December Update

This week has seemed to fly by as we have faced many emotions. First the arrival of our newest family member has come taking his sweet time, Carson, to my sister Jaci and her husband Mitch. Just a few days before he came we lost a grandmother on my mom's side. It was best for her, but still sad for those of us who had to say goodbye. It was great to see so much family and just be together. But we could not be sad for too long for Grandma Jody and Papa Mike were on the plane ready to come visit us for Christmas and New Years. And then just yesterday was more fun as Kyle had a birthday. I was all ready to go out and party with a sitter for the kids, but he told me he wanted to stay in with some pizza and watch the football game. Though it was not my idea of fun it turned out to be a good game and a fun night.

Here are the kids hanging out with Papa Mike on the couch watching some Sunday night football.

When they were not with Papa they were up with Grandma Jody watching Survivor

Kyle's Birthday

Here they are ready for some cake.

And time for presents. Camrie opened one in the afternoon and then Kyle opened the rest last night. Although between Dayton and Camrie I am not sure he opened any, but the kids had fun!

Turkey Day

We hosted Thanksgiving here this year with some of my family (12 kids and 10 adults). I was in charge of the 24lb Turkey and after talking to both my mom and mother-in-law I got through it, 30 minutes late, but I did it. Everybody came and brought food and we had a feast starting at 11 and we ate till around 6. I thought it would be a great idea to feed the kids first and then the adults. So we made the kids chicken nuggets and french fries while we finished cooking and sent them off to play.

I was so busy being host that I did not get any pictures except this one. We had some orderves and these 3 baby girls, (Tayla, Camrie, & Emery, almost 2) were helping themselves. Thursday night some of the family went home and some stayed the night. So Friday we went out for some fun. They gave our bowling lanes away so we got free "Glow in the dark" mini golf and then we ate and bowled.

Dayton was a great brother to share with Camrie, he even let her bowl a few times. For some reason they wanted to get as close as possible and both slipped and fell in the bowling lane.

Kyle, my brother Deck, and my brother-in-law Mitch had their own lane and it was a fierce competition.

Dayton getting ready to bowl

Camrie was always in the action. She mostly guarded the balls but every now and then she would wonder off to join other families and try to bowl with them.

Friday night after all but my sister Jenny had left, we cleaned up a little then started in on Christmas.

We all decorated the tree. After Kyle and I got it up the kids took over.

Camrie was a big help this year and her favorite thing to do was find a spot and put as many ornaments in that spot as possible. And then she would yell till she got the attention she wanted.

Dayton also was very excited to put the tree up. If it had been up to him it would have been up a few hours sooner, but we made him wait till Camrie was up from her nap. He did great, but I had to keep a close eye on him because all he wanted to do was put up the glass or breakable ornaments.

Weekend in Provo

Well it is winter in Utah again. We have been enjoying around 60 degree weather for most of the past 6 weeks. But we know fall is over because just as the snow starts to melt it snows again. And the fact that the kids and I shoveled the driveway just 3 hours ago does not matter because it is all covered again by new snow. Oh well, here we go again...

But on more exciting news last weekend we went to Provo to see my brothers new baby and my mom. It was great to be with family and the kids love to play with their cousins. Thank goodness for fun cousins, I hardly saw the kids all weekend. It was a nice little get-a-way for us.

The kids with Nana Decker. All in their PJ's ready for bed. Poor Nana was up late with us and then up early with all the kids.

Here is new baby Reese. She is beautiful and so fun to hold. Dayton held her before I did, then Camrie and I took turns. Camrie was great as long as she was "helping" with the baby, but once I took her she got a little possessive of mom. But then cousins came and she forgot all about mom.

Here are Camrie and Emery just under a month apart giving hugs.

And here is Camrie's buddy for the weekend, Gracy, giving more hugs.

Every time Nana comes the kids get to make cookies. And they love it, what a great and patient Nana!

