Raylee's Kindergarten Artwork

Deer Season

This past weekend Brett, his dad and Chance all went rifle deer hunting. Brett's Uncle Jack, cousin Cale and Cale's father I law were up here too. It was a house full of hunters at night but they had a good, first day when Brett shot a deer from about 550 yards. They had to throw Bob's tag on it, since Brett couldn't find his tags. Luckily we found the tags the next morning hiding underneath our bed. It was kind of a shocking sight to walk outside my house and see a dead deer hanging from a tree. I swear my Friday nights sure have changed since moving to Payson. 

Soccer Star

Bradock has, once again, proven this season that he is a serious soccer star. He is very observant of what's going on on the field and instead of always being in the middle of the mass going for the ball he's strategizing around the group. He always seems to score every game and is a speedy, little runner. It is so fun to watch him and Raylee and I are his biggest cheerleaders:) 

Halloween Party

Saturday night Brett and I got asked to go to the Gracie Lee Haught fundraising Halloween party. Brett isn't really into Halloween and didn't want to dress up. However, after giving him a couple options he agreed to the milkman and 50s pregnant housewife idea. I was so excited about it. I love dressing up and I loved, loved, loved this idea. I think we pulled it off pretty good and we got a ton of compliments. It was a fun night with a a bunch of crazy people. Brett and I actually ended up winning 2 different raffles. We ended up with gift cards galore to restaurants, bowling, the movies, tons of treats and the new movie The Croods. It was a great way to end a fun night. 

Friday in the Valley

Friday afternoon I headed down to the valley for Rachel's Bday dinner that night. I needed to run some errands so my mom and I met up for lunch at Paradise Bakery and then drove over to Babies R Us. I about died laughing when I saw this sign and decided to take full advantage of being an expectant mother. Seriously hilarious! 

That night a bunch of us drove to Phoenix to have dinner at The Duce. It was a really interesting place with a cool atmosphere. The food was very home style cooking with a twist. We had a fun time and I think Rachel enjoyed her Bday. It's always such a blast to hang out with my besties.  

The girls. 

Mutton Bustin Pics

Brett got an email from the rodeo photographer with these absolutely adorable pics of Bradock mutton bustin. They were so awesome I just had to order some. I can't wait to have this unforgettable night forever on our walls:) 

Home Sweet Home

We finally got home late Sunday night from our trip. Since I had an OB appt the next morning I decided to stay the night at the Flaherty's so I didn't have to drive up, back and then up again. Raylee hadn't been feeling very well the last two days and it seemed like her ear drum had burst or something because her ear kept oozing this yellow gunk. Brett got her an antibiotic that Terri started her on and we decided it would be best for her to skip school the next day and just stay with me. Brett and Bradock drove back to Payson that night so Mr. B could get to school the next day. Monday morning, as Raylee and I were getting ready, I got a call from Brett telling me there was no school. It was Columbus day and the Payson school district had the day off. I wish I had just kept Mr. B with Ray and I but luckily Brett was able to arrange it with the McDowells for him to come play for the day. 

My mom picked up Raylee and I at the Flaherty's and I dropped them back off at Sarah and Chance's while I took her car to my appt. It was my 27 week checkup and my glucose test. The drink actually didn't taste that bad. It just tasted like a fruit punch juice. After drinking it I had to wait an hour before they drew my blood. Meanwhile I met with Janice the midwife. Little Mister actually had the hiccups when they were checking his heartbeat. It must have been all that sugar:) I am now up 12lbs total and measuring at about 28wks, which is pretty close to my exact date. Everything is looking and sounding good. 

After my appt I picked up my mom, Sarah's girls and Raylee and we grabbed some lunch before they drove us to Payson to drop us off. It felt so good to be home. We had been gone for over a week and were constantly on the go so I couldn't wait to be home. Nothing feels more like home than taking a quad ride to get the mail. 

Bradock and Raylee were excited to get a fun Halloween card from Uncle Justin. He is always so good at sending us cards for every holiday. 

Flaherty Sibling Reunion

We finally made it to October break and we couldn't have been more excited. A couple months ago all the Flaherty siblings and spouses decided it would be fun to go and visit Tanner and Heidi in Iowa. We arranged it with the grandparents to watch all our kids while we were gone. Yesterday (Sunday Oct 6th) we boarded Allegiant Airlines for Iowa. We were teasing Tanner and Heidi that they would need a trailer to pick us and all our luggage up. We arrived safely and absolutely fell in love with Tanner and Heidi's gorgeous house. Here we are at the airport saying goodbye to our chauffeur, Bob:) 

Today we had fun at the John Deere Pavilion, lunch at Granite City and then later hit up a Segway Tour along the Mississippi River. The Segways were a blast. I was a little nervous to ride one at first but it doesn't take long to get used to them. Technically I wasn't supposed to be riding a Segway pregnant but I didn't mention anything to our guide until we were almost done with the tour. I happen to say I was 6 months prego (which he couldn't believe) and he said good thing I didn't mention that before we started or I would have probably been sitting it out. Im glad I didn't miss out on all the fun. Today was definitely a great way to start our trip. Can't wait for more good times. 

Of course the kids are having a blast at grandma and grandpa's house. I can't believe they have all 8 of them until tomorrow night...bless their hearts. 

