Crazy Hair Day for Tatum:)

Tatum has waited for this day all year!  She knew EXACTLY what she wanted and I think we pulled it off very well!  Her hair stayed put ALL day even through PE:)

Halloween and Festivities 2016

Our FAVORITE holiday has come and gone way too fast!!!  We had such a great time with everything going on over the week of Halloween: 

Pumpkin Carving with the Parks:

Our year wouldn't be complete without this event.  Kevin and Chris are sure getting good at their pumpkin carving.  One little mishap with a rotten pumpkin but everything else went great!  As you can see from the pictures, the kids were a little over-dramatic with the pumpkin guts:)

GROSS Ethan!!!

Finished products!

Halloween:

Carlie and Ethan actually got to go to school in their Halloween Costumes.  We were joking with Ethan because he school is EXTREMELY patriotic and the Principal is a U.S. Constitution expert so we were "worried" that Ethan might get shot going as a "Red Coat."  

The most beautiful little
Hufflepuff witch I ever saw:)

Shakesperian Ethan?
(He couldn't be the same thing that night:)

Halloween is SERIOUS business to this guy:)

Thank goodness that Chris is such an awesome artist!  He's the kid's personal make-up artist every year:)  This year for the actual Trick-or-Treating, we had a potluck down at our neighbor's house.  It was just our 2 families and we really enjoyed just hanging out while our kids went out together getting way too much candy.  Another great Halloween in the bag:)

Softball Fall 2016--Blue Angels

I'm the worst at taking pictures of Tatum's softball teams!  It's usually because I'm such a nervous wreck at the games!!!  But we are particularly fond of this fall team--The Blue Angels.  Tatum gets to play with one of her very best friends--Chloe V.   Chloe and Tatum are the unstoppable Pitcher and 1st Baseman.  If Chloe gets that ball, she WILL get it to Tatum at 1st and Tatum WILL catch it.  They seriously rock their positions.  It sure helps when their coaches are AWESOME too:)  They are being coached by their dads this season and just LOVE it!  Chris has coached a lot of his boy's teams over the years but has found girl's softball to be his hands down favorite:) 

Ethan's Southern CA Science Trip 2016

Ethan's Fall Trip 2016:  Written by Ethan:)

I got to go on a school trip to southern California. There were many great things there like Catalina Island  (which i got no pictures of because they didn't allow phones to be seen outside), tar pits, a farmer's market, the Hubble observatory, the Hollywood sign, and Sea World.

Me and my friends at Hubble observatory
Dallin, Nik, and Ethan 

The Ghostbuster's car and the Ghostbuster dogs at the Farmer's Market

The Hollywood sign

Prehistoric cats at the tar pits

Prehistoric horse ancestors at the tar pits

Baby dolphins at sea world

Side View

Lazy turtle at Sea World

Touch Tank for jellies

Fall Break 2016!

This fall break we were kinda all over the place!  Max & Tatum had 2 1/2 weeks of break and Carlie and Ethan had only one.  Max spent his first week in Deming, NM working with my dad in the pumpkin patch.  Tatum and I went and picked him up the next weekend and spent a few days there as well.  We also had lots of friends over, LOTS of Spirit store trips, and LOTS of scary movies during week one.

The second week, we all headed out of town!  Carlie went on the Heritage Independence Tour--one of a two-part tour of American history sites back east.  (She will be making her own blog post on this:)  Ethan headed out with the Heritage Science group and toured all of southern California/Catalina Island (He will also be making his own blog post:)  Chris, Max, Tatum, and I headed out to Disneyland!!!  The last time we were there, Tatum was 3.  Tatum wanted to go to Disneyland for her 9th birthday instead of having a party--that's the way we like to party:)

It was SUPER crowded at Disneyland but thankfully I asked an "expert" friend for all of her tips and they were fantastic!  We pretty much followed every single detail:)  Lines were long but we learned how to make good use of the fast passes so we honestly only waited about 30 minutes for each ride.

So first thing we did on the night we arrived, made good on Tatum's birthday present--a Build-a-Bear from Downtown Disney.  She choose the Picachu and wanted no clothes for him (we got off cheap:)

Day One:  Disneyland

We arrived 30 minutes early and hit the ground running (literally).  We had one day here and we were going to make the most of it!

