Officer Laney

My brother-in-law just recently graduated from the Boise Police Department's Academy and is now an offical officer. Last week we went to his graudation. It was a first for me and it was really interesting to watch them being sworn into office and take their oaths. We had a great time and a fun time celebrating over lunch at Wingers. It was the first time I had ever been there. We will have to make it back there someday.
Congratulations Jason! We are so proud of you!

Fall Harvest party

Every year a family in my parents ward host a huge Fall Harvest Party. Everyone is welcomed. There is lots of food, activities and fun for all ages. We thought it would be fun to take the boys since they are getting big enough to grasp the concept of a holiday.
The Palmers, who host this party, have an incredibly beautiful home. It is nestled back to the Boise River on a couple of acres. It is a colonial looking home with a beautiful red barn. I love red barns!


To start it off, Spiderman and Batman parachutted into the party. All the kids loved that. We watched them jump out and land right in the middle of the party where they had a fenced off area for them to land.



Once they did all the kids ran to them to see if Spidermand and Batman really came to the party. Keaton was pretty excited about Spiderman so we took him up there to see him and get his picture with him. I think that made his night.

This year they had maccaroni for the kids. That was hit. They usullly have chili and cornbread and that doesn't sit too well in anyone's stomach if you ask me. Our good friend Mike showed up with his son Jacob. They are not members but yesterday I took a flier over to them to see if they were interested. I am so glad they came too.
It was fun to see everyon there. There were many faces I hadn't seen for awhile too.
Towards the beginning there was an airplane that flew down low and dropped buckets full of candy out into an open field for all the kids to find. Keaton had fun finding candy and putting it in his pumpkin.


Andrew still wansn't quite sure what was going on so I just followed as he ran around in the field. They have always done taht and it has been a big hit. They also have hayrides, stories by the fire, pumpkin painting and carving, a haunted hayride/corn maze. Unfortunatly our kids are too young for that so we took off before it got too cold. It was another hit this year. It is a fun way to start the Holiday spirit. I love this time of year! Here are some pictures from this evening. Enjoy!

Grandma Beard

Today was my Grandmother's 76th Birthday. I love my Grandma Beard. She has been one of my closest friends. My parents live right next door to her so we see her almost every day or whenever we are over there. My boys love their Great Grandma Beard.

(my grandma in her younger days)
To celebrate we had dinner with everyone at our home. I made a turkey, stuffing, supposed to have mashed potatoes but the potatoes were really old and so we substituted with rice. It was like Thanksgiving dinner all over again. No one really talked at the table. We just ate and ate. Then afterwards we had cake and ice cream. I love having reasons for having everyone over. It was so fun and the kids had a great time. Thanks everyone for coming. We had a great time and Happy Birthday to you Grandma! I love you!
my boys with Great Grandma Beard last year for Halloween

our birthday crowd at our home
Grandma Beard and gang

Fall days

I love days like today. All we did was play outside in the leaves. The boys had so much fun. We helped Great Grandma rake up all of her leaves and then we just jumped and played in them. It was quite entertaining. We played for a long time. Here are my cuties having fun.

And the gender is............

Today we had another ultrasound. This time it was for the AFP test. It is the Alpa-fetla protein test that helps detect any chromosomal abnormalities.They draw my blood and they can detect any abnormality from that. Amazing! And then in the actual ultrasound they measure the amount of fluid that is between the spinal cord and the brain. If it measures high, then the odds are much higher of having a child with Down Snydrome or anything else. Every time we have had this ultrasound everything come back negative and good. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that the same result comes back. I am not worried about it.
My ultrasound was at 9 this morning and it was clear in downtown Boise. I had to get up and get ready, feed my kids, get them dressed and out the door to my sister's house so she could watch them all within an hour. It was a pretty hectic morning and to top it all off, Lance and I had a hard time finding the office. But we made it on time and all went well.
Every pregnancy and every ultrasound amazes me. Ever since our experience with our first child, I have always been so nervous up until an ultrasound confirms that all is ok. The lady who did our ultrasound was very friendly. It was so fun to see the little one just bounce all around and wave its arms. It is so neat to see another life forming and developing inside of me, even though I can't feel it right now. That is just around the corner. That is my favorite part of the whole pregnancy, feeling the baby move. Not so much when they kick the crap out of my ribs but the feeling of life inside is something that is hard to describe.
Towards the end she asked if she wanted us to have her try to see what the gender of the baby is. I told her, YES, YES, YES! She said it was still kind of hard to tell but her suspicisions were telling her that it was a boy. She was not completely sure but it looked like it. So I am crossing my fingers that somehow this baby comes out as a girl. I am still holding out for a girl. But if it is another boy, we are so excited too. Maybe we are just destined to have all boys. I don't mind! Boys are fun and plus they will be the best of friends. I just know it!
So here's possibly to another baby boy coming our way. Time will tell.
I will post pictures when it is not so late at night. I am ready for bed. Good night everyone!

New Calling for Lance

Lance was recently released as the Elder's Quroum President of our ward and was put in as the Ward Executive Secretary. I thought there for a moment he would be free on Sundays, since he was always in meetings and during the week while in meetings or helping those who needed it. Now he can do it from home, all the phone calls and appoitments that he will be setting up for the bishop, and he will still have meetings all day on Sunday.
I am so excited for Lance and his new change. He will do a great job!

