Super Busy October

It has been a super busy October. We have had field trips, road trips, bike trips and so much more. Below are just some of the pictures from the month. They are in no order. Halloween night! Passing out candy to our neighbors.
I am usually such a strict food person when it comes to my babies. Having said that I have given every single one of my kids a lollipop on their firs Halloween. Spencer was the youngest at only 5 months. I just think they are so cute!!! Mallory loved it and now whenever she see one she screams. No I haven't given her another one.
We were the Justice League for Halloween. I was Hawk girl. Check out my awesome wings. Salta was BatDog.
Garett is super man. He is wearing blue tights and a kids PJ cape. So funny. Mallory is Wonder Women and is super cute. Spencer was The Green Latern, Preston is Flash and Salta Bat Dog. Don't worry we will protect you!!
The boys had a Pumpkin Carnival at their school.
This is one of Spencer's classmates. I've been told that they are a very mischievous pair.

Cuteness!
We went with our friends the Kimsey's to the Virgina Creeper Trail. Ok I have to tell the whole story.Don't read if you have a weak stomach. On Wednesday Mallory started throwing up, but we hoped she would be better by Friday which is when we planned on going camping up in Virgina. Thursday night Preston started throwing up but Mallory was better. So we figured that we wouldn't go camping but still meet our friends on the trail. However, once Preston's friends showed up he had an amazing recovery (or so we thought) and our friends were seriously peer pressuring us, so we decided that we would go ahead and camp. We make it to the mountains without incident but once we hit those crazy windy road......We brought a bucket just in case and it is a good thing. Preston started throwing up but then all of a sudden Spencer started. We couldn't pass the bucket between them fast enough. I felt like such a bad parent, stupid for taking them anywhere when they were sick. However, once we got to the campground and they saw their friends they were fine. They even ate a smore! So next time they get sick I am not going to give them medicine I am just going to take them to a friends house. Oh and so far the friends haven't gotten sick.
This was the babies on the bike ride. They did really good except for a while Mallory just kept crying and crying. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until we got to the bottom and noticed that she had been rubbed raw on her head. Oh and and I have to also tell you about Garett. About half way down he lost his pedal. We all thought that it just came unscrewed, so me and friends kept riding figuring that he would catch up at the rest area. His pedal was actually broke. He started pedaling with one leg and he didn't stop at the rest area and we didn't see him. After some time I started to worry. Our friend rode back up the trail, then down the trail and didn't see him. I am totally freaking out by now. We all jumped on our bikes and rode fast down the trail (well fast for me). There he was at the bottom waiting for us. Some guy gave him a ride down to the bottom. It ended up being a very long day but we stilled had a blast and can't wait to do it again.

Moments

Being a mom/parent is really hard work and sometimes (today) I wonder why anybody would want to be a parent. A few weeks ago I watched a really horrible movie (so bad I won't admit to it), however, there was one really great part in it about being a parent. So the main guy just found out that his girlfriend was prego, he need to get away from it all and ended up at the playground(stupid place to go, I think). It was there that he met another dad and asked him what was so great about being a dad. He said, "Being a parent is like this, its bad, bad, bad, bad, bad and then there is one small moment when it is so wonderful, then it is bad again, bad, bad, bad, bad, then a small great, then bad......etc". How true is that!! The moments when my kids tell me that I made the best dinner that they have ever had in there WHOLE LIFE, or when they say a pray and thank Heavenly Father for their mommy, or when they take your face in their hands and with complete seriousness say " mommy I really like you!", or when they pick a weed and give it to you because mommies like flowers! Those moments make up for everything else, like when you have to put them in time out at 645am because they punched their brother in the face, or when you spend all week washing sheets because they have all been thrown up on at least twice. So those moments are really important. Now I was watching another show (it is no wonder my house is so messy-I should stop watching movies, huh?) about a mom who worked while the dad stayed home. They have one kid, who had a night mare and wanted to sleep in the parents bed. This, of course, turns out to be more then a one time thing. When the parents finally talk about how the dad doesn't like the kid sleeping the bed but the mom does...He says at night is the only time that I get to stop being a parent and just be me. The wife says, I work all day, I miss so much, at night with her in our bed is really the only time I get to be a parent. This of course made me think of all of those mom who work. They are missing all of those special moments that make being a parent worth it. They maybe getting they washing sheets part but not picking weed part. I am so thankful that I get to be a stay-home-and-enjoy-the-moments parent. I mean really how much longer am I going to make the best dinner they have ever had in their WHOLE LIFE!

Outer Banks

We finally made it. We have lived in NC for most of five years and we finally made the trip that everybody says is a must. The Outer Banks. And now that we have gone, we wish we could have stayed at least a week or longer (instead of just the weekend). There is so much to do and see, the awesome beaches alone could be entertainment for days.

We went to the aquarium and Spencer wanted to play with the sharks.
We went to the Wrights Brothers beach and memorial. Garett entertained the kids and I got to read the kiosk, which was a real treat for me and very interesting.We saw lighthouses. I have always wanted to see one. Cape Hatteras lets you climb to the top, however, you have to be at least 42 in. so poor Spencer didn't make the cut and I couldn't carry Mallory. Spencer was really upset and has decided that he is going to build his own lighthouse and not let the Park Rangers climb it.I guess we will just have to come back in 5 years-ish so that we can all climb to the top.The beaches a really nice. You can get a permit and then drive your car onto the beach. How nice would that be to not have to haul all your stuff.The boys got brave and were jumping waves. We also found a lot of cool things, like a dead crab. A star fish but it was still alive so I threw it back in. Lots of Jelly fish on the beach, I didn't throw those back in.The weather was so nice while we were there. It was the perfect time to go. About an hour after we got in the car to come home it started to rain and hasn't stopped since.

