Just an update!

So this week we finished up with wrestling. Noah really enjoyed it and wants to do it next year. He learned a lot and isn't too bad. He does well with the technique. He had his last practice on Tuesday night and they had some treats for the kids with a certificate and a medal. Noah was so excited. He now has over 10 trophies and about a dozen medals. He is so happy to add to the collection.

School was out on Wednesday and they go back on Monday so they have a nice little vacation from school. Noah and Mason have been playing nonstop since school let out on Tuesday. We did Thanksgiving dinner over at The Bank's house. It was so good. So much food too. Plenty of leftovers for lunches for the next couple of days. We had fun socializing and hearing mission stories from the guys. The kids just played until it was time to go home and relax. We all had a good time. It is so nice to have great friends that have become our family. I am so grateful for The Banks Family. They are a lot of fun and we just seem to click!!!

Black Friday, well I was just lazy. Chris and I woke up at about 9am. I think Noah was up about 8:30am. Chris went to work from 10-6 and Noah was outside playing most of the day. I played with my Cricut Machine that Chris got me for Christmas and let me have already!!! Then I ate leftovers for lunch and watched the Law and Order marathon on TV. Noah came in for a little so I could take a nap and then I realized it was 4pm and I needed to finish the dishes and take a shower before Chris got home from work so he wouldn't know how lazy I was today. It really did feel good to just hang out with no plans. I also did a lot of Christmas shopping online because I could still get the awesome deals with free shipping and stay in my pajamas all day. It was great. So that is what we have been up to lately. Not anything amazing but I have enjoyed it all!!!

Checking out Snow sites!

We went to find the best place to sled when it snows. Chris was telling Noah and I about this huge dome that he went to with the ROTC. So a couple of these pictures are from that. I just wanted to share them with you.

Happy Halloween!

So Halloween we made another haul!!! We went with The Banks Family to their ward trunk or treat and Chili cook-off. It was so much fun. I have never seen a ward decorate so much or have so much fun together before. They had all kinds of activities for the kids and even the adults. Then we went outside for the trunk or treat. That is always a huge success. Then we went to a couple of neighborhoods. Noah has so much candy that he will be eating it for the next year and until it is time to do it all over again. It was a lot of fun. Noah went as GI Joe this year. He was the cutest GI Joe I have ever seen. I will add a couple of pictures so you can see how adorable he is.

I am still getting pictures together so that I have enough for a disc. Halloween pictures are coming I promise. So this week has been hard. Chris was in the field for 3 days, which I know isn't long, but it is new to me. I will get use to it or maybe just be able to deal with it I am sure over time. Noah was a big help and so we just hung out and did some things just him and I. It was fun but I was so excited when Chris got home. I really do admire those women whose husbands who have been deployed because I thought those 3 days were the longest days of my life, I can't even imagine what they went through.

So I am working on a special project that I can't say right now, but I am loving it. It is so much fun and seeing the progress is amazing too. I also was at the craft store the other day and was just wondering around seeing what kind of project I wanted to work on and came across the Cross Stitching Section. I haven't cross stitched in forever. My mom taught me and Jared how when we were younger and I love to do it, (I am not as good as my mom) But I am trying. So I am cross stitching some ornaments for our Christmas Tree this year. With our move to Utah we didn't have room to bring our tree or any ornaments that we had. So this year we have to replace it all. Oh well. I always remember having ornaments on the tree that were cross stitched and so I want some on my tree this year. I am doing a cute little frog and then Lightning McQueen from the movie "CARS". I think they will turn out great.

Noah gets out of school at 1:30pm all this week due to SEP's. I have teacher conference tonight at 5pm. Noah is doing great in school. He is so smart and isn't getting into any trouble. He tells me all the time he is so glad that I stay at home now because he has more time to hang out with friends. His friend Mason and their family have been sick all week. H1N1, Strep, and Croup. I am glad that they are feeling better because Noah has been so worried about his best friends and has been kinda lonely. He has other friends that he plays with but Mason is by far his favorite. Well gonna get back to my projects. So much to do!!!

So this week has been rather uneventful! Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Just the same old stuff different days. My mom is coming to visit us the end of January and I did find out that she is bringing two other visitors with her. My brother Adam and his wife Ashley are coming as well. I am so excited for that. Noah knows that my mom is coming but we are keeping Adam and Ashley a secret. Noah will be so excited. Him and Adam have always been very close. They are more like friends than Uncle and Nephew. Its really kinda cute. Noah is gonna be so happy to see them and will enjoy showing them all the neat things that he does.

Chris is going to the field for ROTC this Thursday thru Saturday so Noah and I will be by ourselves. Guess I better get use to that since he is in the ARMY now! Oh well that we give me time to get some scrapbooking done once Noah is in bed. I am looking forward to the Holiday Season coming up. We are having Thanksgiving with our good friends, The Banks. It is going to be so much fun. This will be our first Holiday, well for me and Noah, away from home so it will be different but The Banks are like family now so I am sure we will be fine. I am looking forward to doing something different and making our own holiday Traditions. Not sure what our Traditions are going to be but I will come up with something.

