Thankful

I love Thanksgiving.
I love the pretty fall colors.
I love the crispness in the outside air.
I love the smell of pumpkin pie.
I love the time to reflect on how very blessed my life is.
I have so much to be thankful for.
Topping the list...
Dave
My 4 beautiful children: Josh, Zac, Ashley, and Luke
My family
My Savior
My Heavenly Father
The gospel
A healthy body
My comfy home
My hubby's good job
My friends

The Trophy

Ashley was sooooo excited to receive her very first trophy at the end of the season soccer party !
(I remember Josh's first season of soccer when he would ask me after every game when he would get a trophy. It was ALL about the trophy:) Ash was so cute and proud. She had the kindest, most patient coach in the whole wide world! Seriously. He sometimes even held the hand of this occasionally reluctant little player and ran around with her on the field. And... by the end of the season she was really getting the hang of the game. These are few shots from the last game. Trying out my new camera too :) (An early Christmas present!)

Prayer

Ashley had a fever on Friday, 102.5 - all day. I really worry when she is sick, especially when she doesn't want to eat. She is tiny, only 32 pounds at 5 1/2 years. That night she slept in our bed. The next morning she woke up at the crack of dawn. She was happy and chatty and wanted breakfast. Hooray! I fixed her cereal and layed down on the couch hoping to get a little more sleep. When she finished eating she came over and snuggled up with me.

Me: I am so happy that you feel better today.
Ash: Mom... (sigh) I knew I would be all better today because I heard you ask Heavenly Father to make my fever go away last night. And Heavenly Father really listens to our prayers mom. :)

Monkeys

The kids were out of school Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day.
We went to the zoo. I loved watching the monkeys! So cute!

No, not these monkeys...

These monkeys! Aren't they cute? And funny too!

We had a wonderful time.

We enjoyed a picnic, kettle corn (my favorite!!), snow cones, and cotton candy.

I think the animals were as excited about the lovely fall weather as we were.
They were very active which made it even more fun!

The End
(hee-hee)

Well, almost... on the way home that evening we were just exiting the freeway when I heard a strange noise. I pulled off to the side of the road and into Discovery Park. I hopped out to realize that my tire had completed blown out! But here's the blessing... Football practice was going on and within moments two massive football coaches ran over to my rescue. They were a blessing and had my spare on in no time and sent me on my way to Costco to get a new tire. If that had happened anywhere else it could have been scary.

Sorry Miss Chanda that Ash missed her music lesson.
Sorry Scouts that Josh missed taking down the flags.

The Highlights

This week has had it's bummers like cleaning throw up out of the carpet and the camera shop telling me that they can't figure out what is wrong with my camera and that I am going to have to send it directly to Canon. :( But the highs are always greater than the lows.

Some of the highlights of my week:

Monday: Dave surprising me by bringing me Costa Vida for lunch

Tuesday: Cleaning day = a clean house! ( I love and hate this day)

Wednesday: My holiday dress party = 4 beautiful new dresses for Ashley - free :)

Performing surgery on Dave's foot - complete with an injection and scalpel. I should have been a surgeon :) I have skills :) I removed a GIANT bougainvillea thorn that was completely embedded below the skin in his heel (just FYI: he would list this as a low point of his week)

Thursday: Having lunch with Chanda at Paradise Bakery

Visiting with Ashby at soccer practice

Julie bringing us pie and being a wonderful friend!


Friday: Getting to see my BYU roomie Jami and having her take our family pics this year.

Dinner at Joe's BBQ and seeing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Hale Theater.

Saturday: Soccer games, BYU victory, shopping at Costco all by myself, playing at the neighborhood Fall Shin-dig with my family, Julie bring us pie - AGAIN :)

Sunday: These pictures (below) of my babes, the bishop calling me to his office to give me a chocolate truffle ;) (I really love that guy) chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, reading with Ash, rocking Luke to sleep, and listening to Zac play me Christmas music.

Happy Halloween

Trick-or-Treat!

Luke was a darling pirate and trick-or-treated in style in his very own pirate ship. He said "Arrrg mateys" and "Walk the plank" and practiced his "mean" pirate face. He was very excited about all his treats!

Ashley was a beautiful, sparkly Tinkerbell. Her wings lit up and her combination of spunk and sweetness made her a perfect "Tink". We were so happy she was well and could go. (She had the flu, and then a relapse, and then got an infection and was very sick for two weeks.)

Zac was an afro-hippie-dude :) Zac is hilarious and really enjoyed his get up. He also enjoyed a little bit of freedom and spent part of the evening trick-or-treating with his friends and met back up with us at the Engle's home for yummy scones.

Josh: We had Stake Conference this weekend and the visiting General Authority held a fireside for the youth on Halloween. I thought Josh might complain, but he didn't. He attended the fireside and even stayed after to shake Elder Arnold's hand. When he got back he put on a crazy wild outfit --I didn't get a picture :( -- and did a little trick-or-treating with some friends. Later that night several boys came over for pizza and a movie.

Rocky Point, Mexico - Fall break 2009

We were so excited for Fall Break this year! We headed back to Rocky Point, our favorite family paradise in Mexico. This year was extra special and fun because the Boise Buhrleys flew into Phoenix and joined us -- making for a fabulous trip! We all had so much fun -- my kids were in heaven hanging out with their cousins. The water was warm, the weather was lovely and the company was even better!! I think having them come with us just might have to be a new addition to the tradition-- what do you say guys? :) Of course we took tons of pictures -- These are some of my favs... Enjoy!!

Oh and if you want even more... you can click on the little photo of Luke, at the bottom of this post, which will link you to my shutterfly site and check out the entire album of favorites.
Dad O. - this is for you ;)

The End
(and a very cute one at that)

150 pictures
Click here to view even more pictures in my shutterfly album