Camping in the Backyard

Camping in the backyard is really not our thing. We like to camp in the woods where there are wild animals, trees and streams. But around here you have to pay to camp and there is another camp ground site right next to yours. Since our backyard is full of trees and animals we decided to camp there. Plus we have the luxury of a kitchen not far away. As most of you know we have Pizza, Movie & Picnic almost every Friday night. This last Friday we did just that but in a tent. The movie "Barbie and the Three Musketeers" just came out. We don't buy many movies but the girls LOVE Barbie and we knew they will watch it non-stop and will be well worth the money.

Our Tent (with the extension cord for the TV. and DVD player)

Jay, Aspen, Autumn and Brighton hanging out in the tent.

Aspen watching the movie

Autumn jumping up and down on the air matress

Brighton would not sit still and watch "barbie"(which I know Jay is thankful for), he just liked being in the tent.

Autumn & Aspen roasting marshmallows after Brighton was put into his bed. Jay stayed out and slept in the tent with the girls while I stayed inside with Brighton in the warmth of my own bed. It got down to 49 degrees that night. I also had a relief society lesson that I was working on and stayed up late to do so, believe me I would have rather been outside than preparing that.

The Cute Little Buggers

The girls used their tickets at Chuck E Cheese to buy these little bug jars. When they got them, they were not decorated and they have been bugging me for days to decorate them. I finally helped them do it today. They are so excited to catch lightning bugs tonight.

Aspen made a lady bug and Autumn made a bumble bee.

Brighton has a new obsession. He absolutely loves to color. He will come and ask me for paper and colors several times a day. The only problem with this is that it doesn't always end up on paper!

Putting up the Christmas Lights

Putting up Christmas lights here in Michigan was a lot harder than in Phoenix! For one thing we couldn't even get a 40 foot ladder to reach the top of our house. Not to mention it was about 10 degrees outside. Then we have a brain damage cat that wanted to help!

I don't know if you can see the cat sitting to the left of the window on the window seal.

We finally had to open the window to get him down!

Ward Christmas Party

Brighton sitting on Santa's lap. He was fine until Santa said something to him. Autumn still wouldn't sit on Santa's lap. I even told her that Santa wouldn't bring her anything for Christmas and she said "Fine - I don't want anything anyway!". Aspen ran to sit on Santa's lap so fast that I couldn't get the camera ready in time to take a picture.

Aspen with some of her friends from our ward. The twins, Amy, Anna, Aspen & Kathleen

The primary singing Christmas songs. We have a total of 33 primary kids in our ward.

Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving my parents, my sister Ashley and her husband Isaac came to visit us. The kids were so excited, it's all they could talk about for weeks. On Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner watched football and then went to the movie Bolt. The next few days we went shopping, played games, we went out to eat at good places (Thanks Dad!!!), we went to a car museum and to the biggest Christmas shop in the world. Jay missed out on a few things because he was on call the entire time they were here.

Jay, my dad and Isaac caught eating before the dinner began.

Isaac, Aspen, Autumn and Grandpa watching football after a big Thanksgiving feast. Aspen has really gotten into football since moving here.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch for my sis's birthday and they gave her a chocolate cake in which I think Autumn ate almost the whole thing. She is addicted to chocolate!

Brighton & Jay in front of Christmas lights.

This picture was taken at Bass Pro Shop. Brighton wouldn't sit on Santa's lap so Jay had to hold him next to Santa. At least he would get near Santa, Autumn wouldn't go near him and Aspen is just too cool for Santa anymore.

My mom & I after a very long day of shopping. We left at 11:30pm on Thanksgiving day to go to the outlets that opened at midnight. The next day was my sisters birthday and all she wanted to do was shop. This picture was taken around 8pm while waiting for my sister to get done shopping. My mom and I were pooped!
Aspen & Autumn in front of Dale Earnhardt's #3 car.

Autumn and Grandpa in front of an old fire engine.

Brighton gets pretty excited when it comes to steering wheels.

Me, Ash, Aspen & Autumn in front of a 1958 Chevy Impala.

Aspen taking Autumn for a ride in an old car.

Grandpa holding Brighton in front of an old WWII tank.
(GM made these during the world war II)

Autumn stopping for a drink at the old soda fountain shop.

Autumn riding a stuffed reindeer in one of the shops in Frankenmuth.
Autumn wanted to go home with Grandma. She climbed in the car on Grandma's lap when they were getting ready to leave.

We had a lot of fun and after all was said and done it went by way too fast! We love having visitors come and see us! Hint - hint! Thanks for everything Mom & Dad - we already miss you!

Our First Snow Storm

We are having the first snow storm of the year! This is extra special since this is our first one in four years! We still aren't used to the cold weather and at first Autumn went out in a tank top and bare feet. I forced her to put on shoes and a jacket. Notice how Aspen just has her jacket over her hair so it doesn't get messed up.

Brighton LOVED the snow! I could hardly get a picture of him because he was dancing around and trying to catch the snow!


This is Brighton after I made him come inside!
Aspen trying to warm up! Zorro doesn't even want to go out!

Jay's mom makes the best apple pie in the entire world! I don't even like apple pie but hers is the best! So, when Jay's mom was here last month she taught him how to make apple pie (his most favorite thing in the entire world!). He is going to make it for Thanksgiving when my parents and Ash & Isaac come. So today he is making a trial run. Brighton has to be at Jay's side helping (ha ha) at all times. We will see how it turns out!

The Final Masterpiece!

Wildlife in our Backyard

Almost every morning and sometimes in the evening we have deer in our backyard. We have a pond in the trees behind our house and I think this might attract them. We also have moles (haven't ever seen one but they are digging up our backyard), chipmunks (fat ones), raccoons, frogs, turtles, geese and the worst of all SNAKES. That is right, we have snakes. I absolutely hate snakes! I will never have a picture of a snake on our blog because I won't get close enough to take a picture of one. Every time I see one I scream like crazy! The neighbors probably think someone is dying or they might be used to it by now.

Our New Swing Set

We finally finished our new swing set that we bought at Sam's Club. The directions said it would take two people 20 - 24 hours and they were pretty much right. This was our Labor Day weekend project. We worked on it all day Saturday which included a big goose egg and a hole in a foot. Then we worked on it all day Labor Day. We had a few finishing touches to do last weekend and it is finally done! It was all worth it because the kids love it, especially Brighton!

This was the area that we had to clear out which included chopping down a tree, pulling a ton of weeds and spraying ivy killer. We then laid down weed blocker. The worst part was taking 15 yards of mulch from the front yard to the backyard - It might not sound bad but each yard of mulch was about 35 big bags you would buy at Home Depot!

Brighton kept climbing the ladder. He would be up to the top before we even noticed.

Brighton trying to help Daddy screw the screws into the swing set.


End of Day One!

Aspen & Autumn sliding down their new slide.

Aspen pushing Brighton in his swing - he laughs like crazy every time he is in it!

Ward Campout

Brighton Playing in the Water while in the Canoe

Aspen Fishing while Autumn Plays in the Water

Autumn & Brighton Playing in the Tent

We had our ward camp out on Friday. Our church has a big grassy field behind it then a big hill behind that with a lake at the bottom. The church owns the lake. Therefor we don't have to have a fishing license to go fishing. This is where our ward camp out was. They left the church open so we could use the restrooms and showers. On Saturday we had a pig roast, played games, went fishing and canoeing. The kids had a blast!