HaPPy MLK & New PRESIDENT'S DaY!

Last night for FHE we did our annual-MLK lesson. We talked about despite the color of our skin how Heavenly Father loves us all the same, and that we are ALL still brothers and sisters.
(Dacie-left; Colton-Right)
So the kids took the lesson to heart and tried different colors!

(Ryland-left; Sterling-right)

Now you cannot help but turn on the TV and ONLY see the inauguration of a new president taking place today. The day after celebrating MLK's birthday we are welcoming our first African American President (Obama)-I think that it is fitting.

Although there is allot of uncertainty and speculation with this new president. I am holding out hopeful that he will listen to the very GOD who established this nation and be good on his promises for GooD & RighTeouS things....

Hark, How the LIghts!

...SO we kept the tradition alive and went to see the lights in Talaquipaqui-- a resort in Sedona-- The Day after New Years!It is always a treat to walk around and see the different themes and light displays people have set up around the resort! They are always original and creative.

This one above had a whole camp set up with blue lighted skies and white lighted clouds, along with this cute saying!
Horton hears a Who?

A complete Gingerbread village

Wall-E

Santa and Clan taking hot air balloon rides (a local past-time around these parts)

Santa's Workshop

A Charlie Brown Christmas --

Mind you these are all set up around the time shares & rooms

Lego Land

Even lighted sprinkler systems in the trees!

...and they even represented the real reason we "light up" this holiday season

They had so many more....

The best part was one of Dan's old patients hooked us up with these tickets...so it was free (along with the free hot apple cider)!

It was a good closure (even though I accidentally let Dacie fall into a fountain while we were dancing) to our FUN week+ we spent as a family with daddy!

THE COSTUMES!

I know you have been dying to see the kids costumes...so here it is!!!!!!Colton a.k.a Jengo Fet from Star Wars

I tried a few million other original costume ides on eBay, only to have Colton shut down the idea. So we got him his "dream" costume while we were in Flag for our anniversary

However-- we should know by now to buy costumes a few sizes bigger for our LONG boys!

Sterling is a Toostie Roll (by day) and Zorro (by night)

Sterling's costume turned into drama after being mailed on the 15th of October from eBay and not arriving until he was in school and past his costume parade on the 31st-

The tootsie roll came to be the eve before on an emergency costume run to our kids second hand store in town (the owner even gave me a discount b/c of the costume drama)-Whew!!

Ryland the Frankenstein

ooohhhh! Scary!

Dacie the Fairy

As someone simply put it that night, " you can tell she is a girl following 3 brothers." There was not very much I left uncurled or ribboned!

I baked LOTS and LOTS of ribbon that afternoon-like I do for my hairbows

... and we curled and curled her hair all evening-as her hair does not like to keep curl.

It came at a high cost-bad burns!! I will post more later. But in this last picture the little gal was being a champ and smiling for pictures, after sobbing through blisters-if you look closely you can see her brave tears!

OF course I could not take enough pictures!!!

My kids are so dang CuTe!!!

HaPPy HaLLoWeEn!!

HallOween has always been my favorite Holiday (now it competes w/ others).

I still get excited for it each year, even though they are allot more work!!

The kids and I braved 'the crowds' at the boys school and went and watched the costume parade and ate lunch w/ Sterling--

Ryland, me and Dacie dawned in some Halloween civilian attire w/ an extra set of eyeballs we got at school (oh yeah, and my spider web tattoo that came off immediately in the sun)! Check out Dacie's cute BOO clip from Grnadma S!

The parade and lunch are utter chaos w/out much reason, rhyme or structure. It was still CraZY this year!! I "swear it off" every year--only to have a young child beg me to come!

We saw Sterling hand out the tootsie rolls (as he was a Tootsie roll for school, since he eBay costume never arrived on time) and ate some lunch w/ him. It made his day...that is all that matters!

