Happy Halloween!

John, Emily, Thomas, Jack and Sam (and Max) are all pirates for Halloween!

Ryan, Laura, Jack, Daisy, Oreo, Sophie, and Max in the first picture. Second picture: John, Emily, Zach, Thomas, Anna, Jack, Katie, Sam...cowboys and pirates.


John (my sickly husband) as General Mao had a horrible evening but did not want to miss out on Halloween with the kids. He took the kids around one block in our neighborhood then we went down to Jolie's and Sean took all the kids trick or treating for about half an hour. Thank you Sean!! John sat on the chair in and out of sleep.
I decided I will splurge and have crazy hair every halloween. It will be that chance to have funky hair-dos that I wouldn't do for anything else. And a nice little pampering session for myself. Suzy did this. I was going to top it off and be a vampire but between John being sick and childrens needs, I didn't quite get there.
My mom has a halloween dinner every year. It's her way of turning her least favorite holiday into something fun. She makes fun foods and decorates the table so cute and scary!! I took pictures but they weren't on my camera. So, if I can get some from my sister, I'll post them.

Samuel's 1st Halloween!

Isn't he cute?!!!

Welcome Home!!

After a 17 day jaunt in China, John is home and safe. Thomas and Jack are helping him out of the airport. We are so glad to have him back!!

A Special Invitation!!!

To Maria, Teresa, Kara, Suzy...
We would love a new post!!!!!!!
With love,
Tawnie, Lisa, Lori, Karey, Leslie, Kristi

:)

In Luke 12:15 Christ taught that "A man's life consists not in abundance of the things he possesseth" rather life is a test that requires sustained effort for as long as he lives. God proclaimed to Nephi "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved" (2 Nephi 31:15). We cannot retire from life. Indeed, of him unto much is given, much is required (D&C 82:3). The Lord "requires" us - not "expects" as it is often misquoted - to give freely of our earthly wealth.
Writer and Philosopher C.S. Lewis said, "If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditures exclude them."

Tagged

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

My friend Jen tagged me so here goes.

1. I love to get rid of things (clean out) and I am pretty good at it!! :) (Although I'm not as good at keeping the clutter picked up).
2. I don't have a good voice but I have a passion for music and love the emotion felt in music.
3. I have this little thing about going in to someones house and thinking of all the things I would do if I lived there. NOT JUDGEMENTAL...I promise!!! Just one of those quirky little things.
4. I LOVE CHANGE. Probably to a fault. New hairstyles, new paint, rearranging a room...I get bored too quickly and too easily.
5. Having my hair cut/fixed/played with is the most relaxing thing for me. (I love a back, hand, foot, arm, leg, face, head massage).
6. Not something new, obviously...but I have a passion for blogging (journaling/documenting mine and my families life).

I tag Karey, Kara, Maria, Teresa, Lori, Lisa, Leslie, Kristi, Suzy, Jolie, Laura, Heidi, Cindy, Jenn, Ixchelle, and anyone else who would like to play along. HERE IS SOMETHING NEW FOR YOU BLOGGERS WHO NEED A NEW POST!!!! :)

Jack's Pancake Obsession and Sam's Tricks

Jack and Thomas both have an obsession with pancakes. Jack was very proud of his big pancake.

And Sam is getting pretty tricky. He crawls all over and stands up to everything. John asked me to post a picture of him so he could see. The sad thing is, when he gets in bed, he immediately stands up and I think is too little to understand that he can sit down. So he starts to cry and just stands there and cries. This is how I find him in the morning and after every nap. I love these boys!

Legacy Days

Nairn and Maria invited Grandma and Grandpa to come watch the "Legacy" kids in their end of term "Show what you know" performance.

Emily played the recorder with her class. Little John's class did the play "Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Lauren's class showed off their rhythm with instruments and Nairn and Jacob danced with girls!!! Everyone did a great job. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for coming to watch. Jolie's little boy, Zachary, was the pig that sold sticks in "The Three Little Pigs" . So cute!!

