Happy Halloween!

At the beginning of October I usually start asking the kids what they want to be for Halloween so I can get their costumes started. I should just buy them, but I think it's so fun to make them personalized and their own. When I asked Macy she gave me the sweetest response "This year I just want to be a cowgirl. Then I'll just have to wear a shirt and you won't have to make me a costume." As sweet as it was, I wanted to at least spruce up "cowgirl" a bit and we decided on a Rodeo Queen. Macy's school always does a Halloween parade so that was our first run through with her putting the costume on all by herself- and she did a great job. Easy peasy!

I figured London would want to be something sparkley and pink- and I was right. Pink Fairy all the way.

Bentley wanted to be none other then Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Cute kids!

Our first stop for Halloween was a big community Halloween Bash at the fair grounds. The kids got some face painting done, played lots of games and got lots of candy. The best part- everything was free!

Next up was a little trick or treating. Every year I get the kids these big ol' candy sacks and then keep going to houses until it's filled up and then I hate on all the candy that we eat for the next month. This year we used some small bags and only had to go to 8-10 houses before they were all full! The kids felt like they got TONS of candy and we didn't have to be out all night. Win-Win!

Happy Halloween!

Marathon and Pumpkin Patch

What a Saturday we had! Kyle's sister was in charge of the annual Petrified Forest Marathon and in full Gardner fashion, got us all into it. Kyle's choir groups were in charge of the water stations and we were in charge of getting everyone where they needed to go. We woke up bright and early (around 4:30) to get the kids to Grandma's house, the suburbans all packed with kids, and out to the Petrified Forest. Here's Savana, Levi, and Kallee all set up at the first water station all ready to go!

After we dropped up our suburban full of kids, we went back and forth picking up kids and moving them down the 26 mile course. After all the water stations were full and the runners had past them, we made our way to the finish line where we started keeping track of times and winners.

 After a looonngg morning/afternoon at the Marathon and quite possibly the shortest shower I've ever taken, we met up with the Larson's and then Nilsson's to go to pumpkin patch for our annual trip. The kids were so excited to be there, but we couldn't really capture that on camera. London is always our little smiler, but Bentley and Macy were giving the camera the cold shoulder.

 Macy started off pretty good, but after about 3 shots of this it was back to glaring looks- kind of like the one London is giving in the background.

 We always try and get a family photo at the patch- but this year it just wasn't working. Either Macy's hands in her crotch, my eyes are closed, or non of the kids are smiling.

 Here's the best we got. Not bad- but we've just gotten better before. That's okay. I love us anyway.

 Of course we get an awesome smile from Bentley when we got on the train- figures!

We finished the evening off with a trip to Trappers for dinner and pie. Yum! See you next year Pumpkin Patch!

Fall Break

We had one adventurous Fall Break! We decided to go down to the valley to spend a few days at my parents house and started it off right with some donuts. 

We made a stop at Grandma Benichs house (my Dad's Mom) to pick up some information for a program for my Grandpa Benichs Memorial Service that was held that weekend. I helped her a bit with her computer, looked at some old photos, had a really some really yummy pizza for lunch, and then headed off to Buckeye.

 On the way out to Buckeye we decided to take a pit stop at the mall, get my ring checked, change out a charger, and do a little shopping for the kids. The kids felt right at home at the Apple store- each with their own iPad.

The next day Kyle took the kids to the store for some good quality Dad and Kid time. They read lots of books at Barnes and Noble and each one got to pick out their own book. Then they went off to the free zoo, Petsmart!

 Kyle had to get back to Holbrook to ref a game, so I stayed with London and Bentley at my parents to get ready for the Memorial (and do the program) while he took Macy back with him. He took my parents car while we kept the van- Macy didn't get much sleep with such a quick trip and fell asleep on the way to the Memorial Service Saturday morning.

