Halloween 2012

Drama is a good word to describe our Halloween day for 2012.

 We had a good day.  I taught a group piano lesson and it worked well.

 I started making dinner. Mummy hot dogs and loaded nachos.  Then both girls had friends over. 

 I guess long gone are the days when we get to have just our kids on Halloween. I even tried to get Sydney's friends to leave and have her meet them later, but after Amanda showed up with her friends, it was over.

 So, I fed Amanda, Ally and Reggie and offered food to Sydney's friends who politely declined. 

 Sydney and her friends were meeting up with some boys and she wanted to leave. I told her I wanted pictures of my kids.  She had a meltdown.  The pictures above are me, Amanda and B waiting for Sydney outside.  Sydney was changing into her costume and Mike was encouraging her to come outside for a picture. Then, we took too long (spraying Amanda's hair blue) and she melted down again.

 So, then I had to threaten her that she wouldn't trick or treat unless I get a picture. So, she changed back into her Elmo costume and we got these pictures.  Aren't they awesome?

 Then she was gone....changing into her 'street' clothes so she could go find her friends before they went to get (back) into their costumes.  

 But the other two are always up for a photo shoot!

 I drove Sydney over to meet her friends and after some prodding, she got out of the car and met up with them. We saw her later that night and she was having a blast. The previous drama over.  Konnor is the latest boy to make her heartbeat and she brought him by to meet us and Max.  After she got home, her friend, Addy, started drama by saying that she was so upset that Konnor loves Sydney and not her (Addy).  Oh my GIRLS! We had a nice talk about friends and how they should be supportive.

 These are Amanda's friends who were hanging out with us on Halloween.  Here is Amanda's drama.  She how she is Thing 1? Well, there is a Thing 2, Thing 3, and Thing 4 running around without her.  They wouldn't answer texts, phone calls....even when Amanda went to one of their houses to ask them if they were all going together, they ignored her (this happened last year, too).  So, she went with these nice kiddos.  We made Reggie put on a costume because he came with a byu shirt on.....bad.

They all went out for awhile and then ended up back at our house to watch a  movie until 9pm.  There were also a few more boys that joined the group including Jake E and Ben R and someone else I don't know.  The kids in the picture are Randy, some kid I don't know, Carson, Ally, Erynn, Mary, Amanda and Reggie.

Mike & Brandon went together starting out with Brandon's friends.  Brandon had a hard time keeping up with the boys that were running since he's still limping, so soon it was just Mike & B.  Mike said Brandon was just fine hanging out with his Dad on Halloween. I mentioned to Mike to enjoy that because it won't last unfortunately.  They did quite a bit of the neighborhood before they came back home and Brandon took over handing out the candy.  We ran out. I don't know how many pieces I had, but probably around 800.

There was a really good spook alley down the street put on by the Cheneys who gave all the $ to charity.  The Wilsons house was fabulous and they had added quite a few full sized monsters in their yard this year.  The Elliotts house was Harry Potter.  I heard the Hennenbergers did a swamp in their garage this year and handed out scones.  Mike is inspired to do something cool to give us an 'anchor' house down at this end of the street.  I did have a few people ask where our root beer was this year.  We'll have to do it again next year when there isn't so much drama!

I'm taking down all the Halloween decor right now and moving on to the season of Thankfulness!

Trunk or Treat at Farm Hill Ward

Cute niece, Kate & Sydney comparing tans.

 Friday after the soccer practice, Sydney, Brandon and I went to my parent's ward Halloween party.  I really only knew a couple of people there even though my parent's are in the house I grew up in.  Their boundaries had changed from when I was little. It was fun to be back in our ward building.

 My cute parents!

 Boxer Brandon

 Garrett & Brandon

 Elyse

 Papa trunk or treating with Sydney and Brandon

 Mom in her witch hat and below....Mom & Cozette

Our kids haven't ever gone to a trunk or treat before and they liked it.  It was a pretty easy way to get lots of candy with minimal effort! :) It did make me glad for our neighborhood because of the abundance of kids and the grown-ups that love to go all out for Halloween.  It should be years before we have to trunk it

Afterward, we hung out with my parents until it was time to pick up Mike from the airport.  It was good to have him home.  He had a great time.  The place was beautiful.  He learned a lot.  He got to know our neighbor who was there, too, a little better and he always loves to hang with Reed.  Mike got Brandon a bat and himself a hat from the World Series game he attended and brought the girls ghiradelli chocolates. Yum! We are happy that he's home. Thanks everyone for a fun night!

Brandon's back!

This week we took Brandon to his first soccer practice since breaking his leg. He's started to walk better, so we thought we'd try it.

 He did pretty well, but started to limp again afterward.  I talked to one of the dads who happens to be an orthopedic surgeon.  He said it takes FOREVER to get back to normal after a break.  He watched Brandon walk and run and said he's perfectly normal, it's just going to take awhile.  He played in his game on Saturday, but only for a short time because he was hopping and it was really hard to keep up with the pace of indoor soccer.  It was hard on him. He was upset about not keeping up or playing much, so we are hoping he'll get back to normal sooner than later.

