GO JAZZ!

So, those of you who have known me a while know that I've always been a pretty big JAZZ fan. So, a couple weeks ago I was pretty excited when we scored some sweet tickets to the Jazz vs. Blazers game. Ok, ok - I know, the Blazers suck - but I was excited to be there regardless. We took along our good friends, Kyle & Kristy - and we had a BLAST!

And yes, if I were really a big JAZZ fan, I suppose I might have worn some JAZZ colors to the freaking game.

Nope - I wore red. So, all I have to say about that is... GO UTES.

And here we are taking TRAX back to our car -

Who's that weird dude behind us?

Thanks, Crockett's... we had a blast.

Oh... and we WON by the way!

Game Night

Well... as always, I made myself a promise that I would get all my shopping done early this year so that I could enjoy the holidays with my family. Yet again - another broken promise. Sad - maybe I should stop promising myself things I know I'll never acheive. Maybe I'll just embrace reality and say "Who gives a rats". Oh well - you know what they say... "It's the most wonderful time of the year".

My POINT: I haven't had time to blog. So - look out because The Clark's are gonna be on Blog Overload here - so stay tuned for some major blog postage.

A while back - (like a week & a half ago) we had some friends over for a long overdue "game night". It was originally planned to be bigger - but a few friends got sick at the last minute - and a couple were out of town. But we had a good time, anyway. Played us some good ol' fashioned "Yahtzee".

Don't let 'em fool ya - their havin' the time of their life!!

Well, at least the kids look like they were havin' fun!

By the end of the night - this is what I found! We pooped 'em right out!

MOLLY

So... some of you may know that we have this dog, Molly. We truly do love her - even though she gets put on hold sometimes. Well - she's a sweetheart. One of her favorite things to do is to shovel with Ross. Everytime he tosses the snow off the driveway, she jumps into it. She LOVES the snow. Check it out:

She truly is amazing. She has unlimited energy - and can jump higher than any dog around. She's super fast and super loving.

WE LOVE YOU, MOLLY!

So PROUD!

A very exciting thing happened in my household about the day after Thanksgiving. We are so excited to say that

COLE CAN WALK!!

I seriously cannot believe that my baby boy, (who will be ONE next week, I might add), is WALKING! Can you believe that?? - WALKING! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about the little guy cruisin' around. I'm tellin' ya right now - TIME FLIES. It slapped me in the face once again the other day when I realized that my baby boy is going to turn ONE. How is that even possible? Seriously. I can't get over it. I'm here to tell you.... cherish every single moment... Don't sweat the small stuff.... take time to smell the roses... yadda yadda yadda ... We've heard all those sayings so many times, but they are so STINKING true - I can't say it enough. Over the past couple of weeks he has become quite the little mover.

He is so much happier now that he can walk. You can't wipe the smile off his face now that he can get places the way everyone else does. And of course the tongue always has to be out when we're concentrating. What a big boy!

Don't blink or life will pass you by.
(sniff, sniff)

Thanksgiving

Okay so as usual, this is long overdue ... but important nevertheless so here we go. We had a really awesome Thanksgiving holiday this year. Normally we alternate which family we go to every other year. Well this year happened to be the year we were supposed to go to the Clark's house. However, we were lucky enough this year to have BOTH! My family decided to come to Utah this year - so let's just say we got to "have our cake and eat it too". It was great! We had our normal Thanksgiving dinner at the Clark's on Thanksgiving Day - and then we had a slightly smaller version of it the day after with my family! It was great.

Let me just take this moment to say how THANKFUL I am for my wonderful family. I tell ya - it's true what they say "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". It is so easy to take your family for granted when they are always around and close by. But when that all changes in the blink of an eye - and you can't do anything about it... it really puts things into perspective for you. About 4 years ago my entire family were afforded some new and exciting opportunities which caused them all to move to sunny Arizona and away from me. It has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through - but it has truly made things so much clearer to me and made me realize how truly greatful I am to have such an amazing family who, no matter what, sticks by each other and loves each other unconditionally. I am greatful for this trial and experience in my life and for the lessons that it has taught me. I know it happened for a reason and I am thankful that I understand that and appreciate the important things in life.

