Halloween!

Happy Halloween! So we have had a weeks worth of spooky festivities! Last Friday the kids went to a ward Halloween party with my nanny (she's such a trooper) because I had to work. I guess they were pretty good there and she had a good time too. Last night I took Jaxon, Kambria and Justus to the Eastfield Mall to trick or treat while Kaia was at gymnastics. It was kind of lame but oh well. Tonight we went to base housing to trick or treat and the kids had a blast. They only lasted about an hour but they got quite a bit of candy. There was a young kid (about 12) that was dressed in a costume with a full scary mask and Justus (who was Indian Jones) went up to him and screamed "take off your mask" multiple times and then proceeded to chase him around someones yard attempting to whip him! It was pretty hilarious (Kaia thought it was the funniest thing in the world). Anyway, this was the year of musical costumes and although I bought Jaxon a Darth Vador costume ... he never wore it. In the pictures you will see, he is either Troy Bolton from High School Musical or Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Kambria was a fairy at the ward party but then opted for last years costume of Belle. Kaia was a witch. All in all it was a pretty good Halloween season! Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas... I'm ready to have a baby!

Basic Officer Course

So here I am sitting in my little piece of the world.... For the past 6 weeks and for the next 5 1/2 months I am becoming a " provisional rifle Platoon Commander". This basically means that I will have the skills necessary to lead a group of 50 or so Marines into combat. The course is 2 1/2 years crammed and jammed into 6 months. The saying here is, " We train to a standard, not time." This is probably a good motto for life as well. Whenever we encounter tough times or people who just don't see things the way we do we need to maintain the standard that we know and not give up because it is "too hard" or "been long enough". Each day I try to raise my standard as a Husband, Father, Professional, and a Priesthood holder. I'm not doing the best that I can, but I guess it is important that I see where I am amiss and continue to correct or improve in the area that need improvement.

6 Flags Fright Fest

So Dave was home for the weekend and we took the kids to 6 Flags New England for fright fest. The kids had a lot of fun and Jaxon finally talked me into having me pay for him to try and "hit the bell". He did it! and the guy running the game gave all the kids capes...they were super cute. We went to Carrabba's for dinner after and it was delicious. I am also including a prego picture of me since I have received many complaints about not including such photos.

The park!

I took the kids to Hubbard Park today and decided to take a few pics of the kids while we were there. They're so cute when you can't hear them talking :)

Random summer pics

I know that I haven't posted in forever... and a day so you might want to go grab a snack before you look through our entire summer.

Here are just a few more pictures form the summer that didn't fit into any other catagory. Enjoy!

First day of school!

Kaia, Jaxon and Kambria are all at Indian Orchard Elementary and go full day!!! I've been waiting for this year to come. Kaia and Jaxon started on September 2 and Kambria started on the 8th. Kaia is in 3rd grade, Jaxon is in 2nd and Kambria is in Kindergarten. They are all doing very well this year and I really like all of their teachers (Jaxon thinks his teacher is "hot"... ya, I don't know how I feel about that). All of Springfield Public Schools have uniforms this year (which Kaia hates!) and I'm still undecided whether I like this new poilcy or not.

Kaia’s hair cut and new glasses

Kaia begged my to cut her hair and I was really scared since this new popular cut is even hard for professionals to get right. With her persistence and my over-confidence, we went for it and I think it turned out pretty well (if I don’t say so myself). She also got a new prescription and thus, new glasses so here is a picture of those too.

International Gymnastics Camp

From Myrtle Beach I drove Kaia to Pennsylvania for a week long gymnastics camp with two of her friends from gymnastics Sarah and Maddie. There are previous Olympians there as coaches (like Blain Wilson and Svetlana Boginskia) and it is pretty much gymnastics 24/7. I really didn’t think that I would miss her but it was crazy not knowing what she was doing everyday. I could email her but we never heard from her for 6 days! They also do fun stuff like dances, karaoke and rock climbing. She had a blast (and I think is was the best week of Jaxon and Kambria’s life …. So far).

Myrtle Beach

From graduation my whole family made our way to Myrtle Beach, NC. Val, Vern (my mom’s sister and husband), Lynn (their daughter) and her daughters Emily and Andrea were there when we got there. We were right on the beach and the condo was awesome. The weather was beautiful and everybody enjoyed our long days at the beach! I love the picture of the Butters taking up the whole side of the table at the restaurant.

Graduation!!!

Dave graduated from OCS (Officer Candidate School) on August 9, 2008. Me the kids, his dad Bob, his brother Chris, my parents, my sister Jennifer (and daughters Imani, and Seneca) and my brother Jefferson and his wife Patience (and their twins Alyssa and Shayla) all came for the event. OCS is sort of like boot-camp (but Dave says not nearly as bad) and was 10 weeks long. We were all very proud to see Dave commissioned as a Marine Corps Officer. It was soooo nice to have you home for a month, good job Dave!