John did two presentations on China for the 4th grade history classes. I went to watch. He did a great job and loves to go into the kids classes to "show what he knows". I love you John!!

Cabin Time - September 2007

We were lucky to have grandma and grandpa come to the cabin with us for a night. We had a nice time visiting, eating, and playing games. We toured the cabin above (I wish it was ours). It was for sale for $850,000. The people who own it live there year round and it has a beautiful view. Smith and Morehouse is usually so beautiful but the water was so low, that a lot of the beauty was gone. We love it up there. Thanks for coming grandma and grandpa. We missed having little John with us. He stayed home with my mom so he wouldn't miss his school field trip to Kennecott Coppermine. He came up the next day with my mom. (We pulled the other kids out of school for the day).



Grandma and Grandpa went home then Ryan, Laura, Daisy, Oreo, Grandma, Sophie, our family and Max spent a night at the cabin. Yep....that's 10 people and five dogs. We had a good time and we are so glad we got to spend time with both sides of the family on our two day vacation.

Good Bye Birds

Good Bye Poca. Good Bye Dot!!

Well, the birds have just been a little too much at our house lately. I LOVE to listen to them sing and loved having them around but we ran out of space a long time ago and it was time to give them a new home.

The kids had a fall festival at school to raise money for a sister school in Ghana. There was a silent auction at the festival so we donated the birds. They were a hit and constantly were surrounded by little people. They went for $51.00 to the cute boys standing next to them. Emily cried and cried. Little John was sad and I felt so bad my heart ached.

The festival was fun. Emily had a witch painted on her face. They played games and ate treats. It was a fun family evening.

But first...Sam and Max have the birds surrounded. And they don't like it. Poor birds.

I had a parakeet growing up and we use to let him sit in a tree at our house. Well, he got mites and had to be put to sleep and I remember my mom crying. I'll never forget that.

Where's the baby?

There he is!!! Sam is now a crawler!! At 7 1/2 months. Good job Samuel!! I guess it's time to baby proof the house. He's also really good at finding little things to put in his mouth.

In the top picture, he was playing in his room and when I went to check on him, I couldn't see him. Until I saw a little movement under his bed. There he was just sitting there. It was so cute.

Then he went straight to the swing and somehow laid himself under that.

Thomas sure loves him and does a great job helping and loving him.

Conference Fun

On Sunday, we drove through Heber, Wahlsburg, and the Alpine Loop. We stopped at a place called Rock Cliff and had lunch. The pictures on the tree are at Rock Cliff. That tree was so strange. It was huge and was growing all over the place.
It was unbelievably gorgeous!!!! Perfect blue skies. The fall colors were brilliant. It was a very nice day.

My Sweet Jack

Jack said to Maria, "Your house is for sale like ours!" Go Richard!!!

At little John's soccer practice, the kids were reminded over and over not to get in the mud. So much for that!!! I tried to be mad but couldn't resist taking a picture.

Making Something out of Nothing

Leave it to Little John. Give him a box, he'll make a suit of armor. He can pretty much take anything he finds and make something out of it. Clever little kid. Excuse me....big kid!

New look for your blog! Or start one!!

You can get free blog templates from these two different places. Some are really cute and it is easy to switch or get started.
www.matiekay.blogspot.com
www.shabbytulips.blogspot.com

Sego Lily Cafe

Yummy!
It is at 305 N. Main in Bountiful.
John and I went on a date last night and decided to try Sego Lily. We ordered Butternut Squash Ravioli, a salad, and lasagna. All three things were so delicious. We are anxious to go back and try more. Although it is pricey so it will be a while before we make it back.
But hey girls!! Do you want to go out to eat?! I can afford just me!
Anyway...if you happen to have a little extra cash and want some yummy food, give it a try.
One more disclaimer....not big portion sizes. But we left satisfied. (Then went to Dairy Queen for Georgia Mudd Fudge).