Halloween Day 2009

The whole Halloween season this year was kind of a downer. We had so much rain that we missed out on most of our traditional activities. With rain in the forecast for trick-or-treating, we decided to make the most of the other parts of our day.

We began with some yummy GF pumpkin pancakes. I finally found a recipe that we like and re-heats well for breakfast.


Next we carved pumpkins - with a little more care than usual. We were happy with our replica of Zoey the dog and the crazy hair pumpkin.

We all love toasted pumpkin seeds. These were YUMMY!

Happy Halloween!

Spiderella

Cami was the only one in our family to dress up for the Primary Trunk-or-Treat (which was canceled due to rain - aarrgh!). She looked great as Spiderella and had fun helping little Zoey march in the parade. Zoey was the cutest little ladybug and there was even an adorable traveling gnome:)

2009 School Pictures

Everyone had a good school picture this year!
Here they are:

Taylor 7th Grade

Cami 3rd Grade

Dallin 9th Grade

Problem Solved

Major Problem (at least in my book)


Problem Solved!

I surprised Taylor and cleaned it up for her while she was at school. She will be very pleased that she didn't have to do it herself and I think she will like the hooks.

The Cullens

We went to a 40th birthday costume party for our friend this weekend. The party was for the whole family so I decided that we should have a family theme. The easy answer... The Cullens.

We just had to whiten our skin, mess Dallin's hair a little, glam up the girls, and carry around apples. Easy. Of course, only Twilight fans had any idea who we were, but I thought it was fun. This picture was our attempt at the famous Cullen pose. Aren't my kids good sports? We are such goofs!

House Remodel

We actually had a small remodel to our house this summer, but I'm just now getting around to blogging because we just put all the stuff back on the walls. I have to mention what a patient and wonderful person my mom is as she endured the worst week of construction while Ed and I were both at camps with the kids. She and Shawna took care of Cami and the cousins in the midst of lots of dust and noise. Thanks again Mom!

We had a small loft/library put in upstairs to take advantage of some of the wasted space. We also added some bookshelves and arches downstairs to tie it all together.

Before:

After:

We are planning on putting bookshelves on the far wall and the kids are getting a lot of use out of the desk up here. We were thrilled with the way it turned out and love the effect it had on the feel of our home. It feels like it was always supposed to be this way.

The Halloween Nor'easter

Well... it's been raining for a few days with temperatures in the upper 30s. The farm where we have our annual Halloween party called to inform me that no hayrides or bonfires would be occurring tonight. We are really bummed. This was to be our 10th anniversary party. Did I mention that we are bummed?

I decided to lift my spirits by sorting through some old pictures of my cute kids at our Halloween parties. I thought I would share a trip down memory lane.

This is Dallin and his cousin Ben at our very first party in 1999. Shawna made these adorable Batman costumes. We still have bits and pieces of this costume in our dress-up box.

This was 2001 when we had Harry Potter, a pink Poodle, and a tiny ghost. I just remember that Taylor was so hot in that costume and Dallin dressed up like Harry Potter for lots of reasons - I think other years of Halloween too.

2002 - This is one of my favorite pictures - EVER! (Dallin was a Star Wars Jedi)

2003 cracked me up. Dallin was the Security detail for Taylor the Rock Star. He followed her around the party asking people to stay back and give her room. Very funny. Cami was just too cute as a cowgirl. She had a little horse on a stick and didn't stop eating candy for the entire party!

I think this was 2005. We had a 3 Musketeer and a pirate. I think Cami was a character with Pink hair from Lazytown. I know I have a picture somewhere.

2006 gave us another 3 Musketeer, a medieval princess, and a rock star.

2007 (above) and 2008 (below) took us to Winding Brook Farm for Hayrides, fires, corn mazes and no worries about how to fit everyone in our house:)

I think I love our Halloween party tradition because I know it's one of those things my kids will always tell their children, "When I was little we had a Halloween party every year. We would invite all our friends, go on hayrides...." I just like knowing that I'm creating memories.

