Fall Leaves

Back in the beautiful, warm part of November we drove around and found a school with tons of leaves all over the place...we stopped and played for a while. It was so much fun and the kids thought it was the best thing in the world. This is obviously a little out of order as it is now snowy and freezing season but since I am still playing "catch-up" a little bit, it gives me the right to post some late ones.

I was shaking leaves out of my pants all day.

Grandma Kizerian giving hugs and kisses. xoxo

Where did Grandma go?

There she is!
Is she holding up a peace sign?

Yes, this was our make-shift rake. It actually did the job quite nicely.

The kids and I would start from way back and run through a long pile of leaves that went on forever.

Brooklyn getting ready to blast us all with the leaves.

And here's Beckam's little contribution.

All you need is a dust pan and your hand...and voila!

While I Was Away...

Okay, so we have not had much luck in the camera department lately. Right before we moved, I lost my camera, with all my pictures in it. Then, we moved and my mother-in-law had captured most of the big events and fun stuff on her camera, so i was going to use her photos...but then she lost her camera!! Ahhhhhh. So sad. So, I don't have a picture of Brooklyn's birthday cake this year! But, as soon as I can find one, I will have to post it because it was pretty fun.

It's amazing how hard it is to get back in the habit of something when you have not done it in so long. So much has happened in these last few months, hence why I wasn't blogging, that I got completely out of the groove.

While I was away, out of blogging world, I discovered a few things:

1) I discovered how frustrating it was to hear that we can now get cancer from the BPA in our canned foods!! Even in cans that claim to be BPA-free. I've been annoyed with this, mostly because it is like the straw that broke the camels back. It's yet another way of putting toxins in our body without realizing it. Thanks to my homeopathic father, I have been trying extra hard lately to eat more of "the Maker's Diet" - all natural foods, more fruits and veggies of the organic kind and so forth. With kids, however, and energy being thrown out the window most days, I admit that mac 'n' cheese is sometimes my best friend. What can you do?

2) I have also discovered the truthfulness of losing yourself in service and how it makes you happier. There was a time period where all I had to do was sit and think of myself, my family, my own life, etc. and although I have nothing to complain about, It was rather boring. Ever since we have moved, we have jumped into our new community, our new ward, callings, and life and have found that life is so much more meaningful when you don't have time to think of yourself. I'm grateful that my new calling has kept me so immensely busy. Stressful, but productive.

3) I have also discovered that if you treat everyone like they really need a friend, that most of the time, you will be right.

4) I have discovered that the minute "summer" heat decreases by even five degrees, that my kids will get sick, then I will, then my husband. Then it will happen again the next month, and so on. This is where I have to say that LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE! Jason and I have been up all night the past few nights, passing each other in the hallway as we switch kids. Makes me laugh...maybe I'm just delerious at this point, I don't know.

5) I have also discovered that every time life seems that it is getting too hard, there is always someone who comes to the rescue.

6) A great one to remember is that someone thinks of you before they go to sleep at night. :)

7) Oh yeah! and one more discovery! Most of you have discovered this one years ago, but Jason and I finally put our iPod to use. We've had it sitting around for a couple of years...recently we sat down like two kids in a candy shop and downloaded a bunch of songs. The other night, Jason took the kids for a little while and I cleaned the kitchen...I saw the iPod staring at me, asking me to turn it on....so I did. I ended up dancing in the kitchen while I did dishes. It's actually a nice stress reliever. For the first time ever, I didn't want the dishes to end. Okay, maybe that's going too far.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Ben had this really brilliant idea to see who could fit an entire pack of Big League Chewing gum in their mouth and blow a bubble. They each had their own bag and were laughing too hard to finish. I was eliminated before even starting.

All of us at Thanksgiving Point with Ben, Emilee and Cambree

Brooklyn and Cambree were throwing the reindeer straw on Papa

The horses at the Petting Zoo

"LLama Face!"

The llamas were extra friendly that day for some reason. They were all popping up sticking their heads out at us. They were literally eating out of our hands...well not my hands, but other people's hands.

Brooklyn was really amused with the fake cow...can you tell?

This little elf man just wandered up to us to say hello :)

Brooklyn all snuggled up with Papa! It was cold outside- perfect time for hot chocolate with peppermint ice cream in it! Yum!

My little hot-rod. I love it when he purses his lips together like this- it makes his little cheeks round out even more!

Brooklyn was "ice-skating" with Aunt Amanda. We had been watching the show 'Cutting Edge' and it gave Brooklyn the dancing bone and she ended up ice skating all night across the living room floor.