And for those of you who know my little Mason, you know how long he counts on the fun and excitement of having his cousins and grandparents come and sleep over. He soaks in every moment of staying up late, eating treats, staying in your jammies all day, playing games and whatever else comes along with it. So when the time actually comes for everyone to go home, Mason literally falls apart. The day of departure, he will literally cry sobbing tears the entire day long. He is so much like I used to be it isn't even funny. We always call him our "Gentle Giant" - and this is one of the reasons why. He truly is one of the sweetest, kind-hearted kids you will ever meet.

Even my long lost brother (above) decided to show up and prove his exsistence. Seriously though - most people think that when I talk about Chad (my brother) that I'm making him up because he NEVER comes to visit. I think I was even beginning to wonder if I was making him up. UNTIL... he was here a couple of weeks ago - and Paula even got to meet him! So - I officially have a witness that he does exsist. Thanks for coming, Chad & Andrea - it was a pleasure having you guys and we hope you'll come again real soon.

And it wouldn't be Thanksgiving Day for us without playing a little FOOTBALL before the big feast! Ross and Mason went up to the park that morning and played a little football with some friends and family. This was a treat for Mason since he rarely gets to play an "official game" of football with a whole bunch of people on REAL TEAMS and everything. So, they had a good time - came back really cold and hungry... ready to eat some TURKEY!

So, all in all, we had an AWESOME holiday filled with family, fun and lots of FOOD.

And now we are finally back to normal - the tears have officially stopped and as hard as it is, we are going on with our every day routine. Just waiting for the next get-together so we can have another reason to party.

Let me just end by saying ...

WE ARE BLESSED.

Blog Neglect

So once again I find myself neglecting my blog. Let's just say what I always say... "I've been super busy". Ok - 'nuf said.

Anyway, I think we are finally seeing the light from all our remodeling construction. Our bathroom is just about done! I'm so excited to finally have my house back. I never thought I'd want to stop remodeling - but I truly need a break from all of it. Anyway... we finally got our new carpet! Yahoo! Those of you who have been in my home know that my old carpet was awful and that we desperately needed some new. So we finally did it. It was a long process - and with the help of some really good friends, we moved all the furniture out of our entire upstairs. (Thanks Kyle and Kristy) So needless to say, we didn't have any beds upstairs. So, we had a family "camp-out" in the basement.

And what's a camp-out without a tent, right? So, we let the kids get out the "shark tent" and their sleeping bags and we made the most of having to "rough it" in the basement.

And here's where mommy and daddy slept:

We won't mention that we were in such a mess that it took us a few days to get things back together. Let's just say our camp-out lasted multiple nights! Anyway... we survived and we are excited to have everyone come see our improvements. We are finally just about through.

Go Utes

At this moment in time... all I'd really like to say is...

GO UTES!!

It's a fine year to be a Utes fan.

Tagged

RULES:

1- link to the person that tagged you; Angie love - and her kick butt sis, Ash the Flash

2-post the rules on your blog

3-share 6 non-important things habits/quirks about yourself

4-tag 6 random people at the end of your post, by linking to their blogs

5-let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a a comment on their website

6-let your tagged peeps know once your entry is up

OK here we go 6 non important things things about me:

1- I just got a CELL PHONE! I know - sad! (but at least I don't have to use my husband's anymore)

2- I cannot leave the house without a rubber band on my finger. (c'mon - admit it... we all have a little OCD in us. Some of us more than others -me! - but still!)

3- I am officially obsessed with a fictional vampire. (but I'm not telling you who it is)

4- I have at least one case of extreme nausea a day. (and I refuse to see anymore doctors about it - so don't even say it)

5- I always stay up late - even when I'm exhausted... which is so stupid. But it's like an addiction - I can't stop!

6- I still feel like I'm a teenager.

Here are my six victims:

1: Andrea @ http://chadandreafamily.blogspot.com/

2: Jamie @ http://missesbojangles.blogspot.com/

3: Leslie @ http://mlhansenfam.blogspot.com/

4: Erika @ http://swaindays.blogspot.com/

5: Lindsay @ http://craigandlinds.blogspot.com/

6: Dawnell @ http://trevoranddawnell.blogspot.com/

HAVE FUN!!

Disney on Ice!

We had so much fun at Disney on Ice this year! It was seriously an awesome one. I kind of had to drag Mason there half kicking and screaming - but in the end he was glad he went.

