Eisenhower Building to take a look at that building. It really had such amazing architecture and design. It had fabulous stain glass windows in it's rotundas.

 The minute I saw these awesome "hobbit-sized" doors, I had to get a picture of Cory in front of them.. it was a good laugh.

 Here is "Dizy" taking in the moment or taking a breather from us crazies, one of the two!

 Of course we had to get a picture"alone" in front of the White House.

Look at these two love birds. We had an amazing time. Afterwards we went and picked up our kids and went to dinner at the Olive Garden~ Yummy!

Got my haircut

Finding a hair stylist here has been one of the hardest things. I have been doing my own maintaining and creative dye jobs on my own. It is hard work, but had to be done. I am pretty sure I should have just gone to hair school. Anyways, about a month ago I met a new girl in my ward here, Stephanie Haretuku. So guess how excited I was to find out that she did hair!!!! Anyways, I finally made an appointment and got my hair cut. Feels soooooo good! And of course here is an extra bonus.. a picture with me and Jaida!

Leaves Galore

 In Maryland we have no shortage of leaves, that is for sure. There are leaves galore and it always makes a fun fall project. We raked some of our leaves, not all because we still have quite a bit on our tree. The boys had a fun time jumping in the piles and hiding treasures in them too. We buried Pierce.

 Brock was all over the place. He loves being outside and being a boy. He had a great time finding every possible twig/ stick in sight and claiming them as his "Special Sticks". This kid will collect just about anything and everything. He becomes instantly attached as well.

Jaida was having so much fun too. She loves when her brothers will include her in on the fun. She had a great time running around and diving in to the leaves. We got about 2 1/2 big bags of leaves and still more to come. The boys then went around offering to our neighbors for "us" to volunteer to rake their leaves, which actually means "me" raking their leaves. We had a good time and I guess we felt good after serving our neighbors too!

Basketball is done

 Today was Pierce's very last basketball game of this fall-ball season. Wow, was it a great experience. He learned so much. It was fun to watch his team really come together and have such a connection with each other. today as we were saying our goodbyes, I was really sad thinking about us not seeing them every week. We were really so fortunate to have such a great group of kids. Their parents were top- notch too. I am not kidding you, our post game snacks were really out of this world.

 Trent coached Pierce's team and loved it. They both did. So after today's final game we set up a little pizza party. The kids all had a really good time together. The parent's once again went above and beyond and had each kid draw a card/picture for the coaches and then they all went in on some gift certificates for both coaches (and their wives) to a pretty nice Italian restaurant.

 Here are the two coaches, Coach T.J. and Coach Trent!

Here was today's post-game snack pull-apart cupcakes.. isn't that so cute! We will miss the Bulls! We signed  Pierce up for Winter league and it starts in January, we can hardly wait. Trent will coach again and maybe if we are lucky we will get some of the same players??

Irresistible

 Really this girl is pretty irresistible! How could you not fall in love with this girl, even when she is crabby and throws tantrums. Most of the time she is a gem, but when she isn't happy~ watch out!! She thinks she is big and in charge!

 Her hair is the best too. I love to go and get her when she wakes up because she always has a big ol' beehive/ birds nest going on. I can't tell you how many people stop and talk to us, when we are out, about her hair. I think she is one lucky girl.

 She is such a cheese ball sometimes.

I love you my little lovey. You make my heart happy. I am thankful to be your mom!

Soccer Season has come to an end

 This was Brock's first year at soccer. He had a great time. He wasn't as aggressive as we had imagined, but he was very entertaining to watch. He was always trying to trick the other team so that he could score a goal. He mostly enjoyed talking to the other teammates and of course the after soccer snacks.

 He was pretty proud of his trophy. He said just before this game, "Mom, do you think I am worthy of a trophy?" I said," I don't know what do you think?" He said," hmmm... I guess it is coaches' decision."

We were pretty lucky to have one of Brock's really good friend Spencer on the team. They had a good time cheering each other on and goofing around on the sidelines together. Way to go Comets!!