"Spooktacular" Halloween!

We have had a fun filled week of Halloween activities. The anticipation of the big day is usually bigger than the day itself, at our house anyway. On Wednesday evening, Baylie and Ali were invited to a friends Halloween party. Thursday afternoon was the BIG "spooktacular" at the elementary school. Tonight was our ward "trunk or treat" (I forgot the camera for that) and then Lindsay drove the little ones to grandma Jacksons and they walked the cul de sac on our road trick or treating. Here is "butterfly" Baylie before the big party at Brinley's house!

This is Ali, our "she-devil" right before the party. (We really do know she's an angel)

The costume parade at the school.

Jace even got to be in the parade with Emily.

I snapped this shot in Emily's classroom right before I let them loose to go through the school to all the different classrooms to play games. Every year, each class is to find a game or something that the kids can do. They sell tickets for a week or so before hand and whatever tickets the classes earn, that money stays in the class room for that teacher to use. Emily's teacher did a candy store, which I helped with. Ali's teacher sold cotton candy. I heard a couple of the kids in Emily's class ask Mrs. Brian (her teacher) if they could go on a field trip with their money.

It has been our tradition for many years now to have pizza for dinner on Halloween night. Lindsay is enjoying it! Too bad, she's too old to trick or treat! Although the little kids were very generous with their "loot".

Ali, Baylie and Emily (our midnight princess) getting ready to go trick or treating.

What a cute bunch of kids (and puppy too)! Still smiling as it's early in the evening.

Baylie with her "loot" after the ward "trunk or treat"

Jace with his "stash" minus the sucker that's in his mouth! I really don't think he ate anything but candy all day long. He kept bringing his "trick or treat" bag to me during the day and saying "trick or treat" and of course I'd put a candy in, who could resist the cutest dragon ever?

The weather cooperated very nicely, the forecast was saying snow all week long but surprisingly it was very warm and only light jackets were needed : ) It was a spooktacular, I mean spectacular Halloween!

My baby is 3

I can't believe that my cute little boy is 3 already! It seems like yesterday that he was born, he is growing up so fast! He gets easily excited by tractors, boats, motorcycles and all things BOY! Our neighbor took him today to blacktail and let him ride on his jet ski (yes, it was a sunny day but I'm sure the water was cold), his dad said he absolutely loved it! What a fun thing for him to do on his birthday, thanks Doug! Here is his birthday cake! We saw this on Brooke's blog and ever since he said that he wanted a football cake. I went and got the mold, went into my office and asked Cathy if I could borrow an icing bag and she said to just let her do it. Thanks Cathy, this turned out fantastic. He was so excited when he saw it and it tasted awesome!

We took him to Red Robin for dinner. Every time we pass it, he says, "red robin, yummm!" He is always asking if we can go there and get a balloon. Here he is with his balloons while they are singing to him. He is holding up 3 fingers to let them know he is 3.

Once we got home, he opened gifts! Here he is with his new plasma car. He was so excited for everything he was given, even the shirts, he would yell "it's a new shirt!" Thanks everyone for the gifts given and for making his birthday such a fun one for him!

Cross Country

As I wrote in a post 2 months ago, Lindsay joined the high school cross country team. At first, she wasn't too sure she wanted to stick with it, but she did and has had a fabulous season. I was very proud of her. First, for attempting something she had never done and second, she gave it everything she had at each meet. She started out running the 3.2 miles (5K) at her first meet in 35 minutes and some odd seconds (I can't recall the exact second). This afternoon, she ran it in 28:42 a new PR. It seemed that each meet she ran faster and faster! I think these are great times, especially for one who has never run before.
This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to head down to Pocatello and watch one of her meets. It was a VERY cold day, as you can see, she is wearing under armour under her uniform. This was only the second meet I had been able to go to, since most of them are on Wednesdays and Fridays (the only 2 days I work). I was able to snap a couple shots of her during the meet. This is her, and it's near the beginning of the race. Gotta love the look of determination on her face!

