Gardener Village

I can't get enough of his smile...Happy Fall...This is a standard family tradition. It's a MUST in the month of October. My kids look forward to this for days. So we decided to go before it starts getting to chilly! It was beautiful weather. Awesome.

Here is our happy child. Seriously, smile little buddy! But it was a great shot to show our avid readers out there that he got a hair cut. This morning, I looked over at him in his pajamas and realized what a MOP that kid had on his face. So I decided to do the dangerous thing of trimming a 11 month old baby head of hair.

Thankfully he did ok. The crazy thing is that I cut nearly an inch off everywhere. His hair is still super long, but at least it's NOT on his eyes, ears and neck anymore.

This is a genuine smile of complete delight that he heard the Monster Mash song playing. He's adorable.

He of course started dancing. I hope this child doesn't ever loose his love for life. He inspires me everyday to seize the moment and live!

Our cute kiddos enjoying finding all the witches.

Who knew my kids were so into crafts. They kept pointing out these crafty pumpkins all over and asking if I would buy them...um no. But they were really cute.

The hot dog witch.

The bike riding witch.

I was SO glad that Jared left work early to join the fun. For 20 minutes I braved the village alone with the four kids and it...was...intense. Considering Caleb loves to run and dance and see and touch everything! So Jared quickly became GLUED to Caleb. Thankfully, we all made it home safely.

The happy family.

Herriman Easter Egg Hunts

Look at this crowd! Unreal...not to mention this was the section for the 6-7 year olds...They had 5 other areas for all the other kids of this great city. It was a PACKED park but it was totally worth it! I'm not a crowd person, but for some reason this doesn't bother me at all!

That standard fam shot.

The standard kid shot...at least they are smiling right?

Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas 2010
Christmas Eve Perry Family Picture on the stairs. The traditions must live on.

My Dad pretending he's Santa Clause. The kids were laughing hysterically and loved it!

Jake and Isaac in their new matching pajamas. So cute!

Shandra and baby Blake- the cutest chubbiest baby ever!!

Jake on Christmas eve counting down the minutes till it's time for bed!

The little girls ready to open their Christmas Pajama's from Grandma Lou...

Happy little children waiting to go see what Santa left under the tree.

Happy cousins all ready to go see what Santa left under the tree...oh, how we love this tradition.

Our little happy family trying to smile even though it's so early in the morning...

Christmas Eve...my dad pulled out the best surprise yet! New coats for everyone. It was honestly one of the best surprises. Primarily because I have had my eye on this soft shell jacket for several weeks. But I didn't have the heart to pay for it...until Mr. Kohl's 30% Off Man (my dad) came around, and bought it for me! Thanks dad it was a great surprise!! Love it, Love it, Love it! Now I finally have a coat with a hood on it! (Oh, Shandra's coat is not the same coat, she left hers at her house. She didn't know the rest of the gang would be getting one. We just had her put on a black coat so she could be in the picture!

Easter Egg Hunts!

Yes, it was actually an Easter Egg hunt and not Halloween. But we only had one basket that was pink for Alayna so Jake was creative and grabbed his Halloween pumpkin. Either way it worked and he scored getting lots of candy!!

Herriman City Easter Egg hunt!

Oh, was that another candy! I think this kid consumed more candy in this one day than any other. Jared said he looked like a chipmunk all day long because his cheeks were stuffed with treats.

Now let the story begin...As Alayna and I were walking down the stairs to take our place at the Easter egg hunt, I realized that at this park Alayna has a tendency to get lost. So I decided to pick a point of reference...the fire truck! I just mentioned it casually for her to look over there to see where the fire truck was at. She glanced over. I just reminded her there are lots of people and if she can't see me any more to wait by the fire truck to find me. So time passed the Easter egg hunt started and kids took off running. I was video taping and watching where she and Jake were going. Jared and my dad were with Jake and Alayna took off. For some reason I didn't think that an adult should remain with her. She grabbed tons of treats and ran back to show me. Well she passed off her cotton candy to my mom who had requested she get one for her and she looked at me while taping and said, "Mom now I have more room in my basket I'm going for more treats!" I glanced around realizing there really wasn't much candy left, so I figured she would hang close. I started taping Jake again and not paying attention. (This was my first problem!) So the large crowds started to dissipate and we all gathered together. Realizing Alayna in a grey hoodie was no where to be seen. (This was my second problem...not a bright color! It doesn't stand out in a crowd.) So we all started scouring the field with no luck. I then in passing told my neighbor, Emily that I had told her to meet me at the fire truck if she couldn't see me any more. Well, I had told her so casually so I didn't assume she would obey. Thankfully, a few minutes later Emily came down with Alayna who had obeyed and went straight to the fire truck. Eventually I was able to ask Alayna when she felt like she was lost and she said, "When I couldn't see you anymore I walked right up to the fire truck!" WOW. I was totally impressed that one she recognized she couldn't see me and then that she obeyed and did what I said. It felt great as a parent to know that sometimes children do listen and obey. I was very grateful and many prayers were answered! We all praised her and let her know that if she continued to listen to her parents than she would always be safe and protected!! (I hope she ALWAYS remembers that.) We had to take her back to the spot of where she was waiting for us.