We all have things that we knew we could count on as a kid. I always knew my mom would have a little treat from Roslyn bakery for me on Valentine's Day. It was just a little thing, but I loved looking forward to it. I always looked forward to my Grandparents coming over for dinner on Christmas Eve and impatiently waiting to open a present from them before bed. Even though it was a lot of work, I loved raking leaves for days and days in our five acre yard. I still remember how it felt and smelled to jump out of the swing in to a big pile of leaves. I remember being jealous of my brothers who got to help start the big fire in the pasture after all the leaves were dumped. I may not remember a lot of things about my childhood, but some things are crystal clear. I hope our Halloween party is one of those things for my kids. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Dallin

Dallin is getting older, spending more time at school and with friends, and noticeably absent from the blog these days. I thought I would just do an update about our wonderful son.

His days begin at 5am. He's up and off to seminary at 5:45 before rushing home to catch the bus at 6:45. He is tired, but really enjoying the experience.

He can still be found like this quite often. There's not enough time to read for fun, but when he can, he does.

This is Dallin's killer fish, Chuck. It kills everything we put in the tank. Creepy.

As soon as Dallin walks in the door from school, he sits down to turn on music before checking Facebook. He just can't understand how I can enjoy having the house silent during the day. I tell him that I use the quiet during the day to prepare myself for the multiple sources of noise all evening:)

BYU is definitely on his mind. Before school started, Ed put the scholarship graph for BYU incoming Freshmen on the wall in Dallin's bathroom. (Yes it was a joke. Ed was teasing Dallin about how we were going to become obsessive parents breathing down his neck about every grade.) It shows GPA and ACT/SAT scores necessary for scholarships. Dallin hasn't taken it down and is determined to get a good start to his high school GPA.

His favorite shirts are a "Y" shirt and this shirt from EFY. For whatever reason, he spills something on it every time he wears it. I have miraculously removed stains from this shirt multiple times.

(I like how he casually posed for this picture;)

Ice Skating Lessons

Cami is always ready for a new adventure. This year she decided to give up Irish Dance and begin ice skating lessons. She, of course, loves it. New friends were made the first week and beginner ice skates are on her Christmas list. The only complaint I have is the fact that I freeze for an hour every Thursday while watching her class. Yes, I know it's an ICE rink, but I just can't seem to put on enough layers to stay warm.

I love the fact that Campbell loves to try new things and meet new people. Her creative mind is always searching for some unexplored part of her world. I took a few pictures before my camera died. Maybe I'll get some video before the session is over. She is picking it up quickly and is working on skating backwards and balancing on one foot.

Jonah Boy

Tricia posted the cutest pictures of Jonah the other day. It reminded me of a time when Ed had him laughing so hard as a baby. It took me a while, but I found a short video of the laughter. I thought Trish and her family would enjoy it - I know it made me smile!

General Conference

I haven't been to conference since Dallin was a baby. I was in the Tabernacle when Gordon B. Hinckley read The Family: A Proclamation to the World for the first time. Very cool. Ed has never been to a live session. We figured it was about time.

The Conference center is just beautiful. So much artwork and beauty all housed in one place! It is always uplifting to be on Temple Square. I get teary thinking about those early saints spending 40 years to build the Salt Lake Temple. They had almost nothing, but they faithfully worked year after year to complete this House of God.


Hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in person is something you can't describe. We had tickets to the Sunday morning session, so we were also able to be present for Music and the Spoken Word. The choir sang two songs that are a tradition in our Stake Choir - My Shepherd Will Supply My Need and Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I was feeling a little emotional and grateful to Linda Davenport for making these songs mean something to me.


The messages shared were amazing. As always, I found that each one applied to me in some way. I will listen to them over and over in the next 6 months and still learn something new each time.

I think my favorite part of conference was seeing the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. The General Authorities and Apostles all come in, seat their wives, and then are seated. After a few moments, they all silently rise as does the congregation of 22,000. Not a sound is heard as the First Presidency enters. What respect for this man of God. It gave me chills and a few tears.


I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to conference. Thanks to my Mother-in-law for taking good care of the kids while we were gone. Thanks also to my sister for having such a great tradition in her family. We are blessed to have the gospel in our lives and opportunities such as this to grow and learn.