Happy Halloween!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween season. Once again it took a long time for the girls to decide what they wanted to dress up as this year. Particularly Brooklyn. But of course Hunter has known what he wanted to be for quite a while. At least since he saw the Iron Man movie. He was sure that's what he was going to be this year. Finding Hunter an Iron Man costume posed to be quite a challenge. We searched many stores but could only find suits for kids that were 10 years old. We searched and searched and finally bought one that was going to be really big. It ended up working really good. We were able to stuff lots of clothing under it and made him look pretty buff. The girls ended up being harder to find something to wear. Not because we didn't have any costumes... they just couldn't make up their mind. Autumn finally settled on being a black cat the night before dressing up for school. It was pretty easy after that because we already had everything that we needed in their dress-up box. Brooklyn changed her mind every 10 minutes. She started off wanting to be Tinkerbell, but then it began to change. She finally decided to be a cowgirl for our ward Halloween carnival but wanted to be an alligator for trick-or-treating. She definitely makes life interesting.

Our ward decided to not let people wear masks to the carnival. I thought this might causes some trouble with Hunter because he loved his mask. I ran over to my mom's house to add some finishing touches to his costume. When I got back I was really surprised. Brian had painted Hunter's face to look like Iron Man. He did a great job. Hunter was so excited.

Hunter loved being Iron Man. He went around blasting people with his blasters on his hands. I thought it would be fun to sew white circles on his gloves. They added a nice effect to go with his fun sound effects that he uses when blasting people. He loved dressing up!!

At the carnival, they had some games for the kids to play. There were several bean bag toss games. Brian got behind it to take some pictures of Hunter. I told Hunter to get his daddy with one. Brian took a picture just as Hunter almost hit him with a bean bag through the hole Brian was peeking out. It was so close. I was very surprised how he almost hit him!

They had a Pie Throwing Contest where the Bishopric (Bro. Wagner on left, Bishop Irwin on right) got plastered with whip cream pies. The kids had so much fun throwing pies at them. By the end of the night they were completely covered. They were such good sports to sit and let everyone throw pies at them. Hunter wanted to throw a pie. He took it and ran right up to them and threw it. it landed on Brother Wagner's lap. He was so determined to hit him. it made me laugh. It also got Bro. Wagner laughing.

Hunter had so much fun. He loved the fishing game and getting lots of prizes.

We had a lot of fun.

We decided to go out a little early to see grandparents. It was raining and we hoped it wouldn't last too long. The first stop we went to was my Grandpa and Grandma Page's house. They live on a very busy trick-or-treating street. We knew we needed to get there early. I love going to visit my grandparents. I know that someday soon we will not be able to anymore.

We had to stop by my grandparent's neighbor's house and pose with the giant cats. The next stop was Grandma and Grandpa McBride's house where the kids helped to decorate the Halloween sugar cookies. We then went to their trunk-or-treat. I saw a lot of my students. I think they were surprised to see me.

The last place to hit was Grandma and Grandpa Achatz's house and to visit a few houses in our neighborhood. By the end of the night the kids had a TON of candy and were very tired....

so tired. You know your baby is tired when he puts himself to bed.

Soccer Fun

The girls did fall soccer this year. I wasn't sure how it would go since Autumn had no desire to play. Surprisingly, Autumn was really sad when it ended. She loves soccer now, which was a big improvement for someone who said she didn't want to play. It was really hard trying to make it to Autumn's games. Brian coached so he went to her games and I took Brooklyn to her games. Most of Autumn's and Brooklyn's games were played at the same time or one right after the other all the way across town. So there were many games I got to see just the first few minutes or the very last. I was luck if I She was playing those quarters. Her team was so big that a lot of times they had to sit 2 out of the 4 quarters. It was still fun though. Both girls still enjoyed it and we will most likely be starting up again this spring.

Somehow I never seemed to have my camera when I actually got to see Autumn play. So the only pictures I have of her is after she broke her arm. She is quite the little speedster. She might be the smallest on the team (including the little first graders they had) but she was sure quick. Came so close to scoring every game and had a lot of assists. Good Job Autumn!!

Looking buff with her extra padded cast cover! You go girl!




Autumn taking the ball down the field!
She was SO close to scoring!

Game over Tigers win!

Brooklyn had a lot of fun. She scored in both of her first 2 games. She was so excited. She had a few assists too (if you can call having the ball taken a way by the taller kids on the team an assist). It was a lot of fun watching her. Although sometimes frustrating. I think she is a little more like me...afraid of the ball. We'll see how she does in a few years.

Brooke getting ready for one of her first games.

Taking the ball down the field!

Heading down the field. She almost scored.

The last game. It was sure cold, but she played really well! Good Job Brookie!!

From One Decade to Another

Well, I've finally hit it. The end of one decade and have moved into the next. Doesn't seem like I could actually be that old. Why is it, you never feel as old as you really are? I've decided that time goes by too quickly. I need to enjoy the moment and not wish for time to go quicker than it is. Sometimes when life gets too crazy it is easy to wish for the weekend or wish for your child to be out of diapers. Then, when that time time comes it is sad to see how much time has really gone by. My kids are growing up too fast. They have all become so independent. I want to enjoy this time while they are still little.