My kids have yet to go to Disneyland... so this is the closest to "the Happiest Place on Earth" that they get for now! (sorry kids)

Oh...and don't ever get those dang snow cones in a collector's cup - no matter how hard they beg. It isn't worth it. I came home sticky and wet!

Party Party Party!

So lately it has just been almost impossible to find time to keep my blog up to date. Anyway... here are some pictures of the various partying we did for Hal's birthday. I swear - that girl got a birthday party every day for a week. I'm tellin' ya - she is quite the little princess in our home. She successfully got us to drag her birthday out for an entire week. Parties left and right. Anyway... here are some random pictures.

So I'm a push over and let her have a "friend party" this year. I know... some of you moms probably think I'm crazy - and I probably am. She's just watched Mason have so many parties that I wanted to make it kinda special this year. So anyway... she really wanted to swim for her party - so we went to the Rec Center with all of her friends. Before we went swimming, we had pizza, cake & ice cream and opened presents.

And here's the good lookin' crew right before we headed to the pool!

And of course, we had to bring Sarah along for the party. Sarah is our favorite babysitter (and one of my good friends) - she was nice enough to come along and help us out. Hallie was so happy she was at her party. Thanks, Sar! I love ya.

And a birthday party would not be complete without the cake! Here are the 2 cakes we enjoyed at our parties. I limited ourselves to 2 cakes during all the chaos. ( I know... I'm mean)

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

So it's been over a week since my mom's birthday - but I couldn't let it go by without mentioning it. For those of you who know my mom, you know that she is the ultimate, super grandma! I think my kids truly think of her as their own personal super hero. If there was ever an ideal, super spoiling grandma - my mom is it! My kids absolutely adore her - and she has earned every ounce of it. There truly isn't anything that she wouldn't do for her grandchildren.

I can only hope that one day I can be the kind of person that she has become. We can all only hope that our grandkids will one day look at us the way my kids look at my mom.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you so much.

My little girl turned 4!!!

Honestly please if somebody knows how to slow time down - I need to know. I cannot believe my little girl is 4! Hallie has always seemed like my little baby. She is FOUR now and well on her way to being just a "little girl". It is so hard for me, as a mom to know that I can never get that time back with my kids. I can't ever have a 3-year-old Hallie again. That probably sounds lame to some of you... but it honestly makes me really sad. I mean seriously... wasn't I just in high school? It seems so weird to me that now I am watching my children grow up before my eyes and starting to feel OLD! How did that happen? ANYWAY... "yadda, yadda, yadda"...

* HALLIE * GRACE *
Top 10 things I LOVE about MY Hals: (in no particular order)

1. She has the most contageous laugh you have ever heard.
   2. She really and truly believes that she's a "princess". (and she is, of course)
   3. Her eyes twinkle when she smiles. We always say she smiles with her eyes.
   4. She is such a free spirit. Anything goes with Hal.
   5. She is so smart. She learns things right along with her big brother.
   6. Her dancing! (You think I'm kidding - but she really can dance)
   7. I can always make her smile - even when she's really, really mad... all I have to do is smile at her and she'll smile back. (probably my favorite)
   8. Her undying love and excitement for life.
   9. She has an unbelievable imagination. She could sing to herself for hours.
   10. She cries for a good 10 minutes if anyone leaves the house without saying "goodbye" to her. She has a very tender heart.
   

   

I cannot imagine my life without this girl! She brings peace and happiness into our home that could never be replaced. I love her with all the pieces of my heart.
Happy Birthday, Hallie girl!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Trick or Treat!

Some pics of our trick or treating experience!

Ross was very proud of his Utes pumpkin!

Go UTES!

Picture Tag

Rules: Go to your pictures, open the 4th folder, find the 4th picture & post it.

Here is what I found...

My sweet little ballerina before a performance. What a cute little backside!

Drum Roll Please....

dddddddddddddddddddddd.......(that's a drum roll)..........

Introducing:

Isn't this just the cutest little monkey you've ever seen? This was Cole's first Halloween - and I couldn't stop sqeezing him ALL DAY. The poor kid got squeezed silly! He was in shock all day. He couldn't figure out what was going on!



Why was everyone dressed so funny with crazy hair and big hats on their heads. He couldn't figure it out. The poor kid just sat and stared at everyone all day trying to figure it out. But he seemed to have fun.

By the time the night was over with he was so tired. I think he went to bed wondering if they day really happened - or if it was just a dream.

