HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I didn't know that Halloween was about drinking, but NOW I do. Now that I live in AZ anyway. Don't get me wrong, we live in a wonderful neighborhood with great people (lots of LDS people too) But those who aren't really know how to live in up during this holiday. Pull a table outside.. Throw out a bowl of candy and bring out your tequila, jack daniels, and beer.

FAB-U-LOUS.

Apparently in AZ, Halloween is just an excuse to have a tail gate party IN YOUR FRONT YARD. I can't say that I blame 'em. The temp was amazing (82 degrees while Trick or Treating) the houses are close together and EVERYONE is CELEBRATING! PAR-TAY! I think, as we speak, my neighbors are all still outside with the girls dancing to some Disney Remix CD (think Hanna Montana/Selena Gomez rock out party), the boys chasing each other with Nerf guns and the parents..... happily drinking, of course.


We partied with some LDS neighbors with Chili and Chicken Noodle Soup (Have you ever had Chili in 89 degree weather? I have.... now, several times) and Abby came home a few hours later and a few THOUSAND pounds of candy heavier. Jaxon wasn't the hard core Trick or Treater that he has been, tiring after only 5 or 6 houses. I found out later that he was worried about getting lost in the dark, and not being able to find his way home. He was much happier when Daddy took him out later and held his hand up to all of the doors. (Fine by me) Wade was the happy helper and handed out candy to all of the kids that came up to the drive way (again, NO ONE is behind their door and if YOU are, chances are people think you aren't handing out candy!) Here are the pix for the Grandparents! ENJOY! Our happy pumpkins... Jaxon's attempt at the Joker or maybe just a happy Pig? (just kidding) Abby, I can't say (cuz I'm not sure) and Peter did Wade's pumpkin.....Here is a highly sugared Spider-man. A HAPPY spiderman! (And a happy daddy)The little black cat.. she LOVED this. I LOVED it too because it took all of a 5 second stop at Target. Optimus Prime...(What would Halloween BE without Optimus Prime?)

AND a HAPPY PUMPKIN.

Spiderman's sugar buzz finally wore off.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Teaching the kids Swear Words

We were having a little after school lounge about with Abby on our bed and you know, various subjects come to mind...

Do you have a boy that likes you?

Do you like a boy?

Who did you play with at recess?

What did you do?

Does anyone talk about bad stuff?

Does anyone say bad words?????......

Abby: Well, one boy in my class says the "S" word. LIKE MOMMY DOES WHEN SHE IS ON THE PHONE.

Daddy: Head snap to mommy

Mommy: In quick defense, "SHE MEANS SHUT UP!" (Which I do say, in a total jest way to friends ala: SHUUUT UUUP! I know, that doesn't mean it is ok)

Abby: SEE??? There she just said it again!

Daddy: Oh... ok...

Abby: And other people say the "D" word and the "H" word.

Daddy and Mommy: Give glancing looks at each other

Abby: Jaxon says them all the time!

Daddy and Mommy: Give concerned and shocked looks at each other.... , "HE DOES?"

Daddy: "Well, DAMN, and HELL are in the Bible I guess, BUT, we should never say them!"

Abby: "Yeah, he says DUMB and HATE all the time."

DADDY: DOH!

Mommy: "Way to teach Abby some new swear words... that one is going on the blog."

LOVE YOU HONEY!

Wanna See Something SCARY??

BOO!

I hope you enjoy the latest addition to my leg. Hillary, I am sorry if I EVER said ANYTHING about your Vericose Veins.. I mean, I have had them, but not THIS BAD. The crazy thing is, I only have one leg like this... the other? JUST FINE THANK YOU!

I guess I will just add this to my list of surgeries I will have after I have my last child.... that list is getting longer, and longer and LONGER!

A Concert To Remember

I went to the Nie Nie Benefit Concert last night given by Mindy Gledhill. Mindy has been a friend of Stephanie's since high school and although I had never heard Mindy's music before, it was a great concert. She reminds me (I am sure she doesn't like comparisons) of Brooke White (American Idol Fame). Anyway, I had wanted to go, but held off getting tickets. I didn't know who to go with, but I called Laurie at the last minute. We both admitted WANTING to go to the concert, but feeling a little like blog-stalkers because we don't know Stephanie personally. We decided just our donation from buying the tickets would be worth it.