Nu Skin Party

Tonight I went with my sister to a friends house for a Nu Skin Party. I couldn't believe all the amazing products there were. GiGi Davis, Brittany's mom, was there to present it all to us. I was so overwhelmed with information that it was almost frustrating. I was interested in a lot of things, for instance the Galvanic System. Has anyone used these products before? I think I am going to try their line of Pre-natals. It is very expensive but if the outcome is far greater than it is risk it isn't it?
I would have to save and save to afford it but I think it is worth it. What do you think? I would like imput if anyone has used this stuff before. Anyone????
Check in out at Nuskin.com if you would like.

A fun day

Today we got together and had dinner over at my parents home. The boys just love going over there because there is so much room to run around. Plus I don't have to always worry where they are or if someone will snag my children. We had a great dinner. I made some Shepard's Pie. We went to Jeremy's Pumpkin Patch here in Star. It is the greatest place to buy pumpkins. They are so big and SO cheap. The boys had a great time picking out their own pumpkins. If it were up to them we would have bought all of them. There are literally hundreds of pumpkins all stacked up and there are some fun Halloween decorations all around.
After dinner a bunch of us got together and carved pumpkins and frosted sugar cookies. Those were soooo good. My boys had quite a few. I have a feeling we will be paying for it later tonight.
Anyways, I just wanted to post a few pictures of our fun night at Grandpa and Grandma Quinn's house. Thanks everyone! It was so much fun to be with you. I love this time of year. Halloween is just around the corner.

A weekend of fun

We had a great time in Utah this past weekend with Lance's family. It is a tradition of the Ray family to meet together in Provo during BYU Homecoming weekend. Since we haev been married we have attended and each year is pretty much the same, even down to the meals, at least when we get together at the Clifton's home.
We arrived Thursday evening and didn't do much but chat and hang out with all the siblings. Friday, Lance was in Draper at his Coporate Office working, meanwhile we had a baby shower for my cousin Brittany. It was so fun to see all of them get together. They are a great group of girls. We did it outside, which was kind of chilly but other than that it was lots of fun. Brittany's mom passed away almost 4 years ago from Breast Cancer. All the Aunts put together a book about their memories of Lana as a mom and what she did. They all took turns reading their letters and it was so sweet to hear all the stories. It was also so nice to visit with Brittany at the Clifton's. Thanks Brittany! It was so much fun to talk to you.
Every Saturday morning before the game everyone meets at the Clifton's home in Mapleton for breakfast and a devotional put on by Grandma and Grandpa Ray. I have never known another family who has these kinds of traditions. Sometimes it is weird but it has been fun to sit back and watch this family function. There is so much love and respect for one another. They are an amazing family. There were many new faces I had never before met and it was nice to meet them all.
Every year Grandpa Ray buys tickets for the game. This year, they said he bought 70 tickets for the game. There was not a spart ticket. I ended up staying at home with the kids. It was just too cold for them to be outside.
Besides the fact that it snowed almost every day it was so much fun to be with all the Snyder's and the extended family as well. And could you believe that I didn't take a single picture at all this weekend. I sure wish I had them to show you what a great time we had. Thanks Snyders, Knotts and mom and dad for letting us come and stay with you. We love you all! We can't wait until Thanksgiving when we can do it all again.

Fall

I love this time of year. I had to grab a picture to explain what I am taking about. I LOVE fall! I love the colors of the leaves changing on all the trees. I love the cooler weather. I love the Holiday season that follows, and I LOVE the smell of chimeny smoke in the air.
This year has gone so fast and here we are in October. I can't believe it. It is the most wonderful time of the year. My boys are so excited every time we step into the store to see all the decorations, lights and of course the candy that is associated with it all. I must admit I get antsy like a little child too, waiting to see it all. Walking down every aisle just to look at all the fun things.
This year we decided to make a Halloween Tree. It is a small Christmas tree that we use every year. I got some orange lights, Halloween tinsel and some ornaments and put it up on our fireplace ledge. We also have pumpkins that glow in the dark around the base of it. My boys get so excited to turn it on. They will literally sit in front of it for 10 minutes and just stare at it. Then they have to play with the lights. I think Keaton is alittle confused by it. He wakes up every day wondering if Santa had come. So we have to explain to him that Santa will come in a few months when we have a big Christmas tree up.
My mother-in-law always has a mantel decorated for each holiday or event. I LOVED that idea. So I took it upon myself ot make sure I do the same thing. It always made everyone in the home excited for whatever was coming up. Especially during the holiday season when all 20 stockings are hanging from the mantel. I am probably exaggerating the number but it gets bigger and bigger each year. It is so much fun. I hope to do that with my children as well. I feel like a little child again, but as an adult experiencing it through my children, if that makes sense at all.

There is so much I want to do to get ready for the holidays but I just get too tired and the funds are short this year. I love Halloween and all the amazing displays I have already seen on other homes around here.
We are doing well. We are hanging in there. I feel pretty good. I just get so stinkin tired that I have to take naps again with my boys when they go down. We are staying busy and excited for Conference this weekend. We love you all! Have a great wekend!