Thanks to you, St. George

There are lots of things I love about St. George, Utah. This year marks the 5th Thanksgiving we have spent at Mom and Dad's home there. (Every year except '08 when Andrew got married over the holiday.)
There are a few obligatory stops we make every time we visit.
There's Taipan Trading, a home decor wonderland-especially at the holidays. The kids love checking out all the fantastic trees.

 

Of course, we make multiple visits to Jimmy John's for sandwiches.

 

David has perfected his bread hollowing technique.

 

There's is something magical about the toys at Granny and Grandpa's, home. The kids are so excited to check on all their favorites, Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs and Lego sets.

 

Pizza Factory is a must. We love the pizza and can't get enough of the bread sticks.

 

Our newest favoritest thing in SG is cousins! This little pumpkin ,Miranda, is showing us the pure joy of dipping a dessert bread stick in cinnamon sauce. (I love this girl-and the rest of her family- so much!!!)

 

More on Cousin Fun coming soon.....

DMM Baptism

Today was a fantastically joyful day!! David was so excited to be baptized. He and Mark were so cute together. David just adores his Dad!

 

Our family is just growing up, I can't believe it sometimes.

 

David had many friends and family there to support him. He was running up to everyone and giving warm, David-style hugs. You have no idea how great a Dave hug is until you've had one!

 

his smile tells it all, he was so excited and ready to be baptized. It really touched my heart to see him so happy.

 

 

I made this candy gram for David, just like I did for James on his baptism day. David really got a kick out of it. There's something pretty special about having a full-size candy bar all to yourself. It's even better when you have multiple full size candy bars to yourself. Hopefully it not the only thing he remembers from this day!!

 

We Party!

 

The best, easiest party we have ever had took place on Friday afternoon. David chose to have a Wii party and it was the best!! When I say "the best" I mean the best party ever to organize! It was super easy. My favorite parts were the invitation that my fantastically talented friend, Maren, whipped up for me, and the Wii cake. It was my first time working with fondant and it was super fun. Thanks to Michelle for the recipe and lots of encouragement!

 

We had three Wii stations setup, two in the playroom and one inside. The kids split into groups of four and rotated to the three spots to play Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros and my personal favorite, Just Dance. The boys just played while we sat back and relaxed. It was so fantastic! No entertaining required!

 

We had pizza outside and then played one game of donut on a string. It was a blast and even we adults took a turn.

 

Oakley thought it was the best game ever. He was super helpful with cleanup....
#32 actually lost his front tooth during the game. He came up to me a few seconds after and asked me, with a bloody grin, where his tooth went. Hmmmm, either he swallowed it or my clean-up helper swallowed it. I guess we'll never know!

 

 

Here's David blowing out the 8 candles. He also helped me make little Mii's for each of his friends. It was fun to have him personalize each of his friends and get all the little details right. I sent the party goers home with little Wii remotes that I made out of card stock and filled with Skittles. I wish I'd taken a picture of it because they turned out really cute too. Oh well!
We'll have to do a Wii party again, maybe next time for adults only!

 

David's 8

David turned 8 years old today! I can't believe how time has flown. He has always seemed like an older kid to me, I always expect him to do more and faster than I ever did with James. I guess that's the curse of being the second child! He wanted to celebrate his birthday at Outback Steakhouse since steak is his favorite dinner. Granny and Grnadpa joined us and it was a really good time.

 

G&G gave David his Cub Scout shirt. He was so excited! He's really motivated about Cub Scouts now. He even started working on his Bobcat right away at the dinner table. Gotta love that focus!

 

We also gave him a Lego set that he's been asking for. Actually, he registered himself at Target and that was at the top of his list. The birthday list at Target is a brillant idea, if I do say so myself!

 

David has the best hugs of anyone. He has so much love to give, it's just bursting at his seams. He is smart and funny, intense and focused. He is such a joy to have in our family. I love him so much! I'm so excited for his upcoming baptism. He is really prepared and ready to take this step. I'm so proud of him!!

 

Coach Dave

David has decided that he just may enjoy coaching better than playing. He came to me with an idea. He wanted to start a football camp. With that, he headed out the front door. I slowed him down and told him I'd go with him, door to door, to recruit players. Unfortunately, our neighborhood is short on boys aged 4-6 years. At least ones whose mothers will answer the door to a stranger. So, he moved on to phase two of recruiting, which involved making some phone calls to friends. Before we knew it, he had 3 solid takers. And so, football camp was born.

 

All he needed was a clipboard and some willing recruits to make the team a success. They are really shaping up quite well. David is quite proud of his boys...