Halloween Party 2011

Last weekend Ryan and I hosted our 4th annual Halloween Party. I can't believe we've been in our house for over 3 years, that we've done the party for 4 years, and especially that we have friends who keep coming back! Seriously, we have the funnest friends and I LOVE hosting the Halloween party. Really all I do is provide the place, everyone else provides the fun. It is so fun to have everyone let loose and bring out their wild side. You know how wild we are around here. My favorite part is seeing what everyone comes up with for costumes! They were FANTASTIC this year!
(side note: I thought with my new flash I could do the pics outside, but it's still not enough to appreciate the dark wigs, I'm bummed about that, they were fabulous! I'll be having a new photo op spot for next year!)

Here are all of the party comers decked out along with the costume contest results - and even though we only awarded 1st and some 2nd place winners, I thought it would be fun to record what everyone was voted for...

Jon & April - Neo & Trinity from the Matrix

1st Place Scariest, Tied for 2nd Place Best Couple, and 4th Place Most Creative


Shane & Laura - The 80's Rock, enough said.

3rd Place Scariest and an Honorable Mention for Funniest and Best Couple


Mike & Samantha - The Hollywood M&M's

2nd Place Funniest, 3rd Place Best Couple, 3rd Place Best Over All and an Honorable Mention for Most Creative


Derrick & Andrea - Papa Smurf & Smurfett
1st Place Best Couple, 1st Place Most Creative, 1st Place Best All Around and 3rd Place Funniest

Curtis & Mel - Hagrid & Professor McGonogall from Harry Potter

2nd Place Most Creative and Scariest, and an Honorable Mention for Best All Around

I have to mention, Curt was also dubbed as "Brian David Mitchell" that night and even received two votes for the scariest costume! And I hadn't laughed that hard in a while. Seriously, if he was grey?! The resemblance was a bit frightening!

Angie & Brooke - Jona chose hunting over the party (I know, how could he, right?!) and Daron was conveniently sick a few hours before so the girls came together. What a couple!
Tied for 2nd Place Funniest, 3rd Place Scariest, 4th Place Best Couple

Nate & Ashley - no explanation needed

1st Place Funniest, 4th Place Best Couple


Dustin & Kathryn - Santa & Mrs. Claus, I think they've found a great job for themselves when they retire!

2nd Place Best Couple, 2nd Place Best All Around and an Honorable Mention for Funniest


Lynds & Darrin - June & Johnny Cash

Honorable Mention for Best Couple and Best All Around


Dustin & Staci - The Bun Maker and the Bun in the Oven

3rd Place Best Couple, Most Creative and Funniest and an Honorable Mention for Best All Around


And since Ryan currently has his bum foot, we had to roll with that for our costumes, Dr. Robison and my patient.

We all enjoyed a delicious soup and salad dinner and scrumptious desserts and then on to the games! I didn't get as many pics as I wanted of the evening, since I had my little sidekick with me this year. But here are a few highlights...

Andrea taking the victory! Contestants had to stack 7 cookies on their forehead and hold it for 3 seconds. It was a close competition!

Candy corns and chopsticks...contestants had to move as many candy corns as they could from one bowl to the other with chopsticks in one minute. Mike was a pro, he kicked everyone's trash.


Moving marshmallows from one bowl to the other by sucking them with a straw... Dustin was victorious!


Pretty intense competition with the dice stacking...and doesn't Brian David look scary?


Attempting to blow the deck of cards of the bottle leaving only the bottom card on the top, it proved to be too difficult but they gave it their best!


And the championship round...all the winners competing to see who can move the most cotton balls with their nose and a little vaseline! Dustin Schofield took the victory this year! Way to go Dustin!
Thanks to all of our fun and fabulous friends! Great food and great laughs, we had the best time!

Look How Cute

My dishes need doing, my laundry needs washing, my floors need mopping, my bathrooms...well I'll just sum up and say - my house is a disaster, but look how cute my baby is!

Big Stuff!

Last week was big one for this little man! 4 months old! We introduced him to the exersaucer and he loved it! It was so fun to watch him, his eyes got wide and he just stared at the toys, so much to look at! He enjoys playing in it for a few minutes at a time, he focuses on one toy at a time and really studies it and then if it's possible puts it in his mouth.

