Arizona Big Train Operators

Last night we went to the Arizona Big Train Operators annual open house to check out some trains. Once a year the members open up their backyards to show off their amazing train sets. We only went to one house, but it was incredible!

However, before we were let in to see everything, we had to wait in line on the driveway. So I tried to get a nice picture of the kids in front of the fountain. Apparently Jared didn't want Hayden to sit next to him. We tried again in front of Christmas Train decoration and it turned out much better.Santa was there handing out suckers which my kids were happy to accept.
This backyard has around 4,000 feet of track and hundreds of train cars. The owner started building it in 2005 and he is still expanding. It is believed to be the third largest garden railroad in the United States. In case you were wondering what they do for a living to afford such a fun hobby, and large enough backyard to hold it all, they are the owners of the Tia Rosa restaurants here in the valley.

Smile

I took Allison to get her pictures taken yesterday. I was a little apprehensive considering how it went last time (see picture above). So when the first few looked like this, I was a little discouraged.But with a little bribery with fruit snacks and a good photographer who pretended to tickle her, we finally got some smiles out of Allison.She instisted on wearing her jewelry and holding her "puppy" (that's actually a polar bear, but don't tell her that or she'll get mad.)Her ears aren't really pierced. Those are stickers I got out of the dollar bins at Michaels. Aren't they great?!And wouldn't you know it? My favorite picture turned out to be one that she isn't smiling in. What a beautiful little girl.

Allison is 2!

We celebrated Allison's 2nd birthday on Sunday. Her favorite thing in all the world right now is Shrek, or as she says it, "Ek." So I made her this t-shirt to wear so everyone would know it was her special day.Here she is giving you a better look at it.And here she is pointing out the Shrek ornament on the Christmas tree. If you came to our house, she would make sure you noticed it on the tree.We surprised her with this giant Minnie Mouse balloon when she woke up that morning. I tried to find a Shrek balloon, but the party store had everything but Shrek. But if you look closely you'll see that it's tied to a Shrek doll.Deedum Kober made her this adorable Shrek cake and matching cupcakes. Allison was so excited and loved it all! And in case you were wondering...no, Shrek is not wearing any underwear. Her uncle Adam checked for us and announced that Shrek is green from head to toe! Ha Ha!Happy Birthday Sweet Allison!!

Monday Night Football

Clint and I went to see the Cardinals play the 49ers for Monday Night Football with two of our favorite people. It was our first time at an NFL game and we had a great time. Well, except we were two rows behind "The Most Obnoxious Football Fan In The History Of The NFL." And he only got worse after he had a few beers.
But the 49ers won, so it was a great ending to a fun night!

Date Night with Jared

Jared decided it was time for his Date Night, so the two of us went out to dinner at McDonald's, did some "window shopping" in the toy department of Target, and then he also chose to go to the telescope at the Riparian Preserve. Unfortunately Jared hasn't quite mastered the art of looking through something with one eye while closing the other eye, so he wasn't able to see anything. They had the telescope aimed at Neptune, but it just looked like a small, white circle. Not nearly as impressive as Saturn. So he quickly decided to just go play at the park. We took turns taking each other's pictures. Here are the best ones:

Thankful Tree

For Family Home Afternoon today we made a family Thankful Tree. I made a (really pathetic looking) tree trunk and branches out of brown package paper and the boys helped me cut out a few pages of colored leaves. Then we went to town writing down things we are thankful for on the leaves and sticking them to the tree.

Some of my favorites:
"Air" - Kyle
"Kissie Face" (that's Allison) - Clint
"Myself" - Jared
"Shrek" - Allison
"Disposable Diapers" - Meredith
"Legos" - Hayden

Halloween Dinner

Darlene (Clint's mom) continued her tradition of making an awesome Halloween dinner. Check it out:

Highlights from Halloween

Never Fear...Super Kyle is Here!Here's Hayden showing off his superior ninja moves: Howdy Cowboy Jared!And Little Miss Minnie Mouse Allison:And of course we carved our pumpkins.Kyle chose a spooky, scary face:Hayden really wanted to make a Deathstar pumpkin, like this:But we got him to agree to a Storm Trooper instead:Jared just wanted his to have a happy, silly face:And for Allison, naturally we made a Minnie Mouse jack o' lantern:

Happy Halloween from the Kobers!