2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

We have now made it a tradition to have a pumpkin carving contest with my family. The rules are as follows:

1. NO, and I mean NO, tracing of stencils or copying of any kind.

2. Only allotted an hour and a half.

3. Pumpkin must be gutted and cleaned before arrival.

4. Creativity is a must!

A hillbilly and a vampire!

Brayden and Grandma Donna carving pumpkins. This is the first time in my G-Ma's life that she has ever carved a pumpkin herself!

Mike was automatically disqualified for the following reasons: 1. He used a stencil! 2. He went way over our time that was given. (Should have started earlier, Babe!!!)

The final pumpkins - 1. Meagan - Mike Wazowski 2. Jen - Skull 3. Brittney - Shish-ka"boo" 4. mom and Dad - Mr. Spider 5. G-Ma and G-Pa - Classic pumpkin 5. Peter - Basketball 6. Uncle Matt and Auntie Jen's "Winker", which was carved in under 10 minutes!!!

Judging of the pumpkins

My handsome boy with adorable Kenna

And the winner is...Meagan Johnson and Mike Wazowski!!!

Jaxson and Jonah

Our Judge for the night

Mike's cool Mummy pumpkin and my parent's Mr. Spider pumpkin

Cute little Jonah!

What a fun night we all had! Can't wait to do it again next year!!!

My Little "Edward"

Last week we drove up into the gorgeous mountains and went to Apple Hill. I had my camera with me, like always, and decided to take some fun pictures of my handsome, little man. Because of my obsession with Twilight, my first thoughts went to.....EDWARD (of course)! So I set him up in the tree (like Edward is in the movie Twilight) and started snapping away. He definitely is going to crush some girls hearts when he gets older! He is and always will be my little "Monkey Man"!!!

Yeah Daddy!!!!!!!!

Our wonderful husband and daddy received a new calling a couple of weeks ago and we couldn't be anymore proud. Mike was called to be the Young Men's President of our ward. We know he's going to be a fantastic leader and a great friend to all of those young men.

As a mother of a young, impressionable 6 year old, I couldn't be more stoked! I can't wait for Brayden to be around all of these boys who are working towards getting their Eagle Scout, receiving their Duty to God award and most importantly, preparing to serve a mission. I think it's just what we need for not only ourselves, but for our little boy who is an only child.

Yeah Daddy!!!!! We know you'll be fantastic! You always are!

Love,

Brayden and Mommy

(P.S. - I had to put up all of the silly pictures. You know they're my favorite!)

Valley of the Temples

Here we are at the Valley of the Temples. It is a Buddhist temple on the North Shore of Oahu and is one of our favorite places to visit on the island. It is very peaceful and serene and has the most gorgeous views of the mountains. It is always a fantastic place to see.

Brayden ringing the bell.

"Shaka"

Buddha

Brayden felt the need to look extremely close to Koi fish in the pond and fell in head-first by doing so. Even his poor, little camera got soaked. As you can tell, he wasn't very happy.

The "Autograph" Tree

Still not happy because he's still wet!

Turtle Bay

On the north shore of Oahu, there is a beach called Turtle Bay. On this beach are about 10 large turtles that live in the shallow waters. Last year when we were there, the turtles were on the beach sunbathing and we weren't allowed to touch them. When we arrived at the bay this year, all of the turtles were in the water and we were allowed in with them. Brayden was so excited to get in with them that he got in with all of his clothes on. Luckily, they dried quickly afterwards. Brayden was totally enamored by all of the turtles and that he was actually allowed to touch their shells. We all had an amazing experience with these magnificent creatures.

Dole Plantation

One of our favorite things to do on Oahu is visiting Dole Plantation. They have the largest maze in the world shaped like a pineapple. Last year we didn't finish the maze due to children and heat exhaustion, but this year we were able to do it. Mike was determined to finish. We got through the maze in 1 hour and 1 minute. The record is 7 minutes - crazy, huh?!?! I'm glad that we did it because it made my adorable hubby very happy.

Brayden's favorite part of our visit to Dole was the Pineapple Express. We hopped on the train and toured the plantation to see how the pineapples were planted and harvested. Here are some pictures from our fun, little day -

YEA!!! We finished!

Mike and Brayden planning out route through the maze.

Which way to go?

I loved seeing all the different fruit planted throughout the plantation.

Beautiful Oahu.

Hawaii

This past week we were able to go to HAWAII for a much needed family vacation. We spent the week bathing in the sun, swimming with the fishes and touring the island to see everything it had to offer. It was a week filled with fun and excitement, but also paired with much exhaustion. We did so much, so fast, that it's actually hard to believe that we did it all in one week. I thank my dear, sweet hubby for working as hard as he does so that we could go on this fabulous vacation. I am grateful that Brayden gets to have these opportunities while he is young so that he learn about different places and about cultures that are so unlike our own.

There will be many posts with many photos. So, I hope you all bare with me because I am stoked to record and share all of these experiences with you. Hope you enjoy.

Our first day was mostly spent traveling. We left Reno at about 5 am Thursday morning so that we could be to our flight in Sacramento by 9 am. Instead of going to bed early the night before, I decided to stay up. For some odd reason I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up getting all of the loose ends tied up. Let me tell you that I was exhausted!!! Anyway, we arrived in Honolulu around 11 am and went straight to the Ko Olina (the resort that we stayed at). We spent the day grocery shopping and swimming and ended the day with a gorgeous sunset as we relaxed on the beach. That was the end of day one. More pictures to follow!

ALOHA!!!

In less than 72 hours, we will be on our way to the gorgeous island of Oahu. Swimming, snorkeling, shopping and sun bathing...can life get any better than that? Hope everyone has a great time at school and work, he he he. Peace, love and sun screen!

Oh, so tired!

Here's our not-so-little Nigel taking up our entire bed. He is one funny pup. Also, check out Mike's cool UPS tan in the background.

Weddings, Weddings and more Weddings!!!

Mike's sisters, Katie and Kylie, both got married these past few weeks. They were beautiful brides and both had very different and unique weddings. It took a lot of planning and effort to pull them off and we all worked together and did it. Did I mention that they got married two weeks apart?!?! But somehow we still did it! Here are some photos of their big days...

Our little family at the Temple

Katie and Travis - They were married July 24th at the Reno Temple

That entire day they did not take their eyes off one another

Gorgeous!

The Beautiful Bride

Steve and Kylie were married August 8th at the Reno Temple

The Wedding Party

Us Beautiful Bridesmaids - We had fantastic RED heels that were to die for!

The Handsome Groomsmen

Our little family again!

Congratulations to Travis and Katie and also Steve and Kylie. Welcome to our cRaZy family boys. Enjoy every minute of your eternal marriage! Love you guys!