 We had a beautiful Memorial Service for my Grandpa Benich in Sedona at a church with quite possibly the prettiest view it could have. It was completely surrounded by Red Rock.
All of my parents kids were able to be there, and almost all of the entire Carbonneau extended family crew.
Bentley was too cute trying to make little Brooks laugh. He's giving peek-a-boo a try here.

We were making fun of how all the old people couldn't get the cameras to work and got this beauty.

Here is my Grandma Benich with all her kids and their spouses. Check out that view behind them!

Grandma and most of her great-grandkids. There were a couple kids in there that were smiling :)

 Kyle and the kiddos. London's dress got forgotten at home- oops!

 At the way home we stopped in Flag for some Panda Express- yum!

What a weekend we had! It was a super fun Fall Break and we were sure not ready for it to end.

Let's go ride a Bike!

The weather is still gorgeous here in Holbrook and with winter around the corner we decided to soak up the sun and take the kids to the skate park. Bentley has had a lot of interest in the girls bikes so we decided we should probably teach him how to ride it. We were expecting to have to push him the entire way, keep telling him to peddle, and it taking months like the girls. Not this guy- he got on and just started riding. Oh I wish it had been that easy with the girls- I will definitely take it! The girls definitely prefer to ride their scooters. 

 Since Bentley picked up the bike so easy and he's only 3, we decided it was probably time for the girls to learn how to ride their bikes (being 5 and 6) without training wheels. We dropped Bentley off at Grandma Gardner's house and took the girls to the church parking lot to try it out. London picked it up right away and was off. She had a few falls, but just got right up on her bike. Macy took a little more coaxing and a lot more tears. We finally told her if she road her bike we would figure out a way for her to ride a horse and we would go to Maverik and get a treat. With a little incentive she got up on her bike and off she went. She was much more nervous than London and fell a little more, but they really did both do great!

 Woo-hoo! They got treats!

Parent Teacher Conferences

The other day we got to spend doing family Part Teacher Conference. We got a few pics of the family all waiting outside of Macy's classroom. Macy's teacher this year is Mrs. Radzanowski and is a great fit for Macy. She raved all about how great of a reader Macy is and how she is always on task and ready to work. The only thing I mentioned was that she needs to work a little on her handwriting, so we'll work on that at home and at school. She just wants to rush through her work (it's always right) but she needs to slow down and get her handwriting under control. Macy has always been a smartie pants and we didn't expect anything else from her conference. 

London's teacher (Mrs. Ceccarelli) bragged about how great London is at puzzles and getting all her work done quickly. She is always the first one to get projects done so that she can go play with the rest of the toys or puzzles. She's a little quieter in class and prefers to play on her own or with a smaller group of people rather then a big group, but that's okay. Socially and academically she is right where she should be in 4yr old Preschool.

Bentley's teacher (Mrs. Fairbanks) showed us all his work from the beginning of the year and he is really improving on his fine motor skills. I love his preschool since it's really all about coloring, cutting, and just playing. His has lots of friends in school and is very social. 

The kids are all doing great! We are so happy to have such great teachers. One of the things that worried me about Holbrook (just being honest!) is that I didn't get to really choose where our kids went to school. They either get to do public school or home school and home schooling (to me) isn't really an option. I am so happy with what they are learning and how the schools handle situations. Yay Holbrook.

iPhone 6s = Subway!

Kyle loves things that connect to satellites. He even loves getting the newest things that connect to satellites. He has been up for a phone upgrade for a few months now and has been waiting for this baby to be out for purchase. I broke the mans heart when I told him I didn't have the cash the day it came out for him to get a phone. Luckily, with him reffing a few varsity games I was able to surprise him 2 weeks later with his brand spankin' new iPhone 6S. The most exciting part? It's 64 gigs.

 And since he was so excited for his new phone, he said we could get Subway for dinner. Win-Win. Yes, I have mayo on my face- but look how cute this picture is of us? I should not be lazy and edit it out- maybe later. :) We're real life here.

Bentley was there too... he's just crazy and all his pictures were way too blurry :)