My family came over to enjoy the evening. We had a big dinner, cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun. Best of all, Brian took the night off of work so he wouldn't have to leave. I really hate those weeks he works night. But I am grateful that he has a good job.

Brooklyn and Hunter thought they had to help me open my present from my mom.

Kristin got the idea to make carmel apples. It was a lot of fun and a big mess. But hey, what fun things aren't messy?

Dipping my apple. Man, it was sticky.The kids and Jerel making and decorating their apples.

CAKE!!! YUM!!!
What a silly boy!

Corn Maze Fun!!

Today we went to the Green Canyon Corn Maze. We had so much fun. I took the kids and we hung out with Kristin and her fiance Jerel. We got there just after dark. It was a good thing I decided to buy a flashlight because Kristin left her's in the car. I am so glad that they had a map that we could take to help us on our way. We decided to put our trust in Jerels map reading skills. I was too busy making sure I didn't loose any kids to keep track of where we were and which turns to make. I had glowing bracelet's for the kids but I left them home. So every once in a while we would loose Hunter in the dark. Luckily he would not go too far.

The kids had a blast. Everyone got an opportunity to hold the flashlight and help lead the way. Sometimes Jerel and Autumn would hurry in front of us and sneak around behind us or hide in the corn and jump out to scare us. She had so much fun with Jerel. Brooklyn loved being the one to hold the flashlight. She was a real nut trying to hide in the corn to scare us while she was still holding the flashlight. Hunter was the most entertaining of them all. When it was his turn to hold the flashlight, every once in a while we would have to remind him not to shine it straight in the air. He also ended being carried part of the time. I put him on my shoulders and he would sit and rub my head sending my hair in all directions. He would also over react to anything that we saw. He had so much fun. I was surprised that it only took an hour to get through the maze, thanks to the map and Jerel knowing where we were. It was a lot of fun.

When we got to the maze.

I tried to take a picture of Kristin, Jerel and Hunter in the dark.

I ended up completely chopping off their heads!!

So I tried again. This time it wasn't too bad!

Hunter on my shoulders. See, my hair was everywhere.

The kids walking a head of us. It was Hunter's turn to hold the flashlight.
Hunter was being silly by walking funny down the path.
Too bad you can't tell how funny he was being.
At the end of the maze!!
It was so much fun! I will definitely take the kids again!

More trials!

Brian has always said "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." I know that the Lord gives us trials that we can handle. But sometimes I wish they could at least be spread a little further apart. First Hunter and his ER visit has already maxxed out the rest of our flex spending account. Never would have guessed that 4 little stitches would cost over $600. Now this happens. In less than 2 months!! I am not looking forward to this new expense that we will be incurring now. Let me explain.

Monday, after my 1st grade math group left, I got a phone call from Autumn's school. The secretary informed me that Autumn had fallen from the monkey bars and had landed on her back. She said that Autumn was complaining that her arm was hurting. I knew I could not leave right away so I had to call my mom and have her go check on her. It felt like the longest time waiting to hear back from my mom. When she finally did call, my heart sunk when she said she thought Autumn's elbow was dislocated and wanted to know who her pediatrician was. I still had one more class to teach and I was a little scatter-brained. I had to wait until it ended before I heard from my mom again. This time they were at the hospital getting an x-ray done on her hand. I guess when the doctor put her elbow back into place (yes, it was dislocated) her wrist started to hurt and they wanted to haveit checked. So finally I made it out of work without forgetting my head and got into town to meet up with my mom and sister. Of course I had to wait for the doctor to call back to tell me if her wrist was okay. So we hung out around town waiting for the phone call. Finally, I got the call. Her wrist was broken and she was going to need to have a cast. It's called a buckle fracture. It isn't broken all the way through, just cracked. So after all the waiting for the doctor's office to call me, I had to wait for them to call me back with a new appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to have her cast put on. We scheduled it for 1:30 on Tuesday so I could be there with her. It meant she would be missing another day of school.

Tuesday morning I get a phone call from the orthopedic surgeon's office saying the doctor was being called out of the office that afternoon and I needed to bring her in earlier. I don't get off until 12:30 and they wanted me there by 12:40? With enough time to pick up the kids in Hyrum and drive all the way to North Logan in less than 10 minutes? I am so grateful I have such wonderful coworkers who allowed me to leave early and make it to the doctor's in time.

Can I say I hate insurance right now. Why isn't it until after, that I find out that this specialist is not in my network??? Can we say that this broken arm is going to be expensive$$$! Such is life I suppose. Just another trial that we have to work through and hopefully come out the other side a better person. Here are some pictures of Autumn showing off her beautiful purple cast.

Silly girl! I had to get her giggling to get a good smile. Not one of those fake cheesy smiles!

Love you Autumn. Thanks for letting me be one of the first people to sign your cast :)