 Sydney came to watch practice with me because we were going to Grandma & Papa Gibson's ward trunk-or-treat right after.  The bleachers are this fantastic red, so we did a mini-photo shoot.

 Sydney is always willing to pose for pictures!

 This one was her idea and it's pretty cute :)

 Then she took a picture of me from behind talking with the other moms.  Soccer mom!

 Here is Brandon in action.  Looks pretty good B!

You played hard at practice and your hard work will pay off!

Contrasts

This is what we woke up to this morning!  My exclamation of 'It snowed!' is the only thing that made our exhausted teenager climb out of bed.  She had to see it for herself.  

Then, she ran and turned on the Christmas lights!

 Our cute neighbor who moved here from California posted a picture on facebook looking down the street from her house.  These Christmas lights being on caused quite a stir on her page.  Her CA friends could not believe we had them up already.  I chimed in explaining we put them up now to avoid putting them up in a snowstorm and assured them I had already turned them back off since the celebration of the first snow was over once the kids went to school.  I quickly snapped my own photo with my phone and sent it to Mike who is in California today!  He wrote back, 'WOW!' and then sent me the view from his hotel room.....

Doesn't it look peaceful and relaxing?  I hope Mike gets to relax while he's there.  Our trip last week with Baileys for the Allied convention is usually not relaxing for him.  He has meetings to attend and plays golf with the owners everyday.  You would think playing golf everyday would be relaxing, but it gets quite tiring and there are other things he might like to do. Like spend time with me!

Anyway, here is the view I had last week. The convention was at Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Hotel in Phoenix.  Becksteads and Joneses brought 2 of their kids each because it was UEA weekend. I guess if we had known, we could have driven down and brought our kids with us.  Next time maybe.

I did a little shopping with Tyra.  I got a manicure.  The lady was late for my appointment, so the spa brought me a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries and cream to munch while I was waiting. That was for sure worth the wait!  I read a book. I watched 'Pretty Little Liars' on my iPad.

There was a general meeting on Thursday where Newt Gingrich was the speaker.  He was fascinating to listen to.  Mike & I were first in line to get our pictures taken with him.  We also got to hear from David Feherty, a former pro golfer who now has a tv show.  He's Irish, so it was fun to listen to his accent.  He's had a hard life though, including being run over by a truck so he doesn't stay on track very well.  The resort was ok, but the food was good!  It was fun to hang out with Tyra and her girls and Judy and her boys.  It was also fun to get home to the kiddos and relieve my mom :)  Joking...how hard can our kids be to watch now....they are all pretty self-sufficient.  They also had a sleepover at Roger & Cozette's since it was UEA. Thanks you two!

So, it's 6:00pm and it is still snowing off and on....I'm looking at the picture Mike sent again and sure hope he is enjoying his nice weather!

Amanda's birthday

 We partied all weekend long as we had Amanda's Backer's cake on Sunday.  It was delish....

 On Monday, Mike stayed home from work in the morning and we went to buy her a soccer return that she wanted.  She also got new cleats and a ball last week when she forgot to take her cleats to an away game.  We ran to the store and bought new cleats and still made it back to the game in time :)

We picked up a Subway sandwich and took it to her school for her lunch.  Mike wanted Amanda to come out the curb to get her sandwich.  When she did, he blasted the Beatles' "You Say It's Your Birthday" from his stereo.  So cute!

Sydney did Amanda's candy's poster that afternoon.  It's pretty funny :)  Amanda had a soccer game that evening, so we went to that and also took donuts to share with her team.  Maddy, Sue, Liz and Reggie came to cheer her on, too.

Here are 14 things we love about Amanda!

1. She is a loving daughter that cares how she makes us feel as parents.

2. She is smart and works hard at getting good grades in school

3.  She loves her friends and is very loyal

4. She is beautiful inside and out!

5. She likes to get new clothes

6. She loves Max and always gives him a hug goodnight

7.  She is adventurous. She is always willing to try new things

8. She is a great waterskier, wakeboarder, snow skier and snowboarder

9. She is a great soccer player and dancer

10. She has a cute sense of humor and can be a prankster

11. She is a great sister to Sydney & Brandon

12. She is a kind person and is quick to say she's sorry after an argument

13. She is 100% loyal University of Utah Ute Fan

14. She's a hard worker, amazing, dares to do right and fun daughter and we are so blessed to have her!

We love you Manda!

Amanda's Birthday Party

 We celebrated Amanda's 14th birthday on Friday with some of her friends.  Liz was the first one to come over and gave Amanda fun gifts like a Barbie, Hello Kitty soap, etc.  Also a very cute necklace.

 They were laughing their heads off at Liz's gifts.  So funny!

 Then, the rest of them arrived and Mike & I  drove them to Nightmare on 13th haunted house in SLC.

 He and I went to sushi and watched the Utah State v byu game while we were waiting :)

Then we picked them up and brought them back to our house for cake and ice cream. She has cute friends and it was fun to spend the evening with them!  l to r front: Susie, Maddy, Landon. 2nd row: Erynn, Ally, Reggie, Amanda. in the back: Carson and Liz