Monday afternoon, we took the kids over to the Microsoft buildings to do some trick-or treating. Ella had no idea what she was in for, but she was excited.

We don’t have pictures from it, because you aren’t allowed to take pictures in the building we were in. The do all the game development and testing in that building, so the kids loved seeing life size action figures displayed for the different games. Ella was nervous at first, but as soon as she realized she got candy, we couldn’t stop her. She would take from a bowl, and go for seconds. I would have to tell her, “No, Ella. Just one.” As soon as she thought you weren’t looking, she would grab another piece. Sneaky girl. I brought an extra bag to empty their baskets (we learned from last year), but Ella would not give her’s up. She was not about to let that candy out of her sight. I think she came home with more candy than Jameson. We looked pretty funny, though. We had 8-10 adults in our group and 13 kids under 5 with us. Little crazy.

Once we got home, we fed the kids actual dinner, and then took them around the neighborhood. Here is their first actual door they got to knock on.

We ventured around in the freezing cold, going to most of the neighbors we knew, and then a few others down another street. We finally turned around when we were too cold to go anymore. The kids loved it, and got ridiculous amounts of candy. I actually hid most of it, and recently put most of it in boxes to send to the missionaries serving from our ward. Great way to get rid of candy.

Some how, I managed to nominate myself and a friend to be in charge of the Halloween party for the ward. Not sure why I thought this was a good idea, especially since I was out of town for 2 weeks of October, had company coming when we got back, and everything else that happens day to day, but we pulled it together. Last year, something was put together last minute, because no one else had planned anything. So, to make sure we had a good time this year, and our kids had somewhere to trick-or-treat, I nominated myself.

We decided that we would have a few contests: cup cake walk, costume contest, best chilli, best decorated trunk, and best carved pumpkin. We figured the pumpkins would serve as decoration around the room. Jameson had been bugging us to carve our pumpkin, and there was never a time we were all home to do it together that week. So, the day of the party, Jameson and I dug into our pumpkin during Ella’s nap. He wanted a mean face, so I tried. This was all I could come up with.

Jameson got ready, and came to the church with me to help finish decorating. We had set up most that morning, but can I tell you it takes twice as long when you have to decorate with your kids? Lauren and I tried, but every time we put something out, the kids would think it was so cool and move it. Not cool for us. We pretty much decorate the room twice.

Jameson wanted to be Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. I looked and looked for a costume, and apparently, no one wants to be Hiccup. So, I found some material, and finished sewing the night before. Procrastination on my part. I found a green baseball t at Old Navy, along with brown sweat pants. Then, I sewed his vest (patterned after one of his Sunday vests) and boot covers. I just safety pinned those bad boys to the loops on his boots. I found the sword, helmet, and shield in the Roman section at the party store. I did have to make a strap on the helmet, because it was adult size. I think he looked pretty good, though.

A few pictures of the gym. We had a coloring station for the kids in one corner. We found non-scary Halloween pictures on the internet, and then copied them. I remembered you can make free copies at the library, so that’s what we did. You can make 75 copies a week for free. Awesome, right?  We had a cup cake walk in the other, which was a total bust. Who wants to walk for cupcakes when they can go to the dessert table and get 5? Plus, the little boys had been sword fighting in that corner and torn up all our papers taped to the ground. I did paint some wooden balls and put them in the bingo roller. Then the who ever was standing on the coordinating color of the ball got to get a a cup cake. At least that’s how it was supposed to go.

For the tables, we made the pumpkin jars. We mod podged tissue paper to them, and then I cut out faces in vinyl. We placed a piece a scrap book paper underneath them with a few spider rings, and ta dah! Cute center pieces. 5 tables and pumpkins that glowed and 5 had stuffed pumpkins. The candy stuffed pumpkins were for the winners of the contest.

We ended up trick-or-treating from room to room, because it was raining outside. Surprise, surprise. Kevin and his brother, who was here for some training, did an awesome job decorating their room. They even tied candy to a string to trick all the little kids who tried to grab it. Cruel, but funny. We ended up with tons of food, and much more desserts. I thought the night was total chaos, but we got lots of praise for such a great party. It was nice to know others thought it went so well, because I had a different view of the night. But that’s how it is, right? The person in charge knows what didn’t go as planned.

At the pumpkin patch the week before, I picked up corn stalks and hay bales for decorations. Then I found out no hay in the church. So, they sat right when you walked in. I tried to have the kids take a picture. Here is Hiccup and his dragon.

We had a successful night!

As soon as we got home, we got right back into it.Wednesday mornings we participate in a preschool group with 3 other boys. We each take a turn teaching once a month, and occasionally throw in a field trip.  Each of our boys miss the deadline for kindergarten so we have 2 years before they start public school. This week, (Oct. 26th) we took the kids to a pumpkin patch for a field trip. We got there in time to see them bottle feed the calves. Jameson loved it, Ella was not so sure. The calves kept trying to eat more, though, so Jameson was trying to be sneaky and feed them grass.

After the feeding, we headed over to the patch. They had really funny scarecrows set up, or should I say down. The kids thought the legs sticking out of the ground were hilarious.

