Thanksgiving Weekend

I just thought I would do a quick update on my blog without pictures because the last time I tried to post pictures it would not let me. We had a great Thanksgiving at G-ma & G-pa Kitzmillers house. We left Wednesday around 4 pm and headed to g-mas. We drove separately because Russell had to hurry back to go to work on Thanksgiving night (don't ya love a career in retail). He had to set all the wonderful Black Friday items out for all those CRAZY early morning shoppers. Oh, boy do I mean early!!! He said they started letting people into their store at 3 am. They thought of an idea to have a line and ticket for every item to control the crowds better. He said it worked because no one got trampled or hurt this year! Any way Thanksgiving was a success we all got our fill and mom got a break from Children on Saturday! I went Christmas shopping with my mom & sister! We had a great time and a much needed break for me!
THANKS GRANDMA & GRANDPA HALE!!!
We decided to get a real tree this year because the kids have never known what a REAL Christmas tree is because we have had a fake one every year. We found a very beautiful tree at Kings for a really good price! It was a lot of FUN & we all love the SMELL & now the kids know what a REAL Christmas tree is. Bryce was so funny because he said, mom I thought the tree we had last year was real. It was in our house, I touched it and it felt real to me. So we had to explain the difference. What a funny boy he is!!

CADEN'S 13TH BIRTHDAY!!

I can't believe it!!! I now have a teenager on my hands!!! HELP!! Caden turned BIG 13 yesterday! He was so excited he had us all up at seven in the morning and was ready to open his presents. He got a Denver Broncos (his favorite football team) fuzzy blanket for his bed and some wrestling guys from Bryce & MaKenna. We also went to Pizza Hut for his birthday dinner (he picked) and he invited one of his friends to go with us. Then we had cake and ice cream and sang to him. I asked him if he had a good birthday and he said, yeah, it feels really good to be 13. Way better than 12!! What a funny, funny guy! We LOVE him so much & are so proud of the young man he is growing up to be!!

Birthday breakfast chocolate milk & a cinnamon roll

Look at that smile! GO BRONCOS!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN!!!!!

IS IT WINTER OR FALL?

We went from one weekend of SNOW to another weekend of LEAVES & Sunshine. I wish mother nature would make up her mind which season it is. I LOVE Fall and I was SAD to think it was going to be skipped by the sudden snow storm we had a couple of weekends ago. What I LOVE about Fall is the crisp morning air, all the beautiful colors, (which was my inspiration for painting by room in fall colors) raking up leaves, playing in the leaves, carving pumkins, making carmel apples, harvesting our apples & peaches, decorating the house with the kids,making costumes and of course one of my favorites HALLOWEEN!! Anyway the kids sure had fun playing in the snow that weekend. They built a snowman and after they were froze, they came in for HOT COCOA!!

OUR BACK YARD

Jesus (our neighbor), Caden, & MaKenna

OUR FRONT YARD
last weekend

MaKenna, Ethan (our other neighbor), & Bryce

POTTY TRAINING!

See this CUTE little face!









This is the face of a little girl who doesn't want to be potty trained. We started training her after her birthday and she was doing very well for about three weeks. Then all of the sudden lately she has decided she wants to be a baby and not a big girl. She won't tell me when she needs to go at home just when we are out in a store or at church. She is wetting her pants several times a day. I am very frustrated with this potty training. I am about ready to go buy her diapers again. I have never trained a girl, but have heard it is so much easier. I am begining to doubt that very much. We have encouraged her a lot, done the potty dance, called grandma to tell her when she goes, given her candy and rewards. I am all out of ideas! If any one has any good ideas PLEASE let me know!

Labor Day weekend!!!

Since the kids didn't have school on Monday we decided to go to grandma's for the weekend and visit and take in the Eastern Idaho State Fair. Russell & I grew up with this fair, so we go to it every year to still take in all the fun it brings. It does cost to get in but they have all the farm animals you can imagine and lots of free stuff to do. Not to mention three huge commercial buildings, a photography buildings, & 4-H and crafts bldgs. They also have two free stages and of course all the rides and lots of stuff to look at.
A couple of funny things I had to chuckle at were Bryce and my nephew Tyler pointing out which horses were a boy or a girl. Bryce saw a boy horse with his thing out and he said, EEWW, WHAT IS THAT!!! I said what to you think it is and he said, is it his thing? I said, yep, it is. He said, That's gross looking. My nephew Tyler saw a man in a wheelchair with no legs and he said, 'Hey, it's a no legger!! We just had to turn our heads and chuckle! I'm sure the man heard him because he said it pretty loud. Kids say the funniest things!!
Anyway we spend the rest of the weekend visting family and friends! We had a great time!!