Grandma Terri had the kids make a laundry box for each family. This was Bradock and Raylee's artistically decorated box. Apparently the golf and hunting stickers were for Brett and the food was for me...they know us too well:)  

Today (Oct 8th) we took off early and headed to Nauvoo, Illinois to do a session in the Nauvoo Temple. Kiley had the bright idea that we should all just squeeze in Tanner's little Chevy Impala. It was a tight squeeze but we made the 2hr trip. We first had lunch then went to the temple for the 1 o'clock session. Brett and I hadn't done a session in quite sometime (shame on us) so we had never seen the new video that is played. It was so good and so much more emotional and touching. After the session the temple president took is up to the bell tower. Apparently they don't usually take people up there, but he made an exception for us. Afterwards, we took a few pics outside the temple and then headed home. We met Tanner at the house and ordered food in. We were al pretty exhausted from our day but it was fun to go see Nauvoo again. 

Well, today ended up being major dental day. Dr. Brett finally got to be the patient for once. He had to get 2 crowns and 6 fillings (mostly just replacing old amalgam fillings for composite). Poor Brett had to have like 20 shots to keep him numb while Tanner worked on patients in between him. Kiley was a trooper too since she was there helping assist. They sure make one heck of a dental team:) 

My mom took this pic of the kids at McDonalds. They sure are having fun with all their grandparents and cousins this week. 

Of course you can't have a night with the Flaherty's without playing some games. The game of choice most of the time is scum. Brett had gotten this goofy hat at the John Deere store for keeping his head warm while hunting, but apparently it became the President's seat hat. I ended up wearing it a lot:) 

My sneaky little husband snapped this shot of me working out. Brett and I slept in the downstairs bedroom, so it made it convenient to work out in their open basement space. Too bad I had no one that wanted to work out with me. 

Wednesday night Tanner was really excited to show us the Davenport Country Club golf course, where the guys would be playing the next day. It was a beautiful course with tons of greenery and trees. We then had dinner there after our little gold cart ride. The next day the guys played two rounds of golf on two different courses while us girls took a little trip to Galena. It was a cute little town with some fun boutique style shops. 

The kids had a fun time going bowling. Thank goodness Terri had my mom and Aunt Diane there to help. 8 little ones + McKai are quite the handful. 

The kids also joined Grandma Terri's N.E.O. (Not even once) club. They made a promise to not make bad choices, not even once. Such a fun and cute idea. 

Friday morning we headed to Chicago for the weekend. We ended up renting a Town and Country Van so we could all fit and ride together. We stayed in the Sheraton right downtown, which was a great location to everything we wanted to do and see. The Navy Pier was one of our first destinations and we had a ton of fun. 

Our absolute favorite is the architectural boat tour through Chicago. We actually headed out to Lake Michigan first where a lot of us for wet from the windy water blowing over. It was the only time I felt really cold in Chicago. Other than that the weather was great. 

The Chicago view from our boat. 

Of course we did lots of shopping and eating but another attraction we had to visit was the famous Bean. We got some pretty cool pictures there. That night we had dinner at Gino's pizza and did some more shopping. Mike and Kiley ended there trip in Chicago and flew back home Sunday morning. The rest of us drove back to Tanner and Heidi's house so we could fly back out of Moline. After a fun filled week I think we were all ready to get home to our kids and get back to our normal routine. 

Goof troop. 

While we were having fun in Chicago the kids were having a blast at Grady and Carson's football games. Mr. B was dying to wear Carson's gear. He sure makes one cute football player. 

Here is the chaotic Flaherty family room with all the little boys' sleeping bags. The kids couldn't have had more fun. 

Only my in-laws would be brave enough to take all 8 kids to their single adult ward. I guess the kids did pretty good though...thank goodness. 

Sleepy Sleepy!

I love when kids just konk out in the car and especially with blankets over their heads. Raylee even had her hand in the air, holding a toy. Those were two tired kiddos. 

Oh Baby!!

Last weekend I went down to Mesa to finally see the myropractor, Leiland Geiger, about my tailbone pain. I guess my scrotum was definitely out of place and I had some back and neck issues. He adjusted me and felt like I would feel a  huge difference. I was sore after my appt but was told to expect that. I then met up with Rachel at Sauce in Dana Park for lunch. We had a fun time chatting and wondering when her little boy was going to arrive. She had her dr appt on thurs and was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced and she too had seen Leiland earlier that week to help drop the baby. Anyways, after lunch I had a few errands to run before I met up with her and Meegan for a GNO at Chelsee's house. Unfortunately, Rachel never made it that night because she ended up going into labor and headed to the hospital. Meegan, Allison Kerby and I still had a really fun time at Chelsee's house. She had cooked us all this absolutely delicious gourmet dinner and we just had such a blast talking and laughing. We were anxiously waiting to hear from Dave to see how things were going with Rachel. Dave text later that night that she was dilated to a 6, 100% effaced and contracting every 2min. We knew little Fort would be coming soon. Dane made his appearance at around 2am and weighed in at 9lbs1oz. I went to the hospital the next morning to visit. I know he is a good size baby, but 9lbs is still soooo little. Rachel did amazing and both her and baby were doing great. 

Friday night Brett took the kids to the Payson High School Home Coming football game. Raylee's teacher, Mrs. Dailey, was there so they sat by her and her husband for awhile. Bradock had her last year for kindergarten too and we just love her. She is the kind of teacher that lives and breathes for teaching. She has been so wonderful to my kids and a great teacher. I love when you get that kind of teacher that makes you fall I in love with school and learning. 

Growin, Growin