Holy Moly she's EIGHT!

We can hardly believe that our Samantha is now 8 years old. She is such a sweetheart. She continues to constantly think of others. She is- as always our resident drama queen-- possibly the cause of a few of her dad's gray hairs? She enjoys reading, drawing and creating little projects. Her imagination continues to produce endless activities for her and the boys. She is definitely a daddy's girl - she adores him and looks forward to the times that he is home to help her with her homework.

We love Samantha so much and we are so grateful for the sweet, kind spirit that she brings into our home.

For her actual birthday, we had her favorite dinner - ribs, mash potatoes and broccoli. And instead of a cake- she chose cheesecake(love the easy request)!

With this being her 8th birthday, she got to have a friend party! The theme was "Baking Bash!" She chose to invite her friends from the ward- (it would have gotten too complicated and crazy to include friends from school.) We had moved the party to a week after her birthday so that Mike could be there-- but wouldn't ya know it- he ended up having to work a 24 hr call shift that day :(  Such is the residency life! Thankfully, my pal Syleisa came over and helped out---and Tana invited the boys over to play- it all worked out great!

Here's what we did----

They decorated chef hats.....

  .....made their own mini pizza's......

 ....they decorated their own little cakes.....

The finished products! Can you say SUGAR RUSH?!?

Samantha chose to have cake pops instead of having a cake---yet another easy request!

The crew! I had a momentary lapse in judgement and decided to make each of the girls their own aprons. Lucky for me-- I only had to make 6! (Amber was not able to make it)

Presents!

GOAL!

Collin had the chance to play indoor soccer this year. This is his first time participating in any extracurricular activity. Needless to say he LOVED it. From the moment his game was over Saturday morning- he was already down until his next game (not kidding). It took a few games for him to get the hang of it-- but by the last few games he became more aggressive and ended up having 4 goals by the end of the season! He was lucky to have his friends Kalea,Tytus and Ammon on his team.

Thanksgiving 2012

We had the nicest Thanksgiving. We spent it with the Nelson's and Thorntons- two families that we consider part of our family (we missed the Janke family who were out of town). We had dinner over at the Nelson's- and it was just so easy and relaxing. We played some games and then the guys went out and saw Lincoln.

Two of my very best friends- Syleisa and Tana

Halloween 2012

We had a good Halloween this year- full of  play group get together's, carving pumpkins, school parties and Trick or Treating with our friends!

This year Collin wanted to be a Ninja (a nice Ninja), Samantha wanted to be SpiderGirl and of course Owen wanted to be a superhero. He changed his mind quite a few times-- but most consistently wanted to be Spiderman.

3 Fish and a New Toilet

At the end of October the kids school had their yearly carnival. The kids had a blast. Especially because we came away being owners of 3 lovely goldfish. The kids were so excited- they have always wanted a pet- and I am against getting a dog or any type of animal until we are through with residency and settled- and let's face it- even then it's not guaranteed! 

They named their fishes

Lucky (Samantha)

Shaggy (Collin)

Scooby(Owen)

As Samantha was dancing around out of excitement- she said "New fish and a new toilet!- We are so lucky!" 

Mike had just recently replaced an old toilet with a new, much better toilet. I'm grateful for a little girl who appreciates even the smallest of things! I hope that she is always that way.

Sadly (and not at all surprising) they died just 4 days :(

School!!

The kids first day of school was Aug. 16th-- and they were SO ready and SO excited! Samantha is in 2nd grade and her teacher's name is Mrs. Irvin.

From the moment we dropped off Samantha that morning the minutes ticked by WAY TOO SLOW for Collin. He goes to afternoon Kindergarten- and he could hardly wait for his time. He gets to ride the bus to school and then I pick up both of them after. Collin's teacher is Mrs. Huelsmann.

Owen had a rough time the first few days. He would cry as the bus pulled away. But I think he now enjoys his one on one time with me.

First Day after school treat!