If you live in NC and haven't gone to the Outer Banks, it really is a must do!!!!

First Day of School

To prepare Preston for all day Kindergarten next year, we decided to send him to 5 days a week Preschool. On the first day of school he wouldn't let me walk him to his class. He wouldn't even let me get out of the car, he just wanted to be dropped off. I was so sad. So he won't go upstairs (at home) by himself because he is scared but he'll walk into school for the first time by himself.
After many prayers and budget reviewing we decided that we would go ahead and send Spencer also, but only 3 days a week. This is really hard for me because he is still so little but we thought it was really the best. He let me walk him to his class and even kissed me goodbye!!!They are both so big!

My first......

Mallory is growing up so fast as they all do. She is such a great baby and I am so grateful for that. She LOVES her brothers and her Mommy!! She is still not so sure about Daddy. She loves to give open mouth kisses. She will always pull her brothers hair if it is close enough. But her all time favorite thing to do is touch peoples faces. With lack of a better way to explain, it is kind of like a blind person. It is as if she is trying to memorize your face. She does it to everybody!! Here are pictures of some of Mallory's first...

Her First Taste of Crib

Mali really want to be able to pull herself up on things but she is not strong enough yet, however, she did manage to get to the top of her crib.

Her First Trip to the Beach

Actually she went to the beach in PA and in Canada but neither of those Lakes had a good sandy beach. This beach is the Outer Banks and it was an awesome beach. She loved sitting on the waters edge and digging her fingers into the sand.

Her First Signing Time

She like her brothers is a TV junkie. She really likes Signing Time so hopefully she will be an early signer like Spencer.

Her First Best Friend

This is Catalina, she is exactly 3 weeks older then Mallory.

Her First Ant bites

I didn't know that I sat her in an ant pile in the picture above. She wasn't screaming or anything but when I picked her up I saw these. So sad.

Her First Tooth

Which was followed by her second tooth just a week later, now her 3rd and 4th are right under the skin ready to pop out.

First Sitting Up

Actually she has been sitting up for awhile but NOW she is good at it.

First Taste of Real Food

I went to give her the first bite and she RIPPED the spoon out of my hands a shoved it in her mouth. Needless to say, she LOVES food.

And shortly after her first taste of food she had her first taste of Grits. It's the southern way!

When Daddy away.....

While Garett was cavorting in Russia, the kiddos and I went to Grandmas house!!! It was a fast two weeks but we had lots of fun.

We loved playing with our Cousins, especially Braden!!
We went swimming. Our favorite pool and the best pool I have ever been in was Ms. Annell's. We spent the night at her house and had so much fun with her and family.
Grandma Moore gave Mallory a bath almost ever night, and Mallory loved Grandpa Moore too, but mostly when he was baby sitting her!!!!!
Grandpa had 3 puppies for the boys to hold and love!
The Jackson side of the family got together, we had family pictures taken, got lots of presents, and lots of hugs and kisses.
We had a great trip! Thank you for everything.

Last pics from Russia

Last pics from Russia. Jeff and I got back to AZ on the the 27th of August in the evening. Rachel, our kids, and I got on a plane the next day to go back to NC. It was an awesome trip, but in the end tiring.

Meal after Church with some wonderful friends. Dina on the left was taking the lessons when I left, she is now baptized. Her mother-in-law, Olga, next one over, had just been baptized before I served my mission. Dina's daughter Anastasia is the one I am holding. Then Misha is on my left, he was 18 when I was in Russia, then served a mission. His wife Sveta joined the Church while I was a missionary. Tanya is the one in the green shirt, she is Olga's daughter, her husband is a returned missionary from the Ukraine. They are all so awesome.

It ended up being like a 5 course meal, I thought I was going to burst by the end of it, but it was wonderful. First course, homemade pizza with mayonnaise in place of tomato sauce...very Russian indeed.

We went to numerous museums throughout our trip. This is from the New Tretykov Gallery which had paintings from the Bolshevik Revolution onward. This is a painting of the German Army surrendering on Red Square before the Soviet leadership. We weren't technically allowed to take pictures in here...so forgive the quality.

This is Anya on the left and Alla on the right. Anya's mom now lives in Vegas. They are so awesome. Anya put in her mission paperwork a few weeks before I got to Russia. All the Church mail comes through the mission office in Moscow. So I had the privilege of picking up her mission call envelope in Moscow and hand delivering it to her in Voronezh. We then all got together and watched her open it. So awesome! She is going to be serving at the Salt Lake City Temple Square. She wanted to go somewhere more austere like Africa, but this will have to do.

Jeff climbing on a tank at a newly remodeled victory square in Voronezh. Shows how different Europe and the US. In the US you would hardly know that it was the 65th anniversary of the end of WWII. Even in a small town in Russia they had all kinds of special displays, parades, and billboards marking the year.

This was my bunk on the night train back to Moscow. We chose to go on the cheep and shared an open wagon with 56 other people. A unique cultural experience to say the least.