I got elfed

My family got elfed! Check out the link below to see what happened!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1632573091

Cadbury's Lovely Gift

Every year I wait and wait and wait for Valentine's day to come and go! I mean really, who needs hearts and flowers and goo goo ga ga? The way to a woman's heart is CANDY! Not just any candy, the sweet, creamy, yummy goodness, a little piece of heaven, melt in you mouth richness of the blessed Cadbury Chocolate Creme Egg! Every year I wait impatiently for Spring to come so I can run to the nearest store and purchase my favorite chocolate in the world! Every year after Easter, I run to the store to snatch up any eggs that may be around in order to prolong my sugar induced happiness. Every year after I have eaten my last egg, I curse the Cadbury company for causing my withdrawal convulsions. I am usually heard saying, "What is so hard about making them all year long? Can't they make them for other holidays too?"

Well, this year my wish came true! The Cadbury company heard my (and I hope other people's) requests for the blessed creme egg. This year they Made the Ornament creme egg. I am sorry to say that I only have found them at Walgreen's. I am also sorry to say that I have not been able to purchase a 4 pack of eggs. But, beggars will not be choosers, I will rejoice in the precious egg and buy them individually and be happy! So here is to you Cadbury Company! You really do know how to make a delicious candy!

Picture Day

Well, we finally had our pictures taken for our Christmas cards on Sunday. Here are a couple that I thought everyone could look at to see Spencer's true nature. He is definitely the goof of the family. Plus, he is the only one of our children who isn't tongue-tied so I guess he likes to show it off.
The following are some pictures I liked of each of the children. This was taken of Spencer right at our front door. He didn't want his picture taken, but I liked it!
This tree is in the park that is part of our subdivision. Look at those beautiful blue eyes.
I am pretty sure that this little girl has captured her daddy's heart. What do you think?

Cora Crawling - The Video

Cora Crawling

Cora took her first crawling "steps" the other day. It is such a hard thing when they start crawling. On one hand, you want them to develop normally and as they should. On the other hand, you want them to stay PUT for as long as they can. I suppose it is inevitable! So BRING ON the messes!

Decorating the Tree

We finally put up the decorations the night before last! I would do it before Thanksgiving, but Ryan doesn't want it done until December starts, so December it is. So here is the tree...
Cora had fun with some of the ornaments as well. The finished product! Anyone notice the large grouping of ornaments to the left at child level?

It's Another Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Tuesday is a night that we usually watch a movie because there aren't any shows we like to watch. Carter asked which movie we would be watching and since I didn't want to watch any of the normal DVDs we have, I checked out what was going to be on the tube that night. Lucky for me, A Charlie Brown Christmas was scheduled to be on. So we set up the pillows and blankets and got to watch Charlie Brown pick out the sad Christmas tree and Sally writing a letter to Samantha Claus. I loved the Charlie Brown Specials as a kid and love that my children enjoy them as well. So here we are... Lucy and Charlie... Did anyone else want to ice skate like Lucy after the special?
How cute are these munchkins?
Just the four of us since dad was attending a meeting in Seattle.

What We Have Been Up To

Holy Cow! Where has the time gone? I thought that October would never end and now November is almost over and I don't know what I have been doing?

Last week was CRAZY, as I am sure it was for all of you! We got our first snow of the season last Tuesday! It could not have been a more beautiful snow. While living in Arizona, I would sometimes dream of snow. Sometimes. I would dream of huge beautiful flakes falling on Christmas morning as you open presents by the fire. After that, I dream of warm weather. But this snow was the kind you dream of. The flakes were enormous! The one picture of Carter isn't very good because he was closing his mouth after catching some flakes but I put it on the page because you have a great view of the huge flakes.

The week continued with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. We then went to Ryan's sister's house for some easy conversation. The next morning came quite early (4:00 am) with some awesome Black Friday shopping. We finally got home at 3:00 pm. Talk about shop 'til you drop! I then took a nap and went to a friend's to watch our poor Broncos get beat! Sniff! I guess we can't get a BCS Bowl every year! The rest of the weekend included some cleaning, organizing and church. Let's just say some sleep was needed in the end.

After-dinner wrestling with Grandma!
A big bear hug!
A small smile from the Diva!
Ryan's normal reaction to family get togethers and the camera.
Spencer, Carter, Cousin Natalie, and Cousin Reece
Cousin Jamie looking hot with her new bangs!

Do you think someone is ready to go home and get to bed? I meant Cora!