MAKENNA'S 1ST EMERGENCY ROOM VISIT

MaKenna had her 1st emergency room visit on Tuesday night. Here's the story. Our neighbor let the boys ride her really cool chopper looking bicycle. Russell and I even rode it around. Anyway, she wanted it washed so while Caden was doing that the front tire was not on tight and it came off. Thank goodness no one was riding it when that happened. So we tipped it upside down and were trying to put the tire back on. Bryce and MaKenna were turning the pedals backward and watching the back tire go around. When all of the sudden some how they turned it the other way and MaKenna's finger got caught in the sprocket that the chain goes on as it was going. She is screaming with her finger stuck and I am freaking out trying to pull the chain off to get her finger out. Russell was frantic trying to figure out how to get the chain off to get her finger out. He some how thought about trying to turn it backwards and that did the trick. Her ring finger on her right hand at the 1st crease was all smashed and bleeding. IT WAS HORRIBLE! Anyway the neighbor heard yelling and crying and came out to see what was up. We told her what happened and rushed MaKenna to the ER. Luckily it wasn't broke and it didn't need stitches. So the morale of the story is don't let your kids play with the pedals while fixing the bike or take the chain off so someone doesn't lose a finger.

OUR UTAH VACATION!!

We just got back from spending four days in Utah!! We went to the Hogle Zoo, swimming at the hotel every day & night, Mayan restuarant, Hill Air Force Museum, Chuck E. Cheese, & watched fire works.We had a lot of fun and created some great family memories! My favorite was not having to cook dinner every night and I loved the Mayan restaurant. I could have stayed there longer watching the show!

Caden at the Hill Air Force Muesum.

We thought it was appropiate to salute each other!

More Chuck E. Cheese, Please!

Bryce, on the Merry-go-round! SMILE!!

Bryce, on the BIG Elephant at the Zoo.

HI MOM!!! Kenna & Dad on the merry-go-round!

MaKenna turned 3!!!

MaKenna tuned three on the 26th of June! I can't believe she is three already! When she woke up the day of her birthday I said to her, MaKenna it's your birthday today. She said, me, it's my happy day! Yeaaaaaaaaa!!!! All day she would say it's my happy day, I'm tree (three) and she would hold up her hand. We are still working on the correct word for three & the fingers. It was SOOOOOO CUTE!! Later that evening we decorated the house, made a cake and had one of her favorite dinners, chicken nuggets & french fries. She really just wanted cake. She kept saying were's my happy day cake. We sang and opened presents. What a great day!! They grow up so fast!!

Too Busy to BLOG!!

Okay, I've decided I'm not a very faithful blogger! It's not that I don't want to blog, I am too busy to blog anything spectacular!! Summer has us going and going and going!!! Between work, Bryce's baseball two nights a week plus practice, Caden's art camp and going swimming and to the park for lunch everyday, playing with friends it has been a crazy busy summer so far. Last FRIDAY, we went to Blackfoot to go to my cousins wedding in Idaho Falls on Saturday at the Shilo Inn. I have to say that was the most interesting wedding I have ever been to. I say interesting because it was one big party. I guess I'm old fashioned because I have never experienced a wedding other than a church wedding and reception it was nothing like a church wedding. My cousin looked very beautiful and so did her little girl it seemed they were all having a wonderful time. We left before the dance started and I'm glad we did I didn't want to explain to my kids why women were dancing together. Oh, well the food was great, (SHRIMP, mmm... good) and it didn't cost me a thing. Anyway, this week is going to be just as crazy we are going to Blackfoot again tomorrow to grandma's house because I have two aunts that are coming in from Colorado we are having a BBQ tomorrow night and the monthly family birthday party. The kids and I will be spending the night and coming back before Bryce's has to go to swimming lessons. This week we have swimming lessons, baseball, enrichment night,mutual, moroni's promise party and all that other fun stuff summer brings!! OH, what a CRAZY, BUSY LIFE!!!

MAY IS OVER!!

YES, I made it through the month of MAY!!! Last week seemed like a blur to me because we were so busy!! Russell had vacation last week so we were very busy. We left Sunday after church last weekend to go to Blackfoot to visit for the holiday. While we were there we went to the graves, visited family, had a picnic, played games etc..... Caden talked Grandma and I into letting him stay the week with her and we picked him up Friday in Pocatello. Tues. we came back for Bryce's b-ball game and my last (sniffle, sniffle) presidency meeting. Wed. I went to the new Walgreens to help them set up the card department. Setting up took all day from 8-5. Boy, I am not use to being on my feet all day long. After I got home I was tired!! Thurs. I went to Twin to help set up the card dept. at the new Wal-Mart. Fri. I worked here for a couple of hours then headed to Pocatello for my nieces graduation and BBQ afterwards. It was so nice to see my older sister and her family. I haven't seen them for about a year. Sat. we finished painting our bedroom and I started to do the sponge painting. I'm not quite done that's my project for this week. Sunday was a sad day for me, because the primary president has moved and this was our last Sunday as a presidency. I image we will be released next Sunday (SNIFFLE,SNIFFLE)! LIFE IS SO BUSY AND CHANGES SO MUCH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I like it when it's low key and I can relax!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

