how was my weekend?

Oh, it was nice weekend. The weather was beautiful, and we got some work done outside and in our storage room. My parents and Tino came to visit.

Why? Because we got a new bishop.

That's him holding the cute baby:

I think he'll do a good job. He has an amazing testimony and knowledge of the gospel and a strong desire to serve the Lord. I also think he's pretty good looking, but that's really beside the point.

We celebrated Kimi's birthday and Thanksgiving with Grandma, Grandpa, and Tino. As long as they were here we wanted to do it all.

Kimi got a lot of cute new clothes from Grandma, Grandpa, and Tino. They were sparkly, furry, and pink. Three requirements for Kimi's fashion.

I was happy because I got to cook up a storm. I tried turkey in the crock pot, a carmel apple pie, and a pumpkin roll for the first time along with some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. I'll be posting them all soon on Something New, Something Yummy.

I know that from here on out life is going to be different for our family, but we are glad that it is for a good reason.

going green

Ian likes to stay busy while I'm in the shower.

Markers keep a two year-old very busy.This is Ian after I have tried to scrub him off, turning my hands green in the process.
I think he just likes to see his pictures on the blog, so he does what he can to get them there.

trick-or-treat 2009

Happy Halloween from my little pumpkin, bat, Miss USA, and Obi Won.

Natalie got to wear our traditional first-Halloween costume that has been passed down through all of our children.

Kimi got to wear the bat costume I sewed for her. Thats right, I made something at the sewing machine, right after I dusted it off first.

Cali was the beautiful Miss USA. Miss America was to long to write. Look at her practicing her wave. I forgot to work with her on the "looking surprised with your hands in front of your face" look. We have time to work on that later.
Ian was not dressed as Obi-Won. He was Obi-Won. You should have seen the stealthy way he ran from house to house wielding his light-saber.

It was one Happy Halloween.

when its pumpkin carving time at the colton's

We got together at the Colton's to carve pumpkins the day before Halloween. I must say that pumpkin carving has turned into much more of an art than it was when I was little. This is the first time I have done anything other that your old jack-o-lantern.

There just something about that smell of burning pumpkin flesh. Ahhh.

Kimi wouldn't touch the insides and let Cami do all the dirty work for her. And the carving actually. Thanks Cami!

Cali and I worked together, but she liked the "guts."

Here's Natalie hanging out just in case someday she asks me, "Where was I?" Its been known to happen. Ian was hanging out with Uncle "Z" in the basement. Pumpkins meant nothing to him.

That was Cali with the Kitty she designed

And Kimi with her Kitty that Cami did for her.

Then we frosted sugar cookies. Ian magically appeared for that part.

Cali started out methodically placing her sprinkles.

I guess because she had to maximize the space. Want a little cookie with your sprinkles, sweetie?

halloween at gardner village 2009

Last year I took Kimi and Ian to Gardner Village right before Halloween while Cali was at school and Cali has never let me forget how left out she is. So when she had no school the day before Halloween I thought it was the perfect chance to show her I love her just as much.
Did you see the witch on the bicycle? It's legs were pedaling the whole time.
Here's proof that its not just vampires who enjoy playing baseball:

Here they are riding the ponies. I wasn't sure Ian could do it, but as you saw in the video I posted a few days ago, he was a natural cowboy. :)

Then we got some cotton candy to share even though it was about 10:00 a.m. Hey, it was Halloween. Ian was dubious, but from now on he might pull stuffing out of stuffed animals and taste it just to make sure its not more of this stuff.

halloween parade: the waiting game

It was the annual Halloween parade at school last Thursday. Time to rush to the school so that we can try to cram into the little cafeteria with the other parents and wait for the kids to file in.

We had entertainment though. And it wasn't just the skeleton man freaking out the poor little bunny girl. (I really didn't know that was what my picture was until I looked at it later. I'm really a nice person. Really.)

We had the camera to help keep us going as we waited. . .

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

Finally it started! Whoa, there she goes!

Sigh, this is the best shot I got after all that. Those kids move fast.

She knows we were there, and that is really all that matters.

cultural hall-or-treat

Remember this?:

Well, they did move it inside and my kids were so happy. They have to get the maximum amount of sugar possible at this holiday.

They were costumes were a little undone by the end of the night, but they were still cuties.

It's hard to keep it all together when one is doing the work of a Master Jedi. Good thing that light saber was foam because unsuspecting people kept taking it on the back of their knees before I could stop him.

fall leaves fall

This is one of the advantages of having a lot of big trees: plenty of leaves to jump in.

Or eat. Whichever you prefer.

Bucking Broncos

I took a little trip to Gardner Village with the kids this morning.

More on that will follow in another post. (Right after I finish the mountain of laundry, cleaning the house, Halloween, Sunday RS lesson, feeding children who just keep getting hungry. . . ) I just wanted to get this video posted.

It shows that Ian has a future in the Rodeo.

(Not just as a Rodeo clown, either.)

I just thought to put one more bit of explanation. There was a fence between me and the ponies so that is why I just kept filming, in case you wonder.

she's gonna make it after all

This was the picture for top story on the front of The Post Register, Idaho Falls newspaper, today. Two questions are in my mind after reading the caption: how did my sister get to be such a celebrity and why didn't she tell me she now goes by "Chrissy?"

I also have the theme song from the Mary Tyler Moore show going through my head after seeing that picture. I'm sorry, Tino, I mean, Chrissy, you just look ready to take a little spin and toss your cap into the air. Maybe your scarf. Too much Nick-at-Night for me in my impressionable years.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

SNOW.

Tonight is the ward trunk-or-treat. Kimi's been wearing her costume all day. It may need to move inside the church.

what my house smells like right now

The title of this post may worry you because of the amount of diapers I change every day, but never fear. I just baked up some of those lovelies with some of my supply of canned pumpkin.

Luckily, I have a party to take them to so I won't eat them all, because I think I could.

why they love Elizabeth more than mommy

For conference weekend I packed all the kids in the van and drove 6 hours with them to visit Elizabeth. Can you tell I was desperate to go visit some family? Thank you, Elizabeth for letting us invade your house. The bonus was that Grandma Cracken was there too. The kids thought we had found heaven.

Elizabeth not only let us come, she had plans to make it fun for them during conference. I would have just locked them in their rooms if we had stayed home. Just kidding, kids.

I had to post that picture of Kimi wearing a ponytail. That happens maybe twice a year.