And, They're Off

Halloween is here.  We've got a butterfly fairy, David Freese (after the Cardinal's World Series win), a soccer player, Ben as himself (aka - a nerd) and Justin Bieber being eaten by a shark.   It's a gorgeous night with a cold front moving in later - so lucky kids can go and enjoy Halloween.  Happy Halloween!

Almost Halloween

It's not even Halloween and we're already going strong.  Tom and I got to go to a fun party at a good friend's house.  We both have a couple of costumes that we just cycle through - and this year it was the Senorita and Cowboy.  Or, as our friend Kevin put it - TexMex.  

Pumpkins were ever so exciting this year.  It started with the whole family jumping in and pulling out pumpkin guts and throwing out ideas and ended with most everyone peetering out and leaving the last pumpkin for me to figure out.  In fact, Jake and Scott carved the first two pumpkins.  (Fabulous parenting, I know.  But no fingers were lost or even slightly damaged during the carving. And they didn't use a knife - just the little pumpkin carving saw.)

Anyway - tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful, warmish fall day.  Perfect for trick-or-treating.  The kids will be out in their costumes that I didn't put much into this year.  Lots of recycling - 'cause we're green that way.  Or maybe a little lazy.  I'll say green.  More pictures to come.

Friends That Become Family

When I was a kid there was a family that we were so close to we called them Aunt Pam and Uncle Winston (his name was purely coincidental).  They had kids our age and beliefs in line with ours.  Really, a great match.  Now, as grown ups, Tom and I have friends like that.  Tom was roommates with Jeff.  Jeff married Amy.  I liked her instantly.  We had kids at the the same time (mostly) who are best friends (mostly).  We lived across the street for years (until they built their gorgeous dream home).  Amy and I were running partners and helped each other accomplish things we never dreamed we could do.  They have been part of almost every life event we've had.  We love them like family.  And it doesn't hurt that they have a rockin' vacation house in St. George.

This weekend we joined the Davis' and two other families that we love for a lot of Fall Break fun down at the afore mentioned vacay house.  Okay, I say "we."  Actually Tom was on the deer hunt with his dad and brother while I had the kids down in St. George.  So it was me and my five kids with the Davis' and their five kids, the D.'s and their five kids and the V.'s and their SEVEN kids.  All together there were 22 kids and 7 adults in a gorgeous house for 3 1/2 days.  We had the time of our lives.  Our kids made memories of playing with friends, hiking, doing things that they thought were too hard (like swimming to waterfalls in freezing springs at the end of the hike), swimming ALL day in the heated pool and then laughing with their friends late into the night.  We all stayed up way too late and woke up way too early.   But those late night laughs/talks and crazy days bonded me to people that inspire and lift me.  I loved every exhausting second.  

Be prepared for an onslaught of pictures.  And these are only a tiny fraction of them.  And also be prepared for my boys showing their biceps.   I dunno why.;)

Bestest of best friends

The whole group of kids.  Some are hiding in the crowd.

Awwwww.  What a good looking group.

Amazing friends

 

Love This Little Girl

She has us wrapped around her little finger.  She is so dang cute and so lovable, we can't get enough of her.  You know, until she's mouthy and sassy and we try to pass her off to the other one.  But really, she's mostly sugar with just enough spice to keep her interesting.

Jake-O'lantern

Oral surgery was no big deal at all.  3 "extra teeth" gone.  They had to dig into the bone to get 2 of them.  But, this champ had his last dose of pain medication the night of the surgery and didn't need it at all the next day.  This is why the dentist said to do it now while his bone was still soft.  Really, though - it still looks a bit painful.  And a little gross.  He actually doesn't like the name Jake-o'lantern.  But, the fact that it's October and he looks  the way he does makes it hard for me to resist.  So proud of my little Jake-o'lantern.

Boys Will Sometimes Not Be Boys

My boys are very rambunctious, active, loud boys.  They like to play hard and tease hard.  But, they are also known to be sweet, tender and kind.  Case in point - last night.  Last night Tom and I went to a BYU football game.  It was a late night.  After a certain point we called Ben and Garrett and told them to check on the littles and then go to bed.  (Ben is 13 and Garrett is 11.  Very much old enough to responsibly babysit.)  When Tom and I got home at 11:30 I went upstairs to check on the little ones.  I saw Jake in bed with Avery.  He woke up right away and explained that she woke up to go to the bathroom and Ben didn't hear her (since he's on a different floor).  So, my sweet 6 year old Jake got up and took her potty.  Then, when she was scared and whimpering, he crawled in bed with her and fell asleep without a blanket so she wouldn't be scared.  I almost cried as I listened to his sleepy explanation of the night.  

This is a picture of Tom painting Avery's nails this morning.  I didn't even ask him to do it.  I walked in and saw this scene.  And this isn't the first time.  That man was made to be a daddy.

ps- Jake has his oral surgery tomorrow to take care of his extra teeth.  He'll be put under general anesthesia - which makes me a little nervous.  Any prayers would be appreciated.

