Veteran's Day

Today the kids had the day off of school and it was so nice to stay home and relax. (We started an interesting adventure in our family, but I'll explain that later). Makenzie told my mom that she had the day off from school because it was "Veterinarian's Day". Hahahahahaha!!! We got a good chuckle out of that one. Brendon had been telling her stories about some family members and explaining to her why she had the day off. She had a pretty good concept of it other than getting the words "veterinarian" and "veteran" mixed up. But in all honesty, we have family members that are veterans and we love and adore them very much. We are so thankful for their bravery and dedication to our country. We love you Grandpa Duane and Grandpa Spud!

Celebrating Aaron's 30th Birthday in Vegas

My sister planned a suprise party for my brother-in-law, Aaron, for his 30th birthday. We left the morning after Halloween and surprised him in the airport. It was a great weekend with lots of laughs!

In the evening we went and saw the Beatles Love Show.
Enjoying our yummy dessert from the bakery in the Bellagio

Halloween

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa Stratton
Brody and Braden were firefighters

Makenzie was a daisy farm girl, Madison was a rock star and Hunter was a police officer

Madison getting ready to head out with her friends

Hunter, Luke and Makenzie get ready for a ranger ride
Hunter and Luke
Makenzie and Sydney

Fall break - Camping in Carlsbad

Over fall break we camped at the beach in Carlsbad, CA with three other families: The Burns, Hollys and Wochners. It was so nice to sneak away and relax for the week. The weather was cool but it didn't keep the kids from playing in the water.

The first morning we were there, we noticed little mice running around the bushes by our camp. The kids set up a homemade trap to try and catch the little critters.
As you can see the kids were in plain sight and it didn't keep the little mouse from getting close and looking for food.

It took only 10 minutes and the little critter was under the trap.
Everyone was so happy they caught one. They wanted to bring it home as their pet. After cheering we raised up the bucket and he was gone. We spent another hour or so trying to catch him but each time he got away.

Matt, Brendon and Matt playing washers and BBQing dinner
Sydney and Makenzie all zipped up

Mattie and Madi enjoying the waves

Hunter and Luke