Tagged by Suz!

1. Link your tagger(Suz) and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1. I wash plastic silverware. Much to my Husband's dismay. I can't help it, throwing away a piece of silverware that can be used again seems like such a waste to me. I know this defeats the purpose of the ease of plastic silverware, but what can I say, I am my mother's daughter.


2. I match my hangers to my clothes. I know this sounds weird but I can't help it. For some reason it bothers me to see a hanger that doesn't match the shirt that it is holding. Cody has never been able to understand this quirky little thing about me. This problem has eased up a little by only purchasing white hangers. White matches just about everything.


3. I love popcorn. I really really do. When I was younger my Dad would make it for me every Sunday and I used to make it almost everyday after school. The other day Suzanne called me and told me that she had some connections and could get me a big bag of movie popcorn. Yummy! So she brought it over and it literally was in a huge garbage sack. My kind of snack. Add a pepsi and I am set.



4. I don't know how to do hair. I am seriously in need of help. I feel so bad for Hayden. I have tried to do my nieces hair and it is impossible. When I helped watch Averi about a month ago, she got totally annoyed with me. She finally said "Even I can do a ponytail!" Maybe Hayden's hair won't grow or she'll go bald then we'll be okay.


5. I love to read. I guess you could call me a nerd or a bookworm. I can start a book and finish it in one day, not because I read all day but because I read pretty fast. I love almost any kind of book and I am always searching for the next thing to read. The trouble now is finding the time to sit down and do it. This is one thing that I truly want to pass on to my children.



6. I crave volleyball. I know that you're thinking "Crave" might be the wrong word to use, but I really do. I would play everyday if I had the opportunity. If I go for long periods of time without it I feel like I am having withdrawals. I love it.



7. I love to sing. As I get older it seems there aren't as many opportunities to sing, but every chance I get I try to take it. I remember singing the National Anthem at a basketball/volleyball (?) game (remember girls), singing for the Jubilee of Trees, singing at the State Fair and messing up, singing in church, and singing at my friend Michelle's wedding. So fun! I love that I have this talent and although I'm not Kelly Clarkson (Sorry Cody) I still love to sing.

Do you SEE what I SEE?

About a month ago Carson came home from school and told me that he had failed a test. No not a math, spelling, or science test. A vision test. My first thought was "Yeah Right! " I know that I should have believed him since he is one of the most honest people that I know, but Carson has been wanting glasses for a few months. He thinks they are cool. So of course I was a little skeptical. I let it go for a couple of days until I ran into a friend of mine at a school carnival. Apparently she was the one who had given him the vision test and she said that he really didn't do very well. Okay, Okay so he is really good at faking blindness. A couple of days later after thinking about it I decided to go ahead and schedule an appointment with our Eye Doctor. He would be able to sort this out and explain to Carson that he didn't need glasses right? The day of the appointment arrived and I took Carson to the Dr. While I filled out the paperwork, they took Carson back to do a couple of tests. Then we both headed back to the exam room to see Dr. Miller. Dr. Miller came in and I explained that I really didn't think Carson needed glasses, but wanted to make sure. The testing began. Wait a minute, is that an S or a C? O or a D? ECOTSL.......... From where I was standing, Carson wasn't doing very well. I know that he knows his letters, I mean he is reading chapter books. Maybe it's okay to miss a few! I don't know! Dr. Miller checked a couple more things and then the lights came back on. This was the moment for the truth to be reveled. "Looks like someone needs glasses." Are you sure? "Definitely some near-sightedness." Wow, he really can't see! I guess I should have realized it, considering I am pretty much blind myself (-8 in both eyes). I started wearing THICK and I mean THICK glasses (Thanks Mom) when I was little and I was wearing hard contacts by the fifth grade. Of course Carson was totally excited. And although we didn't agree on the glasses he chose, I still think he looks great and it's great that he can see. It's always good to see!

One Generation to the next....

So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we were feeling a little bit cooped up. We decided that the boys needed to get out of the house. We wanted to hike, but we didn't want to go too far since we needed to get back and help my Dad put up Christmas lights. We decided to put Hayden down for a nap and head up to the SugarLoaf (The Red Hill with the DIXIE on it). I remember my Mom taking us up there when I was little. I also remember bumper-jumping and night repelling off the D (not me-way to afraid of heights) when I was in High school. Who was in the car with us when we got chased?

The boys had a great time climbing and exploring and this time around I was the mom so I had a great time worrying that they were going to fall. It was a nice little adventure out of the house. Aren't we lucky to live close to such beautiful places. Crazy to be getting older and to take my kids somewhere that I went as a little kid. It was kind of surreal!

Happy 33rd Birthday Cody!

I took Cody to SLC this weekend to see Glenn Beck's show "The Christmas Sweater" for his birthday. Since we were gone I didn't have a chance to write anything about Cody for his birthday. I have seen other people do this on their blogs and I thought that it was a great idea and it also gives me a chance to write about some of the things that I truly love about my hubby. So here it goes, 33 things that I love about Cody in no particular order.