Once Peter Pan, always Peter Pan:)

We ran into lots of people we knew in the Park.  We stood in line for the Peter Pan ride right behind some good friends of ours:)  Her youngest daughter was super tired and grumpy and was giving her mom a tough time in line--she was in line while her husband was taking their other 3 kids on other rides.  She made the comment that her daughter was really a "daddy's girl" so Chris offered to try and hold the grumpy baby and she settled right down immediately and fell asleep!!!  We think she thought Chris was her actual dad.  The rest of the wait was quite peaceful and when we made it up to our turn, Chris handed the baby off to her real dad and you should have seen the look on her face!!!  Kinda like, "Hey...that was a dirty trick!"  Sure was funny!!!

The Baby Whisperer:)  

I'm terrible at selfies but I tried:)
Here we are on "It's a Small World"

Max ran into his good friend, Scarlett:)

Max is a little creepy looking but the
Mickey-Mouse shaped pretzels were super cute!

We LOVE The Haunted Mansion!!!
Nightmare Before Christmas is pretty
our all-time favorite movie!

About mid-day we took a break from the park to go see a movie in Downtown Disney.  It was nice to get out of the crowds and sit and relax.  We watched "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and LOVED it!  Our kind of movie (and book) for sure:)

Max in the "Troll Movie" sign:)

Funny story...at our hotel we were walking to our car when I saw this skeleton in the car!  Caught me off guard for sure but was hilarious afterwards:)

Day Two:  California Adventure

Arrived early once again to hit the ground running in this park as well.  If it weren't for fast passes, we may not have got to ride anything!  It was kinda insane:)  There was a "0 minute Wait" for the carousel so we did NOT pass that one by:)  Anything with that wait time we hit:)

We rode the Grizzly Rapids two times in a row because the wait was low there too:)  We were soaked but didn't care:)

This was us right before "California Screaming!"  Thank goodness all 4 of us LOVE the crazy rides!!!  Tatum is actually the one who begs for these kind of rides:)

So we left California Adventure totally exhausted and a little wet but boy we had a GREAT time!  We sure missed our other two kiddos but knew they were having a great time where they were:)  Fall Break 2016 pretty much ROCKED:)

Heritage Homecoming 2016!!!

We have a child old enough to date!!!  AHH!!!

Carlie was super excited about her first school dance!  Heritage gives a "theme" to all of their Homecomings and this year's theme was "Dynamic Duos."

Carlie was mysteriously given a "Hobbit" book in Calculus class one day that had her name on it.  Inside, she would find a piece of paper telling her that someone wanted to go on a "grand adventure" with her to Homecoming and that she would have to decipher a code to figure out who.  So poor Carlie is "trying" to pay attention to the lesson but really wanting to figure out who was asking her to Homecoming.  It took a few minutes but then determined that a friend--Jacob Grossen--was asking her:)  Jacob and Carlie have actually known each other since 1st grade!  They went to the same elementary school in Chandler and have now ended up at the same high school in Mesa--go figure because we don't live close to their family at all:)  But cool nonetheless--my son Ethan has been BEST friends with Jacob's younger brother (Nickolas) since kindergarten so both these boys thought it was REALLY cool that Carlie and Jacob were going on a date:)

Carlie and Jacob decided on "Mario and Princess Peach" from the Ninetendo games.  It was such a great idea and they both went all out on their costumes and were the ONLY Mario and Princess Peach at the dance:)  We had SOOO much fun hitting the Goodwills to find her dress and making the jewelry to match:)

The date was an all-day event!  Jacob picked her up at 1:00 and they went to Freestone Rec center to play racquetball and rock climb.  Then he brought her back home and picked her up again at 6:00 for dinner with 3 other couples at the Grossen home--authentic Japanese cuisine:)

Rocco was sad that he didn't get to go
to Homecoming too:)

Flowers and a corsage:)
Perfect gentelman:)

Japanese dinner

From front:
Wesley and Buttercup (Princess Bride)
Mickey & Minnie Mouse
Mario & Princess Peach
Great Britain & America???  (Studio C sketch)

The mustache made this AWESOME:)

They had a great time!  Jacob was the perfect date and they have plans on hanging out again in the future to play "Lego Rockband" along with their little brothers Ethan and Nik:)

Foster Pups:)

I was "on-call" to take in a pregnant cat with the shelter I volunteer at (Lost Our Home in Tempe, AZ) when I got an emergency call asking if I could possibly take in a momma chihuahua with her 6 pups that had just been rescued out of a yard along with 17 other dogs!!!  I had already "cleared" the cat with my husband, so I quickly texted him while he was in a Bishopric meeting.

