3 Going On 13

Sofia was helping me sort laundry when she said, "Look at me Mom! I have pads like Abby!" Not exactly sure where she gets the "pads" part, but couldn't pass up the photo op.



Just a couple random pics of Fia.

So big!!



Sofia was a princess and Joey was a pirate. At least that's what Sofia told me.

Halloween Night

All ready for Trick-or-Treating!




Abby was a Knight




Maxx was a Gangster/Mobster




Sofia was Peter Pan

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins this morning.






Abby is making me add a disclaimer: Beware the following images may cause fright to those who are afraid of the wake-up look.




The final product!

Pumpkin Santa

Maxx's entry for the school's pumpkin decorating contest.

Crazy Hair Day

Crazy Hair Day at Abby's school!

Tournament

Abby had a Karate Tournament yesterday. She got 1st place in sparring for her division and age group. Yay Abby! We are very proud of her.

Maxx is a Red Belt!!!

Maxx earned his red belt yesterday! He was sick for the actual testing day, so excuse his uniform. It was sparring day, hence the sweaty hair! We are very proud of him.

Chef Abby

The other night at dinner Abby was "examining" and sniffing the new recipe I had tried. As I was a bit annoyed by her actions and had been on the other end of her food critiquing many times, I decided to give her a challenge. She was to find a new recipe, plan the meal, and cook it for us. After perusing the recipe book, she decided to have spaghetti squash with marinara sauce. She had canned beans and sliced fruit to go with it. It was actually pretty tasty. The "noodles" could have used a bit more cooking time, but it tasted good. Sofia loved the fruit. Maxx, well Maxx, hated it all. I did have to laugh a "now you know how I feel" laugh, when Abby told Maxx she didn't appreciate him making faces at the food she cooked.

The finished product.

Maxx's Birthday and Baptism

I am slowly catching up - only 3 weeks or so behind now.....

Happy Birthday, Maxx!



Our sweet 8 yr. old




Maxx had a Bionicle birthday. It seems to be a theme at our house lately.





Maxx was baptized and confirmed on August 29th by my brother Greg. Of course, picture taking was minimal. I can never seem to get that camera out!




Now that he is eight, he is in Cub Scouts. He had his first pack meeting last night.

Summer in a nutshell, or a clamshell, or a blog post.

So as to not make you jealous of all the fabulous things we did this summer or bore you with them in multiple blog posts, whichever way you see it, I will just post a few pics and add a couple notes.

Abby tested for her conditional black belt. Part of the qualifier was running a 5K after which they had an 8 hour workout.

Running the 5K



After the 5K. She ran in it under 30 mins. Not too bad for a girl who probably hadn't ran more than down the street at one time.



She passed! On stage at the Black Belt Extravaganza with Master Preston.



With Mr. Cooper and Miss Lauren



We spent 6 weeks in lovely, cool weathered Utah. We drove up in time to celebrate Sofia's 3rd birthday. Shelley and Jim had a just because party and generously included Sofia's birthday amongst the celebration.

Sofia with her Farm Cake. Suzanne used her talent to create this cute cake and cupcakes for Sofia.





Sofia asked for a pink scooter and a kitchen.



Suzanne, Shobi, and Grandma got her a kitchen and Grandma made her cute apron.



We ate cake and had a cow pinata at Shelley and Jim's party. Suzanne made Sofia's cute dress.





Sofia got her first haircut!



She also gave herself a haircut!



We went to Tia's baptism.



Went hiking, camping, and spent time in the mountains with friends and family. (not all of which I took pictures of)









Never seen such specific rules at a park before.









Went to the Balloon Fest.





Abby brought her book.



Brandi, Dan, Lukas, and Blair & Jim and Shelley came for a BBQ on the Fourth of July.





Sofia threw fits.






We spent time with Juan before he headed up to Canada.







Took some sweet pics of the kids.








And of Daisy




Enjoyed some beautiful scenery.








Suzanne taught Sofia how to bake cookies and Grandma taught her to make zucchini bread.




So, now that you have spent half your day reading our ridiculously long post, I will end by saying thank you to all our friends and family in Utah. We had a wonderful time with you all. I apologize if we didn't cover our time with you in the blog or document it with pictures. It will be documented in our memories.