Here it is Halloween again. This year we had a special treat of warm weather. It was so nice that I sat outside on my front porch to hand out candy. The treat is coming tomorrow when it is supposed to snow and be a high of 42 degrees! I'll take it though. Halloween in Utah is very hit or miss when it comes to the weather.
Adriene was a banana this year. She was so excited about it. She told me this morning that it is her best costume EVER! We added a little flair with the yellow sports stripe below her eyes.
Cooper was a gladiator. And he makes a very handsome gladiator if I do say so myself. Don't you love the tough face he has in this picture?
We went to the annual trunk-or-treat on Saturday as well. Matt got a costume too. He did use it when we trick or treated with the kids to scare others. One guy even gave him candy for the good scare. : )
The other photos are from the school parade and some other fun shots that I got of kids in costume. I hope you enjoy!
The kids earned their orange/white belts this week. Cooper has been doing karate twice a week since January and Adriene started this summer. They were both ready to take the test when it came up September 22nd.
They had to a crazy list of things they had to do to pass:
-perform their kata
-stretch on the ground with their legs to side and touch their heads to the ground
-70 sit ups
-50 push ups
-80 kicks
I don't know the exact number so those are estimate, but it was a crazy high number that I wouldn't be able to do. With each progressive belt it gets harder, to the point that the black belts are doing these things in the THOUSANDS! I'm not kidding, it's like 2,000 push ups. The test, needless to say, takes several hours to complete for those folks. Cooper's challenge was the stretch. He barely touched his head to the ground--but he did it! He was so proud of himself.
The kids took their tests on a Thursday and didn't find out until the next Monday if they passed or not. They were so nervous all weekend about it. Cooper told me one night that he'd be so disappointed if he didn't pass because he worked so hard at it. What a great lesson for these kids to learn. Their master Shihan is a little bit hard to understand but I really appreciated the time he took with each individual child to talk to them about what makes each of them special.
I have to take a moment now to talk about their instructor. His name is Kiyoshi Arakaki but he is called Shihan. It means he is a master level instructor of karate. He created the form of karate that the kids are learning. It is called Muso-Kai karate. The literal translation means "an organization of infinite thought or action without conscious efforts." He does believes in building your strength not in teaching you how to fight necessarily--at least not at this age. Shihan obviously loves his students. He enjoys teaching the kids and makes sure they all feel special. When they were taking thier belt tests, he warned the parents that "the kids may cry, he will push them hard, but it will be good for them." And he says it all with his signature smile that makes you feel like it really is OK. He's even talked Matt into taking classes.
You might also like to see the picture of my whole karate family that was taken in July.
Adriene is starting 4th grade this year and Cooper is starting 2nd. Cooper's teacher is Mrs. Lemon. We don't know much about her but she seems really nice. Adriene's teacher is Mr. Lingen. Yes, he is our neighbor and one of her good friend's dads. I also went to high school with him and his wife so it really is a small world. She's excited about his class because he has laptop computers for the kids to use and the class writes and performs an opera every year.
Here is the required in front of the house shot.
Here is a group of our neighborhood walking group. It's getting bigger every year.
I just enjoyed the way this one turned out.
Adriene at her desk.
Cooper with his teacher, Mrs. Lemon. I also snuck a peek at them doing the Pledge of Allegiance.
Cooper with Sam C. and Sam J. They have all been on the same soccer team for the past 2 years and they get to be in the same class. Yeah!
I can't believe my darling nephew Henry is almost one! Michelle and I had been planning this photo shoot for a while, we bought the outfit, and planned to do it on my trip out there in July. Well, we had a ball doing it, Henry was mostly cooperative, but the bottom line is that we got some super cute shots!
Father's Day this year was so nice. Rich is always so generous and loving with his family. We all met at the Cottonwood Club for a very nice brunch. All of his kids and grandkids were there. My sister and Henry came since they were in town too. I got some darling random shots and we took the opportunity to take some family shots while we were all together. You should have seen me out in the rain rearranging furniture and setting up the shots. I think they turned out pretty darn good.
I have to explain this next picture. Cooper was interested in eating much so aunt Michelle started this silly game where we gave him random things to eat but made him close his eyes and guess. It went on for a good 10 minutes and was certainly entertaining for the rest of us watching.
I had to make the grandkids picture big because they are the most special. I just love all those kids!
I can't believe it but Adriene actually cut her hair! She had been talking about it for about a week and wouldn't stop talking about it. That's how it went down when she got her ears pierced so I figured that she had to be serious. We checked to see if her hair was long enough to donate and sure enough it was! 10 inches! That sealed the deal. Here are some cute pics.
Here is the 10 inches that got cut off
She couldn't stop watching the cutting
but she complains whenever I use the hairdryer!
So cute in the back. A long A-line.
Check out the BEFORE and AFTER shots. Pretty dramatic.
In case you didn't know, Matt is obsessed with bacon. Here's a recipe from Matt's new bacon cookbook. We may have to try it out...
1 lb applewood smoked bacon
1/2 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar
3 cup heavy whip cream
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
Preheat oven to 400. Lay bacon on baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake for 14-16 minutes until crispy. Cool bacon and finely chop.
Combine cream, milk, vanilla bean, and sugar in large saucepan. Cook over med/high heat until hot and the sugar is completely dissolved (about 5 minutes), stirring occassionally. Remove the vanilla bean and discard it.
In a small bowl, beat egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot cream mixture. Return yolk mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 6-8 minutes. Do not let it boil.
Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and let it cool completely. Stir in bacon bits. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer instructions. When the ice cream is fully churned, scoop into a freezer safe container and freeze until ready to serve.
