HALLOWEEN

Halloween day started out with Class Parties.

I helped Sierra's teacher make Boo Bubbles

with Dry Ice, Dish soap and water.  So fun!

Owen came with me and loved watching. 

Then we went to Riley's class to help her make

slime with glue.  Owen loved being with Riley

and playing with her slime.  All three of my girls

parties were at different times so I was lucky enough

to help in all three. 

All day during the parties Paige was on a Field

Trip to the Black Island farms and the Nature

Preserve.  Brandon was so sweet to take off 

work and be a chaperone for Paige and her

friends during the field trip.  I was signed up to

be the chaperone and do the class parties but

when the weather went bad and the field trip

was changed to Halloween day I couldn't do it

all.  Paige was ecstatic when I told her that

 Brandon was coming with her on the field trip. 

After Paige got back from her field trip Brandon

took Owen home and I helped in Paige class party.

She was trying to racer her friend by sucking up a straw

and moving the Halloween pictures from the chair

to the bucket. 

The day did not stop there.  We left the school 

to take Paige's broken costume back to the store

in hopes that the same costume was not sold out.  

When we returned it, the Target employee said 

they were sold out.  So we shopped for something

else and found the exact costume.  I swear target

does not know anything and their customer service

is not very good.  Paige's costume that I had

bought on line came in the mail but was a different

costume completely and then when they mailed

her a new one it was only two days before

Halloween so she did not get to wear it

to the ward party.  And to annoy me

even more when it came in the mail again

the mask was broken in pieces.  But luckily

we found her costume and she was happy.

Then there is the story of Riley's costume.

We ordered it from Target and it was the right

one but the size was very small and the collar

did not stand up like the picture of course.

So she looked for another one and found one

which said it would ship to us in time for Halloween.

But as we followed the tracking number it ended

up being scheduled for delivery the day after 

Halloween. So while were out shopping for Paige

Brandon called UPS and discovered that they

delivered it to our local post office and would

deliver it to our house the next day.  We 

thought, "really it's here at our post office

just sitting there but won't be delivered until 

the day after Halloween".  So we drove to

the post office and asked the employee to search

for it and again we got lucky at the last minute

and he found it.  Riley was so excited! 

 Picking costumes this year was a

pain.  But everything turned out in the end. 

After we got home from shopping it was time to 

feed the kids and get them dressed to go Trick or Treating.

My mom and John flew in from Texas and stopped 

by on their way home to see the kids and have 

dinner before they drove back to Idaho.  

Great Grandpa Gardner and Grandma Lois

stopped by early before we even got home from

the store. They left the kids a special treat.  

Grandpa and Grandma Gardner also dropped in

to see the kids. 

Sierra had a ton of her sisters costumes to choose

from but really wanted to be Dorothy.  We already
had the shoes but had to borrow the costume from 

a neighbor. 

Sierra as "Dorothy"

I bought vampire teeth for Riley but realized 

after opening the package that I had to soak 

them in warm water to mold them to her mouth

and by then it was too late. 

Riley as a "Countess" (girl Vampire)

Paige as the "Pink Power Ranger"

Owen as 

"Robo Knight Power Ranger"

It was Brandon's turn to take the kids out trick or

treating while I stayed home passing out candy.

I got to talk with my mom and enjoy her and John's

company.   The kids did not go for very long because

it was cold.  Before they left I tried to put a coat

on Owen and he said, "Robo Knight is not cold and

does not wear a coat"! 

Before my mom left and while the kids were

checking out their candy stash, cousin Emery came over. 

Carving Pumpkins

This is how we carved our pumpkins this year.

Owen did not care that his hands were yucky,

which is not like him.  Maybe in a few more years

Brandon and I won't have to help so much.

We don't carve our pumpkins because four is enough

for us to carve! 

Crazy Hair Day

The girls had Crazy Hair Day for school.  

As well as wear your pajamas. 

Riley wanted her hair ratted all over.  To make it more fun

I stuck spiders in it.  Paige was not sure what to do so we

put her in pick tails close to her face and ratted them as well.

It was such a pain to comb out even after a shower.  I don't

think we'll do that again.  Sierra was sick and did not go to school.

But her she wanted her hair with pony tails all over her head. 

Bear World

My Mom and John took our family to 

Bear World in Idaho close to their house

when we came to visit.  Brandon also needed

to finish up wiring their garage and porch. 

My mom has taken our family before but it was a 

few years ago when Sierra does not remember and Owen

was not born so we were excited to go again.

We all loved how close the bears came up to our car.

We were told to have our windows rolled

up but after seeing some of the employees walking around

and petting the bears we knew that they were not to

dangerous. 

We loved the bear cubs the best.  They look pretty big in the 

picture but are about the same size as a large dog but with 

more fur.  The cubs were like little kids.  The employees 

gave them a card board box and the cubs climbed in and 

out and tore it apart.  So cute! 

We next went to the petting zoo and pet some deer.

One deer loved my hand lotion or something because

it would not stop licking my hands.  

Owen would not touch the deer on his own so we

had to hold his hand to the deer.  Paige was also

a little cautions. 