While we were there we also got to see my brother Brady and sister Jenny. Here Camrie is cuddling with Brady and I had to take a picture because usually when Camire see's him she starts crying, so this is great progress.

Halloween Fun

Pumpkin Carving

We went and picked out our pumpkins Tuesday night and it was snowing while we were getting our pumpkins. We each picked one and went home to start carving. I was so excited to carve with the kids this year because last year Camire was too little and Dayton thought it was too messy. So this was our year, at least I thought it was.

I told the kids to dig in and clean all the pumpkin guts out... This is as much as Dayton touched the pumpkins. (And look at the look on his face)

Though he did not like to clean the pumpkin, he was all about making the faces and told Kyle what each face should look like.

This is what Dayton did, played with cars, while we all cleaned out the pumpkins.
Camrie jumped right in to help us...

Daddy told her to eat it, so she did. YUM.

Really it was not that yummy, but she kept eating it because we kept laughing at her.

We had a church party Wednesday night that was freezing, but still fun and the kids were excited to get candy. We hurried home to warm up and the kids dumped their bags and had candy in both hands licking and eating as fast as they could. (Camrie is not pictured here because she would not take a picture).

Halloween was a beautiful day that was sunny and warm. I took the kids to the store and library where they played games, made crafts, and of course got candy. Dayton wore his costume all day waiting for dark time to come so we could go to all the houses and get more candy. Although I did have a hard time getting him back in this costume because he said "no I already wore that one I want a new one." In his mind he should have gotten a new costume every time we dressed up. But, by Halloween night he did not care, he was just ready to go.

They are playing a game to get prizes. Dayton and Camrie and some friends.

Halloween Night

Notice their cute Trick-or-Treat bags, I made them and think they turned out pretty cute!


Kyle dressed up for the night and game. Shocker that he stayed home and passed out candy while I took the kids around. But I am thankful that he still answered the door even when the Yankees game was on. I took the kids around with some friends and thought I would bring Camrie home about half way through, but as it turns out when it comes to "canny" there is no stopping her. She went to every door the other kids went to and was out with us for all 2 1/2 hours. The only thing she insisted on was holding her own bag and one piece of candy in her hand the whole night, (and she did).

Catch- Up

So it has been a while since I have posted anything and there are 2 reasons for that. One, we don't have a working camera at the moment, but should be getting one soon because Halloween is coming and that means pictures. And second there has not been much to write. We have been busy enough, just not with interesting stuff. But here is the update all the same...

Kyle's work seems to be the same, though he seems to find the work days shorter when the Yankees are playing. Softball is winding down and that means basketball will be starting soon. At the moment he is in heaven and split in two at the same time as the Giants are playing Sunday night football and the Yankees are playing game six of the playoffs all at the same time.

Dayton stays quite busy mostly playing with friends, but also he goes to school twice a week and loves it. He is really into numbers and letters right now, always asking when two numbers are together, what number is it? Soccer just ended yesterday and to end the season Dayton had 2 of their 3 goals. There is no score keeper at his age, but that does not stop Dayton from keeping track and knowing who won. We have had a few talks with him that it does not matter if he wins or loses, it is just for fun. Something tells me we will have that talk again. Dayton's first love is playing with friends. He goes from one friend to the next and when there is no one to play with he feels as though the world might end. When he can't find a friend, he loves cartoons and playing games on the computer.

Camrie is another story. She is not so easily entertained and keeps us quite busy. I can't get anything done until she is napping. She learns more words everyday and is happy to use them. Her new ones are "side" (outside), "ju ju" juice and "canny"(candy). Every time we walk into a store all I hear is " canny canny canny canny canny...". She also has no problem using her favorite word, "no". She is sassy and has no problem getting into trouble. Just the other day we were walking home after getting Dayton from school. The kids were a little ahead of me and I look up and there was Camrie standing in 3 inches of mud. Then before I could get to her she was trying to get out and could not get her feet out so she sits down in the mud. I could not believe my eyes. I pull her out, you could not even see her white shoes and it was two inches high on her pants. There was nothing I could do but take her home to clean her up, but she left a path of mud almost the whole way to our house. Her favorite thing to do is follow and copy Dayton. It makes him crazy, but she still does it and we think it is funny. If he gets a hi-five she has to have one, he gets his back scratched, so does she. And she loves to tease him. She takes his blanket, turns off his cartoons, takes his food, or pokes him with her fork, the list goes on. She keeps us all entertained.

