so SWEET

We finally got pictures taken and these are just a couple that she let me snap with my camera (hers are much better). I just thought I would share these pictures because I think she is so sweet. We also had family pictures taken and I can't wait to see how those turned out. She has grown up so much already, it is sad to think we are losing our tiny baby already.

Neighborhood Haunted House

Our neighbors went all out and turned their home into a haunted house. I was really impressed. They had a mini haunted house for the smaller kids from 7 to 8 and then they let the older kids in. They told the story of bloody Mary, and the kids had a great time. The top picture of the graveyard was their garage, but the whole basement of their house was decorated just as well. The mini haunted house had games for the kids to play (pin the mouth on the jack-o-lantern) and lots of fun prizes. The kids had fun, I am just glad I am not the one who has to clean up that whole mess (it took over 3 full days to decorate for it) .

Goats?

Saturday night we walked out of the house to go to our neighbors haunted house and there were goats in our driveway. I turned around and started to walk back in the house and they followed me. In fact they tried to come in the house with me. I opened the door a crack and started calling for Andy to come help me keep the goats out of the house, and he kept yelling back "what?" finally he came and saw and realized he heard right, THERE WERE GOATS TRYING TO PRY THEIR WAY INTO OUR HOME! He grabbed the camera and took a picture, then closed the door. We had to recruit some neighbor kids help to get the goats off the porch and away from the candy box that I keep there. A neighbor called animal control and they told us that the goats will probably find their way home so just leave them alone, but the goats were eating peoples Halloween decorations and hanging out on peoples porches. Our neighbor then called the police department and it took them an hour and a half to finally show up (and when they did they had their lights on like it was an emergency). The kids were sad to see the goats go. The goats were really friendly and the kids would pet them. The goats hung around the crowd that was waiting for the haunted house, and it gave us something to do while we waited for our turn.

Fieldtrip to pumpkinland!

Haylee's kindergarten class got to take a fieldtrip to Pumpkinland on Friday, and I got to go with them. They were so cute in their "fieldtrip visors" (that's who they tell is in their group) and had a blast. First they got to go through the corn maze, then to the animal cages, then to the playground, then through the light maze, and to end it they got to go the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin (wow, that's a lot to do) They had a good time and I was glad I got to go with them. I have not been able to be as involved with Haylee's class as I would like this year. It was fun to meet all of Bug's friends that she talks about.

For Aunt Sam

Aunt Sam is the best shopper we know. She filled Avery's closet with the cutest clothes (no doubt she got for a great bargain!) This one looks so cute on Avery, we just had to post a pict for Sam. We are so sad she's not here to see Avery in all her cute outfits. Thanks a bunch Aunt Sam.

Cookies and good friends...what more could we ask for?

For family night we invited the Barretts and the Haywards over for Halloween Cookie decorating. The kids had a great time and got to stay up way past their bedtime (I paid for that this morning when no one wanted to get up and get ready for school).

This is Haylee with her "scary" pumpkin. It really did look to scary to eat:)
Ethan took about 5 minutes to decorate and eat all 3 of his cookies. The girls took 2 hours and they didn't even eat their masterpeices.
The girls (Riley, Haylee, Camden, and Molly) still decorating...
The boys migrated into the living room for a little tennis and golf on the Wii.

We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors:)
(Craig, Jessica, and Molly)

Mac Family Christmas Names

I hope it's ok that i drew the names this year. I just need to get started shopping. If you have a problem with these or need to do anything different call me and I will rearrange.

The cousins are...
Mary is giving to Avery
Alex is giving to Rory
Becca is giving to Haylee
Katie is giving to Isabel
Isabel is giving to Becca
Bryce is giving to Ethan
Rory is giving to Alex
Kyle is giving to Jorma
Jorma is giving to Bryce
Ali is giving to Mary
Ethan is giving to Kyle
Haylee is giving to Ali
Avery is giving to Katie

The couples are...(2 siblings above you)
Marcie is giving to Sara
Todd is giving Andy
Sara is giving to Marcie
Andy is giving to Todd

Hope all is well with your families and we miss you. We are looking forward to this holiday season. Love to all

What twilight character are you?

What Twilight Character Are You Most Like?

You are most like Bella. Congrats, becuase everyone loves you. You are a magnet for friends, not because you are especially charismatic, but because everyone loves how sweet you are. You are a bit clingy, and a lot clumsy (arnt we all?).
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Winter has hit early....

Today has been crazy. Besides waking up feeling all flu like (head ache, achy body, sore throat, and fever) and having to let the kids run the house (and they did do what ever they wanted) it started snowing and before Halloween! I was really hoping for a decent Halloween so we wouldn't be cold trick or treating. Well at least the kids were excited.


