Happy Halloween

Well, we seem to be over the H1N1 and
ready for some Halloween fun. Joey is Spengler, a ghostbuster. Angel is Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.













You can see Patrick in the back of the first picture. He has terrified both kids with that mask, jumping out of dark rooms. Both of them have been in my arms crying from the incidents. He promised today is the last day (Thank Goodness).




We will be keeping it simple, just a small amount of Trick-or-Treating then we will hang at home and pass out the candy.

Halloween Stuff

It's that time of year again. The time for the carving of pumpkins and the throwing of goo. At least that's what happened this year. Patrick thought it would be fun to rub the slimy pumpkin guts on the kids.



Of course my nature tells me to reprimand but when Patrick continued his festivities I finally decided to join in. I grabbed a handful of slimy, stringy, seed filled pumpkin guts and threw it into his face, then of course I kept my distance to avoid retaliation. The pumpkins ended up turning out but they are already in a slump on the porch. The weather has been up and down and so the jack-o-lanterns have been scorched then nearly frozen repeatedly for a week.




Another fun festivity that is quick becoming a tradition is our visit to the Scarecrow Festival.



For the second year we enjoyed spending time with the Arnolds and we were joined by the Marshall's this year we had a great time. We missed the Rhoton Family though.


The kids made rockets and shot them off repeatedly. We jumped and played on all the bouncers, rode cars and just hung out.

Joey loved trying to aim kettle corn into Mrs. Marshall's mouth, one of the highlights of his day. It was good times! I hope we do it again next year.

Angel's First Field Trip

Angel went on her first field-trip a couple weeks ago. Just like Joey's kindergarten class they went to the Gateway Discovery Museum.












It was a lot of fun. I had a small group of three young ladies to keep my eyes on. Angel of course was an absolute ham the whole day. She loved it.

Joey is Seven!

Happy Birthday Joey! Joey sported his seventh birthday with a mouthful of missing teeth. He recently lost his two front teeth giving him a great vampire look for the upcoming Halloween. Joey's party was a small get together at home. We invited many but few came. It was fun though. Joey had fun with Madison, Brenden, Davin, Stryder, and Angel. The kids especially loved the mini recorders from the pinata, (the parents, not so much).

This year Joey has been a busy boy. He participated in Summer Stars a great reading program. He had previously graduated from first grade where he had an amazing teacher Miss Cochrane! Now he is loving second grade with Miss. Layne.

Joey played soccer and basketball last year and hopes to participate in Basketball this year. He loves the Utah Jazz and can't wait until the games start. Joey's favorite snack right now is Zebra Cakes, which he brought to class on his birthday (thanks Gramma).

Family Pics by Clint

Clint's family vacation kicked off with family pics in the canyon. I decided to take advantage and dress up in a black shirt and blue jeans like the kids. Clint agreed to take our pictures in his backyard and here they are...

Thanksgiving Point Fun

We had some fun times with the Rhoton family at Thanksgiving Point last week! I had a little fun playing with the pictures. Don't the kids look menacing here? This is in the bear cave in the Children's Discovery Gardens.


Cute picture of the baby Peej, looking like she might need to make a pit stop.










Then there's Blayne who is scaling rocks. Blayne is an adventurous young man. Poor Lindsay, Oh the worries she'll worry :-).








Next, we headed into the main gardens which wouldn't be complete without our beloved water fights in the Secret Garden. Joey loves spraying other people.







Kristyn is so good to my little Angel! My babies spend a lot of time with the Rhoton family while I work and go to college. I am so thankful that they care so much for Joey and Angel. They are an amazing family!

4th of July

This year we skipped the parade and the traffic. I felt a little guilty in the morning for skipping the parade but no one wanted to wake up. Patrick and I have been looking at houses recently and found two that we just loved. As we were driving around today though, we decided and put in an offer on a dream home, and it was accepted Yay! We came home and played outside at the park and then in the backyard in the kiddie pool. It ended up being a very nice, exciting but relaxing day. That evening we went outside and lit our own fireworks (and again skipped the festivities). I have to say though, I really enjoyed doing our own fireworks. The kids got so excited, they smiled and clapped way more then they did last year at Thanksgiving Point. Our cute neighbors came out and we lit a few more fireworks and sparklers. It was good times. We may have started a new tradition.

Boston

We arrived in Boston last night and spent the evening downtown. It all started with public transportation.... We went to buy our ticket for the week before heading downtown and this guys who had followed us in the building started asking for money. We all said no. One of our group members was given a ticket that worked for a few days and gave this to him, thinking it would rid us of him. Our group continued getting passes for the week and he hung around. When we got on the train, he did to (Did I mention he was wearing sunglasses the whole time, at night?). He seemed to stalk one girl in our group, asking questions and making comments. Then he followed us to where we got off. We also noticed him signaling another passenger, who looked shady. This was our first experience... it made us a little nervous to walk alone in the park that we have to go through to get to our hotel, but it's been all good since.

Good Times

The kids and I had a fabulous weekend. Friday we went to the movies with Natalie and saw the Witch Mountain Movie (Take no offense, but Dwayne Johnson is a hottie).

Saturday we had a great time hanging out with Jody and Sean. We went to Bridal Veil Falls. Madison fell in the water. Her dad, Sean decided to get himself wet to make her feel better, Brrrrrr!

Sunday we spent most of the afternoon at Clint's working on the Seussical program. In evening the kids went to Grandma's and ended up staying two days. They got spoiled and enjoyed playing with their cousins.

My Papa

Today my Papa died.

He was 87 years old, born on April 11th, the same date as my brother Chris. He was a special man, so dear to me that my son bears his name. He worked hard and gained respect of people all over the world. He lived the last 12 years without the love of his life, my grandmother, Ruth.

Some of my fondest childhood memories were of my time with my Papa. I could always be myself around him. He adored my ridiculous childhood performances in his living room. For years, he allowed me to climb him for what we called "up and overs". With him I caught mice, rabbits (to pet and release, of course) and explored many interesting places.

When I was very young my mother and I lived with my grandparents. My Papa adored me so much , he told my mom, that I kept him out of the bars at night.

I am so thankful for my mother and Aunt Tricia who went through so much to help my Papa. I am so glad that my children and I were able to spend time with him at Christmas.

Thank you Mom and Tricia, for making it possible for us to share in some of his last days. I have missed Papa for many years. Love is never easy, but definitely worth it.