The kids enjoyed the rides and poor Brandon

had to be the designated adult for the train ride.

It was nothing but giggles and more giggles.

The kids then brought their money to pick out

a souvenir at the gift shop.  Riley was bummed

because they did not have a bear necklace with

her name on it like Paige got.  So she did not get

anything.  Brandon and I at the begging of shopping

said "no more stuffed animals".  We have so

 many.  And of course that is all Sierra wanted.

So she got this tiny 3 inch stuffed animal.  

Of all the animal figures Owen could have 

picked from like Bears, Deer, Elk, Moose and 

more  that we saw he wanted a dinosaur.  

After Bear World we drove to my mom's stake

center to have free chili and walk around the

preparedness fair before heading home for Brandon

to wire the garage. 

Carmel Apples

Lisa, Katie, Rachael, Andrea and I 

 made close to 100 carmel

apples.  We dip them all in the carmel and then 

half in white chocolate and half in milk chocoalte. 

The white chocolate we sprinkle with cinnamon

and the milk chocolate with recess pieces. 

We have done this for a few years

in a row now.  It's are little tradition.  However 

this time was a full house at Lisa's.

We had Aunt Wendy over with Ty who

resonantly returned home from his mission! 

Lisa also invited Grandpa and Brenda, Aunt Linda

and Andrea's Boys for dinner after we made the 

apples.  It was crazy busy and interesting

trying to make the apples even with our 

little system we had.  The extra hands

did make bagging the apples go by fast though. 

As if making apples and having family

over for dinner was not enough Lisa made

 cookies earlier for the kids to decorate. 

She is one of those super Grandma's that

I could not keep up with. 

Day Farms

Brandon and I took the kids to pick out their

pumpkins at Day Farms.  I'm so glad the ground

dried out and it was not muddy.  It was 

chilly but that did not stop the kids from 

having fun.  Sierra was worried of the kids

in masks on the hay ride and covered her eyes.

Owen just starred at them like it was no big deal. 

I'm sure he would have been more scared if I was

not sitting by him.

Hiking with the Family

My sweet Mother is turning 60 this year and

we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday.

She has mentioned this before and we knew

it was something she really wanted to do.

She loves to Hike and as a kid would go hiking

with her family up Big Cotton Wood Canyon. 

So for her birthday all the family that could make 

it went Hiking to Doughnut Falls.

Sierra had a soccer game in the morning and before

that Paige and her had soccer pictures but after

lunch we met up with the family at the house

in Cotton Wood where my mom spent her first

5 years of life.  I can't believe she remembers

it so well.  It is a beautiful area.  She is the oldest

of 10 and they only stayed in this house with the first

3 kids in her family.   My mom loved walking us around and

telling us about what the house looked like in side, what her

yard looked like which now is a parking lot for the Bar next

door!  She showed the grandkids where she would play as

a kid and how close the river was to her house that she

would walk to.   My mom loved being able to show us all

her good memories.  

After that we headed up the mountain to start are hike.

The trail up was a mile and a half.  The first part 

was on paved roads so that was not bad.  

Then we came to a fork in the road which a nice

couple had warned us to stay right because it was

less muddy. However we did not listen because 

the fork in the road had a trail head sign on it.  

That ended up being extremely muddy and 

not the best detour.  We tried to get off the trail

and back on the dirt road by crossing the river.

That was adventures.  All our shoes were muddy

and after crossing the river my shoes were soaked.

So I guess that made it less of a worry.  We were wet

and muddy and could do nothing about it but

carry on and make the most of it for my mom.

Even Owen took off running after Emery and 

Mikel towards this bridge and slipped in mud

flat on his back. 

I do like to hike just not get my only work out shoes

muddy.  I guess we all needed work boots like

Brandon.  

Owen was such a trooper.  He walked the entire

way up taking turns holding hands with

different people.  

We finally made it to Doughnut Falls

where all the kids needed an adult to help

them over the water and up the moutain

of rocks.  The kids were all doing okay 

until we got to the top and it was much

colder and they got a bit wet.  

So by the time we got down we had

tears.  Thank goodness Grandma

brought extra jackets for the kids to 

wear over their jackets. 

We were heading back down the mountain and

off the trail a bit was this moose just eating and

minding it's business.  We probably got 

to close for our own good but it was neat to see

one up so close and not in a car where we usually

see them. 

After the hike everyone came over to 

our place for dinner.  We asked my mom

what sounded good for dinner and she

picked Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Very simple meal which we all thought

she just picked so we did not have to 

cook so long.  She always puts others

first.  We tried to get her to tell us 

something she really wanted but she insisted

on Spaghetti.  It was nice to be out of

our muddy wet clothes and in our comfy

clothes to hang out the rest of the night.

My mom and John drove back to Idaho

that night because my mom had to teach

Sunday.  

I wish we did not need 60th birthdays

for an excuse to get everyone out

together to Hike or do some fun thing

together.  But at least we did and had

a great time. 

My siblings and I have the greatest mom 

in the world.  And I think we all 

believe it completely.  She is one of the most

loving and selfless people I know. 

WE LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Happy 60th Birthday!