The kids were so funny today. The poor things were left to fend for themselves and I must say they did a pretty good job. They started their morning with a bowl of Rice Krispies (thanks to Ethan) and some fruit bowls (by the end of the day they had eaten 12 fruit bowls combined) then they moved to video games (the DS, playing mario kart together) and pretzels. I left them alone for a few hours and laid in bed with Andy (who has gotten the flu from me). Andy finally got up around 1 and went to get lunch at panda express. When I came down to eat at 130 the kids had cleaned the kitchen up (to the best of their abilities) and I must say they did a great job! So we had lunch and I went back to bed. I came down later to check out the situation and they had been playing golf on the wii, acting out stories with the flannel boards, and played with magnetic building blocks (it was a mess, but they were entertained) I started helping them clean up and I found an empty box of granola bars, half of the loaf of bread was gone, bowls of milk on the table which once contained cocoa puffs, and I am sure there are other things that I had no idea about and they wont confess to. At about 5:00 we called the kids up to our bedroom and asked them what they wanted for dinner (like they could stomach any more ) They said they did not know so we told them to go make mom and dad dinner and bring it to us. They decided they could make toast so off they went. We snuck down to watch because I have never let them use the toaster on their own. Ethan sat on the counter next to the toaster swinging his legs and humming along to Haylee's song which went something like "No doubt this is the best day ever" while she twirled around around the kitchen. They were so cute they came and asked us our fav color ( so they would know which plate to put it on ) and then they served it with all our fav toppings. I had plain with just butter, and Andy had peanut butter ( our fav kind, they are so smart and are aware of everything ). But I finally got a day to rest ( I will pay for it later ) and a little bit of sleep (only when Avery wants to sleep ) and I do feel better. I came downstairs to start repairing some damage and it was snowing. The kids got ready and ran outside and I grabbed the laptop and went back to bed.

I've been tagged...

Ok Sara I told you I would eventually get to it. My 6 facts/habits are in no particular order.....

1. I am a total klutz (really I fall up the stairs, trip on nothing, can't wear heels because I roll my ankles, etc.)

2. I hate to wash my hair. I only do it when I absolutely can't go another day. (who really wants to redo their hair everyday when you can get up and fluff it and call it good:) )

3. I love projects! I get in way over my head and it drives me crazy, but as soon as one is done I always find another. I love painting and refinishing old furniture, making jewelry, and I am currently working on a quilt for my sister (thanks to my mother in law who without her the quilt would never turn out to look like a quilt just a big messed up pile of material)

4. I call my pediatricians nurse about once a week for a variety of things ( Our nurse Sam knows me by name when I walk into the office and probably has my # memorized because she has to call me back all the time)

5. I love Broadways. When I clean I like to turn on my Broadway Cd's and sing along ( I don't admit this to many because I really really cant sing. Andy laughs at me when I sing to the kids at night.) My favorite Broadway Cd's are Les Miserable, Wicked, and Phantom of the Opera. Haylee knows the words to most of the songs on those Cd's because she gets to hear them so much, and she LOVES the Phantom of the Opera movie. Like mother like daughter.

6. I use to get a Diet Coke with a lemon and a lime everyday (sometimes twice) but since Avery was born it hurts her tummy and makes her gassy. But it still crosses my mind several times a day. I have to agree with Lyndi it really is "Happy Juice" and I miss it terribly ( is that bad? )

Now everyone who has just read this and has a blog you are now tagged! I will be checking...

Best $10 ever spent

We have in search of something for Avery to do in the mornings while I am trying to get the older ones out the door to school. Andy usually takes her but then at about 8:30 he has to get ready for and that is also crunch time trying to get the kids to the bus by 8:43 ( I know weird time ) so Avery has to cry it out while she waits for it to be her turn again. It really stresses me out to listen to her scream while barking orders at Ethan and Haylee to make sure they have shoes, socks, coats, backpacks, homework, lunch, etc. So at walmart yesterday I found this mobile for $10 on sale! She likes to look at the mobile on her swing so I thought we could try it! This morning not a peep (unless the music stops, and then you have to run in and wind it up again) and it made my morning a whole lot easier! Andy even stuck around for a few minutes before work and put Avery down for her morning nap....Thanks babe. Hopefully she wont get tired of this anytime soon...

Faster than a flower blooms....they grow up all too soon!

We are on the search for a cute Halloween costume for Avery. My sister in law Jennifer let us borrow this darling flower costume, but it is a size 9 mo. It drowns her but it does look cute. If only her head were bigger so the petals would stay up then it would work, darn it. We are still looking for a costume....have any ideas? let me know!

Avery Gwen gets blessed!

We blessed Avery on Sept.30th 2007. This day was one that has been long awaited for. We have been waiting for what seems like forever to have another precios spirit in our home, and the last couple of years have been rough but after this day it finally feels as if things are falling into place. It was almost perfect. The only problem was she did not like her dress (and really who could blame her with all that lace in her face) and she really really really did not like the bow (I think she will be our little tomboy). It was so great Sam and Jack got to be here for it, but there were still a few members of the family we wished could have come too (aka the Ellertsons and Luke....we sure wished that Jim and Luke could have been there to be in the circle) Andy did a wonderful job on the blessing and the spirit was strong. I am so blessed to have a husband who is worthy of his priesthood and who works so hard for his family. We are truely lucky to have him as a husband and father. We are still so blessed to have so much support from our families and friends. The day was wonderful and I really appreciate all of you who helped to make this day one we will never forget! I appreciated all of you who helped with food and setting and cleaning up. Lunch was wonderful and we had a great turn out so there wasn't a whole lot of food left over (except the chicken salad we ate that for a week:) Thanks mom it was delicious). Avery did so good at church (which was nice because it was an extra long meeting, we had 2 blessings and the primary program, so it turned into a 2 hour meeting) and she didn't even cry during the blessing, but she cried on the way to church (she hated that I put her bow on and then to top it off i stuck her in her car seat:( ) and then after church she was starved and couldn't stand the dress any longer. If you can tell she was cring in alot of her pictures but we did get a few cute ones with a smile. I had to feed Avery as soon as we got home and by the time I went to get pictures of all 3 kids together, Haylee had already changed her clothes, and her and Mary had put on bright purple eyeshadow and lipstick (we love kids makeup) So the pictures with all the kids are funny but I won't forget them anytime soon. All in all it was a day to cherish forever.