This is Halloween

Whitney found this crown in the closet so i put it on her. She thought it was pretty funny.

All the girls dressed up after the ward Chili cookoff and Trunk or Treat. Whitney wore the little dress cuz she hated the bumble bee outfit.

Last Monday we had a bunch of peple over to carve pumpkins

Our spooky trunk

Abby, and Whitney Knudsen, her friend, at the Elementary school carnival

All the costumes before the Halloween Carnival

Cute as a bug!

So Halloween became quite the big event his year. Monday we were planning on carving pumpkins. I decided to invite some new people who we have meant to have over. I also invited our next door neighbors (our only neighbors), and then at the end decided to invite our friends the Knudsens as well. They are all a lot of fun, and I figured it would work to just have all the mess at our house, most of them were planning on carving that day anyways. I spent most of the day baking and cleaning. I made pumpkin cake and monster cookies. It all turned out really well and oter people brought treats, so we were set. We had a small FHE lesson and then just dug in.

Tuesday I was invited to a food storage party, but scott got home late, so i missed it. There is another one at someone else's house next week. Wednesday i had book club, which i just joined with some of the ladies around. it was funny, my last book club in Eagle Mountain was all young moms. The topic quckly turned to labor and childbirth, nursing, all kinds of things like that. Here the topic began with arthritis, hips and back surgery. I was laughing on the inside, since i had just mentioned this to Scott before I left. But i like it. No one suggested we read Twilight, so this is a step up! Thursday we had a Relief Society activity which was pretty fun.

Then comes Friday, the school carnival. They do not wear costumes at school, which is actually nice. They do a costume parade and then little carnival games in eah classroom. The Cheerleaders also did a little dinner in the cafeteria. Scott worked until right before, so it was crazy getting everything and all the costumes put together, but we did it.We went and did all the activities, talked to some people, and then made our exit. It is so nice to be able to just walk over to these things.

Saturday morning Isabel went to Donovan Atwoods birthday. This is the ex-boyfriend she was going to marry last year. Then we spent a day waiting for the halloween party. Scott worked but got home just before again. It was a chili cookoff and I made my normal chili, nothing fancy. Of course I ran out of chili powder, so it wasn't as flavorful as i would have liked. PLus I cooked it a long time, maybe too long. Anyways, I won 2nd place and got a bag of crackers for a prize. That was nice. The 1st place was a chicken chili, so I'll have to get her recipe. We had chili and cornbread then brownies for dessert. There was a little costume parade as well. Then we went out to decorate for the trunk or treat. We gave out glow necklaces which were a big hit. Scott took the girls around and I stayed at the Suburban. A storm blew in right at the end, so everyone made a quick exit. Soon after, it quit so i took the three big girls around for a little trick or treating. They had fun. Abby was Britney Chhipmunk from Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel, Isabel was a heart butterfly, and Sara was Cinderella. Whiney was a bumblebee and then a little witch, she was just happy to people watch and get a bit of candy. She also liked carrying around her pumpkin. oh yeah, I got a purple wig and skeleton shirt at Wal-mart, since I was tired of being an Army person. I got more compliments last night with crazy purple hair than I have gotten in a long time. Maybe I should make a change...

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Corn maze

Sara on top of the huge bale slide. She did not want to go, and she did not love it.

Petting a goat

All the girls in the Pumpkin Patch

Dad and Sara getting ready to enter the Corn Maze

Yesterday we decided to vist Grand Junction, Colorado. it is a small city about 2.5 hours from us. it is the closest mall\shopping pretty much. The guy who I knew from Ricks and BYU and Scott knew through friends, also lives there. He actually brought Scott over to my apartment on night and that is how we met the second time. Anyways, this guy, jackson actually ended up marrying a friend of Scott's cousins who grew up in another small town. Anyways...lots of connections, but we haven't seen them for years.

Whitney with her pumpkin. She thinks it tastes delicious.

So we went to the mall and I was able to get outfits for our upcoming family pictures. Shopping online was too difficult. We looked around, and then headed over to visit. They have kids almost the same age as ours, so lots of new toys to play with. They especially loved the pygmy hamsters they had. Isabel managed to let one loose while no one was looking. fun. we caught it. They were lightning fast.

After that we headed to the pumpkin patch. Thank goodness for the internet and google, I already knew about it, and where it was. We had a good time playing in the corn maze. They had a small kids' maze and now Isabel wants one in the back yard.

We ate at a restaurant called "Boston's Pizza" which looked oddly like another restaurant from Canada. If only they would get some Tim Horton's out west, I would be happy.To top off the trip we were able to head to PetsMart and get Flipper #2, or Ariel, as sara calls him. He's a girl, according to her. So we'll see how long this little betta lasts. isabel hugs the tank. she needs something to cuddle but Dad still vetoes. We'll see in the spring.

Walking Whitney and new trees

Three trees in the back, Autumn Blaze Maple, Autumn Purple Ash, and another Blaze Maple.

The ash tree in the front of the house

Cool Whitney

Walking around

How much mess can a one-year-old make with one Halloween oreo?? this much

Life goes on here in Monticello. The fall has so far been beautiful and warm. The leaves are turning now on the mountain. We waited until October first to get our trees 50% off. We were able to borrow a trailer and drive an hour to Cortez to a nursery to get them. They are supposed to be fast growing, and both will display great colors in autumn. We are VERY excited about them. Now just to keep the kids, deer and dryness away from them for a few years and we'll be in business.

