This is one of my favorite times of the year... because it seems like fair weekend marks the beginning of fall, and I love fall. Today the kids have no school because it's the first day of the fair... and you know, when you live in our part of the country, these things are important! We always make sure we are at the parade, and then we usually follow the parade with lunch... most likely pizza!!! This is the greatest time of year. The days are still warm, but the evenings cool off and you can just feel it in the air... that little bite, that certain smell, and before long we will see the leaves start changing in the mountains. Winter isn't my favorite, but oh how I love fall!Today was fun. We got into town and found our spot for the parade in perfect time. Just as it started. The hit of the parade was the fire trucks, since they sprayed water in the middle of the street and the kids all ran out under it to cool down. Even Nate got in on the action. This is the sign in front of the pizza place we ate at. Of course little miss drama wanted her picture in front of it... and her little sister is her shadow so she was posing too!
Daddy and Nater
They all loved the fire trucks!
Nate telling Kailee he wants to go back out in the water!
Nate was so excited to be able to get sprayed!
It was a hot day so the water felt good and the kids loved it!
Kids swarmed to the middle of the street to get sprayed!
Kailee and her side kick...
Kassi said, "This is my 'there is sun in my face and I can't see' face!" And Kinzee, who doesn't mind the sun!
Nate holding sister's hand and watching the parade. He was making Kailee score him some candy! And Kami too!
Watching the parade.. keeping an eye out for stray candy!
I have to say that Kailee spends a lot of time spoiling this little boy....
Wyatt... and Bummy and Kami too
Linda... mom to 13 and a great friend of mine! Her girls work at the title company so the family was part of the parade. Linda was probably the first friend I met here, she was having her 9th and I was having my 7th. For the next few years we had kids within days of each other!
Just more of Nate....
Hayden... the man!
Bummy and Kalli waiting for the candy...
Kalli baby!
Kami-hen... my sweet girl!
"Come on Kailee... there's more candy!"
They had cars from every decade in the parade... the first thing both Thayne and I said, at exactly the same time was "Date car!"..... we went on our first date in a car like this. His best friend had a car like this and Thayne's truck was broke down so he picked me up for our first date in a car like this. It was funny that it was the first thought for both of us when we saw it!
Another great car!
I think the kids decided this was a favorite!
Stand for the flag....
10 out of 15 isn't bad... darn those older kids that think they have their own lives! The girls and I wanted to scoop up those sweet twins behind us though!
You may wonder how many enchiladas you can make in 3 1/2 hours? Well... chances are slim that anyone would even care... but in case you are wondering, it is possible to make over 90 enchiladas in 3 1/2 hours.!!! I don't know if I have ever mentioned this before but I HATE to make enchiladas. It's not because they are terribly difficult, because they are simple... except that I have to cook the shells, put the refried beans and hamburger inside, roll them up and dump the sauce on them. But it takes FOREVER to do all of that! And because I HATE to make them, it would only make sense that my family would absolutely LOVE them! They beg for them. It's the one thing I can really hold over their head!So... now you may be wondering WHY I made 90+ enchiladas? Or not... but since this is MY blog I will tell you anyway! I watch 2 of Katie's girls on school days while she is doing her student teaching. She also has college classes a couple of nights a week. She is wearing out and working too hard. Not like she has a choice, but still. She happened to mention that she came home to a messy house, a husband asleep and worst of all, no dinner! Now... I will mention that her husband is a good husband, but when you are overworked and tired, things like a sleeping husband and a messy house is enough to put a woman over the edge! So I thought to myself, "I think I will make her some