"So, about the cat....not happening BUT...there is a momma chihuahua with 6 puppies that need to be fostered..."

He responds back with, "Is there a question in that?"

I texted back, "Thanks babe!!!  You're THE BEST and I love you!!!"

Here are some pics of the what they were rescued out of.  They were found in a yard under an old sink in the middle of August in Phoenix--the owner had been evicted and left all the feral dogs there.  The momma was badly dehydrated and malnourished but nothing was said to me until I arrived at the shelter to get them.  I was told that they did not expect this puppies to make it through the night.  "Great...did I just drive all the way into Tempe to bring home puppies that would die???  If my kids wake up to 6 dead pups tomorrow, I'm NEVER fostering again."

So I loaded up everything I needed--bedding/food/bottles/puppy formula--and drove home with a prayer in my heart.  I did NOT sleep well that first night as I kept coming down to check on the momma and encourage her to eat and drink.  She did an AMAZING job and kept doing an amazing job and these puppies are alive and well today because of the great mom she was.

There were only days old when we took them in--eyes closed and everything.  They were SOO tiny easily fitting into the palm of one hand.  My kids were instantly in love:

They easily fit into your palm.

We got to see their eyes open!!!  

They seriously just grew so fast right before our eyes!  We gave all of them names from "Harry Potter" because they're the best names:)  The 8 weeks we've kept them flew by!  It was so fun watching their little personalities come through.  Here's what we learned about them:

Albus: (male)  This little guy was my personal favorite!  I was thinking of different ways I could talk my husband into one more dog:)  He was soo kicked back and chill about everything.  And he has the BEST ears ever!!!  They stood straight up!  He had a giant head--we think there may have been a daddy pitbull:)  I honestly wanted to adopt this little guy because he was that cool--I thought Rocco needed a little "therapy dog" partner:)  But, the people who first found them have been out to visit them 3 times during their stay here and they have decided that they want to adopt Albus.  So he's going to a great home and they promised to keep sending me pictures of him growing up:)  

Albus

Hedwig:  (female)  She was the runt of the little and the lightest in color as well.  She was also a more independent, calm pup.  She was often found doing her own thing away from the others wrestling around.  She has also been spoken for and will be adopted immediately after she is spayed.

Hedwig

Dobby:  (male)  This little guy was the most vocal out of all the pups.  SUPER cute ears to as one stood up straight, and the other one not so much.  He's full of energy and loves to wrestle.  My most favorite thing about him was his "speckled" nose!  Always looked like he had dirt on his nose:)

Dobby

Cedric:  (male) We probably should have named this guy "Dudley" because he was the biggest and fattest of them all!  Super full of energy and loved to wrestle with his siblings.  Tatum took a liking to this little guy:)

Cedric

Bellatrix:  (female)  She is a super fiesty little girl!!!  She had this little growl that just melted your heart.  SUPER energetic and always up for a wrestling match.  One night she found an old mint lifesaver in our yard--from who knows when or where?!?!  Well, we had brought the puppies in for the night and Carlie noticed her acting strange.  She picked her up and noticed Bella was choking on something white in her mouth.  Carlie immediately calls me and hands me the choking pup.  I saw the round lifesaver and did a quick finger sweep to get it out!!!  Seriously almost had a heart attack over this!  I was SOOO grateful that Carlie noticed this!!!  Just like having human babies sometimes!!!

Bellatrix

Luna (aka "Killer Clown"):  (female)  Yep!  This little girl was the CRAZIEST of all of them!  FULL of energy and needing only half the sleep of everyone else!  But look at her face!!!  She's adorable right?  She was the first one to figure out how to get out of the cage, the first one to start every wrestling match, and she'll kiss your face to death!!!  SUPER cute but gonna need a LOT of work:)

Winky (aka Momma):  And here's the real hero of this story!  She did such a great job with these babies and they are all alive and well and thriving because of her!  Such a brave momma to have done this all on her own.  We kept her here for 6 weeks and then took her back to the shelter as the puppies weaned.  She is up for adoption now.  

 

She sometimes "hid" from her pups
for a break:)

So we have just LOVED our time with these little things.  I take them (along with a little piece of my heart) back next Tuesday and I am REALLY sad about it.  But I'm taking them back knowing I've got them off to a great start.  They have been WELL loved by my family and my 50+ piano students.  I will definitely be following up to make sure these pups all go to great homes:)

Puppy attack on Ethan:)