I love this pic, you can just see how fascinated he is and I especially love the drool hanging from his chin.


Here are a few pics I snapped of him today that were just too cute not to share.



I am loving this precious stage he is in and love hearing his "talking", squeals, shrieks and laughs. Today he had his 4 month check up and weighed 14 pounds 12 ounces. Love this handsome, blue eyed boy!

Major Surgery and Major Cuteness

Last Friday Ryan had a pretty major surgery on his foot. An injury? No. He has lame feet. His feet are shaped weird and have a major curve to them and a very high arch, (which caused him to break his foot in high school.) A few years ago his right ankle started bothering him and it got to the point he couldn't run or jog on it anymore, it was too painful. It has gotten worse the last three years and the pain and discomfort has increased to the point that all he could do for exercise was swim, and even doing things like mowing the lawn or playing catch in the grass with Pierce were painful and causing him to hobble like an old man for days afterwards. We didn't want him to be dealing with the pain and we wanted him to be able to exercise and play with the kids. The answer was surgery.

We've been dreading going through with it, knowing it was going to be a long recovery- he will be in a cast and can't put any weight on it for 6 weeks. Which means no driving and no helping me do much of anything around the house for 6 LONG weeks. He will then be in a walking boot for another 6 weeks. The good news is the surgery went great. Once the Dr. got in there he saw it was even worse than he thought, he'd been planning to repair one tendon and to cut a wedge out of his heel bone and reposition it with screws. He repaired two tendons that he said were just shredded, 36 years of lame feet and they had had it. He also said the ligaments were in pretty bad shape so he repaired those as well, along with the most major part of the whole thing- cutting the wedge out of the heel and repositioning it with the screws.

It's going to be a long recovery for him but I am glad it's done, he'll be so much better off. We have survived the first several days and it's actually been better than I expected. The kids are loving having him home this week and even though he's on the couch or in the chair all day, they love the extra time and attention from him. He's home with his foot elevated for this first week and he'll be back to work next week. Were he'll need all the help he can get.

Here's a look at the scene around here now...


Day 3 post surgery, in his soft cast with a nerve block drip. This was his worst day, but by the end of the day things were improving, plus he was holding the sweetest baby ever, so how could he not be happy?


Day 5 post surgery, soft cast came off, Dr. said his incisions looked great and put him in a hard cast. Madi LOVES helping take care off Daddy, thank goodness!

And now for the good stuff...Major cuteness around here!

I am SO in love with this little boy! I'm convinced he is the best baby ever. Not only has he been sleeping through the night since 2 months (every night, 10 hours now!), he is so happy during the day! I cannot get enough of his smiles and and laughs and he melts my heart every time. Now that he is such a pro at rolling he is really loving tummy time!

This is what I find every morning when he wakes up...

Happy boy with lots of smiles, giggles and "talking". Have I mentioned how cute he is? Seriously, so in love.

New Skills

Some one around here has been working hard on some new skills. It certainly isn't me.
The little man has mastered a few new tricks in the past month.
He's been working hard on making spit bubbles...
And makes it look pretty darn cute, if you ask me.

He's also been focusing quite a bit of time on trying to fit his whole fist in his mouth.
He comes close, and he sure entertains me while he does it.

And last week....

...He rolled over!

He is quite a little mover. I couldn't believe he rolled at just 3 months. (Maybe this is normal and my other kids were just slow, but this was way early to me!) He got lots of big cheers when he accomplished this, I think it scared him a little, he had no idea what the big deal was. Now he rolls over almost immediately ever time I lay him on his back. He is definitely the entertainment around here, we are all loving him so much!

Back To School!

We were pretty excited around here for school to start! Pierce was especially happy to start 3rd Grade after finding out his 3 best buddies from the neighborhood, Joey, Grant and Elle, were in his class! I was happy for him, I remember how excited I was in Elementary school when my 2 best friends were in my class! I was wigging out a little to think I have a 3rd Grader!

My BIG 3rd Grader!

The Todd Bench - At the end of last school year, a sweet young man from Crystal's ward made this bench in honor of Todd, for his Eagle Scout Project. I was so impressed that he wanted to do this, the bench is very cool, it's huge! They placed it right in front of the school. The plaque reads " In Memory of Todd Hall, We Love You To Infinity and Beyond". So here is our new first day of school tradition...pics with the cousins on the Todd bench

Matthew (2nd Grade), Brooke, (4th Grade), and Pierce (3rd Grade). We love and miss you Todd!

