Happy Halloween!

Anna had a ball this year, when she wasn't getting her picture taken. I don't know why, but every time I pointed a camera at her, she cried. We had a busy week. On Monday we had a Halloween party with the Cloward Clan. We bobbed for apples, reached for doughnuts and tried to get all the kids together for a picture (that didn't work out too well). Last night we had our ward's Trunk or Treat. It was a huge success! Anna got so much candy. Then tonight she went with Daddy to all of the neighbors. She has a huge stash! I have already let her know that she doesn't get any of the chocolate...That goes straight to mommy! I love it that she is still young enough to accept that, I don't know how much longer it will last.

By the way, she ended up going as Cinderella. She wouldn't even consider putting on the ladybug costume. But as you can see from the pictures, she wasn't always a happy princess, especially when the camera was around. I think she had more fun answering the door and handing out the candy. She would wait at the window until she saw someone come up the walk and then run to the door as fast as she could. It was hilarious!

Oh, and I finished the three books of the Twilight Series in two days. It was very easy, fast reading, but I don't think I have enjoyed series this much since Harry Potter. But now I can return to the living and not make Anna play all by herself in the corner.

Anna's Birthday Party

We had Anna's birthday party tonight and there was no lack of presents for her. Thank you to all of her Grandpa's, Grandma's, Uncle's, Aunt's and cousins for all of the, as Anna would put it, Awesome, Cool, stuff. She got a piano,a dress, a baby doll, a glowing teddy bear, shoes, books, money and lots and lots of princess stuff (I have started to cave on the princess thing). She had a grand time and even blew out her candles on her Mickey Cake. I have to say, I am quite pleased on how Mickey came out. I even got the colors right. Wahoo!

Anna's Stash

Things have been disappearing around our house for the last three or four months. The magnets from the fridge, DVD covers, a wallflower plug-in, just to name a few things. Well, this morning I discovered where everything was being put. In our sectional we have a recliner. In the back of the recliner there is a flap of fabric that covers a hole. This is where Anna has been putting her treasures. The only way I discovered this was that there was a stick poking out and I began to investigate. You will notice that there is a sippy cup in her stash. Lucky for us it was empty and had only been there one day. I blame Rob for teaching her how to be a pack rat. Maybe someday it will come in handy for her.

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna's birth picture. I can't believe all of her dark hair! Where did it go? I still can't believe it was two years ago!


Anna and her new bike. She got so big!


Anna and all of her balloons!


I can't believe my little girl is two! It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms for the first time. She seemed to have a good day. Rob put her new trike together last night (he was very excited to do it) so it was ready for her first thing this morning. She loved it, but unfortunately, she can't reach the peddles. Oh, well. Hopefully by the spring she will be able to. Anyway, she got lots of balloons from her Aunt Kassi and from her Grandpa and Grandma Hadfield. We went to dinner and I let her eat or not eat whatever she wanted, which was incredibly hard for me to do. We didn't have cake or ice cream, but that will come on Sunday, where the festivities will continue. All in all, I hope that she had a great day. I'm so glad that she has come into our lives!

At least somebody is using them

Anna found a couple of dumbbells that I had purchased about two years ago to use with a workout video. I don't think they have been used since the week after I purchased them (New Years Resolution gone wrong). We taught her how to use them and it was hilarious to watch her "pump" them over her head. Now she thinks that she is pretty tough and has been carrying them around the house. So far the only incident we have had because of them was her dropping one of them on my ankle. Ouch!

One little side note...We got snow in Pleasant Grove. It even stuck around for a little bit! Anna was mesmerized by it...couldn't quite figure out what it was. Looks like we will be getting some more here soon! Rob was pretty excited. He missed it all last year when he was in the Bahamas. I'm just glad he will be here this year to shovel it instead of me!

One of the reasons I love Utah

How can you not love living in Utah when you can look out your window and see this. I sure did miss this last year when we were in the Bahamas. So we had the beach...Nothing compared to the mountains dusted with snow.

On a different note, Grandpa and Grandma Hadfield took Anna to their ward's "Trunk or Treat" tonight. She refused to get into her costume (makes me so excited for Halloween!) but did end up getting a bucket full of candy. What made me so proud, though, was that she said "Thank you" to every single person. Yay! I am on my way to raising a polite child!

You can make a toy out of anything!

Anna has discovered that you can find entertainment in anything lying around the house. She found two examples today. We will just let the pictures explain at this point!

Pooh? Is that you?

Anna had the opportunity to go to Grandma Cloward's house and play with her cousins. In Grandma's closet she found a Pooh Bear costume and had to put it on. It only lasted for about five minutes (long enough for me to find my camera and snap the picture) before she was in tears and wanted it off. Makes me wonder how long she is going to last in her Halloween costume!

Cosmo the Cougar

We attended the BYU vs TCU girls soccer game tonight. Rob has a cousin that plays for TCU otherwise I don't think we would have attended. But it ended up being a lot of fun! Anna loves to cheer for the Cougars (aided by her father) and was so excited when they won 4 to 1. She also loved to kick the ball around after the game was over. We might just have a little soccer player on our hands. But the highlight of the evening was watching Anna watch Cosmo the Cougar. She is in love with him!Every time he would walk by us she would get so excited and want to give him "5". Of course this would have to be a long distance relationship. Knowing her if he even attempted to come close to her she would freak out! Aah...young love!

"Daddy...I want a pony!"

Thanksgiving Point was the destination today. Anna went to the living farm. She loved it...Especially the ponies. She was able to pet them and ride them a couple of times. You couldn't get her off of them. Her giggle was great and her smile was huge!

What have I gotten myself into?

Ever since I had Anna help me make sugar cookies she has wanted to help me cook everything! This is both good and bad. Good in the fact that she likes to help (and I don't ever want to discourage that!) and bad that it takes me about twice as long to complete a task. The attached pictures are of her checking out how the bread maker works. We made roll dough yesterday and she was fascinated by the machine. She watched it for about fifteen minutes. What a great babysitter!

Brittney, is that you?

So, no this is not a sighting of Brittney Spears, and before you turn us over to DCFS, just know that this is in our driveway. Rob had to back the cars out of the garage and Anna got to help him. She was so excited. She played with every little knob and button. When I got in the car after her the windshield wipers were going along with the

blinkers. But as all parents know, as long as your kid is happy, you are happy!

Making Cookies

The cold weather made me have the cooking bug. So Anna and I made sugar cookies. It was the first time I have ever had her help me and she loved it. Everything was covered in flour, including Anna, but it was so worth it! She loved cutting them out. I guess we will just have to do it again some time.

Also tonight we attended Rob's mission reunion. I expect reunions to be fun, where you go to see the people that you have not seen in a couple of years. I guess Rob's old mission president has a different way of seeing things. Now keep in mind, all of the kids were invited to this. They had a fireside. Everyone there had to stand and introduce themselves and tell what they were doing now and give one of their most memorable mission experiences. This was not a bad idea but it lasted forever! Then the mission president's wife got up and spoke and then the mission president spoke. The reunion/fireside lasted 2 1/2 hours! UGH! Rob has told me that we don't have to attend anymore of those. Thank goodness!

A quilting we will go

Okay. So I finally broke down and did it. Today I went and bought all the material to do a quilt for Anna's new big girl bed. I don't know what I was thinking! But since I just spent over $100 on material I can't back out now. I picked an easy pattern, one I have done before (at least one square) so hopefully I won't get too stressed out. I have to do it now, before the baby comes, or it will never get done. So, wish me luck and I will post the finished product when it is completed!