It was a great concert and Mindy was a class act. CJane was there with her husband Chup and Stephanie and Christians children. There were definitely some tear-jerking moments of course. Such an intense time for this family. You can really feel the magnitude of it all in this new article.


The SURPRISES were that I got to meet NATALIE! She came up to me after I sat down! I was stunned! She has visited my blog (I am still not sure how she found it) for a while now, and if you have visited her blog, you will find that she is an incredibly beautiful person (inside and out) and has an incredibly cute family which she had with her last night! I can't believe this, but I actually forgot my camera (in a rush to get out the door) BUT, if I WOULD have had my camera, I FOR SURE would have taken a picture of us together! So fun to get to meet bloggers... It is amazing how close you feel to someone, even though you have never met them formally. I know I have said this before, but, blogging can be such a great support community. Anyway, LOVED meeting you Nat. LOVED. LOVED. LOVED.



There was another incredible moment when Stephanie's two oldest children (Claire and Jane) sang this song with Mindy. Sad, touching and incredible moment all in one. It is amazing, especially after reading the article above to think about the adjustment these children have and will have to make when they get to be with their parents again. They were strong and stoic and it wrenched my gut just a little to think about these kids and the strength and character they are having to gain from all of this. Just amazing to think about.

Anyway, it was great. And I am glad I got to be there and I am glad Laurie decided to go with me at the last minute! (Otherwise, I would have been a TOTAL loner) Hopefully you get to enjoy the night a little vicariously through me... Would have been better if I had brought my camera, but, you know. You will just have to envision it in your mind. :) Laurie took a few pix, and maybe she will post them on her blog for you to view!

In My Dreams

I woke up this morning DETERMINED to share my dream with you... because... I was visited by my "pregnancy dream" visitor... You know who... If you don't, you need to click here, or here because you OBVIOUSLY have not been visiting my blog long enough to know who I am talking about.

ANYWAY, he came and hung out with me.. It was platonic (like always) WHY? WHY? I don't know. I wish someone would explain that to me.....We ate cupcakes (that makes TOTAL sense) and had a nice long chat. I would LOVE to tell you what the chat was about. I woke up at 5:00 in the morning (to go to the bathroom) and I was DETERMINED to write it down and share it word for word with you. Since I don't have paper or a pen anywhere near my bed.. I didn't, and now our precious conversation has drifted from my memory. I am sure it was riveting. Don't worry. I still have about three more months to this pregnancy, I am sure he will visit again. I will let you know.

On another note, I went to THIS tonight! It was GREAT! And there were MANY surprises.. One that I just can't WAIT to tell you about! But, I need to go and read my lesson for tomorrow (slacker, I know) So, It will have to wait! I know... it will be hard, but YOU CAN DO IT! Check back for more!

Poop

Poop:

Poop is why everyone should have more than ONE child. Come on, you remember that first blow out... or the first poop in the tub... or the first play with poop... It is a HUGE deal, you get out the plastic gloves, gas masks, sanitizer... heck, you might even just dispose of the refuse with a blow-torch.

When you have a third, and are going on your fourth.. Poop just doesn't matter any more. Like, when Wade and Jaxon are in the tub... and Jaxon suddenly notices some "floaties" (this is NOT the first incident of Wade pooping in the tub. I think he likes the environment).

What do you do? Well, with your first, you freak out, sanitize the child, the tub and then the child again. You spend hours cleaning it up and you might be frustrated with a big NO NO! to the toddler. When you are on three, going on four, might fish out the floaties with your bare hands, you throw the big one in the shower, rinse the other one off and let him stand around in the bathroom while you are showering off the second... maybe spray the tub with some soap and splash some water around and let it sit until later.....and while you are distracted doing that, the third.. makes ANOTHER little pile on the bathroom floor and it doesn't even PHASE you... After all, it is just poop.

A Discussion Between Men

Man A: Wow, look at all of those houses over there!

Man B: Uh huh...

Man A: (playing arm chair psyc) Would YOU like to build houses when YOU grow up?

