Thanksgiving with the Moores

It doesn't get much better than cousins bonding! Give them big trees, a tree house, a rope bridge, and a few zip lines and they can't help but have a blast together!!

K...E...Jake...Lexie...Ashley

E...Jake...Lexie...Ahsley

THE ZIP LINES

E getting ready to do the big zip line! Yeah!!
Grandpa & Grandma wanted to make their home exciting for all of the growing grandchildren. They set up a little zip line that is eight feet off the ground. Most of the kids can do this on their on. Then they hooked up a zip line for the big kids and adults. This one is 25-feet off the ground and 150-feet long. All of us enjoyed riding on this. It is really fast and fun. I think the adults enjoyed it more than the kids, especially Fly Guy!

S on the little zip line. The first day Grandpa put this in, she rode it over & over.

Ashley climbing every tree she can...

THE ROPE BRIDGE

Max...Ammon...Lexie
Fly Guy built the rope bridge with the help of his buddy Theron. The boys really loved how challenging it was to get across. It took several tries, but some of them made it!

E...Jake

They made it!!

K with Dad!

GRANDPA'S TREEHOUSE

Grandpa built this tree house for the grandkids. They loved it! The kids spent hours and hours playing.....totally worth it!

Ashley...Ammon...Lexie...Jake...Katie

The kids visiting over a good meal.

Max & K bonding over Pokemon!

The three little girls: Abby, Natalie & "S" were so cute together. They played or fought the entire holiday. All of them have older siblings that boss them around so they definitely know how to stick up for themselves. We never had to worry about any one of the dominating the other. They are all very tough but adorable girls!!

Joel & Melanie were super nice and went hot tubbing with most of the kids. The kids always love to swim in the hot tub. It tends to get a little crazy...especially when Uncle Joel tells scary stories!!

TIME WITH GRANDPA

We cannot have a family event without a drive in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Car! Grandpa always takes the kids on a drive around the neighborhood. This time the guys had to have a turn. They really are just big kids!!

E2 loving attention from Grandpa!

Abby having special time with Grandpa!

PIZZA MAKING WITH GRANDMA

On the last day Grandma took the time to work with the grandchildren and have them make individual pizzas. The kids had so much fun preparing all the ingredients and then designing their own special pizzas.

Abby...Katie...E...Max...Lexie...K

Preston ....Natalie

Great Grandma watching the kids make pizzas.

We are truly grateful to Grandma & Grandpa Moore for the time, expense and love that they put into this Thanksgiving for our children. The best gift we can receive is seeing our kids form special connections with their cousins and grandparents. We love you both and appreciate all that you do for our kids.

Pies, Pies and More Pies

When I think about Thanksgiving one of the first things I think about is Pie! I only make them once a year and they are so good. This year Fly Guy & I made cherry, apple and a pumpkin chiffon pie. We spent Wednesday evening making pies while listening to Christmas music. I really enjoyed having Fly Guy working along side of me.....this will definitely be a new tradition. I think that I enjoy the process of making pies and decorating them because cooking everyday for the family can be a little boring at times. Occasionally it is nice to try something new and spend a little more creative time. For you cooks out there...you should try this pumpkin chiffon pie. Go to Oprah.com and look for her recipe given on a show last week. This pie is really good...I will never make a plain pumpkin pie again!!!

Good Friends

The Moore Family (we love their name too)

Matt & Jeri: Karl, Erik & Kjell
Fly Guy & Matt were buddies on their missions in Sweden. Matt & his wife Jeri with their three kids live in Washington, so we are thrilled when we have an opportunity to visit with them. They came for a couple of days on their way to visit Disneyland (a surprise for their children). We were able to swim, play on the zip lines at Grandmas house and visit one of our favorite restaurants The Cracked Crab. We enjoyed our fun debates on politics and learning about the latest electronics (we are always behind the times). Hopefully, we can visit with them again soon.
In case you missed it, Yes....Matt is wearing a skirt!!!

It takes a special kind of MAN to pull this one off! Matt provided us with much comic material when he arrived wearing his "utili -kilt". Isn't that the same thing as a skirt...we called it the "Man skirt." His new fashion statement was fine as long as he didn't move suddenly the wrong way or threaten to flash us. Matt does at least match in his outfit!

Kyle's 6th Birthday

K's celebration started with waffles for breakfast, compliments
of Dad. Everyone loves Dad's waffles on their birthday! That night
our little family had tacos (k's choice), birthday cake
and ice cream. He opened our gifts to him...a star wars game
from Dad & Mom and a couple of pencils from E.

K getting ready to blow out his candles!

K enjoying his snack. He is
always doing goofy poses for the camera.

Senora de Puentes' class: A few days after his
birthday I brought a birthday snack into K's
class. We had rice crispy treats (no mess) and
then sang to him. I was also able to stay and
volunteer in his class, which he enjoyed.

E...Nate...Chase...Angelo...K...Tyler...Melanie...Trevor...Collin
K chose to have a Bowling Birthday Party! We invited
seven of his friends. We bowled for aproximately an hour
then ate pizza and cupcakes. The party was a big hit! How
can you go wrong when you allow eight 6-year-olds to
throw a big ball around. K really had fun. This is the
first year that he has cared so much about having his friends
with him.

K trying hard to bowl a Strike!! Surprisingly
a couple of his friends had a few strikes.

Hanging out with good friends...
Tyler...K...Collin

S bowling her first spare!

Proposition 8

After many hours of calls, walking presincts, placing signs and thousands of volunteers proposition 8 passed. Having this pass has given me a renewed sense of hope that there still are so many of us willing to fight for the good things. On Saturday we spent several hours placing reminder cards to vote on doors. After two hours E asked why it was so important to have people vote for traditional marriage. I explained to him that our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, had asked us to stand up for the truths that we know and to fight with our time and money in every way that we could. He saw that we were tired, but still finishing the job to be done. I am thankful for this experience to show him that we listen and will always stand up and serve the Lord. These past few months have shown me that Satan is blurring the lines and making it harder for people to live the gospel. Keeping our standards and standing up for the truths that we know, separate us from the normal. It is offensive to see commercials and ads that say we are hateful, intolerant and want to strip rights from others. I wish we did not have to endure this conflict, but know there will be more to come. I also know that if we continue to speak out and uphold our standards then the Lord will always provide a way for us.

Halloween 2008

Fly Guy & Double DD

Our family of pumpkins!

K the Wizard...

S the Ladybug...

A little pumpkin...happily eating his costume!

For FHE we decorated our pumpkins.

Harry Potter (E) & his buddy

The best part...trick or treating with friends!!

The Faith of a Child

Working in Primary for 2 1/2 years taught me that children are amazing at understanding the gospel and having complete faith. Last month, E asked Fly Guy on Fast Sunday if he could bear his testimony. Fly Guy was surprised, but walked him up to the pulpit. Before Fly Guy could help, E stepped forward and began his simple but powerful testimony. Without hesitation he introduced himself and then said that he knew this church was true and that he loved his family. Fly Guy helped him end his testimony, while I sat in amazement. Today E asked if he could bear his testimony again. Once we said yes, he walked up to the pulpit and bore his testimony completely alone. He expressed his gratitude for his family and how he knew that the church was true and that he was sure that everyone else's family was the same as us, happy, and knew that the gospel was true. He said he loved how everyone was kind and loving to each other. I hope that I can remember to have that kind of faith and act on it more often.