NEW PICTURES

I am not a fan of school pictures. I really like the out doors for the backdrop to pictures. This year we had a lady I visit teach take the kids pictures. I think she did a pretty good job. I would love to learn to take good pictures. Some day I will invest in a good camera and take pictures of my kids myself.

LOOK AT THAT SMILE =)

After almost 2 ½ years and a lot of money later, Sammy now has straight beautiful teeth. In October Sammy got her braces off. She started her whole experience with an expander that widened her mouth. She started 5th grade with a big gap between her front teeth. To make more room, she had to have a tooth pulled. In June before 6th grade she got her braces on. Now she is wearing her lovely retainers. Hopefully we can keep track of them and avoid throwing them away. (Bring back any memories Maria. I think Dad will never forget digging through the big dumpster at school.) She has a beautiful smile and it was all worth it. In January we get to start the whole process over with Steven.

PLAYING THE BASS

In October, Steven played in his annual school Halloween orchestra concert. He started playing the bass last year in 6th grade. He has enjoyed it a lot. Steven has grown so much last year that he is as tall as the bass now. The kids did pretty good in the concert. It was short and sweet. Just like I like it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This has been a fun Halloween season. I spent time helping with the Pumpkin Walk which is a fun way to celebrate Fall. Brian is in a Bishopric in a student ward at USU. As a family, we got to attend a Halloween party with his ward. The kids had a blast dressing up. The students are so kind to them.

A couple days before Halloween, we carved pumpkins. The kids love it. I like it more now because the older three kids are getting big enough to do most of it themselves.

On Halloween we started our trick or treating by going to a local grocery store, Lee’s. Each of their departments passes out candy. This year they even had a mini spook ally in one of their storage rooms. They were very generous and the kids got a lot of candy because we hit both stores.
Our ward has done a trunk-or-treat in the church parking lot for the last three years. I love this because I don’t have to take the kids out. Also I get to see all the cute costumes. Almost no one comes to our house so we used to miss out on seeing all the cute costumes. Soup is provided and we get to mix and mingle with ward members. It lasts for about an hour to an hour and a half and then we go home, watch movies, and eat candy. Yumm!!!

This year I bought me some pumpkin ice cream to try. It was good!! By the end of the night we were all feeling sick.

Isn’t Halloween Great!

PUMPKIN WALK FUN!!

Every year in October my city has what’s called a Pumpkin Walk. At one of our parks, groups set up different scenes using pumpkins as heads, bodies, or props. Some people are so creative and it is so fun to go. Jack-o-lanterns sitting on bales of hay line the walk way as well as corn stalks. Someone dresses up as a witch and Pepperidge Farms donates cookies to be handed out. I love it at night because all the scenes are lit up and it makes a fun atmosphere.

This year a friend of mine, Gina Worthen, asked me to help her group with their scene. I joined in and I am so glad I did because it was so fun. The theme for the Pumpkin Walk was “AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS”. The groups chose a commercial to recreate. Our group chose the Keebler Elves. Someone donated an amazing tree, cookies, and a big glass of milk that they had used for a drill team dance routine and were not using anymore. It made our scene come to life. It was all so amazing. Gina and her husband sculpted the faces of the elves on to pumpkins. We planned out the scene and prepared a lot of stuff before set up, but some ideas came together as we were putting it all together.

We were there off and on for three days just to set up. I spent about 11 hours helping to set up and Gina was there a lot more. I learned so much about putting it all together. Duct tape, wire, safety pins, rebar, and T posts are very important resources in getting everything to look great. The weather cooperated o.k. for set up. It did rain during the night one day, but during the pumpkin walk it did snow and covered everything. We even had strong winds that blew the top off our big tree. When it came time to take it all down, everything was covered in snow . It was all so fun, I think we would do it in almost any kind of weather.

(This is my friend, Raquel's, scene. She does a great job every year.)

The pumpkin walk is such a fun way to bring the community together. We have people come from all over. It started at someone’s farm with a few simple scenes and now has grown into a huge event. It is such a fun way to celebrate the fall season and enjoy the creativity of so many.

At the end, they have a bunch of character boards with out faces set up for people to put their face in. Here is Kylee as Yoda and Cinderella. Isn't she beautiful?

I have several more posts written. Stay in tune this week and catch up on our October...