Our annual WITCHY adventure

We LOVE Gardner Village at the holiday seasons. Every year we go for the witches and then the elves.

We have made it a tradition to take the kids picture all sitting across this ledge every year. It's nice to see how they have all grown and changed.

When we went they were playing 50s music over the loud speaker and the kids wanted to cut a rug. They were having so much giggly fun.
This was them twisting to "Twist and Shout."

We did our witch hunt and then we just started taking pictures of some funny witches.

Kaleigh and Laney really liked this one.

I really liked this one. We finished the day with our hunt prize, a chocolate chip cookie from the Bakery store. The kids had fun and so did we. We just love our annual trips.

Zoo with Grandpa Renga!

Another majorly fun day out with the kids in September and my dad came along for the ride. This is my absolutely FAVORITE picture I got that day.

The kids just love my dad and it shows in this picture!

I was really hoping that the animals would be active this day and they did NOT disappoint!

I think this was one of our favorite days at the zoo. The animals were so ACTIVE and LIVELY and they were doing things we have never seen before.
We actually saw this guy come across the bridge overhead of us and walk straight into this bath of water. He was even growling for us, which the kids thought was the coolest thing. They have never heard the animals up close like this and this loudly. They were gigglin' so much and had a BLAST!
Of course we had to watch Baby Suri, and she was playing around with all kinds of toys, again, nothing we have seen before. It must have been the fact we were there right when the zoo opened and it is fall now.

These guys were chasing each other and wrestling one another. The boys got in the act and started play wrestling with each other too. They were makin' monkey sounds and everything.

Of course we can't go to the zoo and not see Kaleigh's FAVORITEST animal, the giraffes. These guys were so close to us and they were eating their mid-morning snack. We saw a lot of animals getting fed this day. We even saw some wolves being hand-fed raw meat. It was quite the show.

The tiger getting out of the water and roaring and growling at the kiddos. Here I thought they would be scared, but no, they were laughing and running along side him and everything.

Mama's feeding time!

We always get a picture of the kiddos on this statue every time we visit the zoo. My crazy bunch is getting so big!

We spent 10 minutes with this lit'l fella. He kept whistlin' at us and saying "I love you, and hell0." The kids were talking back and then he would start laughing. I've never seen one laugh and giggle before. It was so much fun.

Logan had to sit up on the rhino statue. He loved it!

I braved the stinky bird and reptile house, but as a reward, I got some gorgeous pictures of some pretty birds. This trip actually convinced me that we need our zoo membership renewed next year and we need to go more often in the early morning. We can't wait to visit the animals in the winter. Apparently this is when the animals are most active. I guess we'll just have to see.

Provo River Raft Fun

Well, we have been quite the busy bees for the last couple of months and I'm trying to catch up with all the blog posts of all the activities we have done. In September when the kids were off track we chose to do a raft trip down the Provo River with the three older girls. Man, was it tough work. I think we needed more adult man-power, but it was a fun adventure. The girls got a huge eye-opener though and at first they weren't sure they liked our adventure, but when it was all done they said they had a blast.

Everyone paddling so we stayed on course, again, more adult man-power is recommended.
Laney loving the ride.

The gorgeous fall colors of the mountainside.

The girls all proud of themselves that we made it down the river. It was an enjoyable 3 hours of high sea fun, well at least high river fun!

Funny Lit'l Bella!

Isn't she precious?

Bella just loves brushing her teeth. She loves it even more when we give her the toothbrush so she can do it herself.

I think she loves the way it feels against her gums and teeth that are coming in.
However, don't take the toothbrush away until she is ready or this is what you get...

Throwing My Hat into the Fire!

Disclaimer: These are just my own feelings, please don't judge all "LDS" people on them.