Man B: Um... No... Well.. I don't want to do that.

Man A: Well, what DO you want want to do when you grow up?

Man B: Um, well, .... Mommy says she doesn't think I will grow up........

No confirmation yet as to who is Man A and who is Man B.

(oh, and for the record, I never would say such a thing! If I did, I wouldn't have posted it as a funny! :)

Jaxonisms

As of late, Jaxon has decided that he is fluent in Spanish and he knows all things about Mexico. (It is inconclusive whether he is acquiring this knowledge from Maya and Miguel[adored PBS after school series] or just by living in Arizona) Anywho.. he has instructed us SEVERAL times (too many to document) on the definition and usage of Spanish words and now he has taken to instructing his teacher as well...

As per her note home:

(They read the Three Little Pigs Story and Jaxon was being asked retention questions about the story)

Where did this story take place?

Jaxon: In Mexico..... WITH NO HOUSES!!!!

At the bottom of this paper he marked that he DID NOT like this story and when we asked him about it at dinner... he said...IT'S HORRIBLE!!! THEY KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSES AND EVERYTHING!!!

Crazy or Talented

You all know that I am an AVID fan of any and all dancing shows, and of course, I am up-to-date with my DWTS viewing. As you know, (or may not know) results are on Tuesday nights and to liven things up a bit, they have allowed the "kid dancers" to come back and compete. These are kids between the ages of 8-12 (so far).

I have to admit, I enjoy watching these kids dance.. and then... something comes over me and I realize they are just a few years older than Abby.. then I think, wait... for them to be dancing THIS well, they must be spending HOURS and HOURS and HOURS doing this... and their parents must be spending $$$ and $$$ and $$$ on this.. and it looks like it is really paying off and they are super UBER talented... but IS THAT OK?

I am on the fence to be honest. The kids for the most part seem to enjoy it.. (some of them are extremely competitive) Is it ok to feed that beast at such a young age? I mean, OLYMPIANS do it! And we think it is OK for THEM. Help me out. They have a wonderful talent.. should they go "full throttle" or take a chill? I can't decide. Besides.. the closest Abby is to doing something "comptetive" in nature that would require skill and precision would be doing a Google search on the computer... and, as far as I know, there isn't a competition for that.

I.AM.OVER.IT

It was 96 degrees today...

And now that I have THIS to deal with...

I am OVER IT.

(Does it look lop sided to you too? I know, weird, but my pregnant belly is always that way)

My lazy morning in bed with

WADE

Why does ANYONE wake up before 7:00 a.m. WHY? WHY? WHY? I personally think it is inhumane to wake at such hours. Nevertheless, it happens. We had plenty of room to roll around as Peter has re-located due to his wife who he "claims" breathes too heavily. (Think of a tired Hippo breathing loudly. I am sure, if you want, he will demo it for you) ANYWAY, his absence allows me to lay in bed a little longer (even if I have a few monkeys in bed with me) and what do we do? Roll around. Play hop on mom and see how close you can get to a camera and have it still take your picture. Oh, that big mound of fluff just beyond Wade's head? My ever burgeoning belly. You're welcome. She joined us too.... kicking and making a fuss. What of the blue glow? MY LAPTOP OF COURSE! I was hoping for some light reading this morning but the only person who had posted was Nat. (My secret blog stalker) Thanks for the reading this morning Nat. AWESOME pix. Oh, and thanks for the referral to a new imaginary friend Emily (Nat linked her). Thanks ladies for making my morning enjoyable... even though I was awake.

Someone PLEASE explain...

You ALL know I am a bit of a reality TV junkie.. but can someone PLEASE explain to me this dichotomy? The finale of Project Runway was tonight. I thought it was amazing to see creativity IN ACTION. These people are total and complete artists and I cannot imagine creating something so intricate not to mention just braining it up in my head. I am in awe.

I am ALSO in awe that Leanne could go through this whole process and still look like THIS (Ps- This is a VERY good shot with maybe even a little makeup)

on the night of the biggest show of her life. She LITERALLY air dried her hair (Which in and of itself is not a style), and wore NO MAKEUP. Hey, I know, you are an individual, creative and talented. But how does THIS match THIS?