Fall Pictures

Noah and I went out to look for some interesting places to explore. We found this one place that is so neat and it is on campus. We are going to bring Chris here soon to walk around and get more pictures. So I thought why not take my own fall pictures. So here are some of my fall pictures that I have taken. The weather here has been so nice so Noah has been able to still where shorts. Not sure how long that is gonna last. I have heard that it snows before Halloween sometimes.

The painting of the pumpkins

Noah and I painted our pumpkins! Noah painted 3 out of the 4 pumpkins. They look wonderful. I gave my pumpkin long eye lashes and huge red lips!!! Noah got to paint the big pumpkin and two of the small ones. Noah had to paint Chris' because Chris had to go into work so he didn't get to paint his pumpkin.

THE PUMPKIN PATCH!!!

The pumpkin patch was a blast. We went to Heehaw Farms which is in Pleasant Grove about 30 mins from Provo. They had so much for kids to do. Noah loved it. We started off at the corn cannon. Noah shot that off a couple of times and then we were off to one of their 3 pumpkin patches to pick out a pumpkin. Noah had fun picking a big one. Then we went to the other activities that they had. They had all kinds of slides, a maze, swings, petting zoo, train and hay rides, corn box, and a whole bunch of other things. It was probably the best farm we have been to for picking pumpkins. Noah is still talking about how much fun he had.

McDonalds for Lunch

Here in Utah they have "Fall Break" this is very different than Virginia. I had to ask what the heck is "Fall Break" but here in Utah they start school in August so that is only fair. So the kids were out of school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Sarah and I wanted to take the kids out of the house for awhile. We went to McDonald's because they had an awesome play area. It was one of the neatest ones I have seen. The kids had lunch and then played for over an hour. They had so much fun and were able to get out of the house for a bit. Now I guess we will have to start planning what to do for Thanksgiving Break!!!!!!

Movies and Games with the Banks!!!!

The Banks Family and The Smith Family have become each others family. They are great. Sarah and I have become great friends. Both of our husbands are at school a lot and so we have each other to rely on. The other day Sarah watched Noah and I went to lunch with Chris and then she had a dinner to go to and so I watched her children. We had so much fun. The older kids played "Spongebob Life" and had a great time. Reina just hung out with me and Chris. Then they wanted to watch a movie Noah had gotten from the Library "Wizard of Waverly Place" they all loved it. I popped them popcorn and Reina is too small for popcorn so she had a bowl of mini Teddy grahams. They all enjoyed watching the movie and of course I had to get a picture of them playing. They are a great bunch of kids.

Lego Time!!

Noah loves to build things with legos. Every time we go to Wal-mart we have to check out the legos and see if he has enough allowance to buy a new set. The latest was a police motorcycle. Chris really gets into it too. They sat right there on the floor for over an hour and just built. They have so much fun doing that together. Noah is good at putting things together. When he was little he loved puzzles and now that he thinks he is grown we have moved up to legos. Whats next????

Chris is always finding neat places with amazing views. When he finds these things he loves to share them with me and Noah. This one particular day he found a neat area that he really wanted to show us. We had planned to go see if for days and never made it there. Finally we got time to where we could go and not be rushed. It was beautiful. It had a gazebo and an amazing view of Provo. We went at night so we could see lights all over the city. The building that it is behind was amazingly beautiful too. Noah and Chris played football for awhile and I just looked around and enjoyed the view. I love that Chris is so observant and finds neat places for us to explore.

Wrestling

Noah is doing good with wrestling so far. He is a good athlete but need to work on his listening skills. He really likes it and so far has only cried twice. That is good for him considering we have had four practices. Chris is working on making him tougher but that will take time. I made him into a sensitive guy and that is great but sometimes he needs to toughen up. Chris is doing a good job with that.

Cake anyone??????

Noah loves to help out in the kitchen. He is very helpful with washing the dishes and sometimes he like to help make stuff. Especially if it is something sweet. Before the Sunday Session of Conference started Noah and I baked a cake to have after dinner. He was such a big help. The cake was delicious!!!!!

Noah thinks he can Date!!!!!!

Just thought this was cute and wanted to share it......Yesterday we went to the Wilkinson Building to pick Chris up from work. We got there a little early so Noah and I parked and cut the car off and rolled down the windows. Noah was sitting with his head hanging out of the window. Several times he called out "DAD" and of course I looked and it wasn't. Noah just likes to fool me. So then Noah says oh look mom there's my date for tomorrow night. What a goober. He is way too young to date and where does he get that from. He loves checking out all the college girls. I think he is too young but it is innocent so I won't complain too much. Just thought that was funny and wanted to share.