Random

BUT vitally important for documentary purposes...
(translation...unless you birthed any children in the below images you could probably care less and should therefore skip ahead to the end).
-This first hodge-podge includes a snapshot of 2 young boys who thought it'd be cool to mix-n-match their army gear (and until a mother took a photo of it, they were not one bit embarrassed).  
-I became obsessed with making my own frozen yogurt in my awesome cuisinart machine (recipe: large container of vanilla greek yogurt and a can of sweetened condensed milk...and any flavor you can imagine! - After being made fun of I have stopped bringing it with me everywhere I go... :) 
-Spent an afternoon on the porch listening (and lots of singing) to the entire album of Les Miserables...and enduring weird looks from our children
-Ella's buddy kitty "Cat" made a collage for a school (college) project...we loved it
-Found some old photos of my "softer" days romping through Scotland...softer is a much nicer word don't you agree?
-Found a college flier for a housewarming party my roomie and I threw...pretty sure it was her idea.

We took the kids camping a whole 10 minutes away at one of the Wright family cabins in Groom Creek.  It was wonderfully simple and the kids had a blast.  
-I got talked into taking the dirty boys (who thankfully put shirts on for the ride) on a bike adventure to some caves...we rode for 40 minutes and never found them, but I swear the whole thing was straight of a scene from the Goonies.

- McLaren didn't get much photo time on the soccer field...I tried to be a supportive mom and snap a picture of him with my phone.
-It took us almost 9 years to find Wet'N Wild an whole 1 hour away from us...we had a blast.
-Laina took 6th place in the City-wide cross-country race (happy to say there were no tears shed...and her mom and dad shuffled along with her the whole way).  This was huge for her --completely out of her comfort zone and she threw down in a BIG way.  It was pretty during but it was great after.  She has that medal proudly displayed in her room.
-Indy came up with a superhero costume for school 5 minutes before we left..."Captain Crossfit"
-Spent most of our Saturday afternoons helping out at the snack bar for the Fall Ball Rebels Baseball team.  Beautiful weather and great company...and some good little ballplayers.  Indy loved being a part of this team...a few tears were even shed when the last game was over.
-Soaking up last rays at the pool - these girls are a hoot...with their need to shower and do their hair before we leave...I think Laina spent more time getting ready after swimming then she spent...swimming.
-I spent most of my Wednesdays finding bike trails to ride with Jennie.  Rather than racing along these rides have turned into more of a "stop and enjoy the flowers" ride.

I love to see the Temple...

We're going back there this summer...when it will be complete...and will become "OUR" temple - for the Prescott AZ Stake.  (It's right down the road from the waterpark...why do I get the feeling that our kids will be encouraging Matt and I to visit often?)

Havasupai...with Kids

Yes I get crazy ideas.
Yes, I wanted to bring my 2 oldest kids down to see the glorious wonders that existed right near their backyards.
Yes, there was fussing...(only of the female form).
Yes, we took them down to Mooney Falls.
Yes they LOVED the beautiful shangri-la that we discovered down there.
Yes I got to walk with the girls while Matt and Indy and Bart and Sam cruised on speedily ahead.
Yes, I drained my camera battery and phone on the way down by distracting the girls with music and memorizing the rap the "Brokenhearted".  Yes, we can all sing it now along with a LOT of other campfire songs (that I looked up on my phone while walking....I was desperate and unprepared in the entertainment category).
YES:
-we ALL slept in hammocks
-we ate really good food
-the cafe food is BAD (and yes I opted to pass on the cafe and wait to eat my wraps from home :)
-we came up with a "Strawberry Shortcake" name for everyone
-the hike is exhausting
-we planned poorly and had a mildly disastrous exit hike out
-stopping at A&W on the way home makes everything better
-we will go back again...but not for awhile!

All smiles bright and early!! - about 5 minutes after leaving...

Smile....fading....

And smiles GONE.  This was where I desperately began googling every campfire song I could think of...it saved us...well kinda...

First comes LOVE, then comes Marriage...

 LOVE...

MARRIAGE...

 Then POOF a baby in the baby carriage!!

 Sweet little Marabelle...commonly referred to as "Belle".

1 baby + 4 kids = 5...can you say FUN?!

November in a NUTshell

November wraps up all the Fall sports (can I get a hallelujah??!!) Soccer and Fall Ball came to a close, we went on a wonderful little camping trip with Grant and Ray & Hezzie, we had a lovely Holdsworth-Williams Sonoma sit-down, we travelled to Mesa then Yuma for Thanksgiving and packed a whole bunch of fun into a wonderful family weekend.
(I stumbled upon some blog boards that come with a resize-input action...not sure if they will work for the book conversions....but they helped me get through this ginormous post --I just realized that they're slightly oversized...oh well - I'll fix 'em next time...mom you can scroll over to see the entire image :)

McLaren played his first season of soccer.  He loved it and grew in aggressiveness little by little (can you imagine smacky being intimidated?)  
Ella is such a help in the office...Desperate working moms will go through anything to get work done...
I love having my own private Thanksgiving dinner :)

We decided the kids needed some ethnic culture...we introduced them to sushi..
I took Indy to see The Giver and Smackdoodle was the best little farmer in the 1st grade Thanksgiving play.  (I'm so glad that I prevented him from going to school his 1st outfit choice that resembled a Chinese laborer).  We hit a killer new dine-in theater in Scottsdale and took the kids to see Life of Pi - a beautiful masterpiece.

 We had a grateful board - I think we need to work on our spelling. McLaren took quite a few tries to say he was thankful for Ella...and our School Spelling Bee champ struggled on "school".

Court and Rachel talked Jace (who is totally AVAILABLE - all he needs is a woman who is willing to live on a cattle ranch with him...takers??) anyway they talked Jace into gathering skulls so they can take them and sell them in LA - apparently Californians are wild for this stuff :)


Thanksgiving allowed for all of my siblings to be together for a few hours.  
(Tim struggles with knowing where to look- but we couldn't just tell him he wasn't invited in the picture).  
We were able to celebrate with my grandfather David B. Noble - it was good to see him.  My kids held still for a few photos...ok just one.

If we had known what Wade was going to do with the microphone I'm pretty sure that someone would've sabotaged it...

 After Mesa we travelled down to Yuma to hang with cousins.  We had a good bbq at the Nelson compound and everyone brought a pinterest dish that they had never made.  Ashlee chose to make her cake with old left-over oil that made us all gag - but hey the texture was great!!

We talked Tommy Gwynn into taking us on some Yuma single track.  It was the Thunderdome/Moon ride.  Awesome ride...and I didn't fall too far behind (of course they had to wait for me...a LOT.)  

Camping with the Holdsworth's is always a wonderful event.  Grant had his shotgun redone (and it had lots of "fiddleback" in the wood...see? I totally paid attention!)  the kids rode quads, McLaren hacked on a log for 3 hrs straight then ate the donuts uncle Mikey Mike brought (and he seriously resembled a Limpnickie-a big ol' plane dropped the donuts out of the sky).  And thank heavens for Uncle Ray Fire-Dance (raised on Sai-Pan) because he taught us all how to cut a mango and eat it properly!

We are so thankful for our family our friends and our faith.  We are grateful for a roof over our heads and the opportunity to get an education.  We are looking forward to the month of December where we get to enjoy more family and friends and find ways to serve serve serve.
Happy Holidays are Here!