of our favorite chicken noodle soup!" Yes... I know it's a far cry from enchiladas, I'm getting to that! I also have another friend that is going through a tough time and I offered to bring her dinner tonight too. And I always make enough soup to feed 3 families so the plan was perfect! Until.... until Tiffany text me and asked if there was anyway I could make a pan of enchiladas because she really wanted some. I told her I was making soup. She said it was okay, she was just craving them. Well... she IS the mother of my first grandbaby, so what was I supposed to say? NO?! Yeah, that wasn't an option! So, back to the store we went (because I had already had Kailee shop for the soup this morning!) and after taking Hayden to the doctor for a sinus infection, and after dropping Kami and Nae Nae off at kindergarten, we got home and I started cooking! And I cooked! Tiffany was working at the video store until 3pm, so I got her pan done so the girls could drop it off to her when they took Kassi to work. I made a pan for Katie's family and 2 pans for my other friend, and 3 pans for us. Including Thayne's special order with onions and olives since most of the kids don't like the onions in chunks on top! 3 1/2 hours after starting I put our 3 pans in the oven and started slicing tomatoes and lettuce! Several kids were off and eating elsewhere or the 3 pans would have been gone immediately but we have left overs tonight! And our sweet friend Karen came over and got some too. So there was a whole lot of enjoying the enchiladas tonight! And THAT makes it all worth it!!!Some asked for a recipe. Well... you see this is why Tiffany asked me to make her some... because I couldn't give her a recipe. I rarely to never use recipes because, hmmmm... it's hard to use recipes that feed 4, or 6 people, so after looking at a recipe I just try it out, mess with it and then make things from memory of whatever it was I came up with! I cheat a lot too! My enchiladas are just hambuger with diced green chilies (mild for us!), garlic, onions, pepper, a little seasoning salt... I cook the shells in oil for a couple of seconds and then put refried beans and the hamburger on, roll them up, put them in a pan, use your favorite enchilada sauce, I use cheddar and monterey jack cheeses. Bake on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes and top with lettuce and tomatoes... some of the kids like salsa on it, others like sour cream and more cheese! But that's it, that's all... and everyone loves them! I told the kids I was taking pictures before they ate them all... but before I could even get the pictures half of the first pan was gone!
I just have to say this... Kassi can ALWAYS make me laugh! I don't know why, it's just who she is! She kind of reminds me of, well... me when I was her age! They used to call me Spaz... because I was so... happy! In fact my dad had some pretty strong words for a principal that one time told him that nobody could be as happy as I am without being on drugs! Not so... you CAN be happy... and Kassi is! And she makes everyone around her happy! Today I was taking a friend home and drove by the schools at the time they were getting out of school, so I texted Kassi, Kinzee and Willie and let them know that I was right there and I would pick them up. Kassi came bouncing up to the Excursion, opened the door, and jumped in... only she missed and just kind of slid in instead! She laughed and told me that she had a BAD day, and had even fallen off a chair today! That would have been fun to see! Driving home, the music goes up, because 80's music cannot be played any other way! We went on the back road because there was construction and we didn't want to be stuck behind the busses. Kassi decided to roll down the window and hold a grocery bag out the window to watch it fill up with air! She was very impressed that the bag actually filled with air as we drove down the road... seeing her doing this while singing Living On A Prayer just made me laugh! She finds so much joy in the little things! And she makes me laugh!! I won't mention that she likely had the whole grocery store laughing when she took her little brother down in the middle of the ice cream aisle. Thanks Kassi for always making me smile!!! You are AMAZING!
