a "BIG THANKS" to Granny for making our blogs so fun for Christmas!!!!!   It's good to have talented people who love us!!!!

Happy 14th Birthday Kaitlin!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Gorgeous Girlie!!!!!  We love you for SOOOOO many reasons and want you to know how proud you make us everyday!!!  Can't believe your 14!!!!  Stop getting so old on us!!!  Have a fun day and know we love you lots...

Dad, Taya, Daron, Maddie, Lauren & Emmy

Bragging Rights...

 The kids all need to be bragged on for a minute... Kaitlin won an art contest and her pic was published in the school paper, and her crazy hair day winning pic was published in the newspaper too...  Darons band rocked the house at a lunchtime concert and made it in the paper too...  Maddie did an awesome job on a Thanksgiving Turkey art project.... and Lauren did a cute turkey too!!!  LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!

K & D on the Honor Roll... (of course!)...

These brainiacs are on the Honor Roll first report card out this year!!!  They are such good students and really put their all into their work!  We are SOOOOOOOOOOO very proud of them and know they'll keep up the good work!  Can't wait to see Maddie and Laurens report cards in a few weeks!  To celebrate K &D's accomplishments we stopped at Thriftys on the way home.  Can't go wrong with ice cream in this family!!!!  They also get to be part of a pizza party happening  at lunch today to reward them!!!!  Way to go you two!!!!  :)

Last Game & End of the Season...

I just heard about an amazing photographer/Dad, Dwight McCann, who's been taking AWESOME pics throughout the season of our Jawbreaker Girls!!!  These are some of his fantastic shots below...            These chicks played a great season and there was always lots of action.  In the last game they (Maddie!!!) scored 2 goals and due to an error in calls from a ref, the other team got 2 points too, so they were tied.  It went into overtime for 2 more quarters and still the tie could not be broken.  SO, they went into a kick-off.  This is where the coaches pick 5 girls each and a goalie for each team.  Then the first team sends in a kicker against the opposite teams goalie and if she gets it past the goalie it's a point.  They switch off team 1 kicks, then team 2, etc. until all 10 girls have kicked.  Maddie was a kicker and did awesome!  Then it was still tied, so another round of the kick offs ensued!  Finally the other team got one more point than us in the kick off and our season was over.  :(  But, the girls should be very proud of how hard they played!!!!  It was such a fun group of girls and we absolutely have loved the coaches and all of the team families this year!!!   Way to go Maddie Girl!!!!  You are such a great player!!!!!  Can't wait until next season... :)

Darons Veterans Day Band Performance...

The school band was chosen to perform by the Mayor at the Veterans Day Program for a fallen soldier from this town.  They did SUCH an AMAZING job with their pieces!!!!  It's a smaller band group that he was in last year, but no less powerful when they play!  It was a touching ceremony they presented a memorial statue for this soldier, and his family was there to honor him and unveil the memorial.  I didn't know them or him, but I am so grateful to ALL of the men and women who serve our country past and present.  And, I am thankful to their families for the sacrifices it entails for them as well.  I am so proud of my Papa Kanaga for all of his service to our country!  I love you Daron and we always LOVE an opportunity to see and hear you play.  You are such a natural talent!!!  Keep up the good work.. :)

Family Movie Day...

Not often do we take everyone to a movie... but we needed a fun break!!!  On Veterans Day morning we took off to Santa Maria to see Megamind.  It was pretty good and the kids all loved it!  Emmy loved the popcorn!  We had a great time together and hit In&Out for lunch and then Costco as a family... big mistake.  It's hard to train 7 people through Costco and stay together... that place is nuts!  Had a good time together though!!!  Love my family and LOVE the time we get to spend together for sure!

Tempe Town Lake 2010 Breast Cancer Walk...

This year we all walked for a family member that was diagnosed a month ago.  We all love her and wanted her to feel our support somehow other than words alone and Tawna did an awesome job putting our team together and getting us all on board!  Granny made a great shirt design for our group and we showed up bright and early and walked away!!!  It was 4.3 miles and a really good experience ...and I loved seeing all of the support for the awareness of breast cancer.  I also loved being able to walk with my daughter, sisters, Dad and brother, brother in-law, Aunt & Uncle and cousins, as well as nieces and nephews!!!  Thanks to all that came and I hope that our beautiful lady knows how much she is loved and how many prayers are going out on her behalf daily!  

Bat Hunt Continued...

After Kevin woke it up by poking at it with the broom, It must have liked it's spot because it would not leave!

Visitor Continued...  Had to download all of the other pics!  My family was HILARIOUS hunting this bat down!  Want to remember just how cute they all were and how much fun we had laughing about it!

Lauren was the only one daring enough to come and look for the bat once it flew off.

Staying at a safe distance.





Lauren on the hunt for the "stupid bat".

A Halloween Visitor...

Came home from church on Halloween Sunday to find this guy waiting for us by the front door!!! YUCK!!!!  CREEPY!!!  I enlisted Kevin to remove him and all chaos broke loose.  Lauren was yelling to "Kill the bat"!!!  There were brroms, and tools of all sorts involved and lots of kids and a hubby running around having a blast with the idea of a live bat needing to be scared off!  Good stuff... :)

Ward Trunk or Treat

"R.I.P." cupcakes made by Kaitlin, Maddie & Me!



Lauren & Friends...  they were all so cute!




Cute Chicks!



Maddie made this spider pumpkin at Activity Days that week and won, so they used it for a decoration on the food table!

This family went all out on their costumes... very nice!

Emmy and Daddy... this is the only place we could control her

Hot dogs, chips & cupcakes

Cruella... and some cute kids!

Kaitlin had to miss Baptisms for the Dead that day at the LA Temple because she was sick...  so she came helped a little and the primary leaders were glad to have her!

Daron was a great helper too...

One of Darons friends... he was a good hippie!

After dinner and games we all trick or treated around to the different cars in the lot.  Kevin drove his mercedes with the top down and played halloweeny songs, like "Dead Mans Party", by Oingo Boingo, "Thriller" by MJ and "Monster Mash"... it was fun!  After our car ran out of candy Lauren was so cute... she sat on the back of Daddys car and when a kid would come up she'd pull a piece out of her own bag and drop it in theirs!  She really is a sweetie!  It was a lot of fun...