October happenings

October came and went. We had lots of fun though and stayed super busy. The Young Women and Achievement day girls combined to drill some pumpkins into fun pumpkin lanterns. We drilled holes then added Christmas lights. Caleighs read "BOO"

Our wards Trunk or Treat was cancelled, but no worry's for us, the Knights Party is always fun. Michelle Knight goes out of her way to make it fun for the kids. This year Madame Zucchini told a story. She used sound effects and involved the whole group. The kids are still talking about it.

And then the main event... Trick or Treating. I still can't get over how many kids we get. It is so fun to see our neighborhood crawling with Halloween kids and their parents.
This is the Lupo family. They had a football game going in the trunk of their van and it fit their costumes "tail-gaters."
Why make the kids come to your door, most of our neighbors have figured out to just sit outside their homes.

Costumes (In case you couldn't figure it out.) Miles-Anakin Skywalker Griff- a mad scientist Caleigh- a cupcake (I got to make the costume with lots of help from our awesome RS pres. Donna Carling) Elliot- Snow white.

We had lots of fun and had a safe, a little cold, Halloween.

A lot to be Thankful for.

I love this time of year and all of it Holiday Celebration. This year we will be especially grateful for our growing family. Especially grateful for the three new babies that will be joining us. My brother Rod and his lovely wife Michelle are adopting a baby boy when he is born in January. They have also announced after 11 years of marriage they are pregnant!!! We are so excited for them. We are especially excited for Shawn to be the big brother he was made to be. He is such a great kid and will look after his two new baby siblings wonderfully.

The big brother

We are also grateful for another addition to this crazy family... Ryan and Tiffs.
Tiff is an amazing Mom that keeps up with this crew. Making it look easy as she goes. Oscar and Livy, the youngest, are only 11 months apart.

With all these babies on their way, I'm so grateful for the plan of Salvation. To know where we come from, what were doing here, and where we want to go. Even my little Elliot knows at the young age of 3, that Families are Forever! Since she tells me all the time. "we are a family forever huh, MOM."

Yeah, we are Elliot.

Fall Update

We are all enjoying our fall. The leaves are BEauTifUL! The girls and I spent last Saturday making apple pies with Mrs. Gilbert (a friend and Co worker of my friend Mary). Mrs. Gilbert's kitchen is darling and just what you expect after driving up the lane to her house lined with apple trees. We had so much fun making the apple pies, we forgot to take pictures. What a perfect thing to do in the fall.

Griffin lost ANOTHER tooth this week. I told him to slow down, he will still want to eat, and won't be able to if he keeps pulling out his teeth. The twins are both so jealous of Griffin's new money making scheme (pulling out teeth) they have been wiggling their own teeth, hoping for a loose one.

Mike is enjoying his Semester and we are all looking forward to visits from family. Coming soon...

Our future Politician

The Votes are IN! and Miles won the election for student council for Mrs. Rowell's 4th grade class. Each 4th grade class gets one student to serve on the council. The campaign trail has been long, but our hard work has paid off. We don't know whether to credit his win to his creative posters( drawn by Caleigh and Miles), His 3 sentence speech, or just his winning personality, but were proud of him for putting himself out there.

Way to go Miles...on to the white house.

Just in time for Jack-O-Lanterns

Griff lost another tooth yesterday. This will be his 7th. We were driving home from piano lessons and he asked for a tissue. 30 seconds later he was laughing because he didn't just pull out his tooth, he sent it flying to the back of the car where is got lost among the stroller, booster seats, and food storage cans. He said it was the easiest to pull so far. Good job Griff, you'll fit right in with the other Jack-O-lanterns.

Sept. Cartoon class--Emotions

Our local library is wonderful (as are most libraries) one of my favorite things are the classes they offer. In the fall they offer cartoon class once a month. The kids have done it before and always have a great time. The instructor is a local cartoonist. She is so positive and enjoys each of the children's talents, and they always learn something.

I love their different art style.

Miles- big not as much detail as others. He draws with energy just like everything else he does. As a toddler I could never pin him down long. He seems more interested in eating the crayons then coloring with them. He has come a long way. Mostly the class provided him with yet another way to socialize with new people.

Griffin- likes to take his time and really work at what he's doing. He gets frustrated at himself when it doesn't come out the way he pictured, but he never gives up. He loves to draw.

Caleigh- she is our resident artist. Her art reflects her personality. She's silly but quiet. She could sit all day and work on a project. Lots of details. I think drawing "emotions" plays to her strength as an observer, just like her daddy. She is always leaving a situation and then drawing a picture about it.

When she was 4 she got really frustrated because I wasn't getting her what she wanted. So after bugging me for an annoying amount of time she slipped off to her room and came back with a drawing of a girl with a mad face and the caption read "NOW!" It took me so off guard I gave in. (I don't remember what she wanted but I do remember laughing).

Annual Temple Trip

In August the kids and I accompanied the Primary to the Boston Temple. I look forward to this activit

y all year. It's such a great reminder to me, as a mom, of what I'm doing here and what my goals are. I think the kids get to feel the spirit of the Temple and strengthen their desire to live worthy to go inside someday.

The Temple president and his sweet wife came and talked to the children, they even came prepared with fun facts about the Temple like... Did you know there are fossils in the entry way on the floor? Pretty cool to my boys who both want to be paleontologists someday. It was a great day and ended with a picnic and Temple Cookies! Cookies the size of pancakes!