Fast Forward

No picture with this post.  That means Susie has already lost interest.  But tonight I'm feeling nostalgic.  Netflix just put Wonder Years on instant streaming.  I've been waiting for eons for the series to get past all the music rights and get to DVD.  Now I don't have to.  So, tonight I sat down at my computer and watched Kevin and Winnie get the stories started.  Can you believe that was way back in 1988?  The time flew.  I remember LOVING that series.  23 years ago.  Twenty-three.  Tom and I used to sit and watch it in our first condo while we ate dinner.  14 years ago.  Fourteen.

After watching the first episode of the Wonder Years I went upstairs to get ready for my shower.  I turned on the tv and caught the last dancing scene of probably my favorite movie ever - Dirty Dancing.  (I know, scandalous.)  I remember watching it for the first time at Erin Ferreira's birthday party.  Then a thousand more times whenever I would spend the night at somebody's house.  I really didn't understand the theme of it at 11 and 12 - back in 1987/88.  Even now, when I disagree with the moral basis of it, I can't help but love it.  I sang along to the soundtrack until my cassette wore out.  I remember singing to it with my best friend Courtney in her Suburban when we were going somewhere for some twirling competition for her.  It doesn't seem that long ago.  But it was.  And while I can document in my head all the events and spaces that have been filled in between 1987 and 2011, I can't imagine that it's been that long.

I remember looking at the old 1960's panoramic class photos in the auditorium of Eisenhower middle school and thinking how irrelevant those groups were in their black and white beehives and pointy glasses.  Now, there is some kid looking at me in my fabulous late '80s apparel and thinking the same thing.  But the thing is, now, I get that each one of those monotone people had a real story.  And the further we get away from that time, the fewer stories we'll know and understand of those people.  And their generation will soon be (and is already to my kids) just a bunch of words in a history book.  I know this is a reality that everybody hits at one point.  It's just hitting me now.  I think that's why I'm addicted to facebook (an addiction I'm trying to break).  I love seeing friends from my Churchill class of '94 and knowing that they were part of my story.  That no matter how far I get from that date, those kids were there.  Even if we weren't close, or we saw things differently - we still saw them together.

Susie, are you still here?  I know, still no pictures.  Not really even deep thoughts.  Just thoughts.  Thoughts to the music in my head.  "What would you do if I sang out of tune?  Would you stand up and walk out on me?"

Recognize this picture?

It's the same as the one I posted yesterday.  But today he is one tooth fewer.  Not 2 like I had hoped.  I wanted the dentist to rip out that "shark tooth" up top.  Instead, when I brought it up he looked at the previous x-ray and determined that we needed another x-ray - which showed multiple "extra teeth" (also called mesiodens).  Even better, they are all pointy like his first shark tooth.  And all of them ready to fill the same space - just pointed different directions.  From the looks of the x-ray, there may be as many as 4 up there - just crammed in like a bouquet of teeth.  The dentist immediately called an oral surgeon for a second opinion.  The oral surgeon took one look and determined that the teeth were embedded in the bone and all needed to come out.  And then hopefully there would be a real tooth behind it all.  So, Thursday my little boy has a consultation for oral surgery.  Poor kid.  And all of this after the dentist ripped out a molar that had gone bad.  I foresee a lot of ice cream in his future.

Conference Weekend

I almost always look forward to the first weekend of April and October.  If you belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you know why.  It's our semi-annual conference.  Almost a holiday for  us.  We take time to listen to faithful servants of God as they teach and remind us of God's plan for us.  I am buoyed up by their words as they speak with the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  This conference was no different.  By the end my faith was stronger and my resolve to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ was more focussed. 

Like I said - it's almost like a holiday for us.  One of our traditions is to have Tom's family over for lunch in between the Sunday morning and afternoon sessions.  Then they stay and we all watch conference together.  It was a great day with good company.  And I loved the laid back kind of day. 

 Below are a few pictures I snapped.  The first is of Garrett.  His Sunday School teacher owns the Wing Shack.  He surprised Garrett with a bunch of his favorite wings.  I told Tom that Garrett's wife will love feeding Garrett because he LOVES food (especially wings).  You know, as long as there are no vegetables in that food.

Next picture is of Jake - who has no more teeth.  And he's about to lose some more.  Tomorrow he goes in to get a tooth that had a root canal in it a few months ago pulled.  It is bothering him again so the next step is pulling it.  While the dentist is at it, I'm hoping he'll pull Jake's "shark tooth".  He has an extra tooth that grew in before his real permanent tooth.  And actually, we're hoping he has a real permanent tooth.  The dentist says that if it's there, it's way up high and sideways. So it's either figuring out how to get it down and straight or an implant.  Either way I think it's going to make us poor.:)  Lucky us.

Last picture is of Ben.  He just looked so grown up - I had to put the picture in there.

 ps -  I don't usually write about my faith on this blog because it's not private.  I don't want people who disrespect what is important to me to feel free to leave hurtful comments.  So for this post I have disabled comments.  If people disagree with my faith, that's okay.  But not on my blog.:)