The Nutcracker

It was that special time of year again. Thanksgiving weekend is always my favorite for a few different reasons. No school or schedules, a day for giving thanks and eating to our hearts content, a chill in the air, the decorating of the tree, and the coming of Christmas. The smells, Black Friday shopping, testing out the fireplace, and celebrating my birthday. And last, but not least, Ballet West's 'The Nutcracker.' I've been going since I was a little girl, and have been known to shed tears as the orchestra begins to play that nostalgic music, and then the curtain goes up and.... I'm in heaven. I spent many a moments rehearsing and performing on that very stage. It is such a happy place for me. It has been so fun to be able to share this tradition with my children. The dollar store had these darling little nutcrackers that I just could not resist...

This year we were spoiled by Mimi & Gramy, as they bought us all tickets. We gathered at the one and only 'Mape's' for some delicious Chinese food...
These two best buddies...

Cassie & Mimi...

Gramy & Ry-bug...

Steph, Erika, & Alie Jo...

The boys thought that fish pond was pretty cool...

A bubble gum ball for the road... and we were off!

The girls were so darling running in there together...

Happy faces... these three have so much fun together.

Me, Kaden, & Rylie...

And the whole gang...

It was such a great night, except for that part when I got to the restaurant and realized I had left all of our tickets in Layton and had to drive back to get them at mock 10, whew! But I made it, and all was well.

Rylie didn't even make it to her bed before visions of sugar plum fairies danced in her head...

Rylie's Field Trip

Black Island Farms is one of our favorite fall activities. Rylie had a field trip with her preschool class, and lucky for us, we got to tag along. Here is Ry-bug with her sweet friend Emily.

Me and the boys, don't they look excited to be there?
Look at all of those pumpkins, just waiting to be picked...
Parker was just taking it all in... doesn't get much cuter.

Our guide was so cute with the kids...

Use those muscles girly...

I found it Mom... just the right one.

After our hay ride through the pumpkin patch it was off to see the animals and play!

Kaden sending some feed up to the animals...

Rylie and Emily riding the bulls... cowgirl up!

Parker, you're a stud buddy.

Wheeeeee.... Kaden and Rylie down the big slide!

Oh, and we can't forget the animal train... so fun!

Parke did a little sliding of his own...

He thought these tires were pretty cool too...

I love to see all of the vegetables that are harvested out on display. So fresh and colorful, it's making me hungry for some squash right now.

And you know you've had too much fun when the day ends like this... we were all worn out after all of the fun we had.

Black Island Farms, you are always good to us. Can't wait to come see you again next year!

Minnetonka Cave

This summer we spent a lot of time in Bear Lake. When I say a lot, I mean we were there almost every weekend. Hence, I didn't blog much about it. I really can't remember a summer when we've played so much. It was heaven to say the least. Amongst the boating, swimming, eating fresh raspberry (or hot fudge snickers) shakes from La Beau's, playing that normally fills our time up there, we ventured out and did a little sight seeing.

Here is the gang (minus Brock & Cassie- we missed you guys!)

Me and Parke... isn't he an angel in a boy suit? I wanna kiss those lips right now.

Nothin' like scrambled eggs in a bag for breakfast eh?

Mimi, Candace, Austyn, and Kade... awaiting the grand tour.
Seriously, does it get much prettier than that...

Kaden, Rylie, and Gracie. They are getting so big.

Inside the cave...

was so neat.

We learned all sorts of history behind the cave, witnessed stalactites and stalagmites (brought back memories of junior high science class), and at the end they turned off all of the lights and we were in pure darkness. It was quite frightening, but I was really brave and refrained from screaming. Did I mention it was extremely cold inside the cave. It was 40 degrees!! Brrrrr...

Ahhh... back outside in the open air and warm sunshine.

Thanks to Mimi and Papa for this awesome experience. We had such a great adventure.

Next summer I will see Bloomington Lake!!

Girls Night Out

I was lucky enough to attend yet another awesome performance of Thriller, and double-lucky because I got to go with some of my bestest friends. These girls and I have been friends for nearly 20 years!! What the heck! I seriously can not be that old. We've been through a lot together, and I am so glad I have these crazy girls with me through the good times and the bad. Thanks gals for a great night! I had so much stinkin' fun with you.

Okay Erica, what's next??

What's under your bed?

The other night Kaden came into our room and says, "Mom, I had a bad dream." He was visibly shaken as he climbed into bed with us. I snuggled him as he explained his dream. He said, "I was dreaming that there was a scary monster, and when I woke up I heard a really scary noise in my room." Half asleep, I asked, "What did the noise sound like?" "Ggrrr ggrrrr grrrrr ggrrrr..." he kept repeating. Nic and I assured him that there were no monsters in his room, and he was safe and sound in bed with us. We laid there for a few more minutes and all of a sudden he says, "but what about Parker? Is he going to be okay?" (knowing that Parker was still asleep up there in his bedroom) I tucked Kaden into his bed on the couch and told him I would go check on Parker. As I walked up the stairs I was curious what this noise could possibly be. I cracked the door open and heard it. The craziest and loudest snore I had ever heard. Parker was fine all right, he was deep in a wonderful sleep. I tried to stir him to get him to stop, but there was no stopping him. So I crept out, closed the door, and left him in peace.

Ggrrr...grrrr....ggrrrr...

p.s. Kaden was very relieved to find out it was only his sleepy little brother, rather than a scary monster making that dreadful noise.

My Baby...

The Triathlete.

Nic participated in his first triathlon. The Bear Lake Classic. I can not think of a better place to have a triathlon. That crystal clear water, and beautiful scenery. The morning truly was perfect.

Heading down to the water...

Deep in thought, planning his strategy... or zoning out... one of the two.

When I saw Nic coming out of the water so soon I was pumped!! I just started yelling like a crazy person and ran behind him snapping pictures. We were laughing because if you flip through all of the pictures really fast it is like watching a film strip of the entire race- Go Sherice!! I was just a little snap-happy. ha ha

Coming in on the bike... lookin' good babe!

Here is Nic approaching the finish line. I was going to follow him there to get a picture of him crossing, until I whacked Kade on the head with my camera and had to wipe away tears... but he finished strong at an hour and 25 minutes taking 5th in his age division. Not too shabby for a first race.

The fam... so proud of our daddy.

Nic, Parke, and Papa

Me and my baby

Love this picture of the kids playing in the sand. Doin' what they do best- having fun.

What a great morning it was I tell ya. I've never been so jealous and yet proud all at the same time. I was really wishing I could have participated in this race- man it looked like so much fun! At the same time, it was unbelievably fun to be able to cheer Nic on and be in full support of him. I was so proud of him, he kicked some serious butt!! Way to go babe!

Family Pictures

Isn't it amazing the way a picture can depict an entirely different experience than what really went on? To look at this picture one might think, 'Oh, look at that family- so happy, with such pleasant and well behaved children,' when it is really quite the contrary. Let's just say, by the end of this experience there were three screaming children covered in candycane and cigarette buds, a very frustrated daddy (there against his will mind you), and a mommy who was about in tears over the long hours she'd spent organizing to the last detail the perfect family picture (it's a personality flaw). Oh, and let us not forget the poor photographer... I'm pretty sure she'd never seen such a sight. All I wanted was to capture my sweet children in all their preciousness (because let me tell you- they really are angels). I was sure it had been a complete failure until... low and behold... Sharstin worked her magic. The pictures are beautiful, and she did it. She captured my children. I really can't thank her enough. More pics to come... stay tuned.