Our Trip to Arizona

That was one of the quickest trips ever! We weren't in Arizona for 48 hours but it was fun! We spent Friday with Ryan's parents. Ryan and his dad golfed and his mom, Cora and I went to lunch and shopping. On the way home we saw a car that was painted like Herbie, I had to take a picture of it because that is one of Spencer's favorite movies. When I got home and showed him the picture, he just sat there and looked at it for 5 minutes.

Saturday we headed down to Tucson and spent the afternoon and evening with the Olsens! We talked and had some Yummy Queso! I got to see the kiddos. I have missed them soooo much. I can't believe how big they are. I wish I could have put them in my pocket and took them with me. Miranda came by to say hi and see Cora. We then met up with the Batleys and all headed to dinner. It was nice to see Cole and Ellie as well. I used to think that Cole had the cutest voice ever, but Ellie might beat him out! Way too cute. We had some yummy dinner at Blancos. We went back to the Olsens and talked some more. We checked out Jeannie's cute jewelry, I had to take a little somethin' somethin' home with me. A special thanks to Kara for the cute headbands too. Ryan had to finally drag me out at 9:30 to head back to Mesa. Ryan didn't want to leave either, but we had to leave his parents' house by 6:00 in the morning to make our flight in time. It sucked that we weren't able to play cards. We'll have to do it the next time we see the Olsens.

Thanks Jeannie and Kyle for spending time with us. We had so much fun! We sure have missed you guys. We can't wait to see you again.

Carter Water skiing 2

This one's for you, Hayden!

I thought you might like to watch Carter's first time water skiing.

This outing took place just after my knee surgery so I wasn't able to be there (thank goodness my voice isn't on the video :)). I was sad that I wasn't able to be there but at least we have the video of it.

Go, Carter, Go!

Carter Water skiing

Happy Birthday, Grandma Lloyd!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Lloyd!

Grandma Lloyd...

We just wanted to take a little minute to say our favorite things about Grandma Lloyd

• We love when she takes us swimming
• We love when she does puzzles with us
• We love playing with the stuffed animals at her house
• We loved it when she would take us to see Cookie in AZ
• We love her rolls
• We love her brownies
• Let's face it, we love her cooking
• We love how she is always up for a party
• and most of all... WE LOVE HER!

We love you Grandma Lloyd! We hope you have a great birthday! We miss you and can't wait to see you at Christmas. Let's keep our fingers crossed that you will get to stay with us!

Crazy Cora part 1

It was a lazy Saturday night! I was laying on the floor next to Cora while she played with toys. Ryan and Carter were watching some show about trick shooting (I was not paying attention to that). Spencer came up behind me, jumped up and yelled, "HI!" This was Cora's response. I hope you enjoy.

Crazy Cora part 2

The Freaks Come Out At Night

Happy Halloween, Y'all!

Halloween came again and it didn't fail to impress again! The day was filled with excitement! Carter had his big party at school. He got a ton of crap including a Laffy Taffy which resulted in Carter losing a crown! Just another reason to fork out the money. Our moods could not be dampened though. We got costumed up and headed out for a lesson in gluttony! The kids scored! Got some good candy (a couple of full sized numbers). So here they are again...
The front of Spencer's costume holds candy so he didn't have to take a bucket. It was a nice addition.
My little door greeter. Cora helped me hand out candy. She was a big helper.

Photo Shoot

I took Cora in to get her "6 Month" pictures taken, even though she is actually 7 months old. Oh, well. We went to Kiddie Kandid and they, like always, did a good job. Cora was hilarious though. She did not want to smile! She wasn't crying or anything, she was just wanting to play with the props. I was definitely tired when the event was over. Oh, do you like the headbands I "made"? I bought the headbands at Target in the hair section for little girls. Then I bought flowers and hot glued them on to pins. I then can interchange the flowers and headbands. Yep, that is as crafty as I get. I am sure not going to sew anything. :)

Family "Fun" Night

Friday was Family "Fun" Night at Carter's school. We took the kids and Carter's friend to the extravaganza! There were different activities for them to do and, of course, a book fair. We have to make sure they make their money. The kids can't wear their costumes to school, so this was their opportunity!
Carter was Wolverine (from X-Men), Jarin was Spiderman and Spencer was Thomas.
Nice Jack-O-Lantern, Spencer.
Here is our tired Tinkerbell and our tired Ryan.

Pumpkin Patch

Wednesday was a such a nice day (in the 70's) that I decided it would be a nice day to go to the Pumpkin Patch. I called my friend Amy who has a little boy the same age as Spencer and we headed out. We ate some grub from McDonald's, went on an awesome hay ride, picked our pumpkins which were exchanged for smaller ones, and then went through the hay maze. I thought for sure Spencer would have taken a long nap, but no such luck! Oh, well!

Happy Birthday, Kris!

Happy Birthday, Kris!

