Lets try this again

This is where all of my long lost blogging time has gone. This "little" side business that we started to give us some extra cash has consumed every "little" bit of spare time that I used to have. There is a lot of time, labor and money that goes into a start up and we are almost done with this phase. We are up and running. Printing shirts. Embroidering hats. Entering bills. Balancing statements. Yeah, we're totally legit.

In the mean time...
Life goes on.

We had SO much fun this Halloween! Taylor had to work but we put on quite the show all on our own.

Go ahead. Count the kids around that table. Wait... I should have said

sit down

first, then count. I still have pumpkin seeds. go figure. :-)

Mason and I worked hard on this Iron Man pumpkin and I was pretty impressed with how well he turned out.

Mason was proud too

I really have to tell the whole story behind Dylons costume.

The day of Halloween, he decides that he wants to go trick-or-treating. Obviously, not gonna find much at the stores for a costume at this point.

He decides that he is going to be a Spartan Warrior. You all know that am not AT ALL crafty. Don't sew, couldn't if I tried. We're gonna have to improvise.

So at the Wal-Mart we pick up some tighty-whiteys, brown fabric dye, brown ribbon, a red blanket and some facial paint.

VOILA!

Spartan Warrior

It was SOOOO funny! The looks on peoples faces. Priceless!

Faith was Dorothy

Mallory was a Vampire

Olivia was Strawberry Shortcake

I really enjoyed dressing up with the girls this year. It made trick-or-treating that much more fun.

Break

Here it is in writing...

I am officially taking a break from the blog. I know you all have figured it out and have given me a hard time about it, but now its official.

*

I have WAY too much going on in life right now. All of the kids are in school (except Livie of course), I'm trying to get the final few things done around the house that I've put off since moving in, Faith is on the swim team, holiday season is fast approaching and last but not least... our business.

*

Taylor and I have started our own silk screening, embroidery and promotional products company and it has been a big undertaking. There are a lot of things that go into a startup and we have had our hands full. Please do us a favor and help us get the word out. We are up and running! Check out our website at thinkinkandthread.com

*

Thanks for all of your support and hopefully it won't be long before I start filling the screens of my blog again.

*

Until then...

TTFN

Yellowstone

I've been a bad blogger lately. Sadly, I just don't have the time and this falls way down on the priority list. Summertime is a busy time. Busy with trips, work, kids, chores and fun! no time to blog. Here is a condensed version of our Yellowstone trip in June. We made the 2 day drive and camped for 4 in the park. It was beautiful and there was enough wildlife to go around.On the way down we stayed in Twin Falls for a night. In the morning we went to check out Shoshone Falls. Crazy Pretty! Well worth it if you're in Twin.

The 3 musketeers

Mason, Ethan and Mallory

These 3 had a great time together. We really miss having Ethan around.

Old Faithful

See... they really do love each other.

This picture pretty much sums up what the kids thought about all of the hot springs. I don't know how many times I heard,

"Eeew! It stinks like rotten eggs."

It didn't take long before the kids were sick of hot springs and geysers alike.

I think the name of this one was Fairy Falls. It was so pretty how it could give off such a colorful steam.

I think I was threatening children to smile in this picture. Can ya tell?

"Momma Meese"

The wildlife was definitely the best part of this park. We had so much fun trying to be the first one to spot an animal.

This adorable little black bear was one of our finds. We were so proud that we were the first ones to find him. It was PERFECT timing.

His name,

Edward the birthday bear (it was Taylors birthday and he was the one who found him)

Mal and Caden at the little Grand Canyon



Me and my love

This little buffalo was just meandering down the street. He had just checked out Taylors truck (the blue dodge) and now he was coming to greet us.

Anniversary Trip

1 year has come and gone and so much has happened. I often look back at my older posts and it always puts a smile on my face to see just how much we have grown together, as couple and as a family.

~

This post is about us as a couple

The beginning of June was our 1st anniversary and it just so happened that we had 2 days off of work and without kids. This means....

~

ROAD TRIP!

~

So we hopped in the car, and what better way to travel than in eco-friendly Honda hybrid, and headed for Santa Clara.

~

We were off to GREAT AMERICA

We had a fun morning at the park riding the rides, hanging out,

just the 2 of us,

~

and 700 Jr. High kids,

~

all waiting in line together...

