An entertaining Christmas Party

~EAGLE SPRINGS WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY~ Scott was asked to play Santa for the Ward Party this year. He did a great job and even has his own kids fooled!! Riley and Garrett were the 2nd group of kids in line. Garrett was okay with "Santa" from a distance, excited even. However, when he was close and he realized what was going on he began to fight it. He flipped out when I forced him on "Santa's" lap, aka. dad! It was so funny and everyone was just rolling because they knew Santa was really Scott. Can't wait till I can show him the picture when he is a bit older.

Well it is official. Our little girl is all grown up and engaged. Yes, it is true! At our Ward Christmas party this weekend she proposed to her classmate Tate. Thier reactions are priceless and were caught on camera by the perfect timing of tate's dad. What a great laugh that has provided us all. Really their faces and body language speak volumes!!!

We live up to our title...

White Elephant time!!

Some days there really is a madness that goes through our home. This past few weeks have been no exception. Thanksgiving was spent in Arizona with the Moser's. That included a trip to the museum, train park, zoo lights, temple lights, turkey trot,Sedona, the Grand Canyon and last but not least a trip to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express! It was a whirl wind but a fantastic trip home. The day after we got home it was Riley's 4th b-day and also the day we found out the Grandpa Great (Grandpa Bradford) passed away earlier in the morning. So 2 days later I found myself throwing Riley's birthday party and boarding a plane for SLC a few hours later. Once the weekend was over it was time to come back home and finish the last minute details for our Christmas Party we (meaning me), decided to throw. We had over 50 people (of all ages) in our home. It was fantastic! I actually only got stressed the hour prior cause I really wanted to shower and get ready. Anyway, like I said we live up to the Moser Madness, but in all reality, I don't think we would have it any other way. We definitely love our families and would do anything for them. As for our friends, well.....we love you like family also!!!

I will add pics from the trip to AZ soon. I need to track some down.

busy times

Well with Scott in Nigeria for the past week(work related), I have tried to keep myself pretty busy. I finshed painting Riley's bedroom and the Family room. I have got most of our Christmas decorations up already as well. It seems silly to have them up before Thanksgiving. However, with us going to Arizona tomorrow for the Holiday I didn't want the added stress of doing it when we got home. Riley's 4th birthday is the day after we fly home and she is having her b-day party that coming Friday morning. Also we are hosting a huge Christmas party (much larger than I thought) and I want to be ready. So today on top of cleaning, laundry, packing and last minute errands; I will be making pizza crust (about 100 fist size crusts) for the party. Like I said, so I don't stress out when I get home. Now I can just stress about it before I go!! :) Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

We went as the flintstones with Steven and Beccas as the Rubble's

Here is Riley and her friend Connor at the Zoo for "Boo Zoo"

Princess for a day.

So darn cute even as a kangaroo

Garrett going for a horse ride for the 1st time with big sis Riley

aftermath of Ike

This is our "river" that has actually recedded at least 5ft. or more in the last hour or so. This is usually a fairly small bayou. When the wind would kick up we had white caps out there.
This is one view of the damage in our backyard. Again we are grateful it was not too serious!
Here is a home right around the corner that is going to be torn down and they will have to begin the framing all over again.
This is our place at sunset Sat. night. It was beautiful with all the clouds still in the sky. There is something positive in everything I am learning.
We celebrated Becca's (sis-in-law) b-day with smores on Sunday night. The flash does not do this moment justice. We actually had a lamp on and that was it. It was a lot of fun cooking smores at the table and it was first for everyone else.

Well as of Monday night we had our power restored to us. We could not be more grateful for not only the expierence but the safety we have been blessed with. We also have loved being able to open our own doors to Elder White, Elder McBride and Elder Matheson. They became family to us while they were here and our kids absolutely feel in love with them. We wish them the best of luck in the remainder of their missions, especially the upcoming days and weeks. I personally loved seeing the inner workings of mission life and the moments that you don't always get to be apart of. (ie. birthday)

Anyway, the hurricane definitely brought destruction and devastation but the Lord will not let this opportunity pass for his work to go on. I will end up posting more pics of the service that was done locally to help others. Again, thank you for your prayers, messages, e-mails and just your thoughts!!

We love you all

Sheesh

What to do?

Here is Riley, Garrett and their cousin Evan killing some time as we got ready for Ike. I'm not sure that they were close enough to the TV.
Riley had a blast finding frogs with "our Elder's". She was so proud of her catch!!
Here are Elders White, McBride, and Matheson. They helped us entertain the kids be taking advantage of the wind.
Riley and her friend Connor just having fun being together. We had an impromptu dinner with our friends that Whartons and the some kite flying as well.
Here are the Elder's all cleaned up after a long day helping us as we finished getting ready for Ike.

