It's Here! Halloween!!

Halloween arrived and we had a blast! The family gathers at my brother in laws house for chili, hotdogs, and fun! After we gobble the food as fast as we can we hit the streets looking for candy. The neighborhood that we were in is very busy and spirited. Many houses really get into the festivities. There was 13 kids in our group... safety in numbers is our motto! I was really nervous for Riley this year because of his nerves around people in costume. He is deathly afraid of mascots. I knew I would have to hold his hand most of the time. Boy was I wrong. He marched around like he knew every house and the people in them. He even went up to a house that had a haunted tent in front with gross creatures and scary noises. Mikayla wouldn't even go up to that house! He must have felt invincible as Batman! Mikayla loved hanging out with her cousins and Cameron loved being pushed around by grandma while eating his lollipop. And yes, I was able to keep all of the kids in the same theme, Super Kids!

Grandma, Cameron, Riley and Mikayla

Riley

Grandma and Cameron

Cameron, Grandma and Aunt Kim

Maddie, Jake and Mikayla

We hit the park before school this morning. This was Cameron's first time in the swings and he loved it! Riley and Chase has fun on the monkey bars and Laney loved the mini slide!

Trunk or Treat # 2

Last night we attended another sister in law's Trunk or Treat. That made it the second this week. So far my plan has worked and I haven't had to make dinner this week. (Monday doesn't count because I heated up left overs from my birthday dinner the night before. Thanks Mom!). The only night we do not have something scheduled is Thursday. Anyone want to invite us to theirs? I think another sister in law has one tonight. (Jana?) The kids were able to dress up in the same costume. They were all cave people. They looked so cute! It is my favorite costume this year by far!

If you can't tell I LOVE Halloween. It has always been my favorite holiday. I think it is because Halloween usually starts off with my birthday. We celebrate all week whether in school, church parties, or the night itself. Growing up, my family held a huge party every year. My grandma would invite all of her siblings and their families. Her kids alone total 11. Half are married and have kids of their own, so you can imagine the size of these parties. I must say that it is one of my favorite memories! You can't beat watching adults run across the patio with an orange between there knees! FUN TIMES!

Here are my cave children.

Trunk or Treat # 1

Last night we went to our first Trunk or Treat of the week. I know that we should not be crashing other wards parties but I had some good reasons. First, it is one less night that I have to cook, second, it gave Mike an opportunity to catch up with more people he knew back in the day, and third, my kids wanted to go! I told Mikayla that she would have to dress up as something else becasue the Joker custume requires a whole can of green spray and I only had one can left. She went through the Halloween box and tried a few things. She eneded up with an Indian for tonight and a Cave Woman for Trunk or Treat # 2. So far it has worked out that she has had a partner with every costume. Joker and Batman, Indian and Cowboy, Cave Woman and ? We will see!

31

I turned 31 on Friday and celebrated my birthday with a weekend of activities. Fiday night we had the Fall Festival to attend. The kids loved it and once again Mike caught up with more people he knew when he was growing up. After the festival we went home and got a call from my sister in law. She invited us to see High School Musical 3. It was the third installment of the series so my expectations were low. But it ended up being fun to watch. On Saturday we took the kids to my Mom's and headed into Orange County. We ate at Maggiano's which I love! They have the best italian food I have ever had. I have tried many things from their menu and have not had something I did not like. After lunch we went to San Clemente which is our favorite beach. There is a condo that we stay at every year and they actually had a last minute cancellation so we were able to stay the night. (Thanks Dadf for the hundred dollar bill! It came in handy!) The beach was fabulous! The water was 63 degrees. It was so nice to walk along the beach with Mike and enjoy something we love so much. It reassured us that moving back to CA was the right thing to do. Later we ate at a little pizza restaurant on the beach, played rumikub, watched a show about giant snakes infiltrating South Florida and went to bed by 10:00. It may not sound like much, but just relaxing without the kids (I love them dearly but needed a good break) was awesome! We planned to stay at the beach the next day but this was the first night without Cameron. I missed him earlier than I thought I would. We headed back to my Mom's. She made a wonderful mexican meal. Babysitting my kids was enough but she still got me a couple of presents. A power drill! I finally got one with power! And the coolest mosaic picture of me and Mike comprised of little pictures of our life together. Thanks Kim for designing that! I love it! I have to say that this was the best birthday weekend I have had in a while. Being so close to family makes life so much fun!

Little Lake Elementary Fall Festival

Tonight we went to Lettle Lake Elementary School's Fall Festival. It kicked off the Halloween festivities for us. The kids had so much fun dressing up in their costumes. If you can't tell they are Batman and the Joker. The school set up booths with games and activities. They decorated cookies and threw lots of items (pumpkings, rings, footballs, & ping pong balls). The big prize of the night was our new pets Squirt and Bob the gold fish.

Pumpkin Bowling

Bubble Hoops

Football Toss

.

Glitter Graphics Maker & MySpace Layouts

This is what I have been waiting for!

For years I have wanted to do fun girlie stuff with my family. I wanted to infuse my fashion expertise on some wiliing victims and this weekend it finally happened! Two of my neices were attending a homecoming dance and needed some help that only I could provide. (Not really, but it adds to the drama) I had the benefit of painting one of my neices nails. We chose black with gold polkas dots. My other neice borrowed six pairs of shoes and tons of jewelry. She couldn't decide and had to go home to try them out. A girl after my own heart! It was so much fun to serve these girls with one of my talents. Who said service wasn't fun?

I like hats! and The Jonas Brothers!

I love accessories! It is bad! It started with shoes, then handbags, now hats! Not to be vain, but I can sport most hats. I decided I wanted a Jonas Brothers hat. I found one at Charlotte Russe for $5 so I splurged and bought it. Here is our latest picture with my Joe Bro hat!

Benefits of CA

One of the benefits of being here is reuniting with family and friends. Last week I suprised my grandpa's ex wife with a visit. We have not seen her since his funeral last August. She has kind of kept here distance but we still like her a lot. She had not talked to my Mom in months so she did not know we moved back. My Mom arranged a lunch at this place called Pat and Oscars. It is one of those places that you crave after you move out of state. Anyway, the look on her face when she saw us was priceless! It look her a minute to realize that it was really us. The last time we saw her I was 8 months pregnant. This time giant Cameron was on my hip. It was good catching up with her. Here we are. And no, Mikayla is not dressing up as Sarah Palin for Halloween!

Before...

We are here in our rental house. It is not bad, but different. It was built in 1963 which means it is dated to say the least. I plan on painting the whole house because it is stark white. I am so used to my golden walls that white seems harsh. This is a picture of the living room and kitchen. The kitchen looks really small and it is. But the cabinets are so deep that I have plenty of storage. Counter space is another issue. The bedrooms are much bigger than the previous house but the master bath is the size of my hall closet. The owner turned the garage into a family room so it feels like the same size as the last house. All in all it will suit us fine. The ward here is great! The older people were in Mike's ward when he was growing up and the younger people went to school with Mike. It was like a reunion the first week. The funny thing is Judy Shipp's cousin is in my ward! This is the third person we know that know the Shipp's in some way. The amazing thing is the locations. Houston, Canada and here. Small world! We have had family here every day since we have moved so I have not been lonely yet. But I do miss all of my friends from Utah. You are all such amazing people. I hope you take advantage of every minute you have with eachother because you never know when things will change.

Mikayla's Baptism

Mikayla was baptized on September 13. It was such a beautiful baptism. There were 5 total girls being baptized so it was done with just our ward. The speakers were great and the girls looked radiant. Mikayla, we are so proud of your decision to become a member of this wonderful church. We love you!