Okay and I know you are all SHOCKED to find out that Mason decided to be a football player. It was a shocker to me too. Needless to say, we didn't have to search too far to find his costume. He just had to decide which team he wanted to be.

We ended up going to "Play It Again Sports" and buying him some real football pants with pads to go along with it. Boy was he thrilled. He thought he was the coolest kid on the planet. Bless his little heart... he honestly thought that when he went places that people would think that he was a professional football player. You could just tell that his ego was sky high that day. (which is great with me for a change)

He wanted Ross to be a football player with him... but since he didn't have any football jerseys in his wardrobe ... Mason settled for Daddy being a soccer player. What a good Daddy.

Now tune in next year to see what he decides to be. If it's a repeat then you know we've got a real problem!!

So we all know that "a witch" wasn't exactly Hallie's first choice of costumes. Her first decisions included the usual princesses, Aurora, Ariel, Belle ... etc... etc... But mean ol' mom decided that she needed to branch out a bit and be a little different. So, after explaining to her that not all witches are scary and ugly - that there are good witches that are beautiful and happy... she agreed to it on one condition... she said "I'll be a witch if you will be a witch with me, Mommy!" So... guess what I was for Halloween??

I found the most adorable, "Princessy" looking witch costume you have ever seen. (and the price will remain unknown) It was the perfect little "Hallie witch" - lots of sparkles and extra purple rather than black! We even colored our hair PINK - (because Hallie cannot dress up without a touch of pink involved!).

So, for those of you who think all witches are scary and ugly... check out this beautiful witch!!

Halloween carving and creating!

Okay so normally I like to do a lot of baking and fun stuff around Halloween. But I tell ya - this year has been a little crazy. I'm not sure where the time went - but it's already Halloween! So, I took the easy way out this year and made a little something fun with the kids. They loved it and it turned out really cute. Check it out!

Witches Hats & Brooms!

All you need is:

HATS:

Oreos

Frosting

Hershey's Kisses

BROOMS:

Pretzel Sticks

Fruit by the Foot

It's pretty self explainatory - but all you do is put a dab of frosting on an OREO and put a Hershey's Kiss on top of that. And there's your hat. For the broomstick you just have to cut up a Fruit by the Foot into like 1 inch pieces. Cut the ends so they look freyed and wrap them around the bottom of a pretzel stick. It's as easy as that. Kids LOVE it because they can pretty much do it all themselves!

And of course we carved our pumpkins tonight too. We always wait til the last minute and then cram as much craziness in to one night that we can. It keeps us on our toes! ;)

Happy Hallows Eve everyone! Stay tuned for costume pics!

CrAzY hAiR dAy!

So last week was red ribbon week at Mason's school. And red ribbon week always comes with all sorts of activities. Every day of the week they had to do something different. One day was "Crazy Hair Day". Mason came home and told me about it. He knew EXACTLY what he wanted to have done. He had it all planned out. He wanted Red on one side... white on the other ... and a black stripe down the middle. (Utes colors... of course!) So we went out and bought all the hair color and fulfilled his wishes. The things we do to make our kids happy.

What a handsome little "cRaZy HaIrEd" kid!!

And don't forget about my sweet little Hallie. She was so proud of her spider hat she made in preschool. She's such a big girl these days. Love ya, Hals!

Gardner Village

Every year around Halloween we have to make sure we make it out to Gardner Village to enjoy the festivities and to see all the WITCHES! It was extra fun this year since Hallie is going to be a witch! (not a scary witch... but a "pretty witch"!) For those of you who haven't ever made it there to see it at Halloween ... you must!The kids had a lot of fun. They even got their faces painted. (which is very uncharacteristic of my socially challenged children) I just have to say it again....

I LOVE THE FALL!

Career Day

So I signed Ross up to come to Mason's school and talk about his career. He was a little annoyed at first because he didn't think there was anything exciting about his job. At least not to kids. But I knew that it didn't matter what he did for a living - he could clean up dog poop for all Mason cared - it was just cooler than heck to have his Dad take the time to come to his school. Seriously - you would have thought he was at Disneyland. He was thrilled.

Here's Ross talking about something large, I suppose.

Mason trying on a racecar driver uniform! (a little big ... but give him time. He'll grow into it!)

Look at that face!

Thanks, Dad - you'll always be my hero no matter what you do!