Last post of November

Triston and Anja's whole school went to the Phoenix Symphony on Wednesday the 28th. I was going to go too but Anja was too sick to go to school so Triston went alone. I am so bummed I missed this trip because apparently it wasn't just their school but several other schools and out of several thousand students the conductor picked Triston out of the audience to come up and help him.
Picture Triston in his place...

When I went to pick him up it was clear he was the toast of the school. All the teachers were telling me how cute he was and that he was the perfect kid to pick because he was very animated in conducting the symphony. Dang it all! I wish I had a picture. Well I do but just not at the symphony... Here he is and with his treasure, straight from the conductor himself!

Thanksgiving Fun with the Davis's

We were happy to have Ben's sister Klare and her husband Darren and their 4 kids over for the holidays. I cooked my first Thanksgiving meal and it was actually quite a good turn out. The food was good and the company was even better!
Liam got to know his younger cousin Ryder and his cool toys!
Here Nika gets in on the fun

The Davis boys comfortable on the floor with Malibu

My cute little nephew Ryder!

The day after Thanksgiving we went up To Anthem AZ which is a community just north of Phoenix that has the most amazing park. I love to take the kids up here it has the best playground ever! And even though I am pretty sure I got strep throat from playing on the equipment with the kids I still love it. (Side note- Saturday I came down with a sore throat that did turn out to be strep... I am feeling better now that I am on antibiotics!...)
Here are a majority of us as we are eating lunch before we go play.
Here Anja takes the lead with Dennam in finding Nika...

Top
and Bottom

Uncle Jed having fun with Anja
Triston in the cool castle

The train at the park

I love the sand lots up at this park because they have fake buried dinosaur bones for the kids to discover.. too cute!

Can't wait to see our family at Christmas! Love you guys!

Gives me chills!

Dinner with the Missionaries

Always fun but more so yesterday when I had a lid to my pot explode on the stove! Wow I am sure glad that it was tempered. It scared me and worried me that the elders might die at my house after eating soup with glass in it! LOL But the blessing on the food did the trick and I am happy to report that no one was injured either during the making of this meal or afterward in the consumption of it. Although Jed did find a couple of pieces in his drinking cup. Whoops! What a crazy Sunday!

New this past month!

Well Ben's brother Jed moved in with us this past month. He is going to get a job and go to school for a year before he leaves on his mission! Exciting stuff! He is such a help around the house and the kids absolutely love having their uncle around! Nika thinks he is her personal property and every time he leaves the room she starts asking where he is. Too cute!


Ben's youngest sister Abbey and my inlaws came out the first weekend in November. It had been two years since they had been to our house and it was nice to have them up. We went to a family reunion in Mesa, AZ for Ben's grandmothers side of the family. The Payne's! It was nice to visit and meet new people.


Liam loves Grammy he was just a bit tired in this picture...


The cute couple!

Triston's 7th birthday

Now that it is almost Thanksgiving I finally find myself with the time to write about Triston's birthday! What a slacker mom I am! All I can say is that our Primary Program is done and I now feel like my time is my own again!
Let's see, first of all on his birthday I went in with a little birthday treat of fruit pizza.

He also got to show his birthday book that I made with a picture of him every year on his birthday.
Here is a picture of him in his class.

That night we opened a few presents with the family.
Remote control truck is always good!

So is a kite!

Mom's idea of a great birthday gift. Since Triston has been having a lot of math homework lately. Can you tell by his face that he isn't to sure...
Dad's idea of a great gift and even though he is looking down you can tell he agree's

He is really excited to be trying out baseball in the spring, he kept asking for the basics to get him started training. Daddy got a bat and glove as well. So cute!


I have been wanting to make this cake for a few year and Triston finally agreed for this to be his birthday cake. It is a bunch of eyeballs, and it is perfect to make the day after Halloween because you need so much candy for it and I was given permission to use their stash to create my fun cake!


Then a week later we had a birthday party for him at Peter Piper Pizza. He had fun but I don't think we will do that one again it was a mad house full of kids and their hapless parents...



And for the record Ben does attend these events too he is just a little camera shy, here is one of my only pic's of him that night.

Triston had a good time and now he is on his way to that milestone eighth birthday. The time sure has gone by fast.