We has quite the adventure with Ike this past weekend. I will be posting some more pics of the aftermath. I actually had this post already to go when we lost power Friday night. This has been our first chance to have internet long and strong enough to get this up. We had a great time killing time in anticipation of the storm. We decided to take advantage of the wind and fly our kite. Riley has been wanting to do that for so long and we decided what better time than right before a hurricane. We want to thank those of you that tried to call, text and e-mail. We were able to get them here and there it was just difficult to get the word back out to all of you. Like I said I will post more in the morning after I can get some pics uploaded!

Hurricane Prepardness

We are practicing our emergancy prepardness once again. With hurricane season in full force we are once again grateful for our church teachings in being prepared. With the recent move we have had to go out and get a few things here and there, but not much though. Gustav came and went a week and half ago and we didn't see a drop of rain. With Ike however we are thinking we may actually get some rain and winds! Scott and I are hosting a BBQ Saturday for his softball team. That of course is right when we are to be hit by the Hurricane. We have offically changed our theme to a hurricane party. If we have to sit it out we might as well have fun doing it. Short of leaving we are as ready as we can be. It doesn't hurt to ask for you to all keep us in your thoughts and prayers though.
Love ya
Sheesh

many firsts

Riley attended Ballet for the first time last Wed. She is really excited to be involved in a real class as well as to make new friends. Not quite sure what position she was going for here.
Possibly a curtsie.
Riley learned 1st position and was more than willing to show it off!

Today was the first day of pre-school for Riley! She was so excited to have her backpack and a lunch box. She was able to join her new class today that only has 6 kids. We are following the Mother Goose Program (similar to Joy School). She is anxious to learn and I am looking forward to the new free time I will have with Garrett. Today was a day of another first (sort of). As many of my friends know, I have another nickname I ocassionally go by. Today I earned it, "Grace". I fell while trying to chase Garrett down so he wouldn't get to close to the construction across the street. I felt like an idiot when I realized my mishap had been noticed by some of the crew. I was further embarrassed when a couple hours later my wrist was throbbing and I was barely able to move it. As it turns out I sprained my wrist and will be wearing a splint for a few days!! As the title goes...Moser Madness!

The new house

Just so happy to finally be in our home.
Scott is actually helping me paint!!

As promised here are a couple pics of what we have done on the inside. There are a couple more things in the works and I hope to complete them this week so I can get pictures up. These are pictures of the family room and kitchen eating area. The furniture we bought when we got the house. Our first real furniture!!! The barstools and pendant lights were my birthday gift from Scott, the kids and my in-laws. I am loving the new house and am really enjoying making it into our home.

finally

Okay so this might take some time as far as getting caught up. We are in our new home and finally have a new address. 17406 Guadalupe trail Ct. Humble TX 77346

We closed on our house the 15th of August and have had the pleasure of moving in ever since. Thankfully I have had help this time around. Jane has been here helping me unload and organize. She has also been finishing up the bedding she made for Riley's new room! I will post pictures of that when her room is finished. (hopefully this week). Also, Becca has been over to help paint and do what is needed as well. Friends from church have been kind enough to take Riley a couple times just so I could have a couple of hours to get some work done! Thank you to all that have helped.

With that said the pics I am going to post are not of the house. Not yet anyway. Sorry, I need to take some new ones tomorrow in the morning. It is too late and dark to do justice. (Plus I would like to finish painting one wall).

Garrett is really into doing what ever Riley is doing. Might it be dancing like a ballerina or having pretty hair. He will even join her in time out so they are both not alone! Garrett is truly the best "hombre" and still continues to make others smile. I will say that as hard as I laughed at the turquoise leotard, my favorite pic is his Elton John impersonation!! Gotta love the cheesy grin!! I promise now that I have found my USB cord more pics are on the way!!

The House

Well, not much has been done on the house in the last week and a half. It has been pretty frustrating knowing that we are so close to finally closing and moving in, yet it seems so far away. They did happen to get our landscape in this past weekend. It is amazing how nice it makes everything look!! We are planning on our walk through on the 11th and closing on the 15th. It will be really nice feeling settled. Right now it feels like we are on an extended trip and just getting to know people along the way. We do feel at home in our ward though. Everyone one has made us feel very welcome. We have had play dates, gone swimming with a ton of families, BBQ's, mother/daughter date with another couple, and a birthday party this coming Friday. Riley is having no problem making new friends. Garrett is just as big a flirt as ever and winks and smiles his way into the hearts of all. I guess I am done rambling for the moment. Enjoy the pics.

