Polar Express ...

On December 3rd, we took the kids on the Polar Express in Heber. We went with Ty's parents, Craig, Lindsey, Hunter, Cole, Austin, Mariah and Rorke! It was very cold, but so much fun! I just wish we would have taken a picture of all of us together. We decided to start the night off by having dinner at one of the kids favorite places to eat ... Dairy Keen! They have trains there!
Owen loved putting a quarter in the machine to watch the train go around and around!
Our cute cousin Rorke ...
Waiting to get on the train ... and in our P.J.'s of course ...


Being excited to go to the North Pole ...

Meeting one of Santa's elves ...
They gave us a chocolate chip cookie ...
and hot chocolate!
My "Nice" kids ...
Everyone read the book Polar Express together ...


Are we there yet? Where is Santa?
Owen yelled "HO!" in the microphone when asked to say "ho ho ho!" ...
Tickets are punched ...
Meeting Mrs. Claus ...
We sang The 12 Days of Christmas ...
Jacob took his part VERY seriously ...
And then finally met .... SANTA!!!

The kids with their bells ...
And the train we were on was taller than Owie Bowie ...
We had a great time being together as a family and look forward to going again next year! Happy Holidays Ya'll ...

November in a Nutshell ...

Owen was really sick the last week in October and spent a couple of nights in the hospital with H1N1. He was having difficultly breathing. His little body responded well and quickly to the medication and IV's that he was given .... THANK GOODNESS! It was a scary moment for us, but because of prayer he recovered fast. We are blessed with a wonderful family and friends who care about us and our little Owie Bowie ...
Had our first snow ...
Bruno was neutered ...
Ran away with my girlfriends and had a girls weekend in Las Vegas! Me, Becky and Lindsey drove and met Brenda, Shar, Hillary and Nicole. We met the ladies at the theatre where they were standing in line for New Moon. Once we met up with them we went to Yogurt Land and had the best yogurt ice cream ever! Once we went inside the theatre, we still had to wait 3 hours before the movie started. But we had enough to talk about so it was all good. I thought the movie was better than Twilight, but it still had its cheesy parts.
On Friday, we went and had pedicures and manicures! After that we had lunch at a yummy Thai restaurant and then from there we just shopped until we dropped. No. Joke.
That night we met Michelle at Serendipity for dinner. I can't wait to go back and take Madi! They serve your dessert order before your main meal. Hello! Together we shared an oreo sundae with fried oreo's, carrot cake, spinach artichoke dip with chips and nachos. It was very delish! Such a fun day!


On Saturday we had brunch at Egg Works! Their breakfasts are SO good! Our table was right next to Blinging Joe Jackson's. Too bad Janet wasn't with him. After we were done eating we happened to be outside with him at the same time. When I asked for a picture, he asked where we were from and I replied "Murray." WoW. We quickly snapped a picture and then told each other how sweet we were. "You're sweet NO you're sweet" A HEE! I need to get that picture on here. After that went to a few more stores (of course) and then headed home early that evening. Thanks for a fun filled weekend ladies!
Here's a picture of the shoes that were purchased between the 6 of us ladies ...
Back to my family ...

Owen learned so much about Pilgrims and Indians. During the month he would ask me "what are those people with feathers in their hair called?" (answer) "Oh ya! Indians." He came home with a lot of cute Thanksgiving crafts and even had a feast! He was so excited to have lunch at Miss Debbies.
Jacob and his teacher Mrs. Reynolds ...
Jacob learned everything there was to learn about Pilgrims this month. Every day for an hour or two his class would dress up as a Pilgrim (Jacob played John Hooke) and were taught how the Pilgrims lived and what they went through to get food and shelter. He knew that some had even died. John Hooke died. One day, his class went on a field trip and they had to pretend their bus was the Mayflower. On the field trip he discovered some more interesting facts about the Pilgrims. On the last day they had a feast and invited the Indians. All the parents came dressed as Indians and brought the food in his class. It was a fun day and month for Jacob!
The kids played some games that the Pilgrim kids played ...
Jacob kicked butt playing marbles! He took 5 marbles out in one roll ...

