Halloween 2016

I think this Halloween was a pretty successful one! Everyone had great costumes that they were happy to wear, so all of the work was worth the effort.

Marianne was the easiest this year. She wore at least three different costumes on different days (preschool, dance, trunk or treat), and settled on being a race car driver for the official night. (She's holding a little ceramic pumpkin statue that she painted with her friend Cate.)

 Beau's Award Winning Costume was SWEET! Seriously! His was a working, dispensing candy machine.

We poked a little hole behind each piece of candy and Beau had a pencil that he could hold inside of his costume. When someone put in a quarter, he would push out a little piece of candy and then the customer could get it out of the bottom.

Unfortunately we did learn that no one pays for candy when they can get it for free. But he did take the top costume award at the ward trunk or treat!

Jacob's costume was equally impressive - he was a boy being abducted by an alien. We paper mache'd the alien head as a family for FHE. When it was dry we found a long 1" square stick, covered one end with black felt, and then shoved it in a hole on the bottom of the head. Jacob wore a mini camel pack and we put the other end of the stick in it. Then we covered it all with a cape, stuffed the pajama legs and alien arms with stuffing, and after much effort, figured out how to manipulate everything so it looked right. Voila alien abduction! 

Bekah was a gumball machine! After Marianne, Bekah's costume was the easiest, just lots of glue and pom-poms. 

 Bekah had the day off of school because of parent teacher conferences (smart school! They always schedule P/T conferences for Halloween!) She went with me to the elementary school to watch the costume parade. We decided to be silly and wear tails...because you can on Halloween!

Since our ward trunk or treat was earlier in the week, we decided to do some real trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood in Los Lunas. Our own neighborhood is too hilly and few neighbors actually participate. My parents had a fire going in the pit in the backyard so the kids could roast hot dogs, and there was other delicious food for the adults. Jake, DeAnn and their kids came down too. After torturing the kids with stern "Finish your dinner first!" and "Ten more minutes!", we finally went trick or treating! The best house went all out with a haunted house - we took all of the kids through it and it was legitimately creepy! At one point a creepy psychiatric patient was coming down the stairs towards Beau and he started backing up! He didn't want to walk past that person, and I didn't blame him, but I did give him a little shove forward, and we all breathed easier (and shared some laughs!) when we made it out.
They certainly brought in the loot! One of my favorite parts of Halloween night is when everyone sorts out their candy! I loved it as a kid, and it doesn't fail to thrill me now!

I love that my parents were part of our fun night!

Rus and Keri Go to Monterey

Rus had a conference in Monterey Bay, CA in August and he invited me to go along! I don't know what I was more excited about - going on a trip with Rus to the CA coast, or having a few days to do ANYTHING I wanted while he was busy "conferencing." 

I was curious what kind of person I would be when completely alone. I haven't been alone EVER - not intentionally, but still...

And it turns out I enjoyed myself! I walked downtown from the hotel, rented a beach cruiser bicycle for the day, and rode along the coast to my heart's content. 

I stopped at a cozy solitary spot and did a bit of watercolor painting. 

I found myself on another main strip and did some eating and shopping. It was a great day!

That night Rus and I ate clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed the dinnertime show put on by the sea otters. After he wrapped up his conference the next day (in which I tried the bus system, shopped, found a delicious bakery and several great thrift/antique stores), we met up again at the wharf with some friends and we couldn't help ourselves - we enjoyed the chowder again! (Hey it's so fresh there!)

 The next day we had to drive up to Oakland for Rus to meet with a customer. While he was busy working, I spent the day riding the BART in to San Francisco and exploring the deYoung Museum and the Legion of Honor. I saw SO many beautiful things and safely navigated all of the public transportation I could handle...and at the end of the day when I was safely back in the car with Rus, I have to admit that I started crying. I guess it was just the release of a lot of tension and stress from being on my own for a few days. As much as I enjoyed the vacation from my routine, it turns out that I really like being around people I know.
Our last stop before catching the flight home was the Oakland Temple. We didn't have time to do anything more than walk the grounds, but that was enough. We really enjoyed the beauty of the temple...