Yes, we made it through another school year. I am so PROUD of my kids! They did very well this year! Bryce has learned to read much better and has improved on his math skills. I was especially proud of Caden. He struggled some what this year and he ended up passing all of his classes. He had improved so much he was able to go to the academic breakfast on Thurday! GO CADEN!! He also was awarded STUDENT OF THE MONTH at the awards assembly!! Their teachers were great and always willing to help out when ever we needed it!
Now, we are prepared for a busy summer with swimming lessons, baseball, lunch at the park
( YEAH! Mom doesn't have to cook), summer reading, scout camp, camping trips, vacation, and many other FUN activites planned!
YEAH! SUMMERS FINALLY HERE!! BRING IT ON!!!

BOYS NIGHT OUT!!

BOYS NIGHT OUT on Saturday. Russell and the boys went to a monster truck show in Twin at the fair grounds. They had a GREAT time!! Around nine Russell called me to say the show was still going on and one of the drivers had an accident. He was about to tell me what went on, but he got cut off. After the show Caden called me back and told me one of the drivers was being really crazy and he RAN OVER the photographer. I gasped and said is he dead? He wasn't dead, but they had to take him to the hospital and the police surrounded the truck driver. They think he was drinking and got arrested. Anyway despite the accident they had a GOOD TIME!! MaKenna and I just hung out and some of the neighbor girls played in the yard with her!
It was FUN for her and for me!!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

I can't believe it is already Friday. We have had a busy, busy, busy, week. Monday, I had to work most of the day. Russell was off to watch the kids, Thank goodness. Bryce had baseball practice that night. Tuesday, Russell, MaKenna and I went to help out at Bryce's school with field day. We helped his class at the little stations if they needed help. Bryce was very good all the events, he just got a little upset when he wasn't 1st or 2nd. We're still working on the be a GOOD SPORT thing with him. That night Bryce had a B-ball game and Caden had a band concert that night. We all went and watched Bryce for awhile and then Caden and I left to get him ready and off to his conert. It was a very enjoyable concert. They have come a long way since the Fall concert. I was proud of him he did a great job. Thursday, Bryce had baseball practice and today he has a game tonight. I love watching that age play baseball. It's not about winning to them it's about having fun and just enjoying the game. They are all so CUTE in their little baseball uniforms. Oh, the joys of the LITTLE things in life.

School TALENT SHOW!

Next week, Bryce's school is having a talent show. We were talking out if he wants to do a talent for the show. I asked him what he would want to do for a talent. He said, I know I could balance on something. Like a balance walker. In my mind I'm trying to figure out what exactly he wants to do. So, I said, like a person in the circus that balances on a beam or something? Yeah, he says, I want to do that for my talent!!! I'm not quite sure how to pull this off. I am trying to talk him into doing a dance with tumbling and a few break dancing moves. Him and Caden have the MOST AWESOME little dance they play around with every one in awhile. I asked Caden if he would do it with him and he is thinking about it. I think if would be FUN! KIDS are so funny in their mind everything is so simple! That' s good advice! KEEP IT SIMPLE!

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

I love Sundays!! I enjoy going to church to hear all the wonderful talks and get spiritually energized for the week. I enjoy my calling in the church so much! Those primary kids always make me feel so good and I get a good chuckle out of some of the things they do and say. For example last week one the kids had a patch on one of his eyes. Another little girl said, HEY! What's wrong with your eye! DID YOU LOST IT OR SOMETHING!
I just had to laugh because she was so serious and blunt about it! Yesterday, all the primary kids went into the chapel to practice some songs. I went to tell one of the classes we were ready to go into the chapel. I said to one of the boys, come on it's time to sing. We, need your voice to sing with us. He said, yea, I have a MAN'S VOICE, in a deeper tone. Alright, I said, we need your MAN'S VOICE to come sing with us. Kids are so funny! I Love some of the things they say! I get a kick out of it!!!

CRAZY BUSY FRIDAY!!

