Halloween

We are probably the last to post our Halloween pictures, but we have a few curious grandparents. We really had a fun week of Halloween activities.  On the Saturday before Halloween we took the girls to "Boo at the Zoo."  As our nephew Jaren said, "It was a madhouse!"  The girls had fun dressing in their costumes and seeing the REAL animals.  

The following week included class parties, carving our pumpkins, and of course trick-or treating!

(Lauren and Brandon designed the pumpkin that is a dracula cat with glasses.  Elle and I made a happy pumpkin design.)

Before trick-or-treating we visited my Grandma Leak and Aunt Margaret who live near by. Grandma Leak always has a treat for the girls, so they love visiting.  We love her so much.  (I don't know that person with the pink wig...... what was she thinking!) 

Scarecrow Festival

One of the many fun things happening around the Wasatch Valley during the month of October was the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 

 The festival was geared toward kids.... so there were a lot of jump houses.  I'm not sure what to think about that (I do, but I won't say).  The girls had so much fun.  Elle loved the jump houses but was scared to death of the slides.

There were also plenty of carnival games and face painting..... 

Piano Lessons

Lauren started taking piano lessons last month.  I am so excited!  She has been wanting to take lessons for awhile now.  And I have been wanting her to take since she was born.  There is absolutely no pressure on her to excel (okay maybe a little bit)! 

We found a great teacher Lauren loves.   Her teacher actually comes to our house each week, which is so nice.  In order for Lauren to sit properly at the keys, she has to sit on a phone book with her feet resting on a stool.    

Let's cross our fingers that the desire to practice will continue!  The Christmas recital is a few months away.

 

It's Autumn Time

My favorite season of the year is fall. I love it when the weather cools and you start to actually FEEL fall in the air. I love pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread. I would rather wear a jacket than shorts any day. I love it when the girls can wear cute tights with their skirts. The start of fall also means that certain favorite holidays are near.... my birthday, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. 

A really fun part about being a parent is experiencing holidays with your kids. It's like being a child again and being able to enjoy the kids' activities all over. For example, I have no desire to dress up for Halloween, but I love seeing my girls in their costumes and I can't help but share their trick-or-treat candy!

Yesterday I noticed how covered our lawn was with leaves. It was literally inches deep. A very large tree that sits on the edge of our lawn and the road has shed millions (is that possible?) of leaves onto our yard, the road, and the neighborhood. I think I really paid attention to this because the neighboring condo community had their lawn crew out cleaning up. They had their air blowers and made their property look so nice. I don't think there was one leaf left on the ground. However, there was literally a straight line of leaves that marked the beginning of our property.

So I thought that the girls would have fun raking leaves after school. We had a fun time raking the leaves and making a large pile. We then bagged the leaves and decided that was not too fun. Elle "helped" rake and then decided to play horsey with her rake. Lauren was actually a HUGE help. I was very impressed! However, complaints started as we neared the end. I'm not sure if she will be as excited about this activity the next time I ask her to help.  

The sad part is we haven't done the back yard, and today there are almost as many leaves as we raked yesterday. Maybe a large wind storm will blow our way.  We can only hope.

Been Cheating

Dear Blogger,

I'm so sorry.  I've been spending time with Facebook.  I hope you will forgive me.  It has been fun reconnecting with old friends, and I just haven't had anything to post about for so long.  Our life in Utah is nice and we are getting settled, but there hasn't been anything too fun to post about.  We haven't been taking any pictures (because B has been working so hard).... and that is the best part about blogging!   So, I hope you will understand.  BUT keep in mind that Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are coming, and I would never desert you.   Oops, I better go check to see who has signed onto Facebook this morning.

I Was Tagged....... Funny Names

My sister Kristen, tagged me... so I'm indulging her.  This is a little wrong and kind of funny. 

1.    MY ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Sophie Pilot

2.    MY ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Reading Sun Tour


3.    MY GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Rocky Road Sugar

4.    MY “FLY Guy/Girl” (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) K-Fer

5.    MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Lion


6.    MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Bond Rexburg


7.    MY STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Ferka


8.    MY SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Diet Coke


9.    MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) John Thomas


10.  MY STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Cinnamon Butterfinger


11.  MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Gail Lee


12.  MY TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Terry Toronto


13.  MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Autumn Rose


14.  MY CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Peach Sockie


15.  MY HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Special K Maple


        I laughed the hardest over my stripper name, my superhero name is lame, my Fly Girl name is eerily similar to K-Fed, and Rexburg does not make for a sexie soap opera name ...this was funny. 

Views of Idaho

Summer is beautiful where I grew up.  It is always so relaxing to visit my parents.  My parents live in the same home were I was raised and do such a great job of maintaining and improving our home and yard.  Here are some pictures B took while we were there this summer:  

Dad and I

This rabbit has been spotted going into the garden many times this summer.  

I keep thinking "Don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden."  I wonder if his name is Peter.  It looks like he has already lost his blue coat and shoes.

The new Rexburg Temple

Can anyone, not from Rexburg, tell me what this is?  I'm very interested to see if you would know this.

Canning with Grandma

I have such positive memories of growing up in Rexburg.  I especially loved the summer.  My family always had a large garden with plenty of corn, potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, zucchini, and an occasional pumpkin.  While I will admit that Mom and Dad did most of the work, we kids definitely remember many mornings of planting, weeding, picking, shucking corn, snapping beans, etc.  When it was harvest time, we would help in canning or freezing our bountiful supply. 

It was a lot of work, but having a garden is such positive thing for a family to work on together.  And because of our efforts, we had "fresh" veggies all summer, winter, spring, and fall.  Before I was living on my own, I had never knowingly eaten veggies from a can bought from a store.  It has literally taken me years to buy canned corn (my Mom is cringing right now).  

So while we were home this summer, the beans "were on."  Dad picked the beans from the garden, snapped off the ends and my Mom started to bottle the beans.  Elle was VERY interested in what was going on (Lauren was interested for about five minutes).  She helped pack each of the bottles with beans and loved working in Grandma's kitchen.

I hope that Brandon and I will work on having a garden once we buy our own home.  I don't know, do people have gardens any more?

A Day at Jackson Hole, WY

Because I'm still sorting through photos, I'm posting about things we did this summer.  I hope you don't mind.  Since I like to see photos on my friends' and familys' blogs, and because this is basically a journal for me, I'm going to post this entry (and maybe other entries will follow to get me up to the present).

While visiting with my parents in Rexburg, ID, we drove up Jackson Hole, WY.   It has always been a fun "day trip" for our family.  A typical day for us in Jackson is to take in the beautiful views of the Grand Teton Mountains.  We like to eat lunch at Bubba's BBQ and walk around the town square.  We also like to visit photography galleries and tourist shops.  This trip Brandon took some great pictures of the landscape, but I'll only post a few because I'm sure he would like to share his photos on his own blog.

(This photo is funny to me, because of the picturesque old west wagon and horses along with the expensive modern car parked nearby).

(This buffalo is fake)

(I did not coordinate the girls' outfits.)

(This one is fake too)

(This is such an amazing view of the Tetons with the Snake River below).

(This one is REAL and it was very close to us)