A Fly on the Wall . . .

If you could be a fly on the wall at our house, this is what you'd see . . . 

. . . Chris outside doing "gymnastics" with Lise in the rain, pretending the brick wall is the beam.  (We were actually outside looking at the awesome rainbow in the background.  Unfortunately this is the only picture you'll see of Chris for awhile, as he is currently deployed in Afghanistan until May.  Which is too bad, because we sure do love having him around.  Our family isn't complete without him - plus you can't beat the entertainment value!) . . .

 . . . Kate hugging the "Holy Ghost."  She even gave him a CTR shield! . . .

. . . Kate trying to roller blade and scooter at the same time with one foot on each.  It didn't work out quite as she'd planned - not enough friction. . .

. . . Kate's toothless grin.  "All She Wants for Christmas is Her Two Front Teeth" . . . 

 . . . Kate's awesome baton skills at the Niceville Fall Festival. . . 

 . . . Analise, Kate, and Kylie creating Ponyville in the playroom and gowns for the ponies. . . 

 . . . Analise's creative obsessions.  Above is the headband she wove out of pine straw and berries from our yard.  Below is her fuzzy mustache.  I understand that mustaches are all the rage these days, but Lise definitely was obsessed before they were trendy. . . 

. . . Kylie getting a chance to use her princess umbrella and pink rain boots and showing off her Indian costume she made in preschool.  It was hilarious because the teacher told them it was an "Indian" costume, but Kylie didn't know what that was, so when she showed it to me she told me it was her "Inion" costume from Despicable Me. (Minion).  I loved it.  Later she told me it was her "alien" costume.  I love little kids.  We really gotta work on her pronunciation. :) . . .

 . . . Aly going, and going, and going.  That girl is like the energizer bunny.  She did awesome in soccer this year and scored 7 goals - one was in sudden death overtime to win the semi-finals for her team!

Her next venture is to hopefully join the swimming team.  We're just waiting to hear on the results.  Meanwhile she has been performing with her chorus group and loves that as well.

And, as if that wasn't enough, the thing we've all been waiting for finally happened - Aly turned 12!  She was the last of her primary group to make it into Young Women's and it's been a long wait.  She's going in with a good group of friends though and I am so excited for her!  They kidnapped her and took her to breakfast to welcome her into Young Women's - so fun!  I am very excited for her to start this next phase of her life!

 

. . .  And finally Me - just keeping everything in motion, rotating the girls clothes for winter, shuttling people back and forth, taking kids to doctors/dentist appointments, trying to get ready for the holidays, trying not to yell at the kids too much when I'm stressed out at having to be an only parent, trying to enjoy the last six months of living in Florida,  etc., etc. At least I'm trying, even  if I don't always succeed.  (Aly took this picture of me because she said the picture I currently had on my phone was terrible.  Gotta love kids' candidness)  . . . 

Octember, a Month to Remember

In October it finally got cool enough for us to go camping!  I love getting out in nature - the campfire, the woods, everything.  We had to pack up pretty quick to head to Aly's soccer game, but it was a nice getaway for a night.

Also in October Chris and I were able to take a getaway of our own.  Chris was set to deploy in the beginning of November, and since we'd be moving right when he returns next summer, we used his block leave to head up to Kentucky to scope out Fort Knox, our next duty station.  (Thanks again, Dad, for watching the kids!  We owe you big time!)

While we were there we were able to check out the schools, housing, and the local wards.  It was really informative and we met a ton of nice people.  But it wasn't all work - Chris and I took a day to go visit Mammoth Caves, and another day to attend the Louisville, Kentucky Temple.  It was so awesome to just have the time, Chris and I - it was my favorite part of the whole trip.

Also, going on this trip in October was AWESOME!  I was able to see the leaves changing and it was beautiful.  This trip made me excited to move to Kentucky for the following reasons:
1 - Chris will not be deployed the entire time we're stationed there!
2 - Seasons - I will get to have all four seasons for two years!
3 - The Temple will only be 1 hour away!!
4 - Church history sites - we are smack dab in the middle of them, and plan to do the Nauvoo pageant while we're there.
5 - Camping.  The country was beautiful!

When we came back from our trip, it was time to get into major Halloween mode.  First, we went to the pumpkin patch . . .

Kate and Kylie wanted "baby" pumpkins.

Of course we had to take our pictures in the Woody and Jessie cutouts . . .

We ended up picking out this pumpkin with a massive scar in it.  But Chris had a plan . . .

 . . . a pumpkin with an eye patch!!  It looked awesome!

Then of course there was the trunk or treat and trick-or-treat.  We had a Diva, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Ariel (she's sitting on a rock), and Aurora/Sleeping Beauty.

And of course there were the fun school parties to attend.  Here's Kate with her hand print spider and the wrapping of the mummy contest.

As always, time goes by way too fast when you're having fun.

Jackman Beach Trip

 In September, my brother and sister and their spouses came out to do a week at a beach house with me, which was awesome!  (Also, my Dad came out to watch the kiddos for me so that I could go stress free.  It was sooo nice! Thanks, Dad!)  The Beach house was beautiful and we were right on the beach.  Gorgeous!

While we were there we caught just about every kind of weather.  Beautiful Sunsets, an amazing lightning storm over the ocean . . . 

. . .  and also some bright sunny days for catching rays at the beach.  The guys had fun skim-boarding and body boarding, while Laura and Tiffany lounged in the sun.  I bounced back and forth between the two.  (BTW, notice my first ever floppy beach hat.  I love it!)

One of the days we split up between the girls and the guys.  The girls did a "spa day" with massages, manis, pedis, shopping, and a movie.

 The boys went on an all day fishing excursion where they caught some fish to cook up for us on the grill.  Delicious!

We also took turns picking a restaurant every night and got to try out all different kinds of quisine.  Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Italian, and American.  So much fun.

Another day we went tubing down turkey creek.  We picked up Kylie and let her come along for the day.

And, for the final broo-ha-ha, we went on a Sunset Cruise.  It was a sailing cruise and we had the whole boat to ourselves.  I loved it!  The best part about it was that Chris came in the night before (he'd been on a trip to Afghanistan the previous week) and so he was able to come with us!

You know, I gotta say, even though I live right here, it was very nice to be able to "go on vacation" in Destin.  There's nothing like it. :)