After thinking I was out of luck with peaches this year, Bountiful Baskets had some, and I now have about 60 lbs set out on the counter to ripen! Scott promises to help me can them, so we'll see how it goes. I need to see if I have enough jars...

Whitney is now fully walking everywhere, and is getting faster by the day. She LOVES ring-around-the-rosie, but likes to fall down the best. She doesn't need to wait until the end! it is so cute. She is really following and copying her sisters now. She doesn't say much, but I think she's on the verge of breaking out in full sentences. Whitney does things on her own schedule, and that's ok with us.

Halloween decorations are up and costumes are being put together. On October 21st we are getting family pictures by a great photographer in our area. I hope the weather will cooperate and we will get some great shots. So far, Whitney likes getting pictures taken, so we'll hope she keeps it up. When we pay for them, we get a CD, so any of you who may want copies, we can print as many as we want, in any size.

Happy Fall to all of you!

September This and That

Making necklaces, they are all old enough to do it themselves, and when the baby is sleeping it is nice! Anyone with kids, you can get huge bead sets at WalMart and have a lot of fun

A herd of deer we saw last night on our Sunday drive in the mountains. Saw lots of mommas with babies.

Sara and her flowers. She wanted to keep them "the rest of my life!" but they didn't make it through the drive home. oh well.

This is what happens with ZhuZhu pets and hair when kiddos can't listen to mom. During our trip back home after Labor Day.

There are some beautiful wild sunflowers everywhere around our house. i wanted to get some pictures of them, and Isabel happened to be the model in her (Abby's) cute dress.

We also went to The Lion King in SLC on labor day weekend. We couldn't take pictures, bu it was really cool and I think Isabel and Abby liked it.

Scott has been working like crazy, having fun with some hunting issues and issues with the local sheriff. People here think they can do whatever they want,whenever they want because it is on public land, including destroying barriers to trails they want to go on. It is frustrating but Scott continues to try to be professional and deal with these things. He also finally got his new truck, which is a whole other story. it is a 2010 Ford pickup.

Fall is coming on quickly, leaves are turning, nights are brisk, but things are good here. Hope they are good where you are.

Back to School 2010!

This is a pic of the balloon launch they did at school. The kids love it. It was super windy, so they all went sideways instead of up.

Our little friend who likes the apples in the neighbor's yard, and the nice construction they started the day school started. smart!

How excited was Isabel to see the monkey theme! She loves kindergarten.

We walked her over to school.

Abby in Second grade, in her new class. Her teacher is Mrs. Keyes.

Abby was so excited to go, too.

School started on August 18. Both girls were totally ready to go. They haven't looked back since. Abby likes everything, but already has a lot of homework. It think it is more to force parental participation, which bothers me, but I guess it's necessary these days. She is reading very well and now is starting spelling and a lot of math and science. She had quite a few friends in her class, so no problems there. Abby also started piano lessons and is doing amazing, she picks up the little songs so quickly and then can do them by memory, so we have to work on reading the music and playing at the same time. It is crazy to realize we will have piano practice every day forever, but I really hope she sticks with it.

Isabel's kindergarten was lopsided between the am and pm classes, so after a request from the school,we decided to change to afternoon. It is working out pretty well. Just a lot of "is it time for school yet?" going on. It is nice for her to walk over when there are less people, and then Abby can bring her home. We certainly love being right next to the school. Her teacher is Mrs. Garcher.

Sara misses the girls when they are gone, but she also enjoys getting a little time to be with me. She also gets a little time with Dora, which the big girls are way over. It's all iCarly and older shows now.

Whitney is walking everywhere now, thank goodness! it took her a while. We also just took her binky (pacifier) away. I had to throw them out so there's no going back. She has always been so good at putting herself to sleep that now it is hard. We never rocked her, sang to her, or anything like that, so it's been a little rough. But it was time. She still doesn't talk but she understands. She can fold her arms for prayers, copies her sisters and likes to pick in the garbage. She is also getting jealous, if anyone else sits on my lap.

Isabel's Hair

The girls with their super-straight hair curled for church. It takes a lot of hairspray and a lot of time and then pretty much lasts an hour. oh well, they were excited

This is Isabel's "after" shot. I decided to do bangs to cover her workmanship, and then just layered it a bit to cover the rest of what she did. NOw she wants to grow it really long, so hopefully she can not be so scissor happy in the future

"Before"This is the nice chunk of bangs she cut to the scalp, and on the right side ( the side the scissors connected with) she also added so VERY short layers, it's kinda hard to see in this picture. Love that crazy girl.

New Piano

A company came to Monticello with some pianos for a few days sale. We went to look and actually found the perfect one! It is exactly what we were looking for, matches the house and will work well for us while the kids are young. Great price, too. I hope they like it, and odds are good we will end up with at least one player in the family. The best part about the piano was they delivered it right to the front room and Scott didn't have to lift a finger! He's not even home today. We have been looking online for quite a while, but the delivery was going to be the hardest part, we would have to travel to find a piano store or get a used one from somebody. In that case you never know what you are going to get. The girls all seem to love it, we are wishing we had doors on the front room now! It was an option when we built, but I wasn't thinking it would be the piano room. We may install some since this piano has no "quiet" pedal. The bench is brand new and I think overall it will be awesome. I might even take lessons myself!

It is a Wurlitzer. Somewhere around 40 years old. It sounds good, and they fixed some problems on it, it was a trade-in. We also have the option of giving it back and getting our price we paid towards another piano in the future. it seems like a win-win! yay!