I LOVE........

1. Your patience for me. And boy do you need it.

2. The way you never expects anything from me. That sounds weird, but you truly think that everything I do is enough.

3. Your sunglasses. BACK TO 1989! I can't help it babe, I think you look hot.

4. You're an amazing father. Whether it's wrestling, playing trains or working in the yard, you will almost always find one of his boys with him. He loves our children so much and they know it. As I am sitting here typing this he is making capes for the boys out of towels. What a great guy.

5. You're sense of humor. You can always make me laugh which is a good thing unless I want to be mad at you. We can always find something to laugh about late at night and although most people would think we were dorks, for some reason we both think we are hilarious.

6. You are hardworking. One of the things that really attracted me to you was how hard you worked. You were always so focused on what you wanted to be and you worked really hard to accomplish it. Now that Cody is done with school, he works so hard to support our family. My mom and I always say that we know that if our husbands had to they would go work at McDonald's to make sure that we were taken care. I truly believe that is true, Cody is always concerned about our welfare. I know that I never have to worry about that.

7. Your willingness to serve. Cody came home from the priesthood session in October and I asked him what he learned. He said "We need to serve!" And he does. He is so willing to serve our Father in Heaven and I love that my boys get to see that.

8. You honor your priesthood. Thanks for always being willing to give me and our children blessings and for being worthy to do so.

9. Your soft spot for Hayden. Cody has completely fallen for Hayden. How lucky she is to have him as her Daddy.

10. Your dedication to us. You always put us first. You are truly committed to helping our family succeed. I have no doubts that your are totally loyal to me and to our family.

11. Your smile. I love to see you smile, especially the way your eyes crinkle up when you do. I always tease him that in pictures he looks miserable because he won't smile, but when you get to see the real one it is worth the wait.

12. Your eyes. You have the most beautiful eyes. They change often, but I love them the most when they are a deep forest green and the outer edge is a dark blue. They definitely sold me.

13. Your willingness to help. You always help me. Whether it is stopping by the grocery store on the way home or helping me straighten up, you do it without complaining. And even though I know that sometimes you would rather sit down after a long day at work, you still do it.

14. The way you call me before you come home to see if I need anything. Usually it's a pepsi if you know I am having a bad day. It's nice to know you are thinking about me.

15. Your love for the outdoors. I love that you love being outdoors and I love to hear you tell me about the name of a bird, bug/spider, etc... When we go on hikes you sees things that I don't even notice and you have such an appreciation for all that God has created.

16. How handy you are! When we were first married I had a hard time letting you take things apart ESPECIALLY CARS! But soon I realized that the things you took apart you could actually fix and you were saving us a lot of money. Thanks for being patient with my distrust.

17. The way you dance with me in the kitchen. Love it!

18. When you tell me I look beautiful even though I am wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt. This goes back to having no expectations of me. You love me for me.

19. Your speaking ablility. When we were in the college ward together I love hearing you teach Gospel Essentials. And even though I really went to that class just to look at you, I really loved to hear you teach. I still do.

20. The way you look in a hat.

21. The way you iron everything. Even though you have relaxed a little bit in the last ten years. You still always iron your shirts, even your polos. You have a thing about looking nice.

22. I love your gruff (facial hair). I know that you really like to be clean shaven, but sometimes you let it grow out for a couple of days because you know that I like it.

23. The way you mow the lawn in your HAT, long sleeve t-shirt, shorts and boots.

24. How hard you try to make me happy. I know that you can't stand it when I am sad and you always do everything in your power to make me smile. Lots of times without success, but you still keep trying.

25. Your strength. You always make me feel like everything is going to be okay. No matter what you help me to see that it will be okay.

26. Your love for my family. You are totally accepting of my family. Faults and all. Thanks for loving my family as much as I do.

27. Your laugh. I just heard you laughing in the other room and I realized how happy it makes me when I hear you laugh.

28. How focused you are on our goals. I know that making the decision to give up our house for a little while and move in with my Mom and Dad wasn't an easy one, but you are so totally focused on our goal of paying off our student loans that you put your pride aside and we took the plunge together.

29. Your calming influence. Let's face it, I have a tendency to get a LITTLE bit worked up. You always seem to be able to calm me down.

30. The way you hug me. It was hard to find a guy that was taller than me, but you are and I love it when you put your arms around me and hold me.

31. Our signal! Shhhhh.

32. Everything about you! That's right I love it all.

33. Our life together. Over the last almost 10 years we have had our ups and our downs. But I have never wanted to be anywhere but here with you. What a blessing you are to me. I love every aspect of this life that we have created together.

Love you Cody!

Look at all those lights!

Wow, the temple looked so beautiful this year. It is a tradition in our family to go see the lights at the temple the day after Thanksgiving. The kids love to go to the temple and having the lights and the nativity up make it extra special. We enjoyed walking around the temple grounds and taking lots of pictures. What a great way to kick off the Christmas season. Afterwards we always head back to Mom and Dad's house for our annual "Snowball Party." Just in case you're wondering what a snowball party is, I will tell you. We all get together to watch the movie "Snowball Express". We also enjoy hot chocolate and snowballs. We love this old movie and have been watching it since we were little. Can't wait for next year's snowball party.

