rhino-riffic :)

ben went camping a couple of weeks ago with some friends {crazy, it was SO cold that weekend...like snowing} and rented this rhino for the trip :). the boys thought it was the greatest thing ever.

they wanted to go with their daddy so badly!

kaden helping ben get ready to leave {loading up the rhino & the 4wheelers}...

happy halloween!

meet mr. fish and...

the fisherman who caught him :)...we had a fun halloween. the boys loved dressing up and LOVED trick or treating! we were so happy that the weather was nice {well, nice for october that is}!

after we had been out trick or treating for a bit kaden said, "ok, that's enough". hahaha! the sun had gone down so it turned cold, and i think he was tired of walking :).

happy halloween!

and just an added side note {it made my halloween, i was so excited}...hwtm saw my halloween dinner post & contacted me to see if they could feature it today! i was stoked! {click on image below if you want to see it}

pumpkin patch

we went to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago with kaden's preschool class. all the kids loved it. the weather was so nice, too!

gavin hanging out the front of the giant pumpkin...

kaden, hannah, & haleigh inside the pumpkin...

picking pumpkins...

all the kids put their pumpkins into a big wagon {and of course, had to help miss mandy push it out}...

witches night out

some friends and i went to witches night out at gardner village last weekend. we had a blast! i love that place. we laughed all night long. good times. love you gals!

jamaica!

so....i talked 4 friends from my neighborhood into going on a girls trip to jamaica with me {well, 3 friends and one husband who surprised his wife}! we got back about a week ago. the trip was A-MAZ-ING. we all had the time of our lives. here's a picture overload from our fun getaway...

in the chicago airport {why the beads? i picked everyone up that morning & greeted them with jamaican colored necklaces :)}...

amy & i on one of the flights...

eating breakfast in our swim suits the morning after we got to our resort {from this point on we lived in our suits! we were in the water non stop :)}...

our resort had a water park. we all felt like little kids again!...
cute amber lounging in the lazy river...
and amber's cute toes as well...

i stacked all the tubes onto mandy. {like i said, we acted like little kids again :)}...

i loved all the bright colors everywhere...

the view of part of our resort from the top of one of the water slides...

part of the water park from above. so. fun.

amy & katie on the upper boardwalk :)....

i want to go back...

the sunsets were always AMAZING...

rasta time...

some of the performers one night...

the drink my cute friends brought me while i was on the phone with ben one night in the lobby...

i loved the chairs in this part of the lobby...

i surprised everyone with sea shell bra's :)...
having smoothies at one of the wet bars...
all the girls...

the pirate treats i brought for 'pirate night' :)...

mandy's standard optical add :)...

ok. we had SO MUCH FUN acting like little girls and going down the water slide every day. we kept going down in trains..and would laugh SO HARD at the bottom because we would all land on top of each other!...
the water was unreal!...

snorkeling...

i brought rasta hats from home for everyone as a surprise. we were all dorks and wore them around. we had so much fun though, and that's all that matters :)...

havin' fun on the paddle boats...
this is my FAVORITE pic from the trip...

laying out in the warm sun...

i literally fell asleep floating in this tube. it was so relaxing. mandy and amber decided to adorn me with flowers :)...
pirates in the caribbean...

we went to the nurses station to take some pics. it was the coolest little building...
being pirates again...
all our toes on the beach one night...

i love these next couple of pics i took of mandy and amy...

we loved the virgin drinks...
and ate A LOT of fresh pineapple!...

mandy again {she was a great model :). she was always a good sport and would do what i told her to do..hehehe!}...i brought boa's for everyone to wear one night. hehe...

some of our dessert...

dancing the last night {there were performances every night...we would always get up in front of everyone and start a dance party :)}...

4 am in the montego bay airport... going home :(. come back, come back to jamaica...

we all had SO MUCH FUN. the trip was awesome. now it doesn't seem real that we even went. I LOVE YOU amy, mandy, katie, & amber! thanks so much for all the jokes, laughter, memories, and FUN! good. times.

september alaska trip

ben just got back from alaska again. it literally is his HEAVEN on earth there :). i love how excited he gets before he goes...and how he can't stop talking about it once he gets back! shane {ben's good friend} was able to go with ben & his uncles this time. they all had the time of their lives.

look at that glacier! crazy!

riding the small plane from juneau to gustavus...

they saw a lot of bear this time!...

and whales! how cool is that?!...

they also did a lot of river fishing this trip....

look how close this bear was to them!...

another awesome whale pic ben took...

and wolves...

i'm so glad you had such a good time, babe! you deserved it!!

update: the fair & park city

once again, i'm pretty behind on blogging :). here's some pics of the fair {you can't go to the fair without getting a funnel cake} and our little weekend in park city a couple of weeks ago...

we've made the fair a yearly family tradition. we always have a really good time. my camera wasn't charged so these first few pics were taken with my phone.

the boys always LOVE all the animals...the next weekend my friend rachel and i took the boys up to park city to stay in a condo & have some fun. ben & shane {rachel's husband} were in alaska...so we decided to take a little getaway ourselves! we had a ton of fun!

here's pics of the boys walking along the trail above our condo...

it was GORGEOUS up there. the fall colors were so pretty!

i couldn't stop taking photo's of all the changing leaves and mountain valley's...

every night once the boys were in bed rachel and i hung out and pampered ourselves :). foot pedicures, movies, ice cream, the whole bit :). here's a pic of rachel while we were waxing our brows :)....

we took up our bikes etc. & took a long bike ride on the trails above our condo....

i kept stopping to take pics :). it seriously was so pretty up there!

one night i went into the bedroom and found gavin asleep on the hard wood floor! hehe. he didn't mind one bit. doesn't look very comfortable to me!

funny thing though, this is how kaden was sleeping at the same time. hanging off the bed...hehe...

here's a pic i took of a nearby pond...

and another fall pic...

the boys on our balcony...

we went to olympic park one afternoon. those jumps are CRAZY! we were dying as we watched skiers go down them!...

we never actually swam in the pool, but the boys loved putting their feet in...and here's kaden and gavin just chillin in the condo...

we had a great weekend! thanks so much for all your help with the boys rachel. i love your guts! i can't wait until next year when we go again {rachel & i went last year too, and have now officially decided to go every fall}!

erin's & steve's wedding

my sister erin got married about a week 1/2 ago! it was a beautiful day.

i did most of the reception, so i'm glad it's all said and done now...no offence erin & steve :).

here's just a few pics i took {more to come soon from her awesome photographer, lyndsey}.

i'll be posting more photo's soon!