Buon Compleanno

Happy Birthday Silvio!

Silvio turned 17 on November 3rd.  But because that was a Monday and our schedule is busy on Monday nights we decided to throw him a little surprise party on Sunday evening.

The cake was so delicious!

Due to having the party on Sunday there were several kids who couldn't make it.  But it was a fun party just the same.  It was kind of nice to not have so many teenagers so that they could play games easier and stuff.

Silvio was completely surprised!!!!

It was so fun to surprise him!

I think Silvio was happy with his party!

I printed off the words to Happy Birthday in Italian so we could all sing to Silvio in his home language.

Making his wish!

I love that Ryker's face looking like he is blowing out the candles as well.

Looks like a happy birthday boy to me!

The kids played a crazy game that ends up in making one person doing some type of dare.  Usually it involved eating something nasty or drinking something.  One time I think a couple of boys had to run around the house with their shirts off.  Silly fun!

It was pretty funny being a spectator to this game.  I believe Silvio ended up eating 2 bananas and chugging a large cup of sprite.........yuck!  Then they made a drink concoction with different spices in it and several of the boys ended up having to drink some of it.  They also did a cinnamon challenge several times.

They played the What If game.

To start the game you sit in a circle and have pieces of paper.  On your piece of paper you write a "What if" question.  Then you throw the papers into the middle of the circle.  Everyone grabs a paper and writes a answer to the "what if" question.  It gets pretty funny at times!

Then of course they played pool.

They enjoyed some air hockey as well.

It was a fun party and we hope Silvio had a great birthday here in the US!

Thanks Boys

Ella got an early Christmas present!

With having a broken foot I needed something to push Ella around in while in the house.  This car was the perfect idea!

Thanks to Carsen and Hunter for being so awesome!

They willingly put it together before I even asked them to.

I'd say from the looks of it that Ella is pretty happy with her new ride too!

But I think I am even happier!  Carrying a 25 lb baby around while having a broken foot isn't easy I tell ya!

Carving Pumpkins

Grant really, really wanted to get to carve the pumpkin he got while on his school field trip.

So one day while the other kids were at school I helped him fulfill that dream :)

And since Silvio had never carved a pumpkin before we thought he needed to experience it as well.

Especially since the painting of the pumpkins had been a flop.

Silvio was surprised how thick the pumpkins were to cut through.  Grant loved all the guts inside of them.

We decided no patterns this year!  Just carve a simple face and be happy!

That theory proved to be a good one.  There weren't any tears and everyone enjoyed carving their pumpkins.  So really they kids got to paint and then carve pumpkins this year!  Double the fun I guess?

Good job Kiersten!

Grant ended up getting to carve pumpkins twice.  He didn't mind one bit.

We sat the pumpkins out for Halloween night to decorate the porch and invite the trick-or-treates to our door.

Grant did a much better job on this huge pumpkin than he did on the tiny one he got on his school field trip.

Halloween Night

We had such a fun Halloween night!  This was Silvio's first time trick or treating. I wasn't sure if he'd care to participate with the kids or not. 

But like always he joined right in!!  It was fun to see him enjoy going up to houses and getting candy with all the other kids!!  

I love his good nature!

We first went to the nursing home to trick or treat there. We really could have stopped with that because the kids had enough candy after that. 

But I love the traditional walking down the neighborhood streets ringing doorbells saying "trick or treat."  And of course we have our tradition of always going by Sandra Smiths house. She always has an extra special treat for our kids and they look forward to seeing her, and the treat! 

I love that as soon as the kids get home they want to sort their candy and start the bartering!  Silvio was right in the middle trading his least favorite candy for is most favorite ones! I will treasure this picture and Me. Grants cute underwear bum :)

It was a fun filled evening as a family! 

New Trick

Little Miss Ella has a new trick!

She is a royal mess these days!  She is obsessed with these leafs and it drives her mom CRAZY!!!!  Just add picking up leaves to my daily to do list cause I usually have to pick them up a gazillion times each day!

Dress Up Days

The week of Halloween is always Spirit Week and the kids get to dress up every day.

The different schools have different themes selected for each day.

Hunter's was 50's

Logan's was Dress Like a Community helper.....he borrowed Hunter's idea from last year and dressed up like an inmate.  Cause they help pick up garbage on the side of the road :)

What a stud.... he took a comb to school with him and everything.

Pretty cool tattoos!

Hunter dressed as Captain Underpants one of the days.  And then Kirsten was just wearing her Dorothy costume.

Logan LOVED Mix Match Day!

Grant was anything but a cowardly lion!

Silvio even got in on the action and dressed up like a lollipop kid on one of the dress up days!  He is such a good sport and is always willing to participate in all our crazy American ideas!

Mr. Grant's Preschool Field Trip

Brighter Day Preschool is amazing!

The kids get to go on so many field trips.  I was able to join them for their field trip to the farm and pumpkin patch.

They got to play games...

This is Grant with his best buddy Lexi!

These two are something else when they are together.  And Grant does whatever Lexi tells him too!!  Honestly I need to ask her how she does it :)  I could use some tips from her.

We got to go on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch!  Grant loved that!!

They liked finding their pumpkins in the field.

Each kid got to ride on the horse!  Looks like Grant is one happy cowboy in this picture!!

Lexi was very hesitant to ride the horse but we finally talked her into it!

They got to pet this special donkey.  He is the donkey in the live nativity that goes on at the Gila Valley Temple at Christmas time.

Grant thought that was pretty cool!

They kids got to see a lama, chickens, goats and so much more!  It was a fun field trip!

To finish off I took Grant and Lexi out for ice cream at the Taylor Freeze!

I sure love my Mr. Grant!