Taking a deep breath!

September has come and gone. It is always my busiest month with birthdays (all 5 of us
within a month), school, pre-school, football, coaching volleyball and trying to finish all the things I had planned for the summer. I spent the whole last week cleaning and organizing every closet in my house even the kitchen... I was determined to get rid of anything we didn't need or use. I also cleaned the basement and organized all my bins... I got rid of toys, baby stuff and I ended up with 16 bins of kids clothes, I had people look through and take what they want and now I need to drop the remaining off at DI. It feels so good to be clutter free.
We are now approching my favorite time of year... I love fall! I love watching football with Mark, sitting on the couch in my sweats with a blanket and reading a good book... looking up on the good replays. I love the changing leaves and wearing sweaters. We had an amazingly fun summer and now I am ready to take a deep breath and relax.

Jacob is 8!!!

He had a busy birthday... school, scouts, football game and then a little family party! He is loving football right now... hence the football cake.
Jacob is great!!! He is turning out to be such a good kid. We have a few battles but overall he is so nice and respectful of everyone. He is growing up so fast... I love our conversations and his little mind. Man I love this kid!

He will have his friend party this weekend with 12 crazy boys...

I am officially old!

I have always thought that 30 is old... and here I am. I think I was wrong... I am having more fun now than ever and I feel like I am still 18. I can only hope it continues... I think my biggest fear is getting old and having my body stop working... I never want to hit the point where I can't play volleyball, run around with the kids or surf! For now getting older has been great!

Iree made this cake for my birthday... She had a little help from Michelle. She decorated it with gel and sprinkles... it was a little crunchy when you took a bite but very thoughtful... Iree spent the whole day drawing me pictures and being sweet.

Mark brought home an ice cream cake ... yummy!
My sisters Michelle and Heather took me for my first pedicure. It was great, and hilarious at the same time. I love spending time with my sisters... we always end up laughing so hard it hurts.
I ended up with orange toes with spiderwebs... I figured the kids would love that for Halloween.

The Whole Kirby Clan

It was Grandma's 80th Birthday and we actually fit in a family photo shoot. We are missing 3... Kevin, Spencer and of course my brother Dave.

Grandma and Grandpa Horton
My Mom and Dad
7 siblings with their spouses
23 Grand kids/Great- Grand kids



Grandma Horton's expression looks a little frazzled!

All the Kirby Grand kids... Silly, tons of personality and great friends.


All of Grandma Horton's Siblings, except Sharlene who passed away a few years ago, were able to make it to her party.


We were also celebrating Stryder's Birthday, lots of cake and ice cream bars.


Claire went to town on Todd's fudgecycle.


Dad and Andy took the kids on a snip hunt... Super fun!

Good Volleyball with some old teammates.

The CEU coach needed some players to play against his team in their all-star game. Me, Adrianne, and Tasha went to play. It was such a blast to play some real college ball again. We whooped those young little college girls in 4 games. We drove down together and had some good laughs and great conversation.



Jen, Adrianne, and Tasha

The whole team... the rest are CEU alumni.

No we are not CEU alumni... but kind of fun to sport the uniform and spandex... Tasha tricked us into thinking that we had to wear the spandex when the rest of our team was wearing shorts. I feel a little funny being a mom of 3 wearing tight shorts.

Labor Day at Lake Powell

This was our 3rd trip to Lake Powell this year.
We are becoming pros at this boat camping thing. Easier and better every time.
The water was 84 degrees and the weather was great.
Mark's Mom and John also joined us for the nice relaxing trip.

We celebrated Mark and Mason's birthdays. We sang to them and lit candles in Twinkies. Mark's Mom also brought some Decorated cupcakes that melted in the sun... they looked disgusting but tasted great!

We camped in the San Juan so we needed all the gas we could carry to play and get back to the marina.

John, Grandma and Mason

Jacob was a little more daring this trip... I am sure the water being 84 helps. He is great at body boarding and can let go of the rope and the wave carries him for a long time.

Jen body boarding.

Grandma and Iree

Iree pretending to surf... hopefully next year we can get her on the board by herself.

Jacob having fun.

John, Heather and Grandma...
The tube runs were a little aggressive this trip... personally I hate the tube... you wont catch me on that thing unless I am holding Mason who is my guarantee of an easy ride. I guess I am a little whimpy!

John, Heather and Chuck about to flip.

John getting knocked off... seriously does that look fun? I don't get it.

Mark had some pretty great crashes... He also was hitting some amazing height on his jumps.

Jacob and Grandma

Love this shot... Mark rarely gets to sit and relax so on this trip I tried to drive a little more so he could just chill. Chilling looks good on him don't you think?

The group

Hike to Rainbow bridge... wow...

We were being scorched... I put 70 spf on the kids and they still got burnt on this little excursion.

Rainbow Bridge

This crazy ranger was very entertaining as he talked about the people who discovered Rainbow Bridge. We were also surrounded by drunk people slurring and making funny comments... I think every person walking the trail was holding a beer or two... one guy even had a belt on holding 6... very entertaining!

Iree and Grandma, it was so great for the kids to have some quality time with Mark's Mom.

Jacob loved swimming on the surfboard so Mark would let us jump in and swim to shore.

Our beds.

Our campsite was the best.

Chuck studying

Jacob surfed on his own...

I think the funnest part of the trip was Mark and Chuck trying to surf together. I could barely drive I was laughing so hard.

Chuck and Heather

Yuba Lake

Heidi and the kids and Taylor and Rachel met us at Yuba. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite lakes. The beaches are awesome so the kids can play in the sand while the big kids play on the boat.
I did just watch a fishing show last week that said Yuba Lake has the biggest Pike in the world. 25lb Pike, with sharp teeth... makes me a little nervous to have my legs dangling in the water for too long. I just try not to think about fish... eww!
I spent most of the day relaxing on the beach with Rachel watching the kids play in the sand, while Mark was out having a blast with the older kids.
Great Day, Great Weather, Great Lake, Great Food, Great Friends,
You can't beat that!

Heidi is always up for a thrill ride... I think they jumped 8 ft. and got dumped on this run.

Lasca water skiing... I think she was the first to pull out the skies on our boat.

Heidi water skiing.

Heidi surfing.

Joecee Surfing, she loved it and went a couple times.

Kaymin, all smiles, loved the surfing.

Wesley did great and also tried the body boarding.

Joecee body boarding... she is so light the wave just pushed her along.