Happy Halloween 2009!

We had so much fun in the weeks leading up to Halloween and on Halloween day. Rosie and Bud went to several parties and did many fun activities with friends and at school. At one party, Bud and his friends carved pumpkins. Bud carved a big "U" in his and then won the prize for the "worst school pumpkin", all his friends are BYU fans! Rosie has worn her costume so much, and is so rambuncious while wearing it, that it needed repair after each use. Coleman enjoyed dressing up in his costume for library class and at preschool. On his way to school he yelled out, "BYU rocks!" I reminded him that he is dressed as a University of Utah football player and comes from a very loyal and fanatical Utah family. He amended his chant and yelled, "BYU rocks, Utah rocks! They are both rocks!"

Rosie decided she would be a witch right after Halloween last year. We bought her hat, socks and spider jewel at Gardner Village. I made her skirt using directions from Laura, who makes Macy's costume every year. I also put together the scarf and we bought the broom from Target. She loves it and looked really cute!

Bud, of course, wanted to be a Utah football player. The jersey is new, everything else is from last year. This is either his fifth or sixth year dressing as a Utah football player. We decided that we had to dress Coleman as a football player also, we already had the uniform! He really wanted to be a zombie with a yellow shirt and yellow eyes, who knows where that idea came from. Our school allegiance prevailed and we think the boys look great!

On Halloween night Jono and I dressed up as University of Utah fans going to a black-out game, then we went to the game! Jen F. was in charge of Halloween and she took Rosie and Coleman trick-or-treating (Bud was sick, he stayed home and watched the game on TV). The trick-or-treaters had so much fun! Coleman was amazed that so many people were giving away his favorite Reese's candy bar, and he started counting how many he was getting. Several of the people answering the door took a look at his costume and told him to rush to Rice-Eccles Stadium, he was needed in the game! Rosie was so excited that they went to so many houses, we usually only hit a handful. An exciting night was had by all, except poor sick Bud.

Happy Halloween!

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Cousins' Halloween Party

We had a fabulous Halloween Party with our cousins at Laura and JD home, earlier this week. We love to get together and it was especially fun with our aunt and her kids and grandkids. We had yummy food, stirred up a witch's brew, the kids painted a wooden mask and played old fashioned Halloween games. It was a spook-tacular night!

The kids loved adding eyeballs, worms, shriveled rat's brains,

a giant toad's heart, and crushed bones to the witch's brew.

Our cousins Joe, Julie and Julia, with Julia's baby LeRoy. JD is in the background and Mason in the foreground. We are praying for Julia's husband Danny who was in a horrible accident.

Haley, Jonny (he was dressed as a pumpkin earlier in the evening) Greg, and Laura

Rosie loves her sweet cousin Macy

Andrea and Sara with a little Tinkerbell and a little monkey

Two Utah fans (ha-ha Corey really likes the Cougars!)

Above are Will and Bryn

Below are Berkley and Carol

Thanks for planning our fun party, Carol!

Claire, Andrea, Jen F. and Haley

We have been getting together for fantastic Halloween parties for years,

Grandma Mimi and Grandpa Greg would be so proud to see their family!

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Jack-O-Lanterns

Check out the fun pumpkin creations Jono and the kids came up with this year! Last week we bought 83 pounds of pumpkins (a bargain at 9 cents a pound). The cart, full of pumpkins, was so heavy that it tipped over when I was turning it to go into the store to pay. I was able to break the impact of the fall just enough that the pumpkins were not harmed. Frightening!

Then, this past weekend, we cut the pumpkins open, got out all the seeds, and Jono began to carve to order. Bud wanted the word UTES on his pumpkin, and had chosen a very tall pumpkin to use. It turned out awesome! Coleman wanted a Mickey Mouse pumpkin and Rosie chose a frighten ghost pattern for her pumpkin. Jen F. wanted her whole name this year, and it also turned out great. Thanks Jono!

Happy Halloween season 2009!

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Our Canyon Cookout

Last weekend, on a spur-of-the moment whim, we drove up the canyon for a campfire dinner. We brought our own "smokey Joe" grill for hamburgers and hotdogs, and used the campfire for s'mores. Everything was so delicious!

We were so fortunate to find a great campground; it had a fire pit, picnic table, the river close by, and a hill for the kids to explore and slide down. It was very private and right off the main road. The day was warm and the leaves were still bright and pretty. It was a very fun adventure!

The favorite activity for the kids was splitting wood for the fire with an ax. Rosie especially loved it, and she got quite good at it (with a little help from her dad)! The kids also enjoyed throwing things into the fire, and then eventually bringing water from the river to put it out. Coleman recently had a fire safety lesson from real fire fighters at his preschool and was very concerned all the way up the canyon. "My teacher says never play with fire. Call 911 if you see fire!" But, as soon as we got there, he was as fascinated by the fire as everyone else.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place and to be able to enjoy it with family and friends!

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The Class Clown's Pants

We were talking about our day's adventures at dinner recently and Rosie said, "I think Mrs. A is even nicer than my teacher last year, she laughs at all my jokes. She told me that I am the class clown!"

I was horrified, being the class clown is not on my idea of a being a successful student. Bud piped in, "Rosie, I think the class clown is supposed to be a boy." Rosie was quick to retort, "I'm a tom-boy!" (Check out the grass stains on her pants, those rival any stains I've ever seen on a boy.)

A few days later, she had a visit to the principal's office, her second visit for those who are counting. She was, once again, in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was playing with the boys and one of the boys wanted to be tied up to a pole and they used Rosie's scarf. After several of the boys (including one very strong boy) pulled on the scarf, noone could untie it! The duty was called and she cut the scarf in two, freeing the boy. Three kids ended up in the principal's office (including Rosie), in what I think was an over-reaction. Poor Rosie was in tears when I picked her up from school later on, she thought she was in trouble. I think the principal just included her in the talk because it was her scarf. I told her she needs to play with the girls, not the boys!

Coleman cut his hair, again, the little stinker! It's not nearly as bad as last time and luckily he has already had his school pictures taken. When I brush all his bangs to one side, you can hardly tell. His redeeming factor? He is the only one in house besides me who will replace the toilet paper roll when it has run out.

Coleman has always had a very sophisticated palate for such a young child. Here is a picture of him making an egg salad sandwich for breakfast. I boiled some eggs and then he peeled them, put them into a bowl, and mashed them up. Yummy!

We saw Bud's dream vehicle as we were driving down the street yesterday. He made me snap a picture (I wasn't driving). I would love to rent it for his next birthday party, although I doubt he could talk all his Cougar-loving friends into joining him on a jaunt around the town.

By the way, thanks to amazing Spray'n Wash,

I got all those grass stains out of the class clown's pants!

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Fall at the Farm

For our weekly playgroup last week, Sara and I met at Wheeler Farm. (Laura was sick and the Summerhays' couldn't come.) Coleman and Brady ventured off the beaten path and we walked around the trails on the south side of the farm and back around until we came to the large playhouse. The boys loved climbing on the ancient trees adjacent to the playhouse and Abby liked playing in the dirt. It was a beautiful day, and we had a very enjoyable morning! As an afterthought, we saw a few animals on our way back to the parking lot.

The boys wanted to "walk through the corn", and we sent them right in. We soon realized it was a corn maze that we hadn't paid for and had to coax them back out. I'm sorry that I didn't get a good picture of cute Abby; those one-year olds are the hardest to photograph. Maybe next time!

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