Trick or Treat

My kids sure had a good time trick or treating this year. The older two girls joined up with some friends and I took the younger kids. Our neighborhood had a couple of haunted houses and plenty of spooky houses to visit. Jude and Stella loved everything about Halloween.

The crew in their costumes.
Jude=Superman (showing his muscles)
Stella=Minnie Mouse
Briley=Vampire
Izzy=80's Punk Rocker (for the second year in a row)

Pumpkin Carving

The kids carved their pumpkins this year. We tried to use the faces from the book, but the pumpkins were so thick that the saw would not go through. So we scrapped that and used our imagination. They all turned very cute.

Stella and Izzy.
Briley and Jude.

Good 'Ol State Fair

My parents took the kids to the Arizona State Fair. I took the kids out of school early on Friday and headed out to the fair. We had a good time and loved being in that atmosphere. The girls and Jude were so excited when we walked in. All the rides, food and games were so exciting to see. Papa treated them to corn dogs, cotton candy and unlimited rides and games.

Walking up to the fair.

I thought this looked so good.
Jude didn't know what to do with it. He kept tearing it off and throwing it on the ground. Once we put a piece in his mouth, he realized that he really did like it.
Stella, Jude and me in the background.
Waiting in line to ride the bumper cars.
Izzy and Stella
Briley and Jude. Briley was so sweet to let him drive.
Stella in the rocket ship. The other girls are on a ride that Stella was too small to ride.
The girls wanted a picture with a llama. This one looked pretty nice.

Battle of the Books

Izzy was in a group competition at her school this past week called "Battle of the Books". She had to read four books and then compete against 13 other groups. They were asked questions about the books they had to read. They did a really good job. They have two more battles throughout the year and then they take the team with the highest scores to state.

Her team. Izzy, Kateri, and Autumn.

Stella is 4

We are so glad that Stella has turned 4. She is already asking when her next party is going to be. I had to break the news to her that is a year away. Stella is such a fun girl to have in the family. She has a very cute and fun personality. We are always laughing at her. She loves to dance and comes up with some crazy moves. I sure do love this girl to pieces.

Fancy Nancy Dress Up was all she wanted for her birthday. It made it really easy to shop for her.
Her Grandma Jeanie gave her the Fancy Nancy doll which she loved.
The final product of all the presents put together.

Stella Girl Turned 4

Stella has turned the big four. She chose to have a Halloween party again this year. It makes it really easy for me. The kids came dressed in their costumes and we started the party with decorating pumpkins. Then we played a game of "pin the nose on the pumpkin", followed by "bat, bat, ghost". (the girls made it up). We opened up presents and ended the party with pumpkin cupcakes. It was fun to see Stella get so excited about every little thing.

Stella is helping me make the cupcakes.
Their was one little boy who actually got the nose right on.
Painting the pumpkins.
One of the many gifts she got.
The group of kids singing to Miss Stella.

Visiting Nammie and the Farm

We had fall break this past week so we decided to go to Safford for a visit. We drove up early in the morning and came back that night. It was a quick trip and the girls were not happy to leave. They had a blast walking around through the cotton fields, playing on the giant slide, feeding the horses, and just exploring. We went to lunch with Nammie to celebrate her birthday and sat around visiting. We ended the day with baths to get all the dirt off before the drive home. We love to visit Nammie and her farm and cant wait to go back again.

We take a picture in front of this gas pump every time we go. I love it.




Jude had no fear of the horses. I was helping Stella and he jumped over the edge into the area with horses. Chad had to jump in and grab him.
Chad pulling them in the wagon. Coming back from feeding the horses. Chad is such a great uncle. He always shows the kids a good time.
Pictures of the kids out in the shop. As you can see, I love all this old stuff.
Jude on an old motorcycle. He loved it.
Everyone was getting a little sick of taking pictures. Can you tell.

Me and the sweetest lady around. I remember Nammie coming to my swim meets and other things that were going on. Even with 70 something grand kids she always made a point to let you know she was thinking of you. Happy Birthday Nammie!!! I love you and I am so grateful of all my memories of you. I love that I get to keep adding more.

It's All Gone

I took Jude to get his hair trimmed because I was so sick of seeing it in his eyes. Well I tried just a cheap place thinking a trim wont be to hard. It was cut not so great. When we got home I had to shave it all off. Even though he still looks cute i just was not ready to see it all gone yet.

Jude in his long do
Jude with the do gone. I think he likes it better.

In Heaven

El Charro opened back up a few days ago. We all met there for dinner. I didn't realize how much I missed that place until my food came and I was in heaven. It was so good that not one drop of food was left on the plates. Even all the kids ate everything. It sure was fun to eat there again.

