Happy Halloween!

Jaxon, save some for the trick or treators!

Oh, the good times keep on rollin'. We had a blast on Saturday. We were a tad bit busy on Saturday morning with meetings, cub scouts and basketball practice but then we headed up to Denver to spend the evening with Steve's brother and his family. We had dinner and then obviously went trick or treating. It was so fun to watch Dakota go from house to house, trying to swap candy. She kept trying to exchange something she had with the "new" candy! Anytime the homeowner said she could have 2, she would just give it back. I just told them that trying to give her the option to take two was just too confusing. I think by the end of the night she definitely had the process down to a science. I have always loved Halloween but this year I just couldn't stop laughing. Guess you had to be there! LOL! TC had to be snake eyes from GI Joe. I honestly don't even know how he knew who that was. We haven't seen the movie. I guess, advertising alone can suck a child in. AJ was my little Edward. I thought it was funny when he told me that he wanted to be Edward Cullen for Halloween. That has to be so easy. Pale face, red lips, purple under the eyes, and a good casual outfit. The least I have spent on a costume since TC was born. We did have to buy vampire teeth. Come on, it has to be a little but more fun. Dakota, was Cheer Bear, from the Care Bears. I think I only watched Care Bears once in my life, so Steve had to tell me which Bear costume I bought. I know, I was so deprived. What do you expect, when I grew up with 8 brothers? Oh, and there is Jaxon. He is at my most favorite age. His big eyes get him whatever he wants. OK, I'm not really that soft but man. He was a bumble bee. He loved his costume and was so excited to be dressed up. He ended up with 3 pieces of candy because after getting those, he just wanted to sit and eat them. I'm sure we have enough to share. Let me just say that Sacrament today was so much fun. We could hear all of the kids who were on a sugar high, which of course included my own. There are consequences to late night fun! We hope everyone else had a great Halloween. I still can't believe 2009 is almost over. Where did it go? Oh, and thanks to my wonderful sister-n-law, I have pictures of last night. I was changing a diaper during picture time. Go figure!

AJ's preschool Halloween party!

AJ wanted to be Edward Cullen. I had to add the blood for special effects. Otherwise he would have just been a really cute boy with pale skin.

Snow much fun!

We woke up to a couple of inches of snow this morning. This is Jaxon and Dakota's first experience with snow. Dakota was born in Rexburg but I don't know if she ever played in the snow before we left Idaho. We enjoyed some time playing and making snow angels. The snow was too powdery for a snowman or we would have done that, too! Jaxon has a lovely runny nose, also!

Robinson Family Reunion!

Beth, Steve, TC, AJ, Jaxon, and Dakota

Dawn, Justin, Jason, Libby, Ellie, Darcey, Steve, Beth and Jaxon
Piper, Pat, AJ, Garry, Dakota, and TC

Just wanted to share our family photo from the beach trip. Thank you Dawn for sending it!

The man I love and cannot live without!

This picture was taken on September 25, 2009, while on Hilton Head Island. Steve and I went out to dinner with his parents, brother, sisters and spouses. We had all decided to go to a Seafood Restaurant, hoping they would have a variety of steaks on their menu for Steve. After viewing the menu, Dawn felt sympathetic toward Steve, who is allergic to shellfish and cannot stand the taste of any other type of fish. My sister-n-law nicely explained to the waiter that we had a family emergency and we all got up and left. Steve chose Outback Steakhouse for his birthday dinner. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner together as we talked and sang Happy Birthday to Steve about 5 times throughout the meal. It was so funny, but I didn't start it because I would never want him to do that to me.

I have spent 14 birthdays with Steve. I remember the first birthday I spent with him. He had turned 25. My roommate and I went to ALbertsons and bought him a birthday cake and a Big Hunk candy bar. I love remembering how I felt when Steve and I were just friends, which turned into best friends, and then after several months of knowing I was way too young to get married, gave in to the realization that I absolutely loved Steve and if I didn't act on that, I would lose him. At least, that is what I thought. Steve is a pretty patient guy and probably gave me more time than I had deserved at that time in my life. Since that first birthday I spent with Steve, I have enjoyed the best years of my life. Steve and I have so much fun together and hate being apart. We enjoy each day together and look forward to our retirement years, when we can golf everyday together.

Vacation at Hilton Head Island!

Mom and Dakota relaxing after a long day!

TC putting the umbrella up!

Jaxon found someone's flip flop.

View of the beach from our house!

Our beach house!

We just had a week full of fun at Hilton Head Island! The flight was pretty painful, to and from and we had a rough go the first day! I think we were so tired from the trip, it made us all a little cranky. The rest of the week was awesome. We stayed at the lovely "yellowdogbythesea.com" beach house. It was so nice to have the ocean front property and just be able to watch the tide roll in at all times of the day. We spent our time on the beach obviously, but had a swimming pool at the house, also. It was so nice to go swimming when you didn't feel like getting sandy! We walked everywhere because there were so many shops close to where we were. I also spent Wednesday with Darcey, Libby, Dawn, and Pat at the spa. It was so nice to have some relaxing time away from the kids. Steve and his dad and brother spent Thursday at the golf course, while I took the kids to the shops with my sister-n-law. Friday night we all got a night out without the kids. Ms. Betty came and babysat all 6 kids so we could go out to dinner. We loved it so much, we all want to go back and do it again and again.
I actually thought that I would be finished with my book by the time I got home but taking 4 kids to the beach doesn't allow for much reading time. Someone got me stinkin' hooked on the Twilight Saga! I read the first 3 books the week before I left for the beach and I hope to be finished with the 4th by tonight. I will then be able to focus on being a mom again. How horrible is that? All of you who kept ranting and raving about the Twilight books - THANKS!

Beautiful!

Garry, A.J., Pat, Dakota, Jaxon, Steve, and T.C.
I wish it had been a clear day over Mt. Princeton!

Can you see the chapel in the background?

So beautiful! The Collegiate Peaks! Mt. Princeton is the one in the middle!

Just thought I would update everyone on our craziness! Yes, we moved fast! I suppose with the economy the way that it is and not having a real income for 18 months (actually 4 1/2 years) really made us want to get here to start as soon as we could.

Steve is actually going to be in the commercial excavating end of construction rather than residential plumbing. I know he continues to ask himself why he went back to school if it was going to be this hard to get a teaching job. We just keep in mind that it is still worth it to have his degree. I think he knows that deep down inside. We just know that the money is not in teaching.

Anyway, what have I been doing with my time......

Keeping the Excedrin Migraine medicine away from Jaxon and Dakota and I enjoyed a little bit of hiking during our short stay in Buena Vista. I loved all the gorgeous views. I hope to hike Mt. Princeton before the summer is officially over. Over 14,000 feet, I may need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank half way there but I think that I have had plenty of time to get used to the altitude. We shall see!

Some of these gorgeous homes were plumbed by the one and only G&S West Plumbing (aka Steve and Garry) They are so huge! The pictures don't do them justice! Maybe they seem so big because they are so close together but they still look really fun! When I asked Steve how big they were, he told me about 5,000 feet without the basement. I thought they were bigger than that.

We have gotten settled into our new home, which we love. The kids have a huge back yard and even though we don't have all the space we ever dreamed of, there is plenty of room for our family. I think this is the biggest kitchen, I have ever had. That makes me excited. I still don't have everything unpacked but can you really blame me. Four kids and so much to do! I hope to be done by the end of the year!