Let's hear it. Shed a little light, will ya?

GUILTY AS CHARGED

HAPPY WADE
HAPPY WADE
HAPPY WADE
HAPPY WADE
GUILTY AS CHARGED, WADE

(Yes, it is on the window too, and the other wall and the other wall)

WADE'S ONLY SALVATION

PUMPKIN LOVE

Not too long ago, Jessica did a post about how she measures her family by a family picture each year. I have to admit, we do not do a family picture each year. We get one (and official one) about every OTHER year. However, I do take formal pix of my kids each year. I don't want to miss those milestones. I tend to measure our family by our Pumpkin patch pix. I know we will go every year because it is one of my favorite activities and although I was bemoaning the lack of fall-ness around here, I have to admit, it was a PICTURE PERFECT day... not to mention a fabulous 82 degrees. Ahhhhhhhh, fall.

We visited Schnepf farms which is not too far from here. It is an all-inclusive ticket for the day, meaning that as long as you don't want to eat, all of the activities are there for the taking for no additional charge. Now, don't get me wrong. Admission is not CHEAP, but, for as much as you can do in the day, it is worth it. Luckily the crowd wasn't too big and we were able to enjoy all of the rides, the petting zoo and a few fall treats.

I have no idea why I didn't put Wade in this picture!

I was ACTUALLY dumb enough to get on one of these with my pregnant belly and Wade on my lap. Sometimes I lack better judgement.

This has to be one of my all time favorite pix of Abby. Her true personality is shining forth.

What is better than cousins sharing a little Italian ice?

FOR THE RECORD 2008

FOR THE RECORD 2006

(We skipped 07 due to small baby issues and the fact that they both went with their school classes)

FOR THE RECORD 2004

2005 was wiped from my hard drive.

FOR THE RECORD 2003

Little baby bub in tow.

FOR THE RECORD 2002

FOR THE RECORD 2001

I HAD to put both of these for 2001 because you know, she was my first baby at the pumpkin patch, and these pictures make me LAUGH!

MINI PERSONAL VACAY

I just spent the last hour looking for and scanning pictures so that you could laugh at my frizzy hair from 15 years ago. YOU'RE WELCOME. My mini-personal vacay started just 12 hours from when I walked in the door from Utah. Just enough time to get my kids unpacked and give a few care instructions to Peter... then I was OUT THE DOOR.

I headed to John Wayne airport in Cali to be picked up by my friend of 17 years. We met at UVSC when we were assigned to live with each other as first year Volleyball players. We went to BYU Jerusalem in the winter of '92 and there we met Nicole. I had met Nicole before Jerusalem because she had just moved into my parents neighborhood back in SLC. Jen? Well, I am not sure... so I think that means that she met Claire and became a roommate of ours after our stint in Jerusalem. Here we are in our fabulous apartment in 1993. I wish I could remember the name of the complex.. but it was off of BYU campus. (We were rebels)

Here we are in our little apartment. (You can click on the pix to see them bigger)Here we are all dolled up for a night out on the town. I have NO IDEA where we were going!

Here is Nicole, Jen and I leaving Provo to go to San Diego where we went to the open house for the San Diego Temple. It was our FIRST MINI PERSONAL VACAY.

We stopped at one of my favorite places in Newport...Namely, the CRAB COOKER. It was Nicole's first time eating crab...Um, she is from Hawaii.

Here we are at Claire's wedding. Sorry, I was trying to scan a scrapbook page. Darn those scrapbooks (Don't laugh at the page.. I am NOT a scrapbooker, and this was one of my first attempts about 10 years ago)... Needless to say, we are tight friends... and although we don't stay in touch regularly... when we DO get in touch we always have a GREAT time...

Here we are 17 YEARS later!!!!

