Tis the Spooky Season

From L to R, Elle's Jack the pumpkin King that she and Audrey designed and Audrey carved, Reese's Harry Potter pumpkin that he drew and Sam Carved, my owl pumpkin, design and carving by yours truly, and Audrey's classic Jack, designed and carved by her.

Elle and I went to visit Grandma on family trick or treat night. We had great fun wheeling Grandma around with us trick or treating to all the rooms in the assisted living facility. Grandma loved it too, getting a ride while eating candy. Also, for those who didn't know, Sam's been nursing a hurt knee he damaged while playing dunk ball.

It was a fun night!

Wonderful World

I finally got us up the canyon to enjoy the fall colors. Just in time too because only a couple days later we woke up to snow in the mountains. I was feeling a little tired still ( from my ongoing bought with pneumonia), but the kids were happy to be out and it was fun to spend some time with just my kiddos. I kept telling them to turn around so I could take a picture, and eventually this is what I got.

I LOVE this, every year, we go up to the same place and every year, there's the heart shaped group of trees! So cool, it's like a little I love you from above :)

This month Sam and I celebrated 12 years of being married! I cannot believe we've been married that long! We've had some pretty great adventures and I can't wait to have many, many more with my love. Anywhere he goes, I'll follow. I Love you honey! Thank you for 12 amazing years!

Happy Anniversary!

What fall pictures?

October has been declared my most favorite month. I love the weather, I love that the school year's already going and settled, I love lots about it. I especially love taking my kids out into the great fall weather and getting some adorable pictures. Which is why this year, I've been a little sad about being holed up in the house with what we now know is pneumonia. Yup, that's right. No fun. I have enjoyed all the yummy meals and treats that my good friends have shared with me though. Looking on the bright side, this gives me a chance to catch up with forgotten end-of-the summer and Sept. happenings. First, Labor day weekend, we went to Provo, had a great time with family, hiked up the canyon and enjoyed the weather. In the cave picture below you can also see Nigel's sister, Gidgette.

Sam planted a garden this year, and oh boy has it been productive! We've really enjoyed picking our own produce and also pictured here is an awesome entree Sam came up with. The black pasta is squid ink pasta from the Italian market. They tried it and liked it! Parents : 1 Kids : 0

My beloved Grandma has now been moved into an assisted living facility. She's struggled some with the move but in all, it seems to be working out. The kids marvel at the plentiful activities available as advertised in the elevators, such as: Wii tournements with Chad, and other exciting options. The kids love to see her, and they also love to take her walker for a spin.

We have also had some last minute swimming fun with our good friends the Roberts. They were nice enough to invite us to their mom's house to swim. All of our kids have so much fun together, we love spending time with them. As seen below, Reese and their pug, Moose, having a discussion.

It's been a fun and eventful fall, and oh, at the end of Sept. Elle taught herself how to ride a two wheeler! Way to go Elle! That was the easiest one for me yet!

Now maybe I can get back outside someday.

She's Five?

Wow, how we've come this far so fast is baffling. Elle turned five today on 10-10-10. What an absolute joy she's been for us and we're so grateful to be this spunky little girls parents. Elle recently told me that her two favorite things are Annie and Shirley Temple. She LOVES to sing and sings along to the entire Annie soundtrack, insisting each morning that I "go for a little drive" after dropping off the big kids at school just so she can keep singing in the car. P.S. that shiner she's sporting in the picture is thanks to my makeup artistry.

Naturally she wanted an Annie birthday party which at first was easier said than done. After a lot of brainstorming we finally came up with as Annie of a party as you can get. We invited our guests come dressed as orphans. Elle and her friend Cali got especially into the whole "tough kid" role. ...It was pretty entertaining.

We started off the party watching a few of the songs from the movie and the girls were encouraged to act out the scenes. They had a bunch of fun jumping around like the orphans do. Then we played Ms. Hannigan Says (think Simon says), orphan-orphan Annie (duck- duck goose), had a gunny sack jumping contest and a sweep the balloon relay race.

Here they all are, the whole crew. The party favor bags (or Chinese take-out boxes rather) were so much fun for me to put together. We found feather boas, giant old fashioned lollipops, a little toy mouse (hamster?), and a classic Hershey's bar; along with very l-o-u-d party horns (my apologies to the parents).

This little girl was pretty lucky. At the last minute I sent out the call to two of my friends who happen to be excellent seamstresses. Could they make an Annie dress in less than one week? My friend Sabra came to the rescue. We bought the fabric Tuesday, and she handed me this dress on Friday. Awesome, and it made for one happy 5 year old Elle. Thank you! Oh and that white dog she's holding? She named it Sandy, of course. :)

Elle's other big surprise was that she'd mentioned wanting a Barbie Jeep for months now. Every time she talked about it I told her they were just too expensive. I did however begin to check the local classified adds just in case. I found one with a new battery but the owners warned it was very "well loved". When I arrived to pick it up I was pretty disappointed with how sun bleached and worn out it looked. The woman selling it caught a glimpse of some school fundraising coupon books in the back of my car and offered to trade the jeep for one. I agreed and gave her the one I had bought. Long story short. The little jeep got put through a restoration and redecoration and it turned out fabulous! She was so surprised which made it all worth it.

After these quick five years have flown by, I still cant help but think of this little one once in a while, and remember how not too long ago she was still my little baby.

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

Beachy Keen

Ah yes, the relaxation only a sandy ocean beach can bring. It really is so wonderful to be around and because I've put off posting about all of this for so long; I'm now frantically trying to get caught up before Elle's rapidly approaching birthday. Which is the polar opposite of relaxing on said sandy beach. SO, these posts will have few words, but I did get through seven, count em SEVEN! posts tonight. May your strength be with you to endure getting through to the bottom.

Don't make fun of me for being dressed in the collage above. In my defense, I did get wet, just not until we'd taken a picture of course. I'm no dummy.

In the collage below you can see what it looks like when a storm blows in. I couldn't believe how drastic the change was, and very visible!

Ah yes, the family portrait the day we left. We tried and tried with a good intentioned employee to get one decent picture on the beach. Bless his heart, he couldn't figure out how to get the timing; which is why each of those pictures consist of someone staring at their feet or gazing off into the distance. Finally before we left, in one last stitch effort, I asked an nice man sitting with his toddler and baby if he could take one for us. One shot and bam, this is what we got. Thank you whoever you are! I did tweak the color to intensify it, but otherwise this was the work of an unrealized pro ;)

Air 88 degrees Water 85 degrees

Yes, the waters off the very most southern tip of FL really are that warm. The resort we stayed in had a daily temp report written on a chalk board where you rent your beach chairs. Did I mention I love this?

Here's some pictures of Elle "commanding the waves" She was so content and didn't even seem to mind the salty taste of the waves.

Here's Reesey, my little stud muffin boogie boarder. So much fun, and he was really good at it!

Audge, a stud-muffin-et. The kids could've stayed out there forever if we let them. One downfall to salt water and sand-filled waves? They wash off your sunscreen. We were all a little pink the first day, but we learned our lesson.

We heart Epcot!

Another of Disney's triumphs! The amazing Epcot

As you'll see in the posts below, Epcot gives you a taste of different countries around the world. Here we are in "Italy". Now to save up for the real thing!

Fun fun days and equally fun nights!

Distant Places and Foreign Lands

Epcot Cont...

I rule with an iron fist

Couldn't resist snapping this of Elle, what a beauty!As in many of the parks, Disney goes above and beyond to replicate (and educate about) different parts of the world. We highly recommend it!