A Wreathy Wonderland

In case you hadn't heard, I like me a good competition.

2 of my Cali gals have engaged in a "friendly" porch display competition for the past couple years.

I don't really care about the blog button.

It's all about pride & gloating.

And since I'm not present this year to renew my reigning title of

"Miss 2013 Cookie Competition Champ",

I thought I'd get in on the porch action this year.

 

Yes, I may be a couple days shy of the entry date, but I don't have the luxury of Michaels, JoAnn, or Target within a 100 mile radius.

 

 

But no fear, all in the name of victory, I braved the horrendous wintery storms, trudged through the treacherous canyon, endured frostbite, and trekked to Salt Lake City.

All with 3 children in tow while walking up hill both ways.

 

Okay maybe it wasn't snowing. And I didn't walk farther than from my car door to the entry door of Hobby Lobby. And I may have had my super helpful mother-in-law with me helping wrangle kids.

But by golly I did travel.

 

And here is the result.

I give you:

"A Wreathy Wonderland"

 

The far away view

The closer view

 

 Note the ornaments.

So cute, right?

 

And my North Pole sign is my PDR, if you will.

Really brings it all home, don't you think?

 

 

And the lit up night view.

 

Here are the other 2 entries:

Ashley

Kaari

Both adorable and classy.

Cast you vote either on my comments or facebook!

 

I'd love to walk you through each piece and offer more witty, entertaining commentary, but by golly I gots me some candy cane hot chocoate boiling on the stove.

I gots to Ho Ho Go!

 

 

 

Hooray for Halloween!

"Hooray for Halloween!"
I realize this is about as lame as a title can be, but my creative well is tapped dry.
Just go with it.

When I told Avy we would be having a Halloween party for adults,

 you can only imagine her reaction.

 

So a couple days later we replaced this:

 

with this:

a bit more child friendly.

 

The biggest perk of living here is we get to see Tyler's parents all the time!

And what a treat to have this at our party:

 

 

 

After tractor riding, we decorated cookies, had some pinata fun, played pass the pumpkin, and ate some goods.

 

(And a huge shout-out to my mother-in-law for making a bunch of beautiful, delicious cookies!!!

THANK YOU!)

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the adorable spooks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And beautiful cousin Jen, always the life of the party!

 

Thanks for a great time, friends & family!

 

 

 

 



Hollywood Haunt

I'm so behind on the blog front.

I still need to post about summer, the girls' birthday party, and my birthday party...the awesomest 30th EVER known to mankind.

 

But since these pics are fresh on my computer, I'm going to start with Halloween.

 

We threw a Hollywood style Halloween Party.

It was fab.

The rules were to come as a celebrity...

dead or alive, fictional or real, a couple or an individual.

The costumes did not disappoint!

 

The VIP list consisted of:

Lois Lane & Clark Kent

 

 The blind ref & Catwoman

Bonnie & Clyde

 

 Groucho Marx & Audrey Hepburn

 

 Sandy & Danny

 

 The Farmer & Minnie Pearl

 

 The Romneys

 



 Cleopatra & Waldo

 

 Steve & Terri Irwin

 

Angelina Jolie & Martin Sheen

 

 

Hollywood Pirates 

Thing 1& Thing 2

 

Lucy & Charlie Brown 

Uncle Fester & Morticia

 

The Blue Man Group 

Dolly Parton & Elton John

 

Mary Poppins & Bert

(I don't know how I missed taking a picture of them together??? Sorry!)

 

 

The Decorations were spooktacular.

I've been in the Halloween spirit all month, so that and pinterest combined made for some awesomeness.

The front entry:

 

The entryway:

 

 

The living room/VIP Lounge

 

 

 

 

 

 The family room:

 The back porch/Hollywood:

 

 

The food: 

 

(Tyler's famous homemade root beer)

 

The caramel apple bar & cider in the kitchen:

 

And really, would it be Hollywood if there weren't some cut-throat, stiff competition?

 

Hollywood's Most Brave consisted of some Fear Factor-esque eating.

Round 1:

Worms out of mud 

 

 

 

Round 2:

Ooey-gooey green slime

 

Round 3:

Zombie brains 

 

These guys were die-hard.

It was a huge, nasty mass of cold, green pasta.

The winner came about by default, the other 2 gave up.

They were looking a little, er, green in the face.

The Champ:
Sir Elton

 

Then came Hollywood's toughest competition.

This was a raging war of arm strength, Ashley Carter style.

Again, some serious competition ensued.

Tyler and I need to start our strength training regime yesterday in order to conquer next year.

I lost my first go-round.

 

Jaime was amazing.

I'd love to see a show-down between her and the Bay Area's beloved Candace Ashby.

 

 Tat hung in there for quite some time, knocking down the competition one by one.

But then he met his match.

Blue Man Brian.

 

Blue Man Brian is the current reigning champ.

Well done.  

 

And last, but definitely not least, was Hollywood's Hottest.

There was a tight vote on favorite costumes,

followed by a red carpet strut accompanied by some Bieber...

...the perfect combination for a perfect night.

 

And Hollywood's Hottest Award goes to...

...drum roll please....

....

Clark Kent and Lois Lane!

It doesn't get more Hollywood than a steamy kiss, folks.