Pumpkin Carving

This year I thought to myself..."Self, I don't want to carve pumkins this year, do you? " and self said to me "actually I don't really want to either" So self and I came up with a genius idea. I said to my kids. "kids I don't want to carve pumpkins this year, so Kenedy and Ryker you will carve your own, Avynlea your dad will help you and Rylee here is some paint, why don't you go ahead and paint your pumpkin." It was all fine and dandy ...

until someone got hurt. Ryker stabbed himself witha knife and Kefford had to glue it back together. After he was patched up Ryker said to me " this is why kids should not be carving pumpkins". Hmmm. Oh yeah and their was some complaining from the older two about not wanting to carve their own. Oh well, Kenedy did great on hers and Ryker got hurt and had his Dad cut his.

All is well that ends well!

Kenedy's Choir Concert

Kenedy chose to do Choir as her elective this year and she just recently had her first choir concert. She called her Grandma a couple of days before and invited her to come. Lucky for all of us she was able to attend. Kenedy did great and looked neautiful up in the stage. It was a nice concert and the best part was it only was an hour long! yay for a smart choir teacher!

Boise Temple Open House

I was really excited for the opportunity to go through the Boise Temple Open House with my kids. We decided to go on the Saturday that Keffords parents were tour guides with the hopes that we could be in their tour. Unfortunately that did not happen but we did see them when we were done so that was a nice thing. I didn't get any pictures with our family outside of the Temple because their were soooo many people it was just too crowded. But I did manage to get a couple of shots inside the reception area. We all had a nice time and the inside was beautiful I cannot get over how different it was from before.  Avynlea and Rylee both loved the chandeliers and Avy asked me if I would lift her up so that she could touch one. I wish that I could have because I would have liked to touch one myself. :o) I am really excited for the dedication and to be able to start attending the Temple again on a regular basis. Yay!

Boy Scout Awards

Ryker got some awards at Scouts and while I don't remember what the awards were for I have to say I am liking his hair in these pictures. I will never admit that to Kefford because while he likes the longer bushier look on his boy I do not and beg them to cut it often. But for whatever reason I like his hair in these pictures. He just really looks like a california boy here, all tan and blond. I think I miss the beach. :o/

Lunch with Avynlea

In Avynleas class at school they have one child be the star of the week. This week it was Avynleas turn to be the star!!! YaaaaaaY! On one of the days we are asked to come and eat lunch with our star child. So I stopped at McDonalds, gross, and went to school to surprise Avynlea. I have decided that alhough I do like McDonald french fries that the rest of the food their is pretty gross. With the exception of the McChick that is on the dollar menu. That sandwich is pretty spectacular. Everything else though is nasty.

Avynlea is so cute and I love the fun faces she makes and her super cute dimples. She is basically just all around adorable!

Avy wanted me to see the united states mural that was painted on her playground. I told her to have a seat in her favorite state. Do I really need to say which state she picked?  :o)

Mine too Avy, mine too.

Me and my girl!

A Sad day

When we came back from Portland we dropped the kids off at home, they stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, and drove to meet Breanas ride back to Rexburg. While we were driving we got a call from Kenedy telling us that they found Avynleas hamster, Britney, dead in her cage. So, so sad. We couldn't figure out how she died because she still had food and a full water bottle so we assumed she got a weird sickness and it killed her. Turns out our neighbor who we commissioned to feed our fish was told by Kefford not to worry about the hamster. Avy had cleaned out her cage and given her water and food and he knew she would be fine for a couple of days. Our neighbor decided to check on her anyway Saturday night and found her completely dehydrated with an empty water bottle. Avynlea forgot to refill her water and it killed her. She was so sad but I told her that we would get her a new hamster in a couple of days. Hopefully this was a good lesson learned about taking care of pets an death will not be caused by neglect from the kids ever again!

Falls

On our drive from Portland back to Meridian we were told that we must stop at the falls. So stop we did!

We only hiked up to the first landing. Someday, if we ever come back through this way it would be fun to take more time and hike the entire six miles to the top.