Pinetop Lake

The Moser's set up a 5 day retreat from the heat at Pinetop Lake. It was much cooler (anywhere from mid 80's to 90's). Aunt Anne was there and the kids immediately took to her. Scott and I have been very grateful for the time we have been able to share with family over the last 3 years. I know that Riley has really grown to know and love her different family members because of it. We will be sad that we will not be able to travel as much anymore. Thanks Mosers and Marriotts for a great time! Our first family picture where Cooper actually is looking at the camera.
I think the kids might actually like each other!! :)
Future artist in training!
Garrett enjoying his first walking stick! He picked that up as part of a photo scavenger hunt the cousins participated in.
Just like squirrels, they are collecting some pine cones. Only this again was for the photo scavenger hunt. Garrett was having fun finding the pine cones, adding them to the pile and then of course throwing them. What a boy!

Flashback continued.......

The kids had a great time playing with Parker, Ryan, and Kate. They had so much fun playing with the slip and slide Garrett and Kate had to get in on the action. Cooper even found the water very refreshing and would stand in the pool on his own. He didn't fight me too much going down the slide either. Okay, just a tiny bit, but really not too much. Riley confidence is slowly building when it comes to the pool. She asked her Hepa to set up the slide for her so she could go down it. She would not use it the deep end like her cousins, but rather on the step. I was okay with that considering she wanted it and was doing it herself. There is some hope after all!

Flashback of trip....

Okay so I am a slacker. We are in Texas for those that did not know already. It has been one week and we are loving it so far. Here are some pics from our time in AZ. We went to My Gym with our cousins, the Marriotts and Nema and Hepa. Riley found the climbing wall to be right up her alley. Might have to think about getting her involved in that. Garrett really enjoyed bring buried in the balls.

Stay tuned there is more to come....

house update

We are still in Arizona just relaxing. We just got an update about our new home. They began putting the brick on this week and they should start the drywall in the next couple days. We are very excited to soon be in Texas and to see our home for ourselves. It is hard to only see it progress through pics. Hope that you all come for a visit while we are there.

S&S

howdy

Hey all. No new pics this time around. Scott and I were able to have a day date yesterday and went to Lagoon. (Amusement Park in UT) We had a really great time and it was also fun to relive the old days! We also met up with a friend of ours, Alexis Kinney, and her boyfriend. We also had a chance to meet up with my brother Sam and his family. We were excited to meet the newest addition to the Bawden Clan, Neve. She is sure a cutie and we will be able to dote on her some more come Monday. It has been fun being able to meet up with some family and friends in the area. I wish we had more time to ensure seeing everyone. Guess we'll just have to come back.
Sheesh

It's begun

On Memorial day we had a chance to say a final goodbye to dear friends. Scott the kids and I will miss you all very much. Thank you to the women of the Wardroom for your friendship and support over the time we have known one another. To the 1st ward....THANK YOU! We have loved our church family and the opportunities we have had with all of you. Our door is open to all of our friends if you happen to be in our neck of the woods!!
Garrett was known as the "ladies man". He and LisMarie really had a thing for each other.
Our first stop was in Spokane Washington. We spent 2 nights (Garrett ended up with a mild case of Chicken Pox) with Jon and Lorna Martinez (Cousins) and their 5 kids. We had so much fun going downtown to the park and going on the carousel, playing on a giant red flyer wagon, feeding the garbage goat, and being splashed by the ever high, Spokane River!! Thank you so much Martinez family. We love you all and hope you can come visit soon!!
Riley and Clarissa in line for the carousel! Sorry girls I couldn't upload any more. I will send them via e-mail!
We spent some time in Yellowstone Park. Here are the kids in front of Old Faithful before it began. The kids loved seeing all the wild animals. Riley would jump out of the car with Scott or I to take pictures of the buffalo, elk, eagle, and even a grizzly bear that we spotted. (My 1st sighting in Yellowstone) We spent the night in Island Park at the Blad's cabin. It was beautiful and it was a nice quiet retreat. We spent time with my brother and his family in Idaho Falls. The kids had a great time with their cousins. Sadly that was the only time we were able to spend with them. We are now in Utah with my parents. I will post more in a bit. Sorry this has taken so long. We have either had no connection or it was taking forever to get the pics uploaded.
More soon
S&S and kids