Reflections of Christ

These pictures are absolutely amazing... it's worth checking out.

http://www.reflectionsmg.com/

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Mariah and I were in our office and I had just made up the couch. She was playing pirates or something (who knows what it was...) and asked if she could mess up the couch. "No thank you" I said. "Please can I mess up the couch?!" she asks again. "No." "Just let me do what I want to do..." "I said no, Mariah." Pause. "Well Jesus said that you have to let me do what I want." Muffled laughter from me. Then I went on to explain that we shouldn't pretend to be Jesus and that He sent her to me to be her Mommy and help her.

Is she too smart for her own good or what? What four-year-old comes up with this kind of idea?!? I have to give her credit though... she got a good laugh out of me. And I had to share it, it was too good not to.

Car Stolen

Were you wondering about the random poll question regarding stolen vehicles? I was just curious if anyone else had experienced the same surprise we had last week when we opened our garage door to find that our car was gone! We did (accidentally) leave the garage open and the keys inside the car, but still - we never thought that would happen! The police found the car and it was just fine aside from a couple little dings and the fact that the thiefs stole almost everything out of it including our keys and garage door opener. So that meant that we had to have our entire house re-keyed and the garage door re-programed.
The car is still in the process of getting re-keyed also, so at the moment I'm driving a Ford Focus rental car which I thought would be one of my worst nightmares (no offense Ford lovers). Turns out it's actually a pretty neat little car. Don't get me wrong - I can't wait to have my Accord back, but for the time being, it's not too shabby. My favorite feature: it has a little spot that I can plug my ipod right into which is awesome!
It was a big bummer, but I'm just glad we'll be able to have our car back and hopefully soon. We'll definitely be much more careful in the future! Make sure you close your garages and keep your keys in your house!!
From your poll votes - 33% have had a car stolen, 55% have not, and 11% have stolen a car themselves...

Halloween

This year for Halloween we (at the LAST minute) decided to be the Wizard of Oz crew. Mariah was Dorothy, Robbie was the Lion, Josh was the Scarecrow and I was the Wicked Witch of the West... The Duffey's and the Davidson's
Swat Pest control w/ Taven the Bee and The Wizard of Oz

Robbie and Mariah, getting ready for the party...
Beautiful Dorothy

Robbie, the hungry Lion.

We took the kids to a church Halloween party. It was out on a friend's ranch and it was a blast. They had a chili cook-off, hay rides, a spook house, trunk or treat, a bonfire and much more! The kids had a great time and got lots of candy to share with Mommy and Daddy!
After the church party, we took the kids and a babysitter home, put all the kids to bed and went out with the Duffey's to another friends' party.

As you can see, it was pretty late and we were away from the kids... so things got a little crazy! We didn't get home until 1:30 which these days, is pretty late for me. I'm still recovering...

My Crazy Kids

Mariah wearing Papa's glasses

This is what I find after leaving Robbie in his room for 2 minutes. These were ALL folded when I left the room, and this is what I saw when I came back. These are the types of tasks that mothers do all day, every day that go unseen. The ones that we end up doing 23 times in one day. This is just one of the many reasons why God made kids so cute, so we don't kill them.

Basketball

We went and played basketball with Trent and Taraleigh a while ago. These pictures are actually from my phone and I finally got them onto the computer... so this was probably at least a month ago. They were just so cute... they had a good time.

Pumpkin Patch

I took Mariah and Robbie to the pumpkin patch here in Turlock last week. It's the coolest place. It has a hay maze, tons of pumpkins ranging from tiny to huge, animals to pet, toys to play on, a koi pond, and a mini hay maze... Oh yeah, and the most amazing apple turnovers you've ever had. Yummmm... They loved it. We each got to pick out a pumpkin to take home and decorate, but Mariah ended up picking everyone's out because I was running all over trying to keep Robbie from getting lost.

Sequoias

Josh's parents came into town and we went over to the Sequoia National Park. It was amazing! Did you know that sequoias are the longest living organisms on the planet and are virtually indestructible? They need fire to germinate their seeds, and over the years have become fire resistant. The pictures just can't capture how great they really are, but I tried my best. The kids had a blast running all over seeing the sites and looking for animals. We spotted a black bear while we were driving through the park and saw a couple chipmunks while walking.

Mariah on top of a "Mountain"

Closeups.

The Drive.

We're finally there!

Nina and the grandkids
Papa and Robbie
The Davidson fam.
Nina and Mariah

Hiking Girl

Josh actually got stuck in this tree!

Mariah and Robbie did so well considering we were in the car for almost two days straight driving to and from and all throughout the park. We did a couple day hikes and saw the largest sequoia in the world and a log cabin. We also saw a beautiful waterfall that my husband decided it would be fun to climb! Luckily he made it back down safely and was able to return home with us...

Can you see him? - He's the little spec on the left...