I stay busy with the family and spend lots of time on the phone catching up with family and friends. I have loved this fall we have had, but missed the east coast trees. With all the sports going on I have been doing a lot of reading. I just had a fun weekend with my sisters, that was not as fun as it could have been because of the swine flu that one sister got, but we had as much fun as we could. And I am so excited for the holidays, just not the cold weather. So right here, right now, things are great!

Birthday Weekend

Dayton and I celebrated our birthdays a few weeks ago on the 5th and 6th of September. It was a great weekend with cake, balloons, and presents. Kyle did a great job with surprises for both of us. I got just what I wanted... breakfast in bed, taken out to dinner without the kids, and a new ring as a great surprise. Dayton got just what he asked for, but it was not much of a surprise because he told people for days that he was getting a scooter. And lucky for him he got it.

Here is Dayton riding his new scooter. He practiced in the house first. As we ate dinner that night he had to go to the bathroom so he rode the scooter to the bathroom and then back to the table.

Soccer is Back

Dayton started soccer again Saturday and did awesome. The night before I asked him if he was excited and he said, "ya and I think tomorrow I will score 5 goals". I laughed and said that sounds like a good plan.

He was excited about his new shirt with a number on the back. Kyle was excited that the number was 2...(Jeter reference). We all like the bright neon yellow.

Dayton waisted no time going after the ball and the goal. He had a goal within the first minute of the game. Kyle and I were so excited for him and he came running up to us all excited. That was just the start, he played most the game and did great.

I guess playing in the spring helped him out more then we knew because this time he seemed to know what he was doing and took off. This is him showing us how many goals he has, the number being 8. We could not believe it, I guess a little experience goes a long way.

First Day of Pre-School

Yesterday was Dayton's first day of pre-school. It is just down the street so Dayton wanted to ride his bike there. His teacher said it was a good first day.

Dayton needed a book bag so he picked this one, because it is his favorite color. He also got to take cup cakes for his birthday and was the class leader.

Here are all the kids in his class. Every day they start by practicing their name. If you look close you will see the back of Camire in the white shirt. She took some kids seat and started coloring on his paper. She was not happy to leave and screamed the whole way out of the house.

Dayton hard at work... I am a little worried for his teacher because most of Dayton's friends are in this class so I am not sure how much work was being done. But when I picked him up he said he had a great time.

Decker Reunion

Just a few days after we got back from New York we re-packed and headed to Bear Lake, Id. for my family reunion. We spent the weekend at the lake and then the next couple of weeks with family. It was so fun to see cousins, brothers, sisters and my parents.

Good thing we went to the lake this day because all the other days turned out to be cold and rainy. But that did not stop us from having a good time.

The kids worked so hard for hours.

My 3 brothers and brother-in-law playing frisbee (Brady, Dave, Mitch, Cache)

I don't know why...

Down and dirty. I was washing sand off for days .

Here is some of the group with a bit of the beautiful view.

Kyle just got there and it was a great surprise because he thought he was not going to be able to make it till the next morning.

All the kids

All the guys, playing some golf game.

One night for dinner we cooked it over the fire. It was up in the mountains and a little cold but so much fun. We also roasted marshmallows and starburst.

Camrie with my Dad and Mom. They were so sweet, they brought little goody bags for all the grand kids.

Dayton with my Dad and Mom. They also brought a family tradition of the pinata that the kids loved.