I realized that I never blogged about the overnight get away we made with Katie, Ric, Buffy and Tracy. They are some of our very best friends. In fact, after being away from family for so long, these are the people that have become our family... they have been here for us for everything, they have been our family through thick and thin and we are so grateful that they are in our lives. They have been here to share our joys, our sadness, or success and our failures. These are the kind of people that you count your blessings and thank Heavenly Father for letting them be part of your lives....They announced that it was our turn to clean the Salt Lake Temple so I signed us up, and told Buffy and Tracy I signed them up too! Then mentioned to Katie that they should try to come with us and that was the beginning.... we decided that a trip to Lagoon, with just the grown ups this time was a great idea and plans were quickly made for our little get away! That Friday couldn't have been more perfect. We got to Lagoon not long after it opened, and we went all day long. I can't remember laughing so hard in a very long time. We laughed, we rode, we made fun of Katie and Thayne for being chickens! We laughed some more, we played like kids. Tracy and I went on the catopult because Buffy and Thayne were too chicken to go with us! It was so fun that Ric decided to go too. The boys were very bad and disruptive on Rattlesnake Rapids and almost got dumped overboard... but the end result was that I was completely soaked. So we figured we would run to the log ride and the battle was on. We were all soaked after that ride. We were almost afraid that the boys would get themselves thrown out since there were signs clearly stating that they were not supposed to splash, let alone getting INTO the water... I'm not sure if money exchanged hands, but the teenager boys working the ride seemed to look the other way... when they weren't laughing hysterically over the crazy antics! We walked away dripping wet, and laughing so hard our sides hurt! We closed the park down and stayed at the Hilton in downtown Salt Lake City! The day was truly amazing, so fun! Having good friends is a blessing in so many ways!Saturday morning was amazing for so many different reasons. We arrived early to clean the temple. This has to be one of the most amazing, wonderful blessings available. I almost hate to tell people how amazing the experience can be, because then they will want to experience it also. We cleaned, and enjoyed being in the temple, because inside the temple, even when you are doing nothing more than cleaning there is a feeling that is like nothing else in the world. But the amazing thing is how much they want to share everything they can with us in the temple. We got to clean rooms that we don't normally go in while we are in the temple and they took time to explain things, and share stories about the different rooms. We were able to go to the very top of the Salt Lake Temple, up the winding stairs to the spires. We cleaned the Assembly Hall and heard stories and got to contemplate the history of that amazing room... to know the great men that have met in that room in the past and know that there is over 100 years of history in that temple! We were filled spiritually as we cleaned! Not something you would normally think could happen!!! The whole weekend was so wonderful. Sometimes you just have to do something that fills your own cup so you can go back to taking care of everyone else, and this weekend definately filled our cups!!!We couldn't help it... we had to get the pictures taken at Lagoon. That experience alone could have made the entire trip. I am so grateful to have friends that are willing to go away with us and act like teenagers... only I think we would have put any of the teens to shame... we really know how to have fun!!!! 
Daddy and Nater
They all loved the fire trucks!
Nate telling Kailee he wants to go back out in the water!
Nate was so excited to be able to get sprayed!
It was a hot day so the water felt good and the kids loved it!
Kids swarmed to the middle of the street to get sprayed!
Kailee and her side kick...
Kassi said, "This is my 'there is sun in my face and I can't see' face!" And Kinzee, who doesn't mind the sun!
Nate holding sister's hand and watching the parade. He was making Kailee score him some candy! And Kami too!
Watching the parade.. keeping an eye out for stray candy!
I have to say that Kailee spends a lot of time spoiling this little boy....
Wyatt... and Bummy and Kami too
Linda... mom to 13 and a great friend of mine! Her girls work at the title company so the family was part of the parade. Linda was probably the first friend I met here, she was having her 9th and I was having my 7th. For the next few years we had kids within days of each other!
Just more of Nate....
Hayden... the man!
Bummy and Kalli waiting for the candy...
Kalli baby!
Kami-hen... my sweet girl!
"Come on Kailee... there's more candy!"
They had cars from every decade in the parade... the first thing both Thayne and I said, at exactly the same time was "Date car!"..... we went on our first date in a car like this. His best friend had a car like this and Thayne's truck was broke down so he picked me up for our first date in a car like this. It was funny that it was the first thought for both of us when we saw it!
Another great car!
I think the kids decided this was a favorite!
Stand for the flag....
10 out of 15 isn't bad... darn those older kids that think they have their own lives! The girls and I wanted to scoop up those sweet twins behind us though!
Just pictures of random animals Kassi thought we would like... 
