That's How Sawyer Flies.

Sawyer requests some of the most simple things in life. Such as; chocolate milk, pancakes for breakfast, a hug, to watch a cartoon. Things that make him ever so happy and are simple for me to give him. One morning his simple request was to watch 'Disney's Planes' and have donuts.
How could I refuse such a simple request.
 I didn't!
He got just what he ordered.

Hostess Donuts with chocolate milk.

(I went above and beyond)

'Planes'

I had one very happy little boy.

Y.W in Excellence.

The best part of being the parent of a young woman is all the special events I get to attend as a parent.
At the end of every year the Y.W have a night of Excellence. It's a special night to recognize the girls and the achievements they made throughout the year.
This year they focused on encouraging the girls to set high standards and moving away from the what the world would want them to be and to strive for what the Lord intended them to become.
At the beginning of the night a story was told about a king who was in such a hurry to get to his troops that were fighting in battle he didn't have his horse properly fitted with shoes. Some were missing nails or the shoes were ill-fitting. The king thought he would be OK. and rode off to tell his men to pull back.
As he was riding at full speed the horse threw a shoe and he was thrown from the saddle. Because the king did not properly prepare his men suffered and were lost.
The story was to encourage the girls to use this life now to prepare for their futures. Set goals that will better their future families. Learn things now in their youth that they can use in life as a mother. Make decisions now that will benefit them and future generations.
The gym was split in 1/2 for the decorations. On one side was a castle, representing the greatness and wealth of the world. The other half was the temple and where the Lord want them to be. The temple represents their eternal goals and becoming mothers in Zion.

Amazing decorations.

For the program that night they had each girl come up and tell us about one of the Personal Progress values they worked on during the year and how they were able to apply it in their lives today. And how that value plays a role in their lives tomorrow.
After each girl was done speaking, they presented her with a necklace with a horseshoe and the girls' birthstone.

Tyler's 38th Birthday

Tyler turned the grand #38 this past November 23rd. It seems hard to believe he's so close to 40! But in reality, the closer he gets, the closer I get. So let's just move on from #'s.

Before I move on, I will just make mention of a wonderful compliment I was given by my neighbor.
We were discussing our ages and I made the comment that she was close to the same age as me. She insisted I was much younger. When our ages were revealed she was in fact younger than me. She exclaimed, "Wow, you age good. You hardly have wrinkles or grey hair." I laughed at her and said, "Well I'm not THAT old yet." We both got a good laugh. I think she must have thought I was younger than I am cause I really don't act my Old, ancient age.
OK. back to Ty. For his birthday he wanted to keep it simple and small. Just us and a nice dinner and pie. He didn't want cake. He wanted apple pie. I can do that!

Birthday Pie.

The kids wanted me to put all 38 candles on the pie.

Can you imagine the blaze.

Anxiously waiting.

Oh hey, it's me.

Fall fun.

Every fall there is never a shortage of leaves around here. Our once tiny scrawny tree is now huge and is a great climbing tree. Ask any of our kids. They love the tree. During Dawson's baptism weekend we even had all the uncles and cousins in the tree too.
Here are a few shots of Kenz and Sawyer playing.

Where's Sawyer?

Here he is!

Our pumpkins this year. 

The big one is 52lbs.

Karate Sheai

Xander and Tyler participated in the annual Karate event called Sheai. The event is held up in a canyon somewhere and everything is outdoors. It makes for a beautiful setting. Xander and Ty went up early in the morning and began the first half of the day's events. I along with the other boys joined them for lunch. I usually come up about noon and bring my boys food and their Sensei, Angel lunch too.
Then I hang out for a couple hours and watch them do their stuff. The younger boys run around the canyon and explore. Don't worry, they always come back. It's always been a fun thing to watch and it gives me a chance to sit in the sun, bask in the beautiful surroundings and let my kids play in God's backyard. Practically Heaven.

I don't know what Angel is saying, but she looks tough.

Sure they look like friends now.

Until Xander puts him in a hold and he's gotta remember how to get out of it.

Tyler doing his thing.

Now onto a few pics of my other 2 men.

Monkey see.

Monkey do.

The boys found this little lean to.

 And thought it made a perfect place for their own personal fort. 

They spent hours playing around this area.

How cute are they.

Nothing like a giant fallen tree to entertain 2 boys.

Alright, back to karate.

Time for a little sparring.

Xander and his friend Aubree did more talking and giggling than fighting.

Xander got a good hit on Angel.

Tyler sparring.

He won that round.

Who had a blast?

THIS KID!

Arete Carnival.

Back in Sept. Arete (Kenzie's gym) held a carnival fundraiser. The money earned was going to a new spring floor. I figured this was a very worthy cause so I called my friend Tara, invited her and her girls to tag along with me and the kids for a day of play. When we got there they a had us put each of our names in a raffle. When Sawyer saw the prize that's all he wanted. Now what kind of prize would make a 3yr old boy go crazy, you might ask. Well, when it's a doughnut the size of his head any kid would want it.

Unfortunately, he didn't win it.
But, I did! So I told him he did. And let him claim his prize,
Now let the sugar rush begin.

I wasn't kidding when I said it was the size of his head.

They had several games and activities for the kids to participate in. I didn't get pics of those. But I did get a few shots of my boys with their faces painted.

Gee, I wonder what school they like.

 In the end, we all had a very fun time. The kids went away with tummy's full of hot dogs,chips and treats. Sawyer got his giant doughnut. Tara and I had a blast visiting with each other for hours. And kids were exhausted! I call that a success.

Dress-up Time.

There is never a shortage of cuteness around here that's for sure.
Enjoy the cuteness which is called Sawyer.

Seriously, how cute is this super hero!

Nothing like having the wind in your cape.

How's my hair?

Since I'm on the subject of dressing-up, here's a few pics of our Halloween costumes.

Harry Potter takes on the Devil.

My little pirate and Hunger Games winner.

The cutest kids ever!

Tyler got to dress up 2x on Halloween.

He was a Ghostbuster at work and 

Gandalf for Shannon's Harry Potter party.

I was a gypsy for Halloween.

Or maybe I should go as a devil.