After getting the kids ready, making it to the school w/ two kids in tote (and grabbing another there, and trying to find another who wanted nothing to do with us) and a stroller. Buying and getting lunches for all the kids. Having it be high 80 degree weather w/ no shade --and doing this ALL by myself. We were a little loopy after.

After school was out the kids colored Halloween coloring books Grandma H had made them--and added the spooky stickers too...all while watching Ronald Dahls Witches. It was an afternoon time filler I needed to get organized for the evening!~

The night time preparations began at 4pm and we left the house around 6:10 ish...

First stop -to the neighbors across the street who deck out their house and make goody bags for the kids. We had other neighbors stop by w/ goody bags they had made. We had a constant flow of treaters this year while we were getting ready and one when we got home!

Second stop-is to the widow and widower neighbors.

Stop three- to the little barn house right by the river, where the man gives KING size candy bars

Stop four- The Halloween house in our neighborhood. The kids deemed the house that name the first year we were here, and the owners had their lawn FLOODED with blow up Halloween characters.

and FIVE...the tri-ward trunk or treat fest at the church!

This is what happens when you have to go to the bathroom AFTER you are already ready to go out for the night!

OF COURSE-we LOVE the Trunk-or-treat THE BEST because.....

... of our friends we meet up with!

(The Hoggard kids- Sterling/Emma, and Sean/Ryland)

... the abundance of safe trunks AND candy to get in them.

Dacie just enjoyed the social atmosphere of the evening. She floated from one place to the next-holding her wand (never losing it), waving and saying -"teet" for treat, visiting, smiling and NOT letting go of her loot (heaven forbid you try taking away her candy!)

... the games and activities there are always a TREAT too!!

Here are all three of the boys trying to eat their donuts from a string!

...face painting

Dacie just sat on the curb and watched the boys eat donuts and patiently waited her turn for face painting. Then she sat sooooo still while they did it!

The final product- a sweet heart for a sweet fairy!

....the cake walk & hay rides!!!!

I missed the cake walk pictures,

but after downing a few cupcakes the kids went for a hay-ride on a trailer attached to a four-wheeler (hey, its Cottonwood!)

Colton and Ryland above on the very front row right by each other

Daddy in green holding Dacie and Sterling the Zorro front bottom left

We got home in enough time--to get the kids in bed at a half way decent hour! Whew!!!

The adults (Cara, Dan and I) played 3 rounds of Halloween Yahtzee and fell asleep watching the new Nancy Drew!!

Happy Halloween to all...and to all a good night (you better believe I slept GREAT)!

Our Pumpkins!!!!

We went and got the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch!

It took about forever to get too it (only 2 seconds)--to walk around to the side of our house!

We were pleasantly surprised to have harvested exactly 6 pumpkins this year in our garden.

It is a good thing we did b/c our favorite and ONLY pumpkin patch around the area closed down last year!

We held out as long as we could (Thursday night 10/29) before picking and carving them-so that they would not get old and wilty.

It being an unusually warm Halloween--they still wilted pretty quickly!



Dan has had to work late a couple of nights a week, b/c they are short staffed. So I thought we would gut the things before Daddy got home--AM I CRAZY!!!?
I smelled like pumpkin and felt like slime--not to mention acted like a witch by the time Dan got home to help finish them up!
The garage is getting re-arranged to fit an extra fridge and freezer in--so it was car-less. It turned into the perfect pumpkin carving workshop!
This would be the aftermath of the carving--


THE RESULTS (everyone came up with these entirely on their own):
DAD'S DEVIL
MOM'S MADNESS
( I saw this done in a magazine and thought it was funny!) I still think it is funny!
You cut different eyes, mouth, nose, and eyebrows off of close-up pictures of people in magazines!

COLTON'S CREATION

STERLING'S SMILE

RYLAND'S OGRE

we voted this numero uno!

DACIE'S YELL

(You cannot tell from this picture, but this was a perfect size pumpkin for her-it was small and shrimpy)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!