Keene Pumpkin Festival

We can't wait for the Keene, NH pumpkin festival. I just checked the dates and thought I would share them all with you ( in case you need a reason to visit NH in the fall).

Here's the link to the site:

http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/index.html

Fall can begin!

It seems fall can't begin till Aunt Tracy comes for a visit. We're so grateful her work brings her to the East coast so much. She's always so great about doing whatever we've got planned. So Saturday we dragged her to Elliot's dance class, then to our primary activity. We hoped we could show her a good time at a local orchard, apple picking.

Applecrest farms has apple festivals every weekend of September. I've never been, so I didn't know what to expect. There were several activities going on, scarecrow making, face painting, a bluegrass band, and of course apple picking. In fact apple picking was the main event and the line to get on the hay ride out to the orchards was way too long. And it seemed really pricey. Oh well, the yummy apple cider donuts we got were worth the trip. Plus the apple cider!

Getting back to Normal

Summer flew by, but life had to return to normal sometime. The kids started school Aug. 30th. Miles and Caleigh started Henry Wilson Middle school and Griffin is back at Valley View. I was a little nervous about middle school, but the kids seemed to have gotten great teachers and so far the year is going well.

Elliot also started dance class. She has gone twice and seems to like it. She was a little discouraged after her first class because she couldn't "twirl" like the teachers. Hopefully she'll gain a little bit more confidence as the year goes on.
Along with school, and dance, Piano started back also and Griff gets to start lessons this year. He seems to really be enjoying it.

The last leg of our trip

(I am so behind on my blogging, so I will try to catch up soon. This is the last vacation post, so enjoy...)

We had so much fun in Boise with our family and friends just seeing them all and being able to hug them and laugh with them was wonderful. But we could come home without a little time in SLC (or Layton to be exact). We wanted to spend our last few days playing with the Utah Peterson. Matt and Shannon just bought a house in Layton and were wonderful to house our big family. They hosted a BBQ for us with all the Peterson family that lives in Utah. Tracy, Craig and Gail and their family all came. Mikes parents flew down from Boise too. It was so nice to be together.

The next day we went to Lagoon and closed the park down. We had fun on all the rides. My kids were not the bravest, but they did warm up to the medium sized rides. Caleigh was particularly grumpy, but would laugh during any ride. We had a great time.

The next day we toured the Hillforce Aerospace musuem. The planes/jets were huge and the boys especially loved this tour. We ended the day with dinner at Famous Daves and a impromptu talent show at Craig and Gails house. The twins played piano, followed by the amazing Gail, and Annie sang for us. Everyone else was probed and prodded to join in, but to no avail. What a great time we had and hope the memories will last us for the next few years.

Meanwhile at the cabin...

The boys always have the most amazing time at 40 pines. They get to hike, fish, ride 4-wheelers and dirt bikes, shoot bb guns, fart, and tell potty jokes all week. And all without a female in site. Mike took a TON of pics so I won't be posting them all, but I did put together these few collages. Also this trip was especially eventful for my Dad and Griff. My poor father's axle on his trailer broke on the way in to the camp. Luckily a guy drove by and knew just what to do. Phew!

I have no idea what Mike was doing with these photos but I crack up every time I see them. There are more to the "series" but I'll only put a few of my favorites.

fierce

Sexy

Sad

Griff got into a little trouble himself. He jumped off the back of a dirt bike and caught his shin on the foot peg. They were away from the cabin (hence the dirt bike) and Mike knew he needed help instantly. Griffs face drained of color and he wouldn't talk. He later said it did't hurt he just got scared looking at it. Again my boys were watched over by some fellow woodsmen. They helped bandage up his leg and Griff got to go to the ER in Rexburg, ID. He got bragging rights to 11 stitches and spoiled rotten with toys and shakes. Mike said he didn't cry at all, but put on a brave face. I'm so glad my little man was being watched over and thankful for the help he got.

Who needs a doctor? Look at this stellar bandage. Duck tape works for everything. Truly I am so grateful that it wasn't worse and that everyone took such good care of Griff. Even back at home G. Frankie, Caleigh and I were buying stuff to spoil him when he got home.

The injured leg didn't interfere with the rest of the week too much. He did have to stay off of it, but fishing seemed to be a nice quiet activity.

A week with Grandma Frankie

After Mikes Dad, Tom grabbed my boys and headed to 40 pines me and the girls went to spend the week with Frankie. We had such a great time relaxing, playing in the pool, watching TV in our rooms (Caleigh loved her own TV and wanted to take it home with us.) We even did some shopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. It was a wonderful time. Thanks Grandma Frankie!

The Twinners turn 9

The day tested my last minute planning skills. We made plans then they seem to not work out, but all in all it was a fun day.

Since it was raining, we started the day with an early lunch at BK. The kids all got kids meals, which meant we had 7 sets of cats and Dogs running around.

Then we headed back to my Moms for movie fun. ( a quick stop at the dollar store for candy and Walmart for the movie) the kids had a great time filling their cups up with treats from the "concession stand"

then it was dinner, presents, and we ended the day with shaving cream whiffle ball. But first we squeezed in a came of "wiggle-O" Thanks Aunt Erin for that one.

Too many choices!

The kids all lined up for batting practice with shave cream filled whiffle balls. It was really fun, especially when someone actually hit it.

What a fun day!