Friday, October 31, 2008

BOO!

Yeah, we don't do scary around here. My girls go running in the opposite direction from anything spooky, gory, or in any way creepy. This morning Finley screamed and ran out the door away from my mom snoring (very loudly) in the front room, ran again when daddy roared the 4-Runner engine to life as he was leaving for work, and hid behind my legs when she saw the dead bride at the bank. So, we keep it tame- princesses and the like.


This year, although my mom had brought both the girls adorable flamenco dancer dresses from Spain (which I thought would have made a fun costume), Avery was INSISTENT that she wanted to be Snow White. We had no choice but to go with it. So, my mom helped me make her a beautiful Snow White ensemble.


Avery also asked that daddy be her prince charming- he couldn't resist her pleadings. I think secretly, he LOVED it!



Finley, by default, ended up as the (most adorable) wicked witch carrying her basket of poison apples around wherever she went (which she was constantly nibbling on).


What was I you ask?! I got a pass. I had fun with my first attempt at making the costumes and they all are enjoying wearing them, which was good enough for me. Avery has gotten good use out of her costume already- Trunk-or-Treat at church on Tuesday, school on Thursday, dress-up to go to the bank this morning, and then she will wear it again tonight to go trick-or-treating. It makes it all worth the effort to see her face light up everytime she puts her costume on. I love Halloween! But as I have found with most things, it is even more fun experiencing it through the eyes of a child.

Now, what to do with all the candy?! We are already running on MAJOR sugar highs and we haven't even done the REAL trick-or-treating yet.
Happy Halloween!

pumpkins from the past (and present)

The bank (where Paul works) has always held a pumpkin carving contest on Halloween. All the employees brings their pumpkin handiwork in to display and then the customers vote for their favorite. It is so much fun to see all the creative ideas come to life. We usually submit a pumpkin- although we can never decide on what we are going to do until the night before at 9 p.m. or so. Agreeing on a pumpkin idea is almost as difficult as deciding on baby names?! Last night was no exception. After we finally decided, we were up carving and decorating into the wee hours. This was not our best work, but it was still fun to do- as it always is (otherwise we wouldn't keep killing ourselves year after year).


Here are a few of our pumpkin creations from past years:

Friday, October 24, 2008

fall, where are you?

The weather has been unseasonably warm lately (80's and 90's everyday)- thanks in part to those good ol' Santa Ana winds. So, even though the girls are in summery skirts, dresses, and sandals, I got some pictures of them with pumpkins at the barn, found the one leaf in the area that was turning a color other than brown, and made a new header out of my fall-like images.It's all I have to hold onto until the weather decides to cooperate and allow me to sip hot apple cider (or hot chocolate- depending on my mood), wear cozy sweaters, and cuddle up in blankets by our wood burning fireplace (that remains clean and unused since the remodel).

Happy Fall!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

playing catch up

I don't know where the time has gone- things have been busy and kind of crazy around here. So here is a quick run down to catch up....

1. Paul had a week off- we were supposed to go to Oregon for a Sunriver trip and a home Duck game, but decided our time would be better spent at home getting things done around here (cleaning out the garage, landscaping the front yard, and other house related things). Did any of that get done?! Of course not!

We went to my mom's house in the bay area for a long weekend- went to the temple, played with YaYa and PaPa, visited with friends, and just enjoyed an unrushed visit.



Then we came home to gorgeous weather, so we just ended up playing all week. We went swimming, went to The Barn to pick out our pumpkins, got ice cream every day, and just hung out as a family. It was nice. We stayed busy- Paul went into the bank EVERYDAY since we were here. He just couldn't stay away. Plus, we just did our normal stuff- Avery had preschool, I had Young Women in Excellence on Tuesday, Paul had a softball game. So, the week just flew by, but we had fun.



2. We have our annual craft day at church on Saturday and I am in charge of one of the classes. I put together a family tree kit for the event. I am pleased with how it turned out. It has received a great response, which has meant a lot of work preparing all the kits. I am still short 4 frames after cleaning out every Walmart from the Bay Area to Santa Maria! It has been fun, but I will be relieved when it is over!


3. Our deck is finally done. It is kind of like an extra little room (especially with the weather being as warm as it has been lately). The girls love playing out there, running around, eating at their mini size picnic table and just enjoying the noises of the outdoors (their favorite activity is to sit, listen, and try to guess the sounds they hear- usually airplanes, dogs, chickens, or the horses nearby). We have been enjoying it as well. One more thing on the list down. If we could only get our front (and of course back- but that is on indefinite hold at the moment) landscaping done, maybe it would look like a completed house and our neighbors wouldn't consider us an eye sore any longer! That is next on the never-ending list!




4. We have had the pleasure of having Paul's 90+ year old grandma living here in San Luis at a retirement center for the past few years. It has been neat being able to see her on a regular basis and watching the girls develop a relationship with their great-grandma. Just last weekend however, she moved back down to the L.A. area where she is from, into more of an assisted living situation. We had a big family gathering to send her off. We will miss her, but know that she is happy to be moving back "home" and will have lots of family and friends there to take care of her. She even has another great-granddaughter named Avery down there (Paul's cousin has a little girl named Avery who is 2 months younger than our Avery).



5. I had the privilege of taking some photos of the most adorable baby girl last week for some friends of ours. They are the most beautiful little family and I had so much fun! Thank you Garrett and Becky for letting me into your new little world!

There is still so much to catch up on, but it is all going to have to wait for another time. I still have some work to do on the family tree kits! Always busy!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

happy 31st!



Happy Birthday my love!

Thank you for all you do for us! We love you so very much!




Enjoy your day...


  • looking at the beautiful card Avery made you at school today

  • going to lunch with friends

  • going to dinner with your lovely wife and beautiful girls

  • watching your beloved Dodgers vs. Phillies play game 1 of the NLCS (the highlight of the day- I know)

  • playing golf (something you LOVE and have had to sacrifice lately to spend more time with your family- thank you) this weekend- a little belated, but still part of the celebration!



Sunday, October 5, 2008

i heart conference weekend



in our house general conference is staying in our pjs all day, making a yummy breakfast, watching (or at least trying) wonderful, uplifting messages from our church leaders, Avery getting excited about matching up the pictures on our board to the faces on the screen, beautiful music filling our home (and Finley trying her hand at conducting), daddy-daughter dancing time in between sessions, spending time together as a family- time that usually just passes us by on a "normal" weekend. LOVE it!

I especially enjoyed the piece on President Monson that was shown in between the morning and afternoon sessions both Saturday and today. I learned so much about him and my love and admiration for that dear man grew tenfold.