We went to the ELLEN SHOW! And believe it or not, it is pretty much a full day activity. We left Claire's house in Yorba Linda at about 10:00 and got to the show and parked. You are then corralled into a number of different lines to "check in" and to "check ID" and then you wait... Our waiting became much more enjoyable when we were selected by the audience department to participate in the "GAME" for the show. After interviews, it was decided that Claire and I were the best "suited" for live TV. (Meaning, we were the craziest, and most willing to humiliate ourselves... pretty much same as it has always been). Alas, once in the show, we were not the ones chosen. You can see who was if you click on this. (Look at Wednesday's show)

As much as I would LOVE to show you pix of the studio, cameras were not allowed inside. If you set your tivo for Ellen, we were on Wednesday's show and Claire and Nicole were shown TWICE in FULL VIEW. (Good job girls, you were showing GREAT enthusiasm)

We had a great time, and of course spent most of our time just catching up with each other. After the show we headed to Jen's request.. THE CRAB COOKER!!! (like we would say no) Here we are 17 years LATER!I probably have 50 pictures of Jen doing this back in the day, things haven't changed much:

But I SHOULD have taken a picture of Nicole eating crab for what I think she said was... the SECOND time. I am honored Nic.. I can't believe I have been with you BOTH times you have eaten Crab.

After our dinner, we had to get a sweet treat and Jen used her Iphone (LOVE THAT THING) and found us a Sprinkles... YUM. You KNOW they are my fav! They were closed but there was someone still in the store. Jen hopped out of the car and knocked on the window and got us a FREE BOX! We had such a great time. Thanks girls for all of the fun. I needed a little break. I am sooooooooo grateful for our friendship and LOVE that we can get together after so many years and still have so much fun!

Fall Breaking

*WARNING EXCESSIVE PHOTOS*

As you know, we are on a fall break.... STILL. My kids don't go back to school for another week. At first, I thought this was going to be awesome to have some time to enjoy the "cooler" weather and have the kids out of school for a time in the fall. That would be great if the weather WAS "COOLER" here, but it isn't. Now that I am back from my little "Personal Vacay" it is a full time task to keep my family alive. Wade seems to have the croup and Jaxon threw up in the car on the way home from the airport, so my re-entry to real life has been a little rocky, so, let's focus on happier times.. SHALL WE? How 'bout our trip to UTAH! (I'll blog my personal vacay tomorrow)

As I had mentioned before, we went to SLC to enjoy time with my parents and the wonderful fall landscape. It was wonderful, quite a bit cooler, and the colors of course were AMAZING! I drove the kids down by myself (caravanning with a friend) and we stopped midway *out of the way* in Vegas. Just so we didn't have to do the 12 hour haul in one day.
Wade sat behind me and was pretty much an angel the whole trip, Abby played video DJ, and Jaxon was isolated in the back so he couldn't make trouble with any co-riders... you know, just to spread them out a bit.


We visited the witches as Gardener Village. Abby has a long standing fear of Halloween decorations, so, I was worried about the witches... they have just the right amount of "fun" for her to not be "freaked" so, it was ok.

The kids even got a little witchy themselves. (Isn't it great having a camera again?) They also got to enjoy the petting zoo AND have a pony ride!(Wade trying to maul the poor animals at the petting zoo... they were sadly very used to it)(What you DON'T see in this picture is that Wade takes the poor goat by the horn and starts yanking his head around....PETA here I come.....just kidding)Abby was THRILLED with her cute pony.

It wouldn't be a trip to Utah without Grandma K-lo having a few "educational" activities. One of the things I LOVE about my mom is that she is always ready to teach. She decided to talk to the kids about apples and make applesauce with them! They loved it, and I did too! (It was VERY good) Here are a few cute pix of the cousins and their "lesson".

My borrowed camera was on a weird setting that made my pix fuzzy, but you get the idea!

Thanks to my Mom, Hillary and my sister Stacy for making our trip fun and full of family! We love and miss you already!!!

Falling off the face of the earth

Is fun in its own little way. Sorry to leave you all behind. I have a million things to catch you up on ... namely my trip to Utah, and then my trip to California to re-live some college days and attend the Ellen DeGeneres Show. It aired today. (Sorry if you missed it) LOOK FOR ME! I am a tall pregnant lady, sitting near the front, wearing a brown shirt. I am tivoing it, and will let you know if I see myself.

ALMOST got picked for the "Stupidest Game on Television" (coined by Ellen) and after seeing it go down, now I know why I wasn't picked (they had 6 of us in a room..it could have been any one of us and for the record, I would have been more entertaining)... unfair height advantage and EXTREME liability issues with a pregnant lady. Anywho.. it would have helped my camera fund if I would have won!!!! Oh well, guess my luck has run out. Stay tuned. I will try to update more tonight!