Ella just loved to get in the dirt. She tried to pick out a pumpkin almost as big as her, but couldn’t carry it. So I finally coaxed her into picking some small pumpkins.

We tried to get some group shots of the kids on these hay bail pumpkins, but they were not quite so cooperative. Ella just wanted to be on top of them, but not smile.

These are his “classsmates.” There’s Jameson, Michael, and Evan.

Ella and Jaxson. This is Evan’s little brother.

See, they wanted to be on the pumpkin, but were in no mood to smile.

Evan and Jameson are about 6 weeks apart. Evan was in our previous ward, but we still get to see him lots. He’s the quiet but bossy one, and Jameson is rambunctious, but follows his orders usually.

Jameson couldn’t wait to help load the pumpkins. He was so excited to push the wheelbarrow. Unfortunately, once it was loaded, it was too heavy and uneven for him to push. So, Mom had to help out.

We got all our pumpkins, plus some decorations for the ward party. (Somehow I managed to get myself put in charge of the ward Halloween party this year. More on that to come.) It was a fun morning with our preschool friends, and feeding the cows was talked about the rest of the day.

Friday morning, Oct. 14th, we headed out with our friends to the Animal Ark. I think they said it’s about a mile walk around the trail to see the exotic and not so exotic animals. We got there in time to see the black bear being fed. I don’t remember what her name was, but she was rescued from some people who were keeping her as a pet. The neighbors called in saying there was a bear next door, and she ended up at the Animal Ark. She started out in the back, but slowly worked her way forward to get the fruit on the tree in front of the window. The kids loved it!

We left the bear, because a field trip group had arrived, and we wanted to stay ahead of them. The kids found the turtles, and Ella loved them. I think because they could almost reach out and touch them, if there hadn’t been a sign.

They also had a white tiger, and a few other exotic animals. The kids loved it, but by the end, Sariah and I were tired. We took the kids to Old McDonald’s and then home for some naps. Once some much needed naps were taken, we went to the small pumpkin patch close by. A major hit this year, that he has never cared to do is ride the ponies. The guy running it did not care at all, and let the kids ride longer than the usual few laps around.

Ella wouldn’t ride the ponies, but everyone was up for the train rides. They told us to wait, and so we did, but no driver ever came. After about 20 minutes, and the train was full, I went and asked someone who drives the train. The guy was like, “Oh, I forgot. I got busy with the animals.” I wasn’t sure if we really wanted him driving us, but what can you do?

Ella tried to make a run with my money. The kids had fun, and then we headed off to meet Aunts and Uncle. We met up with Aunt Brittney, Aunt Steph, and Uncle Josh at Red Robin for some dinner. Surprisingly, the kids did really well considering we were eating at 7:30 pm. After dinner, we went over to Steph and Josh’s for some play time. It was a late night, but we couldn’t miss spending time with them. Hopefully, next time we will get to spend more time with them.

We arrived in Reno Oct. 13, and went straight to the new Discovery Children’s Museum to meet Papa. The museum only opened about 3 weeks prior, so no all the exhibits are finished, but it was still lots of fun.  When you fist walk in, there was a big plastic wall with circles in it that magnified  what was on the other side. This resulted in my favorite picture of Jameson in a long time.

They had a room with Nevada history, a room to show how things are built along with geothermal activities, and then a tree house room. The tree house room also had a mining cart with sponge rocks, and conveyor belt overhead to load the rocks. The kids loved it.

Jameson thought it was even better to climb into the cart and have the “rocks” fall on top of him.

Next up, the kids figured out how to fly a plane and take out others down below.

Downstairs, the kids loved the river. Jameson loved that he could climb in the tub and “float” the river. They also had a large “cloud” to climb. Jameson was quick to climb in, but got a little scared half way up and had to be coaxed down. I was not about to climb in that thing after him.

Ella tried to sneak a few drinks of water from the river.

After, we headed over for some ice cream. This is where Pap taught Jameson that ice cream could grow legs and walk away. Every time Jameson turned around, his ice cream disappeared and the only explanation was that it “walked away.” So now, he keeps telling us that things can grow legs and walk away and hide in sneaky spots.

After ice cream, we went to the pumpkin patch we visited just before moving away from Reno. The kids loved the animals, and needed to drive the tractor.

The two would only sit still long enough for me to take a picture, but this is all I could get from them.

The kids loved all the activities of the day, and spending time with their Papa. Thanks for the fun.

(October 1st)

We spent some family time at the Salmon Festival on Saturday. We watched the morning session of General Conference, and then headed out for some fun. We walked the street, looking at all the vendors and their displays, and ended at the hatchery. Jameson peaked in the window, to see all the equipment, but not much was going on.

Ella found the parrot out side the hatchery and loved it. Although, they were not too fond of how loud he screeched.

What they loved, was watching the salmon in the river. These things were huge, too. There were trying to jump up the river, but could not make it over the dam part. Ella got so excited every time they jumped out of the water.

My pictures got a bit mixed up, but you get the idea. It was lots of fun to see the fish. Next time, forget the rest of the activities, we’ll just head to the river for the fish.

