Chewbacca Smiles!!!!!

My cousin got this cute picture of my dog chewy actually smiling. That's actually his middle name "Smiles". If you smile right in his face he'll smile back at you. He's such a cute dog. Now what dog smiles I ask you?

Our Special Visitor!!!!

Wow! I'm almost caught up on all the postings. This past week November 7th to the 16th my cousin Dana came to visit from Utah. She was cold and needed to defrost in our gorgeous weather. Ha! Ha! Dana and I are only 3 months apart and we have been best friends our whole life. She's someone I can talk to for hours and she always listens and gives good advice. I hate that she lives in Utah so far away. I swear God meant to make us sisters but somewhere it got messed up. I'm sure for a good reason. We did a lot of fun stuff this week. We went to the Veteran's Day Parade in Mesa on Tuesday, Sedona on Thursday, and the Zoo on Saturday. The kids really enjoyed having her here. Sophie connected with her the most. She would call her "Deeea" instead of Dana. Her and I took her to the airport and after she left she walked around the house calling her name and looking for her. It broke my heart. I really enjoy every minute I get to spend with her and I'm so thankful she wanted to spend her vacation with us. We know next time that we'll have to give her a double bed to sleep on instead of the twin. What? I didn't say anything. We don't know if she has a serious boyfriend or not. Or do we? I'm not telling. Love you Deeea and miss you already.

Have A Wonderful Life Together!!!!

On November 8, 2008 my sweet cousin Terra married her soul mate Nick. She looked absolutely gorgeous! Nick you were pretty handsome yourself too. They got married at the Regency Gardens. It was beautiful. I loved it that she had a lot of little touches throughout the wedding to make it unique and their own. As favors they gave caramel apples. Anyone who knows Terra knows she LOVES caramel apples. They used sand instead of a unity candle, they had little pumpkins on the table that were holding peoples place cards. Their colors were gold, chocolate brown and green. I loved this wedding. Plus I got my hubby on the dance floor more than once for a slow dance. I think it was like 4 times. I only danced with him once on my wedding day. Ha! Ha! I just want to tell you Terra and Nick that I love you both. I have missed our Tuesday night dinners (due to all the wedding planning) and hope we can start that up again soon. You two make a cute couple and it's very clear that you're totally in love with each other. Have A Wonderful and Blessed Life Together Mr. and Mrs. Gailfus. We Love Ya!

Happy Birthday Luke and Brayden!

As most of you know Luke and Brayden's birthday's are only 3 days apart. Brayden's is on October 31st and Luke's is November 3rd. It's nice for our family and friends because they only have to come to 1 birthday party but it's tough on mom and dad. So this year I opt for something a little easier. We decided to hold their birthday at Bounce U. The kids big and small get 75 minutes of bounce time and then 45 minutes in a party room where I don't really have to do anything they do it for you. NICE!!! HP and I love going to Bounce U. I think we enjoy the bouncing more than the kids.

Now the hard part. I can't believe I have an 8 year old. My baby that I carried for 9 months is now 8. Luke is such a bright boy and keeps his dad and I on our toes. I love it when he tells me jokes and stories. He always writes me sweet notes to tell me how much he loves me. He's so sensitive. I love that most about him. These days HP and Luke are bonding over the pool table. I think HP is trying to mold some possible competition someday. I think he has a good shot. Well Luke you've been a joy to our lives. I'm so blessed that I have you everyday. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Here's something cute and funny. Brayden for an entire month, asked for race car cupcakes. So for his birthday that's what he got. He doesn't look so excited eating them but maybe he was tired from all the bouncing he was doing. Love the face buddy!

Happy Halloween and Birthday Brayden!!!!!

As you all can tell I'm running way behind on my blogging so bare with me and I'll get it all up. On Halloween it was Brayden's 4th birthday. I can't believe he's 4. He has made so many strides with his speech and everyday life. HP and I are so proud of him. He's a very sweet boy who besides the fact he runs EVERYWHERE doesn't get into too much trouble. If you know me you know I HATE running in the house.

So Halloween was crazy busy. I wanted to be at both boys Halloween party so I went to Brayden's in the morning and Luke's in the afternoon. In Brayden's classroom Ms. Debbie and her wonderful staff took the little kids around the school for a parade to show off their costumes and then they came back and ate eyeball cupcakes. Yummy!!!! For Luke's classroom, I was the party organizer and we made graham cracker haunted houses and decorated them. I think the kids had a good time. They are all so cute. Here's a funny story. I was in Luke's classroom helping out and I had tons of frosting on my fingers from trying to "glue" the haunted houses together. I didn't want to lick them of course because it wasn't sanitary. Well apparently it looked tasty enough for this little boy to ask me if he could lick my fingers. I'm sure the look on my face gave him my answer.
Later that day we gave Brayden his presents. He got a new Cars bike and helmet. A big boy bike now. I was worried he would be too scared to ride it and resort back to his trusty scooter but as you can see he got on I reminded him he had to peddle peddle peddle and away he went. He was soooooooooo cute. I didn't think he would get it the first day. Never underestimate the power and determination of a 4 year old. Isn't he cute?



So the rest of the day was to trick-or-treat. We went to my sisters neighborhood for a potluck dinner and then we all walked around trick-or-treating. It was a lot of fun. I hope we can do that again next year. I love seeing my kids with their cousins. They were all so cute. Luke was Darth Vader, Brayden was Anakin Skywalker, and Sophia was a ballerina. Or as she calls it a "reena". Lauren was Cinderella and Nicholas was a handyman. They all did really well and was ready for bed when they got home.

Our 10 Year Anniversay!!!!!!!!

We finally made it to 10 years! On October 10th 1998 HP and I decided to spend the rest of our lives together. Wow!!! It's been a long time. The last 10 years have had a lot of bumps and tons of happiness. As HP and I faced more and more challenges in our lives we grew to love each other even more. I will say that I love him more today than I did on the day I married him.

Soooooooooooooo...... to mark the last 10 years we decided to splurge and eat at The Melting Pot. I was so worried that I wouldn't be feeling better by our anniversary night and wouldn't be able to enjoy the yummy food but I was much better and enjoyed every minute of it. I also got the opportunity to finally surprise HP with a gift since he always does the surprising on me. I got him a new wedding band that doesn't scratch, bend, or break. It's the tungsten and one. I had the restaurant bring it out and surprise him with our chocolate fondue dessert. He was completely shocked. I think he thought I couldn't pull something like that off. Fooled him didn't I? I'm so blessed to have him in my life. He makes me laugh, he's a great husband, and a wonderful father to our kids. What more do I need? I can't wait to spend the next 10 years with him.