I would put in a picture of Kris, but I don't have a picture that she approves of. She still wants me to remove the picture I do have posted of her from when we went to the Spaghetti Factory.

For her birthday I took her to the Cheesecake Factory and gave her the Twilight series (which she claims to be loving). She is trying to find a way to be a vampire. :)

Here are some of my favorite things about Kris...

• Most of my funniest stories involve Kris (i.e. The Recreational Equipment Inc. Story and a lot of shopping stories).
• She is always up for a good time.
• She loves to shop, but really doesn't want to try on clothes (like me).
• She likes things (movies, books, etc) that are geared for teens (again like me).
• She loves food!
• She is hilarious!
• She understands sarcasm.
• She loves to quote movies.
• And, she usually says what I am thinking.

Love you, Kris, and I hope you have a great Birthday!

Jedi Birthday Party!

Sunday was Carter's Birthday but we had his party on Saturday. We had a Jedi Training Camp. I originally got the idea from Jeannie when she had her Incredibles Training Camp. I then came up with some of my own ideas and got some from the internet. The day started with an obstacle course to get their light sabers. We then had some lunch (pizza of course). We then headed back outside for "Distroy the Death Star" with water balloons. We came back inside and had light saber training (keep the balloon from hitting the ground). The kids thought then would be a good time to start combat training with each other. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen. The kids were pretending to die and rolling down the stairs. I was trying to get the cake ready so I didn't get a picture. (Dang it!) We then sang happy birthday and opened presents. We then ate cake and ice cream. The kids headed outside to have some more "combat training". Darth Vader came and the Jedi's defeated him!

It was a fun day and the kids were a blast! Happy 7th Birthday, Carter!

Student of the Month

Carter was awarded Student of the Month for Responsibility. (That is his teacher on the right.) We went to the ceremony on Thursday (I have been reading the Twilight series and getting ready for a birthday party - so no blogging).

He may be the first male Lloyd to win this award. I think that it may be a sign of the Second Coming. I think it went, And he shall win an award for Responsibility. He will be the first in his lineage and his name will be Lloyd. For then the Lord shall come again.

The ironic thing was, he received the award for being responsible on Thursday and then he didn't turn his homework in on Friday. The teacher may regret giving him the award. :)

What a mom says in a day

A friend emailed this to me and I thought it was cute. I feel like say all of those things every day. Except for the ipod thing. That is, "You can't have an ipod until you can go without losing your gameboy for at least a week."

Bye, Bye, Grandma and Grandpa Lloyd

The time of year has come! The birds fly south for the winter. We will miss these birds. Have a nice time in Arizona, Grandma and Grandpa! We will miss you! Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Here are Grandpa and Cora. I think she has more hair than he does. :)
Here are Grandma and Julia. That is where my boys get those beautiful blue eyes.

Lunch at the Spaghetti Factory

Ryan was in New York and my mom had all of the kids so Kris and I decided to get some grub at The Spaghetti Factory. I made Kris take some pictures with me even though she didn't want to.

The best part of the day was seeing a man there with his wife and secretary. All three are in my ward and it is suspected that there is a little somethin somethin going on. A girls lunch wouldn't be complete without something juicy.

What I love about the Fall

I am so happy that fall is here. It starts when the kids go back to school, but I really don't feel it until Ryan's birthday on the 26th. I love that we have such a great correlation between his birthday and a wonderful season.

Here are some things that I love about the fall. I love the perfect balance of light and dark outside. I love the smell of the air. Here in Idaho, we have so many fires in the summer that by the end of August the air is saturated with smoke! When September comes, the cooler and crisper air helps put the fires out and pushes all of the smoke away. I love the changing of the leaves. I also love when you catch a single leaf falling from a tree. I love the crunching sound of the leaves as you walk on them. But, my most FAVORITE thing of the fall is...
The Harvest Moon. This year the Harvest Moon was on Ryan's birthday and I didn't have time to take a picture, to please forgive this picture. This year's Harvest Moon did not fail to impress me again. I love to just stare at it! I also appreciate that I have a perfect view of the rising moon out our upstairs window. I look at the world around me and see such beautiful things and wonder how anyone could not believe that God created this all. When I see how beautiful these things are, it makes me excited to see what it all will look like in the next life.

Cora's First Food

Ryan's Birthday

Last Thursday was Ryan's Birthday! We had a nice time with Ryan's parents and his brother Todd's family.

HAPPY 34TH, RYAN!
Ryan got some fly fishing stuff (yep, that's his NEW hobby).
He also got some much needed new clothes (because of the 30 pound weight loss).
The night would not have been complete without a literal fish story. It was this big.

Our Night at Boondocks