Go forth with Faith-[Inspirational Post]

You know, we have been tried as of late. It stinks, it is hard, it may only get harder. I don't like it. I don't enjoy it. But there are times... or moments... or even just flashes that someday, it will all be ok. I don't know when, how or what that someday will be .... but, it will be SOMEDAY. That was affirmed tonight when I had the opportunity to go to my mission reunion.

WAIT! Before you get any pre-conceived notions about how that was or offer up any jokes about how stupid they are... you need to know that it was none of those things. My Mission President was just called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. So, it was a wonderful opportunity to get to hear about his call and family and the experience they have had since the mission.

For those of you who have not served a mission, you need to know that a Mission President has a VERY influential and powerful influence over you during the time that you serve as a missionary. He knows you... WELL. You meet with him on a regular basis.. have personal interviews..write weekly letters and not only that, he has a direct calling to provide you with direction and revelation while you are serving in that mission. There was more than one occasion where I would sit in front of my Mission President, and before I could say A WORD about my troubles/challenges/trials/successes he would recite them to me and even tell me how I was FEELING about them. It was powerful/scary/real and intense to have that kind of relationship. Needless to say, it's unlike any other time in your life.

It was a joy to see his family and how they have grown. He was MY AGE when he was called as a mission president (I am in my 30s) and had young children... 8, 6 , 4 , and two... His wife then had twins (surprise) while they were on their mission. When I was a missionary, I thought that was amazing. Now, as a mother of almost four... I think that must have been HORRIFYING! Regardless, he handled his tenure with grace, love and amazing ability and each of us KNEW there would be a time when this call would be issued to him. You could feel it in your bones when he would address us from the pulpit in a meeting. We just knew.

Things haven't changed much. He is humble, powerful, unassuming and wonderful to listen to. He even shared some challenges that he and his family had faced during that time, that were unbeknownst to us as missionaries. My burden was somewhat lifted... knowing that he too (in all his righteousness and near-perfection) had challenges at times in his life. It was wonderful to speak to him personally and share a little of my life with him right now. To talk to him about Jaxon, and the blessings and challenges that provides for our family. He was understanding, and affirmed that there was NO MISTAKE in having Jaxon a part of our family and that children with special needs are very carefully placed in their families for very particular reasons. That He knew, we could handle it. This I know, this I know.

I am grateful for small but powerful reminders that we are being watched over. No matter how extreme the challenge. I am grateful for the time I had to spend with President Hamula in such a personal way..tonight, but mostly in the mission field. He admitted that it was and probably always will be one of his most cherished experiences in his church committed life. Thank you for small blessings. Thank you for inspirations. Thank you for letting my life cross paths with such a profoundly beautiful spirit. Thank you, I am grateful. Enjoy General Conference . And if you would like to hear Jim Hamula speak, he will be speaking in the Priesthood Session on Saturday night. (You can read it later here)

Do ya miss me?

Sorry for the lag in posts... I have neglected to mention that my kids are on a 2 1/2 week "fall" break. The kids and I decided to get out of town and enjoy fall a little bit.  We drove to Salt Lake City and are enjoying mild temps and fall colors. I must admit, I don't think I will miss snow, but I am certain that I miss crisp fall mornings, orange, and yellow in the mountains. It is nice to visit for a while to enjoy it. 

I am giving my brain a rest as well. Turns out this pregnancy has been taking a toll on my brain.  

I have a functioning camera for the time being (Hurrah) but, have not uploaded any pix from the trip yet, so, stay tuned.

I am looking forward to conference and reunions. It is always nice to get in touch with old friends ... Especially old friends like, TAI PAN!  I am going to visit Tai Pan tomorrow... I will let you know how it goes! In the mean time, take a walk in the crisp air. Crunch a few leaves under your feet, drink a cup of hot cocoa (even if it makes you sweat a little) and enjoy this beautiful time of year. After all, there isn't much else beautiful in the world right now... (politics...yuk. Economic Crisis...yuk... )