Friday, November 5, 2010

October

It's been WAY too long since I last posted. So, here's one big catch-up post for all the fun we had in October:
This was one of those "just because" pictures. Sometimes those are some of the best because they just show a bit of our everyday life. Little fish in a big pond!
Our kids were ridiculously excited for Halloween this year. They could hardly wait until they could wear their costumes!

Bailey was a cute Cat in the Hat
Taysum loved being Luigi
And Hayden was a perfect Pumpkin
We had a whole week of Halloween fun! We started off Monday night at the Public Library. The librarians there hosted a wonderful evening!! They were all dressed up and had so many fun things for the kids! It wasn't very well attended and they were a little discouraged. I hope they do it again next year. My kids just loved it!
Sharalyn Nicholls was the "misunderstood" Wicked Witch of the West.
Donna Capellan was Lady VaDoma
And Dorothy Winterholler was a Black Cat
They had lots of fun little contests. This was the screaming contest. No, Bailey didn't win. She won't scream on cue. When she chooses to though, she's in a sound rage and volume all her own!
Every one who wore a costume won the costume contest!
We were at the library, so of course there were lots of scary stories, including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!"
Lady VaDoma told us about her "baby..."
This one really took Taysum and Bailey off guard!
This was the meowing contest and Bailey won!
Taysum and his prizes
They also had some fun Halloween songs that we sang. Taysum was really excited to see his friend, Dino (far right). As we were getting ready to leave, Madame VaDoma foretold of a special treat in our near future...They had some yummy treats for us as we left.
After that, we went out to Aunt Lindsay's for FHE and carving pumpkins.
Next was the school Halloween parties. I made these little spider treats for the kids to take.
I gathered my courage and the girls and Hayden, and we went to the Elementary Halloween Parade. Everyone did pretty well until the end. Lindsay and a friend had to help me out and all four kids were crying all the way home. It was fun to see the boys in their costumes, though!
Quinn as Mario
My nephew CJ is something else! All on his own, he decided he wanted to be the Golden Gate Bridge! My sister did a fantastic job and created this amazing costume:
That night, we had a Ward Harvest Dinner. We were kind of late because Ken had some car trouble and we had to go pick him up. I just had to get a shot of these two dressed up as Anne and Diana from "Anne of Green Gables" one of my all time favorites!
We had soup for the dinner and I tried a kind called "Italian Wedding Soup." It was absolutely wonderful! It has meat balls and spinach and Acini de Pepe in it. I asked the sister for the recipe. It is one of Taysum's favorites now! He always asks for "Meatball Soup."
The clean up crew!
Taysum didn't want the pumpkin to feel left out of the costume fun!
Halloween was on a Sunday this year, but our wonderful little town celebrated on Saturday. That morning, I made "Monster Pancakes." It is one of our family's favorites!
Later in the afternoon, we joined my sister's ward and went to their Trunk or Treat. The kids were so funny! There were TONS of people there and we tried to get Bailey to go around the circle with everyone else. However, she chose one car across from us and just went to that one a few times. Oh well... as long as she was happy! Taysum went around with his cousins. By the time he came back around, his bag was nearly full! He told us how heavy it was and wanted to stop. It was so funny!
I thought this was a very clever costume! The best treat ever!
The SUPER Mario Cousins
On the 29th, my Mom turned a very lovely 54! She seemed very happy surrounded by her grandchildren. We had home-made pizza and Pumpkin Cobbler. Storytime with Grandma!
Halloween Pajamas!! Taysum and Bailey were so funny trying to act like the characters on their shirts. Taysum had mummies and Bailey had skeletons; she kept chomping her jaw, acting like a skeleton.
Rather than carve the pumpkins, the kids just wanted to draw on them!
Later, they decided they wanted their pumpkins carved as well. They both wanted sad pumpkins, so Ken made Hayden's a happy one!
Watching the pumpkins glow!
They also drew some pictures and were telling us all about them!
Taysum's
Bailey's The next week, Taysum made the front page of the Lovell Chronicle! It was a picture of him in the Elementary Parade. The caption said, "Lovell Elementary School student Taysum Cutler runs across the LES stage as if it is a level in a video game during the LES Halloween Parade Friday." (Quote and picture - Brad Devereaux)
We had a really fun Halloween. I love the fall and the change of the seasons. I love the beginning of the Holiday season and all the excitement and anticipation. I love being with family so often and all the wonderful food! We feel so blessed!