 ...And the view of the city from above.

 Such a handsome fella! I'm so glad he took me with him, and for the memorable trip that we had!

Balloon Fiesta 2017

I think it's common knowledge how much I love the Balloon Fiesta. Bekah has inherited my love, so the two of us snuck out opening morning and picked a new spot (for us) to watch the balloons go up. We settled in a nice little spot and waited for the sky to fill up.

 See? These are the happy-early-morning-faces that happen when hot air makes the colors rise.

 And rise they did! It was a beautiful morning!

 As magical as that morning was, I needed my time at ground zero. So the next week while the older two kids were hunting with Rus, Beau, Marianne and I headed over to see it all up close. We saw my favorite firetruck chase vehicle, named "The Gentle Tripper," (although the first time I saw it I swear there was an "s" in there somewhere).

 Beau and Marianne LOVED it all! Marianne had been planning to go to the "balloon festia" for a month, since the excitement of her birthday passed.

 We went on Special Shapes day and there were at least a dozen new special shapes, like this owl. The balloons sat for a while waiting for the wind to settle, but eventually they went up.

Hooray for another successful Balloon Fiesta!

Beau and Rus Go Backpacking

Whenever one of our children turns eight, Rus takes them on a one-on-one overnight backpacking/fishing trip. Beau lucked out because the weekend that was set aside for the trip was also the weekend that we were watching Jason and Joy's kids while they ran off together (literally...they were doing a triathlon together). His cousin Wesley was able to go hiking with Beau and Rus up in the San Pedro Parks wilderness. They started off strong!

 They hiked about four miles in...a little rough but they made it.

There's nothing that Rus loves more than taking his favorite kids out to his favorite places!

 The boys fished in the Rio Puerco. At first they would just walk up to the stream, plunk the line in, and then wait with disappointment as no fish chose to bite. Rus educated them on the best ways to elude the fish, which included sneaking up on them "ninja style"! The boys ate this new information up...

 ...and then they caught some fish! Oh he was so excited!!

I think all three of them considered the trip a success!

Marianne Turns FIVE!

How can my baby be FIVE?!!

Somehow it happened, my little Sparkler larger than life and SO excited that her big day was finally here!

 Marianne decided that she wanted to go to the trampoline park with her friend Amira. We went and had a fantastic time! Toddler time at gravity park is GREAT, it's so empty and the little people have full run of the place. Could they be any cuter?!

Bekah really wanted a barbie dream house, but her room has absolutely no space for such an extravagance...so Bekah made her a smaller barbie house out of a box and some wood scraps. It was a very sweet thing for Bekah to do and Marianne loved it.

 For months Marianne had been musing over what kind of cake she wanted. Then for weeks she was perusing cookbooks and changing her mind, and for days she had her heart set on this castle cake.

I always feel like I dodged a bullet when it looks halfway decent!

 My mom was out of town but my dad came to dinner. Marianne loved having his attention...and I don't think Grandpa minded too much.

She really, really wanted a new bike helmet, so Grandpa got her one! 

After dinner we went out and rode bikes - she even rode without training wheels for a hot second until she got too nervous.
I love my Marianne! She is so smart, so bright and cheerful, inquisitive, competitive (just try besting her in a punch-buggy war!), thoughtful and kind and determined. I'm surprised by her on a regular basis and I've learned to never think I know what she's thinking. She loves mac and cheese, playing on the ipad, having a friend over every second of every day, writing notes to others, jumping on the trampoline, going out for sodas with dad, being tickled and snuggled, and having her hair curled and anything sparkly applied to her face. She's a force and I love her.

A New School Year!

Bekah started seventh grade this year! (Just imagine a disbelieving yelp as I announce each grade...) 

 Jacob started 5th...he said if he didn't get Ms. Grady for 5th grade then he wouldn't go to school at all. She was his second grade teacher and had just moved to 5th grade. Prayers were answered...he got Ms. Grady!

 Beau started 3rd grade! He has Miss Hipolito, the same teacher that Jacob had in 3rd.

 Marianne is the precocious preschooler! She is at a preschool offered at the high school, so we can say we have a child at elementary, middle, and high school this year!