Birthday boy

As we prepare for Christmas, we must take a time out to celebrate Chase and his 4th birthday.  This year he wanted his first friend party.  He had been invited to some over the year and with him changing schools, we thought this would be a great opportunity for him to re-connect with old friends.  He is obsessed with Batman and all things having to do with Batman, so naturally this was the theme of the party.  For easiness, we went with Chuck E Cheese as the location.  He was thrilled.  Here are pictures of the goodie bags we made for all his friends

 Chase with his big sisters upon arrival for the big day.  We were worried after it snowed for the first time all season about 6 inches over night that friends wouldn't make it, but they all did.  

 The birthday boy...4 years old, unbelievable how fast time goes by.

 The cake he wanted...anything with Batman and toys on it he could play with later.

 Rocking out with Chuck E Cheese on his balloon guitar

 blowing out the candles

 inside the ticket blaster.  

 He got some Legos for his birthday and has been obsessed ever since.  He doesn't go a day without playing Legos or having the Lego figures in his pockets.  

Our family tradition has been the day after Thanksgiving we pull down all the Christmas stuff out of the attic/garage and decorate.  This year the kids really took it and ran with it.  Mark was still laid up with his hurt knee and I was busy working at the hospital.  They did a great job decorating and making it feel like Christmas was coming.  As for this little man...he loved it!  He is finally old enough that he got into the decorating and Christmas spirit.  He could not stop adding decorations to the tree (of course only in the small area of the tree he could reach).  I finally had to put away the extra because he wanted ALL the candy canes and ornaments on the tree.  It did keep him busy for hours (then mom came and took most of them off and he started again).

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving hanging out and enjoying it being small and quiet.  The day started with a cross fit work out, then Mark and Kacey went and played football.  During this fun turkey bowl, Mark was his usual all out self and was going crazy in the name of the game.  Needless to say, he came home after hurting his knee and was down and out for the rest of the day (if you know anything about our family, you know this is when he actually tore his meniscus and eventually had surgery right before Christmas).  The girls and Chase enjoyed helping with the cooking.  Here is the family sitting down ready to eat.  

 Mark carving the turkey.  I think this a traditional photo opportunity that is not missed :)

Here is a pie Cassie made.  She has become quite the baker and took such pride in making this coconut cream pie from scratch.  It even tasted delicious!!

October 2013-in review

I have been missing from the blogging world for some time.  I think getting my feet under me with my new job, going to night school as well as all the other things that take up my time, I just frankly have not get around to blogging.  I thought I would just capture October in one post. 

This is Chase.  He loves the bath and bubbles.  Here he is being a bunny rabbit with a cotton tail.  He thought that was pretty funny!

Reyna had a birthday.  She turned 10 years old on October 14.Happy Birthday, Reyna!!

 Chase and I went to Seattle over a long weekend to visit grandma and grandpa.  We enjoyed a nice, relaxing weekend.  We ventured into the city (off the island) to meet up with Uncle Scott, Aunt Ashley and London at the Science Museum.  On our way there we ran into Darth Vader and a storm trooper.  Chase was thrilled to take a picture with them and it made his day.  

 Chase made a smashed penny at the science museum. 

 Chase displaying his Monsters University scary face while on the ferry.

While we were in Seattle, Mark went to California to visit Caleb, Kacey and Reyna.  They enjoyed time together.  Reyna was able to show off her soccer skills during a game, Caleb got some new shirts for his mission during a shopping spree, they enjoyed eating out and time on the beach.  Mark was also able to set Caleb apart with a higher Priesthood in preparation for his mission. 

Last weekend of October we got the opportunity to spend a weekend in Park City, Utah.  The weather was beautiful.  We hiked around, swan outside (yes, in late October in Utah) and went to Olympic Village.  We did zip lining, alpine sliding and a ropes course.  It was such a fun weekend, we didn't want it to end.  Back to reality, I guess... 

 Halloween time.  Here are our pumpkins everyone carved.  Chase had batman (I know that is shocking considering his attire and nearly permanent face mask these days-also seen in Park City pictures)

 Madeline carved a bunch of eyes into her pumpkin

 Cassie decided to go for Superman.

 Chase did one more pumpkin at school, a vampire.  He said it was just missing its cape. 

Halloween costumes...Chase-batman, Madeline-Greek goddess, Cassie-Indian, Courtney-Darth Vader, Mark-Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle

Chase had school pictures at his Montessori.  Here is what we got.  Can't believe my little man is getting so grown up.  3 years old-in Preschool-learning so much everyday!

dad and Chase

This weekend we went to a craft show and somehow Chase fell down and smacked his head on the concrete flooring.  You could hear the back of his head hit hard and then looking around, all the vendors and shoppers gasped and held their hands to their mouths in shock.  We scooped him up, grabbed our stuff and headed home (we were about 2 miles from home).  As soon as we got him home, he wanted to sit with dad with ice on his head.  This is how I found them within the time it took me to get groceries out of the car.