It’s that time again!

One of the highlights of our year is the Annual Halloween Bash at Jake and Liz’s house. This year was no exception. They really know how to put on a party, including fantastic decorations, fun games, a costume contest, and my favorite holiday meal of the year…navajo tacos.

We chose a sailor theme for our family this year... homemade costumes all around. I finished the last one on Friday night.

All the costumes were outstanding and it was so fun to see what everyone came up with.

Chris, as in Christopher. He looked so fancy. AND he won the costume contest!

It was so fun to visit and play games and be together. We have a great family, yes we do.

PINATA! Beau wouldn’t dream of putting down his toy so he could get a better grip…

Popeye OR Brutus, you’re still the man for me!

Jake and Liz, you did it again! What a fun party and what a fun way to get this holiday season rolling!!

Saturday is a special day

Last Saturday, we decided to pack in the fun. First, a nice morning run. Then, Joe took Colin to a cousin’s football game. As soon as they got home, we all headed to Italian Village for a little calzone action (and pizza and spaghetti and salad) with Justin and Grandma and Grandpa.

After that, it was road trip time. All the way down to Provo. There was a bit of traffic for the game, but it wasn’t too bad. (Although the freeway was pretty ripped up). We could hear the roars from the stadium as we walked on campus to the BYU Bookstore, you know, to do a little Christmas shopping. We practically had the place to ourselves.

We found some great treasures there and while the kids won’t necessarily be surprised, they will be very excited when they finally get their stuff. And who goes to the BYU campus without stopping at the creamery?

Beautiful day, beautiful kids, beautiful campus. Go Cougars!

We came home and watched the rest of the slaughter, I mean game. Nothing like finally using your back-up quarterback to get the season going. Way to go Cougs!

Colin drew a picture to celebrate our adventure:

Time for a little rest before the big party!!

We love brother, yessirreeee…

By Colin

I came downstairs the other day and Colin handed me this book. “I made it for you, Mom!”

I just have to share:

book of stuff that you need to do.

be strong

be happy

be on the same team

be nice

go to church

go to the temple

have fun

listen to mom

He used this food mold that Mark and Sue brought back from France as his model for the main character. We love the fleur de lys around here, so Colin wrote a book about it. Thanks buddy for making one of my all-time favorite books in the world!!

Jury Duty

Recently I was summoned to jury duty. I thought I’d go through the selection process and be home by lunch, but the lawyers had other ideas. For some reason, I was selected to serve on a four-man jury and perform my civic duty.

I stayed, I learned a lot, and I observed a lot. We deliberated for five hours on the future of this young man, and determined there was reasonable doubt. So the verdict? Not guilty.

This is the very short version of a very long day. As I drove home with a pounding migraine, I was grateful for many things:

- I do not have a job in the legal or law enforcement fields.

- There are great people who work very hard every day in the legal and law enforcement fields.

- The power of repentance.

- Our country’s legal system. While it’s not perfect, it’s a pretty good effort at what we are trying to accomplish as a nation.

- My parents for staying with my kids all day, so I didn’t have to worry about them at all.

- My husband and my kids.

I didn’t even see Annie at all that day, I left before she woke up and got home after she went to bed. Luckily I got to see all the other kids, but I missed my Annie. The next day, Joe showed me this picture he took while I was gone. I guess she missed me too.

That was the hardest, and maybe most life-changing $18.50 I ever earned.

Young Women in Excellence. Whoa.

My oldest daughter is turning 12 in exactly one week from today. I know it’s true, I can read the calendar, I can do the math, but I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around that fact.

Because she is entering the Young Women’s Program so soon, they invited her to Young Women’s in Excellence, a program put on by the leaders for the girls. They put on a fabulous skit using witches dressed as each Value Color: white for Faith, blue for Divine Nature, red for Individual Worth, green for Knowledge, orange for Choice and Accountability, yellow for Good Works, purple for Integrity, and gold for Virtue. They added dry ice to colored water to match the values, creating a beautiful visual. The young witches were faced with evil (the bad witch), but still chose to stay on the straight and narrow. And, of course, the bad witch eventually came around to the light.

The leaders made caramel apples with M&M’s of each value color stuck to the bottom. They created an atmosphere of fun and spirituality. I am truly excited to have Dakota join these fine young women and their leaders.

I am so grateful for the Youth Programs set forth by the church. What a great help to us as we try to “raise our kids in enemy territory”, as Elder Bednar put it.

So, go ahead and grow up sweet Dakota…as long as you are part of something this wonderful!

Gluten-Free Expo

It’s that time of year again. Yep, the gluten-free expo.  Imagine my surprise when I went to the website to get more information and saw myself in the video from last year’s expo!  Boy, I wish I would’ve spent a little more time on my hair that day….but whatever…

This year, it was advertised a lot more and was therefore WAY more crowded.  There were still great vendors, great activities for the kids, and great samples.  But there were also a lot more people.  Some were looky-loos that had come for the Home Show or the Bead Show (both held at the same time in the expo center), and probably had no business being there except for their curiosity. 

So, with all the kids in tow, we weren’t able to visit the booths like I would’ve liked, but we still got a yummy pancake breakfast and lots of good samples.  I mostly tried to get coupons and information from certain vendors, and the kids were able to enjoy the peripheral activities….like the bounce house and banana races. 

Joe was a good sport and entertained the littlest ones so I could get my coupons.  They love “playing” with Dad!  Wall squats, anyone?

Every minute was worth it for our Gluten-Free Girl!!

Thumbs up, banana-man!