Saturday, October 31, 2015

Relaxed Halloween

Today was a relaxed Halloween.  All Jeremy's Halloween shows were done before today so he didn't have to work.
We all got to sleep in (I woke up a few times last night for different reasons, including a couple kids- so it was a good thing I got to sleep in).
The kids had fun playing together.
We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas as a family.
Then we went trick-or-treating to just a few houses, because the kids already got candy at school and at the ward Halloween party last night.
We came home, ate pizza and candy, the kids watched Garfield's Halloween Adventure and the Halloween episode of Studio C, then we sent them to bed.
It was a relaxed Halloween.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Halloween Costumes 2015

For Halloween this year, Nichole dressed up as Ella Enchanted. 
Jr. was a ghast from Minecreaft.
Jr. Jr. was a magma cube from Minecraft.
Lucky was Linus from Peanuts.
I was a witch.
Jeremy had to work so he came late to our ward party.  He had on a Superman shirt and a Batman overshirt.  He called himself The Justice League.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Happy Oatmeal Day

October 29 is National Oatmeal Day.
I made oatmeal muffins to celebrate.
Nobody complained.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Arches With Friends

The day after Scarlet and Dorothy left our neck of the woods was the first day of Fall Break for our school kids.  So we made the drive down to Moab, met up with Scarlet and Dorothy, and all went to Arches National Park together.  We didn't make our annual trip this Summer because Jeremy was doing the balloon wonders so this was a fun treat for us.
Our family at Balanced Rock and their family at Double Arch
 They were still so good with our kids.
 Kids with arches
Hey, kids.  Pose like elephants with the elephant in the background.  (Elephant Butte)
We made it to a lot of places in the park this trip.  At times we separated so we could explore different places and hike at different speeds.
Looking up we could see so much beauty.  Lucky only wanted to look down and play with the rocks and sand on the ground.
At one point, Nichole started making whistling sounds... and something responded.  We're thinking it was a bird, but it happened a few times in the same spot.
Jeremy and the older boys saw several bunnies as the sun started to set.  Nichole, Lucky, and I saw one.  Scarlet and Dorothy didn't see any, but they did see a group of deer.
It was a great trip and I'm so glad we were able to share it with friends.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Happy Birthday, Emily Post

I really couldn't resist.
October 27 is Emily Post's birthday and though I didn't have any plans to go to the library or the grocery store, that changed when Jeremy suggested this way to celebrate.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Happy Birthday, Steven Kellogg

I couldn't resist. 
October 26 is Steven Kellogg's Birthday and I was going to the library and the grocery store anyway.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Visitors- Part 2

After Jr.'s baptism weekend was over, we had some friends, Scarlet and Dorothy, visit us for a few days.  They are from Hong Kong so it was fun to see them with our little blond-haired blue-eyed boy.
They had never been to Utah before so we got to show them some nice things around our area.
We went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.
We went to Bridal Veil Falls and then hiking at Big Springs.
While we were driving to and from Big Springs, we got to see a whole bunch of wild turkeys.  That was fun.
They made us authentic Chinese food and showed us the correct way to eat with chopsticks.
Scarlet is a professional magician and he took time to show us a lot of magic tricks.  Jeremy showed them some balloon designs they both wanted to work on.
They were so good with our kids (and us) and it was a real treat having them visit. 

Saturday, October 24, 2015

My Parents

I know it's not Grandparents Day.  I know it's not Mother's Day or Father's Day.
But I want to take the time to tell my parents how great they are. 
Mom and Dad, you were and are such wonderful parents.  Thank you for being there for me when I was growing up and thank you for being there for me now as I take care of "your" grandchildren- including laughing at me when I call up to complain about my children because now it's "my turn."  It really helps to relieve the tension when things are stressful.
Mom, thanks for being there for me to talk to when I was a kid and thanks for dropping me off so often for play practice and choir trips.  Dad, thanks for helping me survive my chemistry class in high school and for braving the crowds to come to watch me perform in plays and concerts.
Thank you both for the family trips we went on over the years.  Thank you for showing trust in me and being the kind of parents I could trust.
Thanks for teaching the gospel in our home and helping me make the kind of choices that led me to meet my husband.  Thank you for being so loving and welcoming him into our family.
Dad, thanks for treating Mom so well.  It is such a blessing to find a man who treats me as well as you treat Mom and I hope my daughter can find a man like that as well.
Mom, thank you for supporting Dad through the years.  I hope I can do as well with my husband.  I'm trying.
Thank you for making the trip and supporting Jr. at his baptism- and Nichole when she was baptized a couple years ago.
Thank you for your love and example.  I am so grateful every day that you are my parents.
I love you.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Visitors- Part 1

As I mentioned before, we've been busy busy busy lately.  Besides trying to organize things in our home, we've had some visitors.  Jeremy's parents and brother came for Jr.'s baptism and spent several days with us before it.
Some of the many things we did with them were these:
We picnicked at Bridal Veil Falls,
(the boys enjoyed feeding the fish)
went to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City,
and we just really enjoyed them being there to support Jr.
Thanks for the visit.  We love you guys so much.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Scarecrow Festival


Last weekend we went to a Scarecrow Festival at the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.
Lots of scarecrows were brought in by different people or organizations, a lot from different departments at Thanksgiving Point.  It was fun to see what people came up with.
As we walked down the hill, Jr. Jr. kept exclaiming, "Wow.  There are so many scarecrows.  Why are there so many scarecrows?"  We had to keep telling him, "It's because this is the Scarecrow Festival."
One of the scarecrows was advertising the upcoming Dia de Los Muertos celebration this coming Friday and Saturday (October 23-24) at the Show Barn.  I thought that was a clever way of advertising it.
They had other activities going on, though they had to take the bounce houses down because of the weather.
Burlap Maze
We also finally got our chance to check out the Temple of Artemis Garden, new because of the "Wonders of the World" this Summer.

Because of the drizzly rain, when we went home we had hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato bisque from a can.
It was a good family day.