Happy Halloween 2011

Our Halloween festivities were so much fun!  They lasted all week long...

The week beforehand, all the little girls wore their costumes to Ballet class.

Eliza and Sam came with me to watch Ben in his school costume parade on Friday.  (Sammy wasn't feeling very well that day...)  Afterward we went to his class party, which was a lot of fun too!

(Ben was an awesome astronaut!)

On Saturday we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat party at the church.  I was a cowgirl and Sammy was a clown.  Jed's mom, Michel, made this clown costume for Ben when he was 2 years old, and it fit Sammy perfectly this year!  He was the cutest little clown. He wouldn't wear the red foam nose, but he did keep his hat on! :)

On Halloween morning (Monday), Eliza had a Halloween party at our house for her preschool. We invited more friends, and it was a lot of fun. We made handprint ghosts out of white paint, made rice crispy treats and then cut them out with Halloween cookie cutters, danced to The Monster Mash, made jello worms, and ate spiders as a snack.  :)  The kids were really cute. Here is Eliza enjoying her spider!

(I'm pushing out the jello worms... They didn't really work that great, but the kids didn't mind.)

After school on Halloween, we carved our Jack-o-Lanterns. Jed and I had begun this with them during Family Home Evening the previous week, but we didn't have enough time to finish. So I got to do the fun job of carving the faces with the kids while Jed was finishing up his shift at the hospital.  Each of the kids designed six jack-o-lantern faces and then picked one of them for Mom to carve.  Here is Eliza's. Notice the tears she wanted on her jack-o-lantern.

Ben knew exactly what he wanted: ALL the teeth on his jack-o-lantern needed to be sharp! And he wanted it to have scary eyebrows too.  He's making a scary face along with his pumpkin.

Sammy's jack-o-lantern had a goofy look. You can't really tell since it's facing away. Eliza designed this one too.

Jed arrived home from work just in time for our soup and french bread dinner. Melody and her boys had dinner with us, and then we all dressed up and went out for trick-or-treating fun! Our clown got a sweet ride in the wagon.

And we're home again!  We had a great time. Happy Halloween!!

Ben lost his first tooth!

Ben lost his first tooth on Friday, October 28! 

Fun Acres - 2011

We go to Fun Acres for Jed's residency Fall activity every year. The kids love it.  They rode on the cow train...

Went through the corn maze...  

This was the first time I had ever been through a corn maze. Ever. I don't know how I missed this experience in all my 28 years, but somehow I reached this ripe old age without it.  Anyhow, it was a momentous experience, and loads of fun, although this was just a kid one so I'm not sure that it really even counts.... :)

And of course, the hay ride. This year the hay ride was extra spooky since the tractor got stuck in the mud in the middle of the dark woods for about 30 minutes.  Ben was pretty worried we'd never get out and Jed and I had to remind him that we were all there together and it was going to be just fine. :)  Luckily most of the time the tractor lights were on, so we were still able to see each other and talk with the other family on the hayride with us.  Finally another guy on a 4-wheeler came to our rescue!  I'll say that was a memorable hayride for us all!!

flashback to August

Oh, I can't pass up posting this funny of picture!  This is from August, a few months ago. I get such a kick out of Ben's goggles.

Eliza was a tough bird - she is actually sitting in the water which was FRIGID.  There were a few times in the summer when we filled up the pool in the backyard it wasn't quite hot enough, and the hose water was ice cold. We had fun splashing around, but honestly, Ben and I could hardly keep our feet in it. Earlier in the summer, I think it was the afternoon of Ben's birthday, Jed came out and teased us for not being IN the water, but just sitting on the edge. He didn't believe us when we told him it was freezing cold... until he stepped in it himself!  ....in fact, I have a little video of it. We were playing in the water while he slept after a nightshift. He woke up earlier than I had expected and came outside to be with us. He took some video of us when he came out:

September highlights - 2011

Here's the family gathered around Betty (aka: our TV) to watch BYU FOOTBALL!! Yippee! Jed and I look forward to BYU football all year long.  I love watching BYU football with Jed.  We've pulled some late nighters watching the games.... being on Eastern Standard Time makes for some late kickoff times!

Sammy turned 18 months old in September!

Here are a few pictures of Eliza at 'preschool' when I'm hosting. 

We got to watch General Conference and the kids had a great time playing bingo and coloring, etc. 

Eliza started a ballet class. She is so adorable! 

(This is a picture of her and Myli, who is one of the little girls in her home preschool. 

Her family goes to our church.)

We're enjoying our FHE treat of popcorn. :)

Ben finished up his Fall season of soccer. He was awesome!  He got to be goalie for one of the quarters in this game, and I got a picture of him manning the goal.  :)