The gang all stuffed to the max. Me, Scarlett, Izzy, Briley, Mema, Jude, Stella, Bennett, and Ashly. My dad took the picture.
Papa and Scarlett.

Cousin Love

These four kids love to play with each other. They don't get to see each other that often, but I am going to make sure they get together more because they sure do have a good time playing together.

Payden, Stella, Jude (he got into hair jel), and Kotter.

Lunch At Joe's BBQ

We met my aunt Becky and cousins Kandace and Mandy at Joes BBQ. It is a perfect place to let the kids just run around and eat good food at the same time. Ashly was in town along with my mom and dad. We had a good time visiting and catching up on things.

Bennett and Jude (aka Dude)
Lizzy, Nolan and Stella.
Aunt Becky, Kandace, Mandy, Ashly (w/Scarlett), Mema, and Me.

The Cousins (Kandace, Mandy, Ashly and Me).

Camping Trip Part 1

We took our family on camping trip for Labor Day weekend. We went with about five other families. They all had campers and we were the only ones in a tent. We got rained on, but stayed dry all night. The kids loved it and love being able to eat treats and pop freely. It was fun to just let them wonder around and explore. The girls and thier friends had a club house in the trees and Stella found a buddy and never left her side. Jude just walked around looking for pop that someone had left. We are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Me and Jude. We did not expect to be that cold so Walmart came to the rescue for Jude.
Ned and Ruby taking a nap
Stella and a group of girls that were there. Oh and Jude.
Stella eating her lunch.

Camping Trip Part 2

Ned and Jude

Izzy and her buddy Lucky

Briley and Jude enjoying the camp fire.

Stella and her buddy Abby by the camp fire.

Jude and his favorite person Baylee. Just got done eating dinner and saying good byes.

Little Golfer Boy

Jude got a set of plastic golf clubs for his birthday and they have never left his side since. He carries those things with him everywhere. He even tries to take them with him when he is napping. They are all taped up, but that does not bother him. They are still his pride and joy.

How cute is he.
Hole in one.
He also got a tee and bat and he loves that too. I think he loves anything that has a ball involved.

My Baby Turned 2

Jude had some family and friends over to help celebrate turning 2. We love this cute little guy. It is so much fun to have a boy in the house. Jude is full of personality and loves his sisters. He is really into golfing so we got him a golfing cake. He enjoyed being in the spotlight. We did have to light the candles a few times until he figured out what to do with them.



Happy Birthday Jude!!!!!!

First Day of School

I cant believe it is already the first day of school. Summer went by so fast. The girls were very excited to begin school again and to be a year older. Stella is still with her same preschool teacher which she just loves.

Stella ( she calls her shirt the Stella shirt because it has an "s" on it)

Izzy in her first day of school duds. Loves being in the 5th grade. I cant believe my oldest is that old.
Standing in line before school starts.
Briley in her new outfit. She has been one who has always liked school. She can make new friends easily.
Briley has her good friend in her class, so she was very excited about that.

High School Musical

Briley won some free tickets to a "High School Musical" play, from radio Disney. The three girls and I went. It came with dinner and then the musical. Stella was the biggest fan, but we all enjoyed it.

The girls with one of the cheerleaders.
Stella and the cheerleader.
Me and Stella.
Briley and Izzy eating dinner.
Troy, Gabrielle and some fans. (Briley, Izzy and Stella)

Collins Family Reunion

We had a family reunion at Newport Beach. It was fun to get together with everyone. The kids all do so good together and love seeing each other. There was a lot of playing on the beach, bike rides to the pier, and a whole lot of eating.

Stella playing in the sand.
Maicy covered Carter, Stella and Lily with sand. They thought it was pretty cool.
Izzy is trying to surf with Andrews help.
Jude loved the beach. At first he was scared of the water (which was great). Then his dad kept taking him out. By the end of the week we couldn't keep him out.
Riding a wave on the air mattress.

Collins Family Reunion Part #2

The girls loved catching the waves in the air mattress.
Briley and her creatures she found. She hangs out at the rocks all day looking for anything that moves.
Papa and a huge crab.
He put it on his head. By the way the crab did end up pinching him.
Izzy and Maicy covered their feet with sand, so when the water came up they couldn't move. (not sure why the picture didn't turn)

Collins Family Reunion Part #3

Trying to get a picture of all the grandkids. As you can see it is very difficult to get a child happy.
Dad and Jude out on the beach
Hailey and Izzy in yellow.
A family picture on the life guard stand.
Hailey, Izzy, Maicy, Kiley and Briley striking a pose.

