Favorite things party

I went to a "favorite things" party on the 10th and this is what I brought as my favorite for the evening.  I love my diaper clutch, I have ditched the idea of lugging around a huge diaper bag when  all I really need close by are diapers and wipes. Plus I can throw my chap stick and car key in it and call it a purse.
Inside I put wool dryer balls and TJ's lavender satchels which I use in the dryer instead of dryer sheets. It works for me and my loads of laundry and I love the lavender smell, especially because I make my own laundry detergent which doesn't have a smell.
The girls who "won" my favorite were pretty excited :) I was happy.

Halloween 2016

I'm a few weeks late.... but here are the pictures of the kids in their Halloween best this year.

 Don't mess with our sister!!

William's Baptism

I can't let this special day go by without a journal entry. William was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on October 16th, 2016. We held the service, which was shared with his friend Oscar Green, right after church. It was Oscars actual birthday which made the day super special for him and his family as well.
The program started with singing "I am a Child of God", our good Bishop conducted the meeting for us, and then it was Billy up first for the talk on baptism. He did a sweet and wonderful job. Then I finished off with a little baptism bag presentation that I made for each boy full of little reminders and symbols to help them remember their special day and what it was all about.
Billy then took William to the font and baptized him. Jared followed with Oscar and baptized him.
While we waited for them to dry off and change their clothes, I played several primary songs on my guitar for people to sing along. It kept a nice reverent spirit and as I was finishing my last prepared song, Jared and Oscar walked in! It was perfect timing.
William and Oscar then got up and sang "Army of Helaman" together. It was awesome and I was beaming as I listened to them. They did an amazing job!
Next, Jared's Dad/ Oscar's Grandpa gave a nice talk on the Holy Ghost. He shared several neat stories when he was strongly prompted by the Spirit and listened.
Then, William received the gift of the Holy Ghost and was given a blessing by Billy. In the circle to join him were; his Grandma Mills, Uncle Dan, Larry Hixon, Larry Adams, and Bishop Ruth. It was a very sweet blessing.  Oscar was confirmed after William.
The primary president congratulated them both and gave them a small packet including a booklet for a program they will begin now that they are 8 years old. The Bishop also congratulated them and welcomed them as the newest members of our ward :)
We ended the meeting with a song and then dismissed out to the courtyard for some light refreshments that Jill and I prepared.
It was a special day. And, it was really special that Grandpa Wrenn, Grandpa & Grandma Mills, and the Hixon family all made such long drives to be there and support William! What an awesome family we have!
Congratulations William. I love you so much and can't believe how much you are growing up.

November!

When did it get to be November! We were just celebrating our birthdays in Utah, fresh from Hawaii.... life has been a whirl wind lately.
We took our first plane ride as a family on October 21st. The kids did awesome! They all loved it! It was the thrill of their year, they were all smiling and so happy. We flew from LA to Salt Lake so the flight was a quick hour and 20 minutes. When we landed one of the boys asked " can we just go on one more flight before we have to get off?" Haha.
This second trip to Utah in a months time was a success. My sisters and Mom and I had planned a big surprise birthday party for Kristy and Jess's 40th birthday. It was awesome. Although it was almost foiled by weekend army reserve drills... it happened and it was grand.
A scavenger hunt that lead to birthday shirts and a party bus- an escape room adventure- dinner at the Bombay house- indoor kart racing- and a grand family party to end the evening. It was such a fun evening and I think that Kristy and Jess felt special and loved. So it was a success in my eyes and all so worth it. I'm so glad it happened!
We got home Tuesday night and I did not have the energy or time to think about Halloween. I didn't even get our Halloween bin out of the shed. We ended up borrowing a few bags of costumes from our good friend and the kids had their pick from them. Our church trunk or treat was Saturday evening after an afternoon learning about how to do family history and a big bbq dinner. Sunday I taught the lesson in Young Womens and now we are half way thru the week again. Non stop fun ;)
I haven't gotten the camera out to much lately but I have snapped a few cute moments on my phone...

Leila feeding Daddy grapes on the grass in Utah

Birthday prep

Playing in the creek

Leila in her bird costume

 This is how Leila drinks her milk out of the cereal bowl once she has eaten all the cereal.
It's awesome :)

8 is great!

William and his friend Oscar humored me this past Sunday while I took pictures of them for their up coming baptism. I got some great pictures for the program and for frames, so I was happy. We are super excited for William to officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I think he is pretty excited too. And it's pretty special that he will share the day with his buddy Oscar whom he has been good friends with since they were 1 1/2. Looking forward to Sunday!

Hawaii Get-away

Billy and I finally did it! We took a trip together without the kids and got to have some one on one, reconnection time. It was heavenly and relaxing and rejuvenating and flat out time.
We drove the kids to Utah where my parents lovingly agreed to take them on for us- thanks Mom & Dad! After 2 days in Utah making sure Leila felt at home in Grandpa and Grandma's house, we flew out of there and landed in Oahu.

We stayed on the north shore, at Turtle Bay resort, and I visited my old stomping grounds.  We ran by the beach each morning, did some workouts in the gym, swam in the ocean, relaxed on the sand and in the hot tub, and even took an evening yoga class. We visited my good friend Julie and her family in Kailua, I got to meet her 2 kids and find out she has another on the way! We cruised up and down the north shore, ate shave ice, and enjoyed being together.

Then we left Oahu and flew over to Maui where both Billy and I had never been. We stayed in Napili on the west side of Maui. It was beautiful. Our room looked out over the ocean and this beautiful cove. We could see both Lanai and Molokai islands from our room as well. In fact, the sun set right in between the two islands from our view! We had a full kitchen in our room so we didn't have to eat out every meal, though we did venture out and eat some amazing food. Miso Phat sushi was one of my top meals! Man did they make an amazing sushi roll. We also went and found Kimos restaurant, right over the water, and ate a hula pie. Wow. My cousin Lisa suggested that one and it did not let us down. There was even a local band playing while we devoured our dessert.

Billy and I went on some good hikes in the area, relaxed at the beach, swam in the cove, and even tried out some stand up paddle boards. A sea turtle swam right in between us while we were on our stand up's, so cool! We also saw a HUGE sea turtle near the beach at the next cove over when we went out walking and exploring the area around us.

Our last day on Maui we drove across the island to drive the road to Hana. We started the road at 1pm and our flight was at 9:30 that night. That drive is crazy! It's so beautiful, but it is a crazy drive. I think if we didn't have to worry about time at all, we would have done a bit more exploring. At "the end" of the road we paid $20 to park to do some hiking only to find out that the hike was closed a mile up due to the recent storms and flooding that had happened right before we came. Ah bummer. Well, we did get to stretch our legs, see a beautiful waterfall from a far and walk through the bamboo forest. That was all good.

All in all it was an amazing trip. The days felt so long since we had no one but ourselves to take care of and nothing planned. I would love to go back with the kids and have them experience Hawaii. We may get a good chance to do that pretty soon if we plan to house sit for my friend Julie's parents next time they leave the island. I hope so!
ALOHA

Enjoying the sprinkles in Utah

Thanks Kristy for snapping such a great photo in 30 seconds!! ;)

Boy did we enjoy the rain while we were in Utah.