Happy Thanksgiving....

This year for Thanksgiving we had Grandpa and Grandma Green at our home. It was a great day! We cooked the Martha Stewart recipe turkey and it tasted fantastic and then Mike made a delicious pie. It was nice to have a low-key relaxing day and enjoy it with the Green Grandparents. We also watched "How to Train Your Dragon 2," which was our favorite animated movie this year.  After the festivities we began packing for our trip to Disneyland!!

Tate and his telescope.....

Grandpa and Grandma Green gave Tate money for his birthday since we weren't sure what he would like as a gift. I took him to Barnes and Noble one day and he saw this telescope and that was it. He used the money to buy this awesome telescope and his head was stuck looking through it for most of the month in November when he had free time. He has loved it and claims that he has seen Saturn and Venus through it. He has a love for astronomy.

Dylan as the Student of the Month.....

In November, Dylan earned the Student of the Month Award for his class. I did not snap the best photo since my camera settings were adjusted by a 7 year old....Stinker! He was awarded for his exceptional reading skills. Dylan is reading novels like crazy and reading is one of his favorite hobbies. We are super proud of him.

Halloween Night...

 Dylan had begged to go trick or treating with his friends this year. Mike and I were a little sad that he is growing up and we discussed how we went with our friends at his age. We told him he could go after establishing some safety rules and then the boys dropped in during the night. They collected so much candy that we donated some to our dentist for money to avoid cavities.

 The boys had a blast and we did end up driving them to a different neighborhood at one point. We are glad he is blessed with such great friends.

Tate met up with Colin and we went trick or treating around our neighborhood. I love our neighborhood at Halloween. We have a family that serves donuts, a family that serves hot chocolate, and a family who serves soft drinks. It is the best place to go trick or treating.

 We also met up with Joey in his cool neighborhood and had more fun... His neighborhood does a zombie dance and the boys loved it. The zombies are teenagers who do a charity for Huntsman oncology. Joey's house was also decked with fun Halloween decor like robbers who were getting investigated by the police.

 The zombie dance.

The boys at the zombie dance with a guy named Freddy. They had no fear.

Tate and Joey had way too much soda pop.......It was a crazy fun night.

Dressing up for the Ward Halloween Party.......

Meet Ralphie and Gandalf. Otherwise, known as Tate and Dylan all ready for another Halloween Party.

Dylan came up with the idea to be Gandalf. He loves the Hobbit and had just finished the book so it was fitting for him.  He wasn't a big fan about how the wig made his head itch though.

Tate met up with Hayden who was also dressed as a character in the Christmas Story. They made everyone laugh.

 Tate caved in this year and dressed up for Halloween in the pink bunny suit as Ralphie from the Christmas Story. Mike bribed him with Legos, and Tate was all about having more Legos. In the end, Tate told us it was the best Halloween because everyone loved his costume. He was a hit with the adults and the kids.  He does look like a slim version of Ralphie and he likes BB guns so it was a win-win situation for him.

Tate at his school Halloween Party. I was able to help in both the boys classes for Halloween. It is one of our family's favorite Holidays.

Grandpa and Grandma Rowley's Halloween Party....

 Grandpa and Grandma Rowley had a Halloween Party with all their grandchildren. It was so much fun and the kids loved every minute. We ate dinner and then played some fun games. You could wear your Halloween costume and everybody did, but Mike and I . We were boring and next year we promised we would make up for not coming in costume. Even Grandpa and Grandma dressed up as characters from Malificent. The most memorable part had to be the scavenger hunt at the Parowan cemetery. The clues on the head stones were memorable for sure(you had to be there to understand). Sweet Quinn was afraid of Uncle Jamie's costume and sought protection from Grandpa.

 Dylan did not want to wear the entire Gandalf costume and so he made adjustments. He claims he was adjusting his belt here. Total boy for sure.  The kids had a great time at the cake walk.
                   
                               

 Grandpa Rowely and Monica in costume.

 Uncle Brennan and Aunt Lindsay were great mimes and they played the part to the exact T.

 Ty was Darth Vater...

 So adorable!

Uncle Nick and Aunt Bridgette holding Max. They were adorable too!

Grandma Marsha was totally decked out as Malificent. She is a fun Grandma and mom. Thanks for all your hard work to make family memories! 

Tate's Family Party....

We also had a family party for Tate and he had candles on his favorite treat....a chocolate donut from Dunford.  He loved having his extended family here to celebrate with him.

Tate's 7 year old Magical Birthday.....

Rewind... to October when Tate turned 7. We celebrated with a magician, family, and friends and created many memories.

Tate and his many friends.

His request was a "Magician Party," and it was so fun to decorate and plan. I found little items that were inexpensive and each of our family members participated in the party festivities.

Our Magician was Sean, a 17 year old boy in our Ward. He was great and the kids were mesmerized by his tricks. So was Mike, who watched in awe trying to figure out Sean's magic touch.

The kids were entertained by Sean and had many questions for him about his magic tricks.

Dylan and his gang of friends were even in awe....

The kids hovered around Sean and begged for more magic tricks. He was pretty amazing.

The big kids even begged for more magic tricks.

The magician made Tate some special balloons and then had the kids make balloons.

It was then time for cake and ice cream. A Lego magician cake was designed by mom and Macey's.

A happy seven year old in his magician cape blowing out the candles.

Tate was spoiled with many presents from his friends. I think he now owns every Lego known to man, and he has built each of them with help from his dad and brother. He loves Legos.

Dad planned a pinata event and the boys had fun.....and strength as well.

At the end of the party we gave each child a magician hat with gloves, a hat, a magic wand, and a mustache whistle. We did not anticipate that the kids would wear them right then, but, they did and what followed was so fun to watch as the kids danced and acted like magicians. It was a great day. 

                             

And we had one happy seven year old.