Looking Back At HALLOWEEN

Seems like the month of October has come and gone so quickly. The week of Halloween especially seemed busy with party's, pumpkin carving, school events, cookie decorating, and even a Halloween piano recital.

Blake's Mr. Pumpkin was FULL of seeds this year. ( or as he would say it, "full of guts") It took him a good HOUR to scrape this one clean.

Leave it to Steve to master his pumpkin carving skills by using a chain saw or something of sorts to help the kids carve their pumpkin's.

McKenna and her "BOO" pumpkin.

Blake's creative masterpiece.

I LOVE baked pumpkin seeds. After we saw how many seeds we had to work with, I got the butter & garlic ready with a sprinkle of Johny's seasoning and baked em. Yum! They were tasty.

One of the the other things we did the week of Halloween is have our friends the Jorgensen's over for our annual "GHOOOOOLISH GOURMET." We have done this with them the past few years and it has turned into a family favorite. Each year we pick a new featured menu item and enjoy an evening together. The kids absolutely LOVE it! They're always a bit leery of what will be served as they read the menu and try to figure out what each item will be because.........YOU GET WHAT YOU ORDER.


Travis, McKenna, Blake & Wes

Gearing up for a bit of "witches brew."

Blake and Wes finished off the evening by enjoying their "dirt n worms."

The kids were off from school on Friday, but had their Halloween piano recital. It was fun to see all the students in their Halloween costumes and not to mention playing all Halloween music. When our piano teacher moved a while back, we were in search for a new one and really hit the jackpot. We LOVE her! ( even if we do have to drive almost into Meridian, it's worth it)
She even dressed up for the occasion herself. Gotta love it.

Happy Halloween 2008!

Pumpkins & Adventures In The Corn Maze

We LOVE this time of year when fall comes and we start to get in the spirit of the various Holidays that come between now and the 1st of the year.

One of our favorite Fall activities is to go pumpkin hunting at a GREAT pumpkin farm we came across last year in Star. They have the BEST pumpkins we've ever seen! They come in so many colors, sizes, shapes, etc. It's great. We usually get several and decorate both inside and out. Not to mention it usually takes the kids quite some time to pick out the PERFECT pumpkin.

We had to have a silly picture :)

We also hit the corn Maze last week as it has become a family tradition. We thought as the kids were getting a little older it would be fun to take them when it started to get a little dark out. We would then proceed through the maze with our flashlights. Big Mistake! Our evening of what we thought was going to be fun, turned out disastrous. Not even 5 minutes into the corn maze, both kids were complaining of being scared ( mostly because of the added spooky sounds teenagers were making as they made there way through the maze) Nonetheless, we only lasted about 15 minutes before turning around and heading back out. Luckily, we were able to get our tickets back and we went back the next day in the daylight and spent a couple hours having a great time.

Blake wanted to use the camera to take a picture of Steve & I. Of course Steve is NEVER serious when the kids try to get a picture of him. It's actually pretty funny. He loves to give them a hard time.

Blakey & Mom ( he tells me he's to old to be called Blakey, but he's so darn cute, I just can't resist!)

When everyone decided we weren't having any fun, we at least need to get the scared face, as well as the silly face pictures before we could call it a night. When all was said and done, we ended up renting a fun Halloween movie along with popcorn and treats. :)

Fall Soccer Anyone?

Or shall I say....FREEZING SOCCER! Yes, it's that time of year again, where we spend many hours at the field bundled up in blankets as we support Blake and his LOVE for soccer. Steve and his friend, James have coached this same group of boy's the past several years and love the game of soccer as much as they do.

Tonight's game was sooooo cold! Definitely a switch from the near 80% temperatures we had here just a couple weeks ago. Not to mention, tonight there is a chance of SNOW in the mountains and tomorrows high will be around 50%. BURRR! I'm not sure I'm ready for the cold just yet. :)

One of Blake's favorite positions it goalie! I think it's the mere competitive side in him that comes out. There is NO WAY he's going to let anyone SCORE on him. We all enjoy his facial expressions when anyone gets near HIS box!

He also really enjoys playing "forward" and running the ball, as he works with his teammates to get the ball down the field. He tends to be limited however on the length of time he can play in this type of position, as it often poses problems with his asthma. ( especially as the cold weather hits)

This was a GREAT play! Blake's teammate had just passed him the ball. He snuck in behind the goalie to score for his team.

This was our "goalie DIVE" injury for the night. Blake's passion for soccer often brings him home with several bruises and occasional blood.I keep telling him he's a bit young to be getting that banged up at a soccer game!! ( he just smiles)

Best of luck on a GREAT season, Kuna Fireballs!

Go SEAHAWKS!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it has been several weeks since I've added anything to our blog......Nonetheless, here's FUN one for ya!

A couple of weekends ago, I spent a few days in Seattle visiting with friends. Steve ended up being "on call" that weekend, and I have some girlfriends that have been wanting me to come visit, so it was a perfect time to go. It was a whirlwind weekend as I was only there a short time, and we seemed to pack so much in. We spent time at the Puallup Fair, shopping, eating out, catching up on life, and even attending a SEAHAWK game. It was a blast!

These are some of my FRIENDS I attended the game with! When I got up the morning of the game. my friend came in to give me a choice of several "Seahawk jerseys" to wear to the game. I explained, " I was fine with just my sweatshirt I had planned on wearing". That was an understatement! When all was said and done and we headed out, this is what the crew looked like! Can you tell I was the least prepared? I was glad they "dressed" me up a bit as I would have felt a bit out of place wandering around with this bunch. We had a GREAT time and the game was so fun to watch. Seahawks won! I've always LOVED Seattle. Even though it's been nearly 9 years since We've lived there, it's always so nice to go back and visit.

Fancy Feet

It's that time of year again! Clogging is back in swing, and our fall schedule feels "normal" again with practices under way. McKenna is very excited about the new season and the opportunity for growth that has come with it. McKenna had a tough decision to make at the end of the season last year. She had been Clogging at a smaller studio with not a whole lot of room for growth within herself, yet LOVED her coach, Jeff and the girls she danced with. As many of you know, aside from her obsession with horses, Clogging is a HUGE part of McKenna's life. She would tell you herself; "someday I want to be on the BYU folk dance team". Needless to say, after a lot of thought, she decided she was up for the challenge and wanted to take the plunge. She will now be dancing with Idaho Rhythm, in Nampa. She met with the director over the summer and feels very comfortable with team she will be clogging with - Sensation!

So with all this, I knew McKenna had been needing a new pair of clogs. Her feet have grown so fast, we've had to get a new pair the past several seasons. She had to CRAM her feet into her shoes this week for practice, and then stated on the drive home, she thought she might need a new pair. They're not the cheapest shoes around however. My hope is maybe her feet will stop growing and she can wear this new pair a couple seasons. :) So nonetheless, I had already ordered the shoes and didn't tell Miss McKenna they were on the way....

She had no idea what was in the box, other than I told her something came in the mail for her. She was actually quite perplexed when she saw a box addressed to her.

She was soooo excited when she discovered what was in the box. CLOGS! She let out a SQUEAL and danced around the kitchen!

When it comes to clogging, a "new" pair of clogs, is simply the BEST gift ever!

She had to immediately try them on of course, and head out to the practice floor we've made in the garage to try them out!

I was glad to capture the moment of such a wonderful thing in the life of a little girl. We're so excited for her this year, and know that nothing will hold her back from clogging her heart out. Good Luck Magoo!