Saturday, Kevin had to help move some vehicles for the scouts who were biking the John Wayne Trail. It is the old railroad line, that now serves as a hiking trail. The railroad tracks have been removed, which leaves a nice wide path down the mountain and through tunnels. Kevin asked a friend to help him shuttle the vehicles down, so we all went up to enjoy the day. We packed a lunch, and headed up the mountain. Jameson was so excited to go hiking. We started off down the path, which had a little wooden walkway covering a run off stream. The kids loved the planked sidewalk.

It wasn’t long at all before we hit the mouth of the tunnel. We thought we would have a little bit more time. We stopped to take some pictures. I loved the huge doors for the tunnel. Below is Ella (on Kevin’s back), Kevin, Jameson, Abby, and Jesse.

Getting ready for our big adventure into the 2.5 mile tunnel.

We really didn’t know what to expect on this trail. If we had known how wide and flat the trail would be, we would have brought our jogging strollers to throw the kids in. Then, we might have made it all the way through the tunnel and further. Instead, we made it maybe halfway in, turned around, and walked back out. We got the keys to the cars we were going to have to move, and then had a picnic. As we each climbed in a car to drive, Jameson was concerned we were leaving dad behind. I explained he was driving another car, and we were going to follow him. The trail is about 22.5 miles long, and ends at a lake. Next time, we will have to hike from the lake and then go swimming. Jameson talked about going on another hike the whole way down the mountain. Soon, both kids were asleep in the car, and we had a quiet drive home. The day ended with a few friends over for some hamburgers and hotdogs. The kids ran around till it was dark. It was such a fun day for each of us.

Labor Day weekend was pretty low key for us. Saturday, we met some friends for breakfast, and then went with them to the sale at Old Navy. The mall it is in, has a lot of quarter rides, so I handed Jameson a handful of quarters. The dads took the kids and we were able to shop in some peace and quiet. Kevin worked the rest of the day on his truck with some guys he hired to help him replace his engine.

Sunday, Ella had her first official day of nursery. I dropped her off, and as soon as her back was turned, I snuck out. She did great! I had to teach our young women that day, and introduced our project for Young Women’s in Excellence (more on that later, unless you need an idea. Then I’ll tell you.) We stayed for the next ward’s sacrament meeting, because Kevin was able to participate in our friend’s baby blessing. It was a beautiful blessing for a very special baby.

Monday, we took a trip to Cabella’s. The kids loved the animals. It was like going to the zoo, except you can get much closer to the animals since none are alive and able to hurt you.

The token machine for the laser gun range was broken, so they were free. This was Jameson’s favorite. He shot everything he could for about an hour. Ella even liked to shoot.

Jameson learned his mom is not too shabby of a shooter by being able to make the bear appear from behind the fence.

We even had a little boy next to us start crying for his parents. So we took him to the front and explained that Jonah had lost his parents. It only took a minute after the page went out that his dad came running. That store is so big, that is my fear while there. There are so many places a kid could hide.

On the way home, we were talking about events that are happening in Reno over Labor Day that we were missing. I very much missed the rib cook-off. My mouth waters thinking about it. The other thing I don’t miss dealing with is Burning man. We joked about one car that was covered in dust that it was someone from Burning Man. I don’t think that car was, but not long after, we saw this one:

All the signs of Burning Man were there: VW, bikes, dust, symbol on back window, and driver with dreadlocks. You could say I’m stereotyping, but it’s totally true.

We arrived back home just in time to head over to a friends house for a bbq. We were able to enjoy lots of good friends and food. I am so thankful for such good friends here, or I would never make it through holidays without family. I really don’t have too many complaints about where we live. It’s beautiful, and summer days are perfect (when they finally decide to arrive), and the rain usually doesn’t really get you wet when you have to run out in it. But I hate living so far from family. It makes it hard on holidays, so I’m grateful we have lots of good friends to get us through it.

(August 20th)

I heard about a sunflower festival that boasted mazes and farm animals. I thought it sounded like fun, and I just knew the kids would enjoy it. Kevin got done working on his truck and ended up being able to join us. We got there, and found out, it wasn’t as amazing as it sounded. The sunflowers were actually wilting, because it has been warmer. The term “farm animals” referred to 2 goats, 2 alpacas, and a few chickens. There was a little maze of haystacks. I was right, the kids did have fun. We just didn’t have as much fun as they did.

Yes, Jameson does have a mo-hawk. He needed a haircut, so you know what that means to Kevin.

Got in some riding time. The kids weren’t too impressed with these.

We had to measure and see how tall the kids were.

By the way, do you like Jameson’s outfit? I told him to get dressed this morning, and this is what he came up with. I tried to get him to change his shirt, and he tole me, “But I match, Mom.” That he does.

I did have a few quarters, so the kids got to feed the goats. Ella has no fear, and absolutely loved them.

Oh, the things we do to our kids. This is what makes the trip worth it for us.

Jameson just happened to look down, and he found a lady bug on his hand. He was so excited.

Daddy helped him find a nice sunflower to put the lady bug on. Then they had to watch where he went.

So excited that the lady bug has a new home.

And, finally, we had to watch the bumble bee work.