LOVELY

~

No really, it was fun. We can have fun anywhere.

The best part was THISTHE DROP TOWER
I was excited, Taylor was apprehensive to say the least. But he did it. On the way up he was WAY nervous, and after it was over he agreed that it was super fun and not bad at all.


After we had had our fill of unchaperoned adolescents we decided to jump in the car and head over to Santa Cruz for lunch and a walk on the beach.

We stopped at this delicious little Mexican restaurant right on the water
Taylor had his signature drink...
Guinness


and I had a very tasty Margarita. or two?
Lunch was great but the company was better.



After lunch we walked down the beach and tried to soak up as much of the ocean sights and smells as we could. I absolutely LOVE the ocean and I'm glad Taylor does too.

We walked to this little overlook and stopped to watch all of the surfers trying to catch the waves as they rolled in.

I really enjoyed watching this adorable little boy out there surfing with the big guys, watching and doing his own thing. Picking his waves. Paddling in and out. Sitting on his board. Waiting patiently. It was so cute. I could have watched him all day.


And as quick as it came
it was over
and
time to go home.
~


Well Taylor,

Here's to another great year
~



and to being independently WEALTHY!! $$
HAHA!
~

I love you

On the Road AGAIN

The Pre-Disneyland Drive

those are pretty happy faces for 6am

So the real reason why we made the trip to Disneyland on such short notice is because Taylor's aunt was in town from Alaska. Her son lives in LA so we figured we would all go to visit and make a vacation out of it.

I'm still so glad that little miss Olivia takes the occasional nap. If it weren't for Cherie's help, it would have been a very difficult drive. Thanks again Cherie!

We made a stop in Bishop on the way down. It was a perfect place to let everyone out to stretch their legs a bit. We had a nice lunch and of course we played with our food. you'll see below

This is proof that chewing with your mouth open is VERY unattractive!!

I'm pretty sure that Dylon and I set the record for

longest distance-open mouth-no hand-grape catch.

Nicely done!




Faith came in 2nd. Hasn't quite mastered the skill yet.
Nothing a few years and a couple hundred grapes won't fix

No she's not laughing hysterically, this is Cherie's attempt at the grape catch.

I was impressed. :o)



Then its back in the car to finish out the drive. 4 movies later and what seemed like

FOREVER ...

AND EVER...

we made it to Taylor's cousin, Stider and his fiance Tara's house.

It was really nice to mean more of Taylor's family. They have all been so nice and welcoming. Strider and Tara are expecting their 1st baby ~ a little girl YAY!~ in September.

Hopefully we will go back down to visit after she arrives.

Strider, Tara and Cherie

Since Cherie lives in Alaska, its not often that they can get together. It was a nice reunion and well worth the trip.

What a good lookin' group of guys!!

Must run in the family.

Disneyland

We made a quick trip to Disneyland and by quick I mean

1 day to drive

1 day to play

1 day to drive back home

That one day was a 14hr day of pure Disneyland BLISS

We only had 4 children for this little excursion

but 4 was plenty

Waiting for the Bugs Life 3D show

Taylor and the girls riding the Raisin box


The spinny Lady Bug... so much fun



Dylon was my roller coaster buddy. We went on as many rides as we could. It was difficult simply because the park was so busy and the lines were ridiculous. Taylor was such a good sport and watched the other girls while we went on our rides.




Here they are in Sleeping Beauty's castle. It was pretty funny that Taylor has been to Disneyland plenty of times and has NEVER been inside the castle.
Welcome to a new life full of little girls.





We had some technical difficulties on the Pinocchio ride and had to get out of our cart and walk the rest of the way out. Can't say that's ever happened to me before.

I had so much fun with these guys! Dylon was a total trooper and hung with a bunch of girls without a single complaint. Thanks Dyl.

Faith did really well for just having broken her arm 5 days before.

Mallory was all smiles ALL day. It was her 1st Disneyland trip and one she'll never forget.

Taylor had just bought her this sweatshirt and I'm pretty sure the excitement is written all over her face.

This was my FAVORITE part of the day! A 3 hr nap.... PERFECT!

After the 3hr nap...

an uncontrollable bundle of sugar high energy

*ITS A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL*

Its a SMALL,

SMALL world

see now its stuck in your head

It was a great trip for everyone. We'll go again for sure, next time with the BOYS.