Owen got sick AGAIN, but this time it was a sinus infection ...
Put up the Christmas lights .... Ty looks forward to this EVERY year!
Decorated the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving ...
A family picture of us on Thanksgiving will be coming ...

My Miss Madi Girl is 9 years old today!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! 9 years ago today you made me a mother. Thank you for choosing me. It is an absolute honor being your Mommy. I love you more than all the chocolate in the world!
On Saturday Madi had her birthday party with friends. I love the sound of giggly happy children! They played Balloon Catch and Charades. After that they went on a Scavenger Hunt in the neighborhood. She said she had a great party! Whahooo!

Paris ... or as Ty and I like to call it, Pari ...

Smallest hotel room we've ever stayed in ...

What the heck? While strolling in the park to the Eiffel, Ty and I not only saw these, but watched men using them. So Ty took a turn.
Our first picture of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. Height: 324 meters - Weight: 10,100 tons.
So pretty. This was right across from the Eiffel.
I wanted to take a picture of the police car for my boys.
Why is our Hotel bathroom picture right here? Could it be any smaller?
These were the pretty flowers I saw while waiting in line to go up the Eiffel.

Ground level of the Eiffel ...
Pretty Fall tree ...

Almost to the top. I swore the building shook when I was walking up! As amazing as it was, I have to admit it was scary. I'm not a big fan of heights and you could literally see all the way down on both sides of you while climbing up. It was so worth it though.
Some snapshots from the Eiffel ...

Ty and I walked up to the 2nd level. There are 300 steps to each level, but you have to take the lift up to the very top. Check out that view behind us ...






Our hotel was across the street from where I took this picture. I thought Paris felt very New York but without the super tall buildings. Apartments and offices share the same street.


This was our first meal in Paris! It was very delish, but the ketchup tasted a bit strange. A water or coke this size were both 4.50 in Euros. A simple meal like this was about 40 Euros!

If I remember right, I think Ty told me that this is where Lance Armstrong rides his bike down after a win. I may have to get back to this picture. Pretty view anyway ...
The expression on this mans face was how I felt (and probably looked) after someone would step in front of me while I was trying to take a picture or read a sign. This was at Arc de triomphe ...
Heading to the Arc de triomphe underground. There was some serious madness going on above us. Crazy!
This roundabout has no lines in the street, yielding signs or speed limit. It really is an enter at your own risk. Our tour guide book advised us that if we wanted to live life a little longer, then we shouldn't try crossing by foot. Ty wanted to prove the book wrong.
All lit up. Soooo beautiful!
A couple of potties. How convenient ...
Arc de triomphe ...

We walked up and down these stairs in Arc de triomphe. I made Ty take the picture. =)
View from Arc de triomphe ...
I took this picture while on our way to the Louvre ...
Another warm welcome to Pari! I had a lemon crepe and Ty had a strawberry chocolate coconut one. We were happy!


Walking downtown Paris ...

I loved how the chairs were all scattered around the park. The very first thing Ty and I noticed while in Germany and France was how relaxed and calm people were. No one was walking around talking on their cell phones. No one was cramming food in their mouths while walking around and talking on their cell phones. Everything was in the moment. It was nice and I loved it.
People were wrapped around this fountain just reading and visiting.
A thing ...
"Where are the stop signs? Oh wait! I think those small white poles are the stop signs! Yep, they are!"
de Louvre ...
Applesauce!! Why is the Are de triomphe picture here?
Louvre ...
These were hand sculpt and we have no idea what they were. I just knew my kids would have like them!
Love it ...
Now do you see what I'm talking about? Seriously!
Could totally relate to this woman ...

Inside the Louvre ...





The Mona Lisa ...
While walking back from the Louvre we saw this boat with Mississippi on it.
The Seine River ...

Venus De Milo ...

Are de triomphe at night ...
Flower shoppe ....
Notre-Dame ....
They really know how to sculpt the details of peoples privates and these happened to be boys, so I took a picture from behind knowing that Madi would be looking at the pictures too. lol
Clocks were on a lot of the buildings. Loved it!
Pictures of Germany coming soon ... =)