Red Ribbon Week Part II

I got Brighton to wear a tie to school on Thursday!  We compromised, he would wear a tie if I let him wear shorts and flip flops with it.  Although I didn't get a picture of it, we were kinda in a hurry that morning.  After school we went shopping and everyone was saying how adorable he looked.  Now he wants to wear a tie more often!

Today was "Too Cool for Drugs" day at school.  They were supposed to wear sunglasses!  Aspen had to wear her student council T-shirt, which she wasn't too happy about.  (If I was on top of it I would have had a post that she made student council, but I'm not!)  She is not a t-shirt girl.  So we had to "modify" it by tying ribbon on the shoulders making it a sleeveless shirt. 

Red Ribbon Week

It is Red Ribbon Week at the kids school this week.

On Tuesday it was dress like a cowboy and "kick drugs in the butt" day.  Aspen & Autumn dressed up but Brighton did NOT want to look like a cowboy!

 Today was "too smart for drugs" day.  They were supposed to wear their favorite college team sports attire.  Most of the kids will be wearing Arizona State and BYU.   I bet they are the only ones at school wearing UTAH STATE!  Go Aggies!!!

Tomorrow is "too classy for drugs" day.  They are supposed to wear their fanciest, snazziest clothes.  We will see if I can get Brighton to wear a tie!  He won't even wear one to church!

Weekend in Las Vegas

Jay had a conference in Las Vegas this past weekend.  The rest of the family decided to go with him.  It's a good thing we did because he said the conference was super boring and skipped out on a lot of it.

Our first stop was to eat red velvet pancakes, sprinkled with chocolate, topped with whip cream and drizzled with cream cheese syrup!  Yum!!!  These are the best!

The kids at the M&M store.

Jay, Brighton and Autumn in front of the M&M nascar.

We went shopping at Town Square and let the
kids play at the playground.  Here they are in a maze. 

The kids on the caterpillar.
It was so hard to keep them away from the splash pad!

The family at Mandalay Bay.

The girls standing in front of King Tut at the Luxor.

 The kids swimming at our hotel, the Excalibur.

All in all we had a fun weekend but every time I go to Las Vegas I hate it more and more!!!  Most of what we did was off the strip where the kids couldn't see crap all the time!  Aspen did get sick one night while we were shopping and threw up all over the bathroom floor of Target.  Poor girl!

Fall Weekend

I know, I haven't posted forever!  I don't even know
if anyone still looks at this or not!

Friday night was our ward camp.  Although we didn't stay overnight, we did go up and have dinner.  On our way there we stopped at an old ghost town.  The kids thought it was pretty cool!

Standing in front of an old mine.

Saturday we drove up to Pinetop.  This is Jay's favorite weekend!  It means that ski season is coming soon!  If you ride the ski lift up and donate a can of food then kids 12 and younger get a free season ski pass!

The kids (and by kids that includes Jay) were pretty excited to see a helicopter!  Aspen & Autumn inside the helicopter.

It was absolutely beautiful up there!
All the Aspen trees were bright yellow!

Brighton riding the ski lift.

Jay and Brighton in front of a lake.  I don't know it's name!

It was so beautiful up there!  This picture just doesn't even do justice to how bright yellow the Aspen trees were!

On our way home Sunday we stopped along the way to do some "Geo Caching".  This is Brighton holding his "treasure", a toy helicopter.

The girls standing on top of the rim.  All you could see for miles were mountains covered with pine trees.  It smelled so good!

Brighton was standing on the edge of the rim and Aspen had to stand behind him because she was freaked out he was going to fall off!  She snuck into the picture, he would have been
mad to find out she was there!

On our way home we stopped in Fountain Hills to see the worlds tallest fountain.  I can't believe it has been there since 1970!  The wind was blowing just enough to make a rainbow.  The kids had fun at the playground and chasing ducks.
We just wish we had bread to feed them.

Student of the Week

Aspen was made student of the week at her elementary school last week.  This is the video that we made to be shown at school.  This was a project she is graded on!

King Zorro

If you haven't met our cat Zorro you are missing out.  He has got to be the most laid back cat ever!!! He also thinks he is human, seriously!!  He will follow you all around the house and wants to be held on your hip like a baby.  He has a spot near our dinner table that he lays while we eat.  He also will sit next to the shower/tub and wait for you (he would even join you if you would let him).  He even joins us for family prayers.  

Last Saturday morning Autumn and Aspen put Zorro on their American girl doll bed and carried him around the house like a king.  Most cats would immediately jump off, but not Zorro, he seemed to enjoy it! 

Spring Break 2012

This year for spring break I drove the 3 kiddos to Las Vegas to visit my sister Ashley!  Driving there wasn't too bad, I rented some movies from redbox and they were quite most of the way.  I did get sick of hearing "are we almost there?".  We stayed for an entire week!  We had a blast and wish we lived closer to each other so we could hang out all the time!  Not sure if our husbands would like that.

Autumn, Brighton, Aspen and Ava in Caesar's Palace.

Aspen, Autumn and Brighton at the Gardens inside the Bellagio. 

Brighton Bowling, he just hucked the ball, takes after his dad!

At the end of bowling we made the kids line up with their balls to take pics.  This totally shows their personalities!

This two are camera happy, all I heard was take a picture of me here! 

Jay flew out Thursday night so he could drive home with me on Saturday.  He says it was to be with me but I honestly think he was scared to have me drive home.  I do admit, I have a lead foot!

Jay and his girls inside the Venetian.  

 The family waiting for the volcano to erupt at The Mirage.

On Saturday we drove home.  We stopped at the dam bridge!  It was so incredibly windy and cold!

I do have to admit that I was glad to have Jay drive me home.  We had such a bad cross wind that he even had a hard time keeping on the road.

Autumn's Baptism

Autumn was baptized Saturday, February 4, 2012 by her dad.

We are so proud of Autumn's decision to be baptized into 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

The family right before her baptism.

Jay & Autumn in front of the font she would soon be baptized in.

Autumn & Bishop Richter

Our family and our wonderful friends, the Matsons, who drove an hour to be with us on this special occasion.

Left to Right

Aunt Loraine, Grandpa Larson, Grandma Larson, Cambry, Aspen, Zach (in back), Jay, Jenn, Grandpa Hoggan, Grandma Hoggan, Uncle Paul, Aunt Lynda and in the front Brighton and Autumn.

Thank-you to those who came such a long distance to be with us!

The kids that lasted all night jumping on the tramp!  In the front we have the boys; Codan, Brody, Brighton.  In the back are the girls; Cambry, Autumn, Jayden, Carlie and Aspen.

Brighton used his charm on Aunt Loraine!  He got her to read I don't know how many stories before bedtime.