Bummer, Halloween is on Sunday this year....

But its ok, we can still have fun! Our ward had a big Halloween carnival and trick-or-treating (from classroom to classroom) and of course we had our traditional trip to the pumpkin patch in search of magic pumpkins. Sophie wanted to be one of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses" from some Barbie movie - we did the best we could - but where the costume didn't measure up, I just added make-up and glitter, and she felt beautiful. So fun. Sam decided to be a stick figure. I loved the idea but it didn't end up like we pictured it. The face paint added a sinister look to the ensemble and Sam was so disappointed when he made some little tiny kids cry at the ward party. Adam was an army man complete with two weapons (which were heavy - he ended up ditching them in the car halfway through the party). Megan worked the carnival as Pajama Sam (a character from a computer game the kids used to play when they were younger) and then went to a friend's party later. Chad and I didn't dress up this year and were actually kind of anti-social...we just sat in our classroom and handed out candy. His ankle was hurting and I just didn't feel up to a lot of chit chat after my surgery (shout out to my wonderful sister, Teri, who came and saved our family while both Chad and I were laid up. She stayed for 1 1/2 weeks!!! Who DOES that?! She got the kids' costumes started while she was here in addition to all the other stuff she did and I think we will owe her until the day we die. Love you, Teri!)
And today we went to church (funny thing - the power went off in the church building right before the Sacrament hymn and after a bit of confusion and scared kids, we went on like normal with the Deacons passing the Sacrament in the dark. They were so reverent and took their Priesthood duties so seriously. I got a little choked up.) Then we let the kids gorge themselves on the candy from the ward party. It was a lot less candy than on normal Halloweens, but that is not a bad thing! Sunday night, Megan, Adam, and Sam went to their Stake Christmas Choir practice and came home singing Christmas songs and full of the Christmas spirit! So funny.




Now Halloween is over...on to my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving!!

Oh snap.

It went like this: Son is passionate about air-softing (for those who don't know what this is, click here). Dad takes passionate son as well as daughter and her friend to an airsoft arena for a fun Saturday of shooting at each other. Dad chooses closest airsoft arena, unfortunately one with a cement floor. Airsoft BB's + cement floor = accident waiting to happen.
So yeah, Chad broke his ankle when he slipped on the aforesaid floor. It was ugly. An ambulance came and everything! The whole group piled in and went to the local hospital in El Monte (NOT EXACTLY a nice neighborhood!) where Chad was pumped full of morphine and left to wait until I could get there. I had them put a temporary cast on it and brought him back home - I swear I heard gunshots as we drove away. After a lot of searching, we found an orthopedic surgeon who (get this!) met us at an Alliance gas station at 10:00 pm to look at Chad's X-rays and got him on schedule to have surgery the next morning to put the whole mess back together. 10 pins and a metal plate later, Chad was good to go. But it took FOREVER for the poor guy to be able to put any weight on it and he lived on crutches (ouch, the armpits) and a wheelchair. Thanks to our friend Joe who drove him to and from work.
Can I just say how grateful I am for a hubby who helps me? Because while Chad was out of commission, I REALLY missed him!



And, yes, Chad's toenails are painted - he let Sophie paint them. I think we're just lucky they weren't pink.

The Love Fish

A couple of years ago, I blogged about how to keep an old marriage new. That's where the "hide the plastic fish game" originated. Sometime during the first year of the game, the kids christened him "The Love Fish" ("Where'd you find the love fish today?") Two years later, that fish is still going strong. Except that, today, I found 13 (!) Love Fish hidden all over the house! I'm feeling VERY loved. :o) POST EDIT: make that 17! Where did he get all these fish?!

Chad's 40th Birthday Party

Chad turned 40 on August 14, and since he has been really moaning about getting old, I knew I needed to mark the day with something special. I wanted to take him on a trip somewhere exotic, but just as I was investigating Belize, Bali, and Puerto Rico, I realized that I was looking into trips that I wanted to take...not Chad. So I asked him, "What would you rather have for your birthday? A trip, or a party?" And Chad responded, "Both!" So, we went to Lake Powell and I threw him a big party, complete with colorful Japanese lanterns and balloons, Wood Ranch, and a designer cake that was PERFECT for Chad. He loved it! And all the fun really helped him to accept that, yes, he is over the hill. ;o)

Lake Powell-warning: LOTS of pictures!!

My sister Kay (Graham) invited us to share a few days with them on their Lake Powell houseboat. It was so much fun! What a great memory for our family. Thank you, Kay!

My mom and I enjoying cooling off in the water.

Cute kids in the water: Henry, Gracie, Sophie, and Cashy

Sophie thought she was being so tricky, hanging from the rope that tethered the houseboat to the beach!

The kids loved playing on the houseboat - jumping off the diving platform on the top deck, swinging on the rope swing, and sliding off the slide.


Of course, there was a lot of tubing and wakeboarding going on. Sam, Megan, and Henry were showing off but fell off right after this pic.

The boys spent hours trying to catch some fish - Henry caught bluegill and actually ate it! Sam and Adam caught catfish - actually ONE catfish three different times. That was one stupid catfish!




Megan was still recovering from getting her wisdom teeth out and was a bit drugged. She was so sweet with the kids, though!

Chad really enjoyed having his birthday celebration at Powell - he and brother-in-law Rodger both had birthdays while we were on the boat, so we had a little luau.






Megan, Adam, and the little kids built a fort on the hill across the bay from the houseboat. Very cool!

A little cliff jumping.



Kay gave me a little nudge (yank!) to get me over the edge. It was kind of scary!

Happy 14th Birthday, Adam!

Adam turned 14 on Sunday. Traditionally, I ask the birthday child to give me his requests for all the meals on the big day, as well as what kind of cake (flavor, ice cream or regular, store-bought or homemade, etc.) he wants. Adam wanted pancakes for breakfast - no problem, Chad makes a mean pancake. He wanted pizza for lunch - this posed a bit of a problem because the birthday was on a Sunday, so we couldn't order delivery pizza. So Adam happily settled for frozen pizza (Eeew). And forget a traditional birthday cake - Adam wanted No-Bake Cookies. So I improvised. Three sizes of circle cookie cutters later, ta-da! A "layer cake" complete with sprinkles and a candle.

And Adam was very happy.

Lake Nacimiento

The lakehouse we stayed in.

The views from said house.


The boat slip where we parked every evening.

The extremely steep pathway we traversed, carrying ice chests, wet towels and life jackets, and kids. Ugh!

We saw deer EVERYWHERE, eating right out of people's yards and walking across the street in front of us.


This was a trip full of "firsts" for us - Sophie came out from under the dash and rode up front, I wakeboarded (so sore the next day, thought I was going to die), Adam got back on a tube after over a year of only riding, I drove the boat while Chad tubed, we played games together and laughed a lot. Yay!




Kindly ignore the bad form!



Megan had a bad wipeout while wakeboarding. Face plant!







Lake Nacimiento narrows into a canyon which stretches on forever and isn't crowded. This is where we saw a bald eagle snatch a fish right out of the water right in front of us. Having never seen a bald eagle in person before, this was a highlight.

Back at the house...



Chad's very favorite vacation activity: reading a good book on a soft couch with beard stubble, and comfortable (read: sloppy) clothes.