HO! HO! HO!

Have you been a good little girl this Year?

Bailey has a serious case of the nerves every year when she knows Santa is going to be visiting. She asked me over and over if I thought she had been good this year. By the way does Santa look familiar to anyone? Bailey got up close and personal and still has no idea that the Santa at the church party is someone she knows really well!!

Matt's A "Good EGG"

Matt had his 14th birthday last week. Yes, ladies he is now eligible to go to the church dances!! We started off birthday morning at 6:30 am with a birthday breakfast at The Good Egg with Grandma and Grandpa Gooch. A fitting start for a birthday, for a boy, who is such a great kid!

Matt then had his first ever volleyball game after school, he was a beast at the net!

Bailey wrapped up a special gift for him, one of her books...

Matt wanted a four wheeler but we decided on a two wheeler...He got the cadillac of mountain bikes.....

We then went to Maddie's volleyball game....

and then came home and sang happy birthday and had cake.

Really, we could not be more blessed to have such a great kid as Matt. He is a great brother, friend, athlete, and student. He puts up with Bailey and all her demands and we looooovvvveee having him in our family. It has been a fun 14 years so far!!

Matt's stats: He is 6'2 and wears a size 13 shoe, not sure about the weight but definitely on the long lean end of the spectrum!

I Got A Feeling.....Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night!!

Yeah, I'll admit it I love that song, we crank it when it comes on the radio!! That's how we started our Halloween 2009....

....Malibu's Most Wanted...

Matt especially loved the t-shirt that he found at Saver's!

Bailey really wanted a broom to go with her witch costume and was wishing it could fly!

Bailey dove right in,literally, in cleaning out her jack o lantern. She had the guts up to her elbows. It looks like she has some wicked idea to do something to Matt...

We hit up the trunk or treat at the church and then did some neighborhood trick or treating with Bailey. Matt headed off with his gang of gangsters to go roam the neighborhood. Maddie was present also, dressed as a hippie, but would not get in any pictures......teenagers!

FIREBALLS!!

Who made that great looking banner.....that would be me!!! Just doing my part to pump up the Fireballs.

Water break!!

A little girl talk.....

mixing it up with the boys....

She's got a break away!!!

Bailey has had a fun soccer season. She has so much fun at practice, loves playing all the games her coach comes up with at practice....king of the court, sharks and minnows, soccer ball tag.... she loves it all and has so much fun with her teammates. She's scored a few goals and is a defensive beast. If she scores a goal she gets a reward of chick fila, or buffalo wild wings. Missy loves her chicken!!

Football Pics

I got a fancy new camera which I tested out on Saturday at Matt's game. I still have much to learn!

Bailey's Lastest Pet

A few weeks ago, Bailey woke up bright and early and went out to check her little garden. She came running in to wake me up to show me the caterpillar she found eating the leaves on her pepper plant. She was so thrilled to have found such a big bug, and could not wait to put it in her bug catcher. This bug was well cared for, she would go and get it fresh leaves to eat, take it out for some fresh air, and it even went on a few walks. She would let it crawl all over her arms. This went on for about a week and then we put it outside so it could make a caccoon and become a moth. She was not a happy camper when she had to let it go! She also caught several lizards this summer that she kept as pets for as long as they survived. She wants a pet so badly she has resorted to bugs and lizards.

My Lack of Blog Posts

I am going to be better about documenting our life!! I don't know why I think I have to have the perfect pictures and story to go along with them before I actually sit down to write about it. Every post does not have to be the perfect blog post. I also want to make sure I am documenting both sides of my family equally, it is very easy to talk about my side (the Gooch side) but I have not been as diligent in blogging about Ben's side of the family. I want my kids to have a history of all the parts of our family. I have also been thinking a lot about this past summer. We tried to pack in as much family togetherness as possible before Riley left on his mission. It is still so hard for me to comprehend that we won't see Riley for two years. Gosh, those 19 years went by so fast! Here are the pics from the MTC. That morning we got up, finished Riley's packing, gave him a blessing, stopped for some breakfast and then dropped him off. It went by so fast. We figured we didn't need to dress up in church clothes at the MTC since we only had about 5 minutes there at the most.We stopped at Great Harvest for some cinnamon rolls and a Jamba Juice that morning. They have changed their cinnamon rolls they are not as good as before ...just letting you know!!

Our last hug goodbye......
We took a quick picture before we got in the drop off line......

We took some of Riley's friends out to lunch the day before for one last shebang at the Brick Oven. He only hugged the boys! We love you Riley and are so proud of you!!

July and August 2009

We had a great end to our summer- 2 family reunions and a trip to Utah to take Riley to the MTC. The first reunion was the Bushman Family Reunion in Pinetop and Snowflake Arizona. We celebrated Grandpa Bushman's 80th birthday and had a great time visiting with brothers, sisters, inlaws, and cousins. I am so glad I am related to all these people and that my children have opportunities to get to know their relatives better and hear the family history stories and experience the many talents of their cousins. I loved all the late night talking sessions. The highlight for me was the temple session with Riley and my parents, and most of Ben's family and parents. A big thanks to all those who were there, it was an awesome night. It was wonderful to celebrate Grandpa's 80 years - he has lived an exemplary life so far. What great people they both are.

We got home and a few days later had Riley's farewell. Seven out of eight of my brothers and sisters and their families were there to support Riley. I volunteered all the men and teenage boys to sing "Ye elder's of Isreal" as part of the program. Riley gave a great talk and then we had a farewell party with family, school friends, and some friends from BYU later that night.

The next day we started shopping and packing the cars for our Gooch Reunion in Mexico. We had a fun time playing at the beach, swimming, eating, visiting, and having a Harry Potter fest at night watching 1 thru 5. The kids were exhausted at night!! We had quite the excitement this year and got to test out the mexican emergency clinic to get my mom's eye stitched- she had a tumble and a nice purple eye, my dad got in a small car accident- not his fault- we now know to not be nice and call the police no matter what, and a few minor car problems. All in all, it was a blast. All the big boys took Riley out one night to the beach and we don't know what took place!! We came back on Saturday night, Riley was set apart as an elder on Sunday night, and we headed for Utah on Monday morning. We were busy till the bitter end with Riley!! Let's just say when they say curb side drop off at the MTC, that's what it is. We had a few minutes to say goodbye and then he was hustled off.

There were so many other fun things we did at the reunions: the parade, rodeo, eating mangos and tacos at the pool, GOOD TIMES!!!!