4th of July

We were in Cali for the 4th of July. My parents had just arrived the day before we were all together as a family. We went to the beach and ended the day at a firework show that was great.

The family sporting red, white, and blue. Proud to be an American.
This is the Collins family. Brooke, Mom, Ashly, Amy, Dad, Dustin, Erin and Jono.
The kids patiently waiting for the fireworks to start.
Watching fireworks. Jude was not to sure this year if he liked them or not.
Two tired kids with their blankets and paci's. Ready for bed.

Mema and Papa Return

Mema and Papa return home from Moscow Russia. It was a long three years to have them gone. We are so glad to have them home with us again.

Jude waiting with his balloon. He had never met Papa yet and was very excited.
The grandkids all waiting for Mema and Papa.
Izzy making a really cute face.
Mema and Papa just walked off the plane. Don't they look happy.
All the grandkids with their signs they made.

Crawdad Hunting

The John Family invited us on another fishing outing. This time we went to the river (a secret spot) to go crawdad hunting. You have to do it at the perfect time of day. Which is when it gets dark. The kids had a fun time playing in the water and eating.

Rainbow that was visible on our drive to the river. I thought it was a pretty one.
Uncle Ben and Jude.
Aunt Ginger with the three crazy ones. Stella, Mylie, and Kotter
The older bunch. Izzy, Carson, Briley and Paden

Cooking and Sewing

A neighbor freind and me did a sewing class with the girls. We tried to teach them how to sew an apron. I of course could not take it and ended up doing most of it myself. Next time we need to start with something easy like a bag or pillow. Next the girls wore thier aprons and we had a cooking class. We started simple with cookies. It was a fun activity to do during the summer and they really enjoyed it.

The Opfel girls and the Brooks girls.
Briley, Izzy and Stella modeling thier aprons. I did let them pick the fabric.
Stella eating the flour. For some reason she thinks it tastes good. She must not have efficient taste buds.
Briley just added the sugar.
Izzy is trying it out to make sure it tastes good.

Summer Swimteam

I signed the girls up for swimteam this summer. It started with a few days of crying and wanting to quit, but in the end they really liked it. They did a great job.

Izzy just finishing a race.
Izzy with her ribbons.
Briley with her ribbons.
Briley just finishing her race.
Briley swimming the back stroke.

Doing Some Family Fishing

Last week we met Preston John(brother-in-law) and his kids at this park to do some fishing. I sat in the lawn chair watching the sun go down and of course watching my kids to make sure they didn't fall in, get hooked, or touch the stinky water. Stella for sure got her feet in.

The beautiful sunset
Briley sitting very patiently waiting for a bite
Jude again was not allowed out of the stroller. Poor kid is use to it though.
Stella just doing her dance. Not to interested in fishing.
Izzy was a little frustrated that she was not catching anything. I think my kids were not loving it. It was something they had to wait for, which never came.
Ned and the pro fisherman Preston.

Wild Animals

We had dinner at my sister-on-law Gingers house a couple of weeks ago. While we were there we found a wild baby rabbit. All the kids had to take turns holding it. My kids are in heaven when ever we go over to the John's house because they always have some crazy pets. That animal with Jude is their pet rat. It's pretty gross if you ask me. They have dogs, goats, horse, and a tank filled with fish, frogs and crawdads. Now can you see why my kids are in heaven.

Getting Pampered

For Easter, the bunny left the girls gift certificates to get their toes and nails decorated. The loved every minute of it. Briley chose a red color with white flowers. She looked gorgeous.

Izzy asked if they could get this done all the time. Just like only once a month. Wouldn't that be nice. She chose a hot pink color with black flowers, believe it or not. She was so excited how they turned out.

Beautiful Peaches

One afternoon we were driving by a farmers market not to far from our house and saw a sign that said "pick your own peaches". So we stopped and let the kids each pick a bag full. They loved picking them and trying to find the biggest one. They were just how I like them. Very hard and crunchy.

Jude just got to mostly watch, but stilled enjoyed it.
Stella was grabbing every peach she could reach wether it had bugs in it or not.
Briley did a good job finding the perfect peach.
Izzy found some good ones too.
Trying to get a group shot. It was hard to keep everyone still when chickens were running around us.

Stella's Preschool Graduation

Stella graduated from her first year of preschool. She loved going and learned so much. I still get asked everyday if she has school today. Sorry Stella not until summer is over.

She made a cute little graduate.
Stella and her best bud Sophie
Her cute book of stuff the did in school. She wants to be a ballerina when she grows up.
Stella and Mrs. Rosie her favorite teacher in the world.