Here she is heading down the finish line! She has one meet left which is the big district meet. With the way she has been going, she is sure to have another PR! She even informed me the other day that she WILL do it again next year! Way to go Lindsay, we are so proud of you! YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! (That's what I would tell her when she would come home from practice and tell me how hard it was at the beginning of the season & thanks Diana for the saying)

Breath Taking

This morning during the hustle and bustle of getting kids out the door, I wasn't in a very good mood. The two little girls wanted cold lunch at the last minute and the two older girls were running late as well. After everyone was gone, I went to put something in the laundry room and noticed Lindsay had forgotten her cross country uniform and she has a meet this afternoon. I hurried to call her to see if she was still at the bus stop and asked her why she didn't take her uniform. She just said she forgot it. I asked if she thought I could quickly drive to the bus stop and beat the bus there. Needless to say, I was not happy with her, as I was still scrambling to get Baylie ready for pre-school. After rushing to the bus stop, luckily she had remembered her under armour and it was just the uniform she forgot, I was turning the corner to head back home and looked up and noticed a totally beautiful rainbow. It was so vibrant in color that it literally took my breath away. I have not seen this vivid a rainbow in quite some time! I ran into the house and quickly grabbed the camera, and went onto the back porch to snap this shot. I then ran back in to get my phone to take another picture to text Chris and the girls and it was gone. I hope the girls noticed it's beauty while waiting for the bus. This event changed my mood drastically because I realized I would have missed one of Heavenly Father's beautiful rainbows had it not been for Lindsay who forgot her uniform! Thanks Lindsay!

He did it!!

We have been working on getting Jace potty trained for the past week. On day one, we went to the store to purchase a toy of his choice, for when he was finished, some new underwear (his choice) and a treat (his choice) to give him anytime he went potty in the toilet. Day one was pretty eventful and he was sooooo excited about the remote control tractor that he chose as his big reward. He did a fantastic job, on going pee in the toilet. He had a total of 3 "wet" accidents in day one and two. After that, he seemed to have that part down! The other however, has been my nightmare! Finally, after 8 grueling days of begging and pleading, on my part, he went #2 in the potty! We were all sooooo excited that we did a dance, called everyone upstairs to celebrate the BIG event and at this point, I was just trying to get him to go that I told him he could have his tractor if he would just go! So far, so good! We haven't had any accidents now for 2 days! Here he is with his "BIG" reward! WAY TO GO JACE

Elk, moose and bears...... Oh my!

We took the opportunity to go to Bear World this afternoon in between conference sessions. We didn't quite make it back for the afternoon session but the kids (mostly the little ones) had a great time, and it was fun to do something as a family. I must mention that I worked this morning too, so I apologize for the way their hair is done, or not done. : ) Right inside the doors of the gift shop there is a big stuffed bear. I couldn't pass up this photo op. Notice Lindsay's half-hearted smile?

They have a sign saying how "rare" this white albino elk is. When we drove a little further, I noticed there was another. So the question arose, how "rare" can they be?

Just a big Ol' moose lying around waiting for me to come take his picture.

This bear was about 7-8 feet from our car. We were driving behind one of the trucks that have people in it feeding the bears so we saw a ton of bear, up close and personal. There was a black bear that if I would've rolled down the window, I could have touched him. He was right up against the car and the people who work there in their "caged" cars had to come move him so we could continue. Jace thought this was the coolest!

Some of my cute kids "posing" as bears! ROOOAAARRR!!!!!! Don't they look mean?

Baylie, Emily and Kenna petting a deer in the petting zoo. Jace was hilarious! He kept chasing after the chickens trying to catch one. Obviously they didn't let him, but he never stopped trying.

We even enjoyed a few of the rides they have to offer. Lindsay and Kenna were good sports and would take the little ones on the rides.

Baylie snuggling into Lindsay on the roller coaster!

Kenna and Jace with Emily and Ali on the roller coaster.

The blueberry drop was a favorite. My kids love that "tickle your tummy" feeling! Lindsay, Emily, Kenna (is she texting, I think so...) Ali, Jace and Chris.

We had fun family time with perfect weather! This is the second time we've taken the kids here and they have loved it both times. Thanks everyone for a great afternoon!

School photos

Okay, so they really aren't from the school, but I took the kids this morning to get their "school pictures" taken. I guess it's just that it's a new school year, which is why I call them that. For the past few years, I've been taking them to JC Penney to have their pictures done. It's easier for me (I can be there making sure they're smiling and their hair is in place) and a lot less money than the school charges. No, they aren't posted with this post, they are just along the side of my blog. CUTE KIDS!