Busy, busy FRIDAY! Bryce had a field trip to the Fire Dept., the Library, & then to Storybook park for lunch. We met his class for lunch. It is so fun to go to my kids school events. I have been to help in Bryce's class a lot this year with holiday parties and other things. So all the kids know me & MaKenna. They all say Hi, Mrs. Hale or hi, Bryce's mom, it's so CUTE, it makes me feel good!! We had fun playing in the park with the kids from Bryce's class! Then we went home and waited for Caden to get home so we could take him to Pocatello to meet his dad for a weekend visit. After we dropped him off we went to Costco to visit Aunt Melissa & Grandma. After we finally found them, we couldn't find G-ma so we thought we missed her. We sat and had some frozen yogurt and talked for awhile. It was so nice to visit them, I miss not living close by family. I wished we lived closer so I could visit them more often.
Oh, so I have to share this story because I think it's CRAZY!!! Russell went to lunch Thursday at Carls Jr. When he pulled into the parking lot he saw a semi truck and a man just lying on the ground close by. He went over and tried to wake the man up, but he didn't move or do anything. He rushed in and told someone that worked there. He went out with the manager to show him were this man was laying. They both tried to wake him but he didn't come to, he had swallow breathing and a faint pulse. Anyway they had to call 911 and they took him to the hospital!! Later, Russell said I wonder how long he was laying there. Many people were pulling in and out of the parking lot. I don't know if they were to busy to stop or didn't care to. CRAZY!!!!

LUNCH DATE!!!!

Yesterday, I had a lunch date. No not with my honey but with my other sweet heart. My sweet heart Caden! Every day we look at the school lunch menu to decide if it sounds good enough to eat or if it's a day for lunch from home. Bryce is a very picky eater so we check the menu everyday. Anyway, on Wednesday we were looking the school menu and it was going to be a Taco Salad & black forest cake the next day. I said I thought that would be good and I should come eat school lunch. Caden says, mom you can come eat with me if you want too. I saw the look in his cute little eyes and could not refuse the invitation. SO the next morning he reminded me to bring three dollars for lunch and the time to come. Miss MaKenna & I went to his school later and had lunch with him. All the kids loved to watch MaKenna run around being a crazy lady and they all asked Caden what his little sisters name & how old she was. We then went outside for the rest of the lunch hour to be with Caden. We played on the slide and the swings. Kids at that age are so funny the want to still play and have fun, but it's not COOL to be too child like. I AM SAD to say my BOY is growing up. I remember when he went to his first day of preschool. IT MAKES ME SAD to think in six years he will be graduating and going off to college. LOVE YA CADEN!!!
Mindy

Caden's FIRST PHYSICAL!!

Caden had to get a Physical from the Dr. to go to scout camp this summer. We had explained before hand what to expect. Russell went over the whole turn your head and cough thing. Yesterday, I picked him up from school to go. He said he was nervous and didn't want the Dr. to touch his private parts. WHO DOES!! Anyway, we go in and they take his height, weight, blood pressure etc... The Dr. comes in talks to him starts checking him out and then he says. Okay here the hardest part of the exam. I have to check out your BOYS. Caden says, yeah I know, my mom & dad told me about it. Me & MaKenna go out in the hall to wait for him he comes out with a look like that was SO EMBARASSING. Later that night Caden was telling Bryce that he had to go to the Dr. and he had to check out his private part. He says, yeah and he gets to see what color your underwear are and if you have poop stains on them. I said, did you have any stains on yours. He says, no luckliy not this time. That would have been so embarrassing it was bad enough already. I just had to laugh and the rest of the night that was the topic at our house. It is so funny the things kids say. I LOVE MY KIDS!!!!
Mindy

TEMPLE NIGHT WITH THE GIRLS!!!

The Primary presidency tries to go to the temple together each month. This time Sayda was not able to go because she was being the good wife that she is and stayed home to care for Dick. His draining tube from his leg has to be changed every two hours. We missed you SAYDA!! It wasn't the same without you!! I had an enjoyable time at the temple. I love to go to the temple. I wish I could stay there all day and just sit in the celestial room. It is so beautiful and special, I love to sit there and just take it all in. There is not other feeling in the world than what I feel when I'm in that room. I just LOVE IT!!! Any way when I got home the kids where all still alive. They survived the rath of Dad! HA,HA,HA!!!!! That's a joke at our house. Every time I go some where Russell says that. I enjoyed the adult conversation on the way up and back. Karen always has some great stories. That is what I miss about being a stay at home mother is adult girl conversation. Julie is always fun to be around!! She was the driver in her cadillac. No it wasn't pink!! I bet she wishes it was!! THANKS GIRLS for the fun time!
Mindy

I'm a blogger.

Hey, I'm so excited I finally got a blog thanks to Sayda. THANK YOU SAYDA!!!!
So Today Russell and I went to Twin to look for a new couch and loveseat set.
I found one I liked at Fred Meyer that was a sectional for $899. This is my 1st time
buying new furniture and I haven't a clue what is a good deal. Anybody have any advice for
me.
Thanks,
Mindy

I'm officially a part of the blogging world!

I've decided to start a blog!