Mom's Birthday!

My birthday was very different this year...with moving and doctors it just didn't seem like my special day. Thanks to loved ones and friends calling to wish me a happy day and leaving messages and sending cards the evening was wonderful! Thank you for thinking of me and please know that each of you made my day :)

My little ones have been talking about my birthday all month. Adam said, "Mom you like flowers, your birthday should be a flower birthday." Thanks to a dear friend here in Arizona I received my special flower cake for my flower birthday! I am truly blessed :)

Addison's Preschool Halloween

Addison created lots of fun Halloween art this year. I think her favorite was the cat!

Getting ready for her Halloween party at preschool this morning.

Addison loves getting make-up, especially the glitter!!

Our Alice in Wonderland :)

Addison with her teacher Ms. Beth. Addison didn't wear the white tights or black shoes to school today. The students were going to be playing outside. Our finished Alice will have to wait for Saturday night!!

Halloween Baking Fun

During Sacrament on Sunday Lil Adam said that he wanted to make Halloween sugar cookies after nap time! We had a busy Sunday so cupcakes were created instead! The kids had a great time decorating them, but the most fun was had eating them!!!!

Alex was only interested in the icing!

Addison's treat of choice was the black sugar...

Scary :)

Adam went for it all, as you can see he even had the cupcake on his face!! Anyone want a kiss???

Fun at McCall's Pumpkin Patch

Our little ones had a great time at McCall's! Happy Fall Everyone :)

This is a huge inflated pillow that everyone could jump on. The kids had a great time jumping with Dad and Uncle Jon!

The Cow Ride...

McCall's was very creative with their water buckets! These water buckets became cows and they even grew heads!! They were pulled by a four wheeler. The kids had such a great time that they rode it more than once :)

McCall's Fun Slide

This was by far Alex's favorite thing to do at McCall's Pumpkin Patch! He would climb the big dirt mountain and then try to jump to the front of the line to go right down again. He couldn't figure out the concept of a line, but the people were very nice and patient with him learning!

What a great smile!

Adam doesn't put his hands up on rides very often! Must have been a good one :)

Dad being funny!!

And having fun :)

Picking Pumpkins!

Uncle Jared Berniger, Adam and Alex on the hunt for the best pumpkin in the patch!

Adam and Alex found their favorites! Adam loved this pumpkin because it was still green, which made it spooky!! He and his dad are going to carve a Wall-E pumpkin this year!! Stay tuned for pictures :)

Addison found a pumpkin just her size, which was good since we were in Albuquerque and needed to drive home the next day!

Mommy and Emily had fun search for a special pumpkin. Emily found a cute little pumpkin on a vine that she took home to nurture! Her pumpkin was about the size of a quarter :)

Jacob's dad said that last year he found the biggest pumpkin in the patch...so this year Jacob's goal was to find the smallest! He is holding his pumpkin up to his face, cute huh!

Fun at the Park

Nanee and the Grand kids playing on the slide!

Alex LOVED the monkey bars. I know that this is not shocking new, but it sure was fun watching he and Adam have fun playing.

They were having so much fun that Uncle Jared wanted to give it a try!!

We loved having a place to visit while the kids burned off their energy!

Addison and Great Grandma Greg trying to stay cool in the shade. Addison loved having her new umbrella to keep her cool. She kept saying it's hot out here, I need my umbrella. Funny how 115 doesn't require an umbrella, but a nice 65 to 70 does!!

The Albuquerque Zoo

This chair has truly become a growth chart for my little ones! They are growing up so fast and just look at those smiles :)

Uncle Jared and Daddy wanted their pictures taken too!

Nanee and Alex checking out the Zebras!

Adam and Alex were making their own music dancing on the metal bench and Addison enjoyed the moment of shade without holding her umbrella!!

Alex had fun playing in a little cave over by the giraffes. His smile says it all :)

Sandia Peak

Phoenix doesn't have a lot of fall colors this time of year! We thought it would be fun to take our little ones to the top of Sandia Peak and experience the changing of the seasons.

Addison was ready to climb right over the rocks to the other side of the mountain!! As you can see Alex was thrilled to find lots of sticks to play with and Lil Adam was posing as "Alex the Lion" as much as possible!!

Our view from the top of the peak was breathtaking. Albuquerque has grown a lot since we moved five years ago.

Addison and Daddy enjoying the great view!

The foliage was beautiful. We really enjoyed experiencing fall first hand.

Rio Grande Botanic Garden/Aquarium

Addison, Emily & Alex worked up an appetite walking the aquarium and botanic gardens! After taking time to feed the ducks and fish they had snacks themselves!!

The Japanese Garden was one of the big highlights! Alex and the other little ones climbed up on a big rock and jumped in the Dad/Uncle Superstar's arms!!

I was very impressed that while waking across the steam none of the little feet or bodies got wet!

Uncle Jared found his rock to climb, but opted not to jump into Uncle Superstar's arms!!

He jumped into Ashley's instead!!