School didn't start for Madi until a week later, so by the time her first day came she was so anxious! She was so excited to start Kindergarten! I was also excited to have my big kids in school and have some time with just Baby. Although part of me is still thinking- a 3rd grader and a kindergartner, seriously?! How did this happen?! Time is going by way too fast! Anyway, here is my beautiful Kindergarten girl!


Pretty sure she's the cutest kindergartner ever.


Todd Bench on Madi's 1st day, luckily we found Brooke again! They loved having Jensen along for the ride!


I had to include this pic I love, Sweet Brooke with Jensen

We really lucked out with teachers and friends this year! Madi is in Mrs. Barrett's class (who Pierce had), we love her and I'm thrilled Madi has her too. She also has her good friends Annie and Jona in her class! (Siblings to Grant and Elle)


Madi with her best friend Annie.

We are off to a great start this year!

Summer Wrap Up

I can't believe how quickly this summer has come and gone! It definitely still feels like summer with these 100+ degree days, but school is back in full swing! Before I get into school, I wanted to write a few things about summer...
Being in Baby mode, our summer was pretty low key. We spent most of our time at home and even though I had plenty of moments I thought I'd lose my mind, I have to say Pierce and Madi did pretty good, considering. I think they had more outings with Kathryn and Grandma this summer than with me, and I was so very grateful for them and their willingness to take the kids and get them out of the house for some fun. I could not have survived with out them! My other saving grace this summer was swimming lessons!

Pierson loves swimming and did really well this year. He worked hard learning the butterfly, breaststroke, sidestroke, and also set his personal best record of retrieving 18 rings in one breath, and learned to do a great flip turn. It was fun to see him learn all the different strokes and see how much he improved.

Madi came SO far this year. She went from being terrified to put her face in the water...to THIS!



This was her 1st year to really do swimming lessons, I didn't attempt it last year because of the nightmare it was the year before (meaning she got out of the pool, ran away from the teacher, out the gate and down the road. Forcing the teacher to get all the kids out of the pool, close the pool and hop in her car to catch up with her down the road. Nightmare indeed.) So, I wasn't going to put her in again until I knew she was really ready. Our Hawaii trip helped her make huge progress and she finally dared put her face in the water. Then when lessons started in June she was still very afraid to go all the way under and screamed the first few days of class. By the 2nd session she was jumping off the side and doing great! I could not believe how far she came in one summer. We were so proud of her.

My two happy swimmers! Great job Madi and Pierce!

We did manage to make it out of the house for a few fun outings. We hit our favorite water park with the Hall cousins and all the kids were excited to try out the new carousel.


Madi loved it and cried when we couldn't go again.


Pierce was excited to get the "American Flag" horse.

Matthew and Brooke

They all loved it! The new carousel is really cute, such a fun addition to down town St. George.

The Friday before school started we wanted to do something fun as a last hurrah for the kids. We had a packed day. We started with another trip to the water park in the morning with Julianne, Joey and Tommy, and also our Freidenburg friends, Traci, Boyce, Trey and Hudson. The Freidenburgs were getting ready to move to Vegas, so we were happy to spend this day with them. We have had fun getting to know them through Pierce and Boyce playing sports together. We will really miss them!


Madi calls this her "ruffly bum" swimming suit. And I love this ruffly bum.


Here is Boyce and Trey with Pierce and Madi, they are such fun friends, we will miss them! (And Tommy, who we are glad we get to see often.)

Later that day we geared up for a fun night out with the Brooks Family. After heading to "Back to School Night" to meet Pierson's teacher, we headed out for a fun night. We enjoyed a yummy dinner at Red Robin, the kids were very excited to use their "Free Kids Meal" coupons from the Library summer reading program. (The Library was my other saving grace this summer!) After dinner it was on to miniature golf. Madi started off with a hole in one on the first hole! Wow! The kids had a great time, then we finished up with yummy glaciers at Frostop!

Madi, Pierce and Joey

We wore them right out. (Jensen was so tired he slept 11 hours that night for the first time!) What a fun night! It was hard to believe it was time to gear up for a new school year and a new routine!