So, I feel strongly about this last conference set of talks and not just the controversial one from Boyd K. Packer. I believe the world is thrashing at the sanctity of the family more and more these days. I feel it within my walls of my own home. I believe that the over all theme of this last conference was for us to remember to protect our families and strengthen them against the evil forces of the world. However, most people are outraged with Packer's talk and judge all LDS people as racist and hate mongers. I, however, did not get this feeling from his talk. I believe he was just trying to remind people about our God-given ability to procreate and we need to remember that this is the way God has set up our world. Packer, by no means, said or should anyone jump to the conclusion, that we hate the gay, lesbians, etc. We do not believe or feel that they are evil, or at least most do not. As in any case, there are some people-LDS or not who do feel hatred for all kinds of people. I feel like he was just trying to remind people of the doctrines concerning family. God created us and gave us the power to procreate and it is sacred between a man and a woman. I believe this whole-heartedly and always have and always will. I am a convert of 14 years now, but never have I felt so picked on in my life until now. I have friends that are gay, non-LDS, LDS, and straight, and all of them seem to hate what was "reminded" to all of us and therefore have a hard time accepting my view and think of me as close-minded. I do not understand how because of what/how I feel, I am now looked at as less of a friend. Before I converted I was friends with these same people and we got along and had fun. We were very friendly and laughed with each other all the time. Now, however, my whole world has gone topsy-turvy. I don't understand this. How is it that because I believe God's word(and yes, I do whole-heartedly KNOW that this is His word)I am less of a friend and I'm being judgemental and hateful. We do not feel hatred and evil of anyone. I have been feeling like a lone wolf for quite some time now, but now with this huge debate going on amongst all my friends, I really feel lost. I feel more lost when I wasn't LDS! I just want everyone to know, just because I feel the way I do about God's words does not mean we have to be in battle. We are all God's children and we are all loved. We all have our trials and temptations to overcome, does this mean we abandon one another when we need each other the most? I enjoy my friendships, each and every different one, but if I'm gonna be lashed out at by anyone, I will have to step away. I am the same person I have always been, and If you can't seem to see that, well then I'm sorry. It is time for us all to remember we are ALL different and that is okay. Just because we have diff. opinions or beliefs does not mean we shouldn't/can't be friends. I feel like the Fox and the Hound. Now that I'm all grown up, a lot of my "friends" think we can't be. I believe what I believe and you believe what you believe. It's okay. I love you all anyway and would hope you feel the same way for me.

For the love of October

I wake up every morning and see this!

I made myself a calendar last year and this is October's page. These 2 little loves were born only 3 days apart in the same month(of course they are 2 years apart as well). This is my favorite pic of them. It's from last year's Witches at Gardner Village. They were giggling and dancing, and singing to the music that was playing and I snapped midway of them goofing with each other. I just love these two lit'l babes-however, they are not so little anymore.

Welcome October and Fall, I sure do love this time of year!

Homemade Baby Wipes- WONDERFUL!!!

So as many of you know, I've been trying to save as much $$ as I can, and man have I stumbled upon a GREAT one!

I am making my own baby wipes and have been using them for a few weeks now and guess what... they work and better yet, I know exactly what's in them and what's going on my baby's bum.

Here's the details...

2 cups of water boiled then cooled down to room temp.

Mix in 1 Tablespoon of baby oil and 2 Tablespoons of baby wash or shampoo.

All you do is take a roll of paper towels and cut it in half making 2 rolls. Then pull the middle tube out of one and place in a tupperware bucket with a lid(I got a set of three snap lid rubbermaid ones at Walmart). Just pour your liquid mix over the paper towels and snap lid on and let sit for @ least 30 minutes. Then flip over and let the towels soak up the rest of the liquid. You can just leave them in the container, or fold them up and place them into an old wipe container(I've done both and they both work great). Basically you get 2 containers of wipes for a dollar(I get my paper towels at the dollar store or with a coupon at Walmart For $1 each). Not bad, considering one container cost around $2.50 and refills are over $5 for a 3 pack.

This is one of my new favs for saving some cool, hard $$$!