Hayden's 1st Thanksgiving

Hayden had an eventful 1st Thanksgiving. Early that morning at about 2:00 a.m. Cody and I woke up to hear her wheezing in her crib. I immediately got up to check on her and realized that she was a having a small asthma attack. We got her up and gave her a breathing treatment with our nebulizer. She finally started breathing better and we got her back to sleep. When we got up the next morning she was having a hard time breathing again. I don't deal well when our kids are sick so I insisted that we take her to the doctor. When Cody got to the Instacare he called to tell me that they were closed. We decided to bring her back home and we would just continue to treat her with nebulizer treatments, cough medicine, and cold air. She did okay and was surprisingly pleasant. She even crawled for the very first time. Boy, were we proud. That night we put her to bed and prayed that she would do okay during the night. She slept fine and seemed to be okay when I left to got "Black Friday" shopping with my mom. I got home at about 8:30 and she had just gotten up with Cody. I still thought that she sounded pretty rough, so I decided to take her into the doctor. We got there pretty quick and she was the second patient to be seen. The doctor told us that she had Bronchitis. They gave her a shot with a steroid in it to help open up her lungs and he told us to continue treating her with the nebulizer. What a difference that shot made, her breathing almost immediately got better.

The crazy thing about all of this is how pleasant she was. What a sweetie!


 
 
 
 

Thanksgiving 2008

 
 
 
 

Thanksgiving was great this year. We really had a good time even with a couple of sick kids and Dan and Suzanne at the Papa house. Sherwood got back from California on Monday, just in time for the holiday. It was nice to see him after being gone for about 6 months. He invited his friend Kati to join us, she drove from Telluride, Colorado. We enjoyed having her and the kids thought it was great to have new friend. Chase took a special interest in her right away. After just a few minutes with him she told Sherwood that Chase was "Precious." We all just laughed, because to tell the truth Chase can get a little crazy. We told her that we would ask her if He was still "Precious" after she had spent a couple of days with him.

We ate dinner at around 2:00 p.m. and then enjoyed chatting and games. Everyone finally headed home around 10 p.m. totally exhausted, but happy.

Pies, Pies, and more Pies.....

 

Every year on the night before thanksgiving all the "Jolley girls" get together to make all of the pies for Thanksgiving Day. This has been a tradition since all of us have gotten married. This year Lisa stopped by for dinner, but ended up leaving before the pie making got started and Suzanne came at around ten o'clock when she got off work. My mom and I started at around six o'clock. We have all gotten pretty good at making our own pies with a few simple tricks from mom. Handle your dough as little as possible and ice water. Our pie making adventure gets complicated only because of the number of pies that we make this year our grand total was 11 (along with 6 or seven mini pies for the grandkids), which was less than last year, but still a definite undertaking. Everything went really smooth. Other than baking a couple of crusts that weren't supposed to be baked and putting the wrong filling in a couple of Suzanne's pie crusts we actually did pretty good. It is better than the year that we doubled the salt in the recipe. Anyways we got all of them made and we got to bed about two o'clock. What fun and boy were they good! This tally doesn't include the cake and brownies that Lisa and Jeremy made. Do you think we all have a sweet tooth? Just in case you're wondering what the picture of the clock is all about. Cody and Dad were watching "The Bad News Bears" for the second time that night. It was almost 1:30 a.m. and they couldn't turn it off, even though they had already watched it that night.

Coupons Really Work!

Okay, so a couple of months ago I decided that I was going to start clipping coupons. I kept hearing about people saving a ton of money with them and since I am a naturally thrifty person (Thanks to my mom) I really wanted to get in on the action. So I started clipping coupons on Sundays. Finally I was ready to go grocery shopping. I made my list and headed to the store. Wow what a disaster. After almost 3 hours of checking each coupon and matching it with the right item I headed to the checkout stand. Expecting a big return I was shocked to see that I had only saved $6.00. Oh my gosh! My time is worth more than that. Okay I guess I am giving up couponing, but I still couldn't stop myself from cutting them out every Sunday.

Fast forward to one week ago. I attended a class on couponing. Apparently I was doing it all wrong. They gave me a link to a website called grocerysmarts.com and a lot of information. I left totally motivated and ready to start saving money. So on Friday I decided to give it another try. I spent a couple of hours on the website getting familiar with it and preparing my shopping list. Finally I was ready to brave the grocery store again with my list and coupons in one hand and my husband's hand in the other.

We started with Albertson's and even though that is not my usual store, I was told that they have really great sales. So I went through my list (Wow preparing ahead of time really makes it go smoothly.) Potatoes-Check, baby food-Check, popcorn-Check, vegetables-Check, Cereal-Check, etc.....

Finally we were ready to check out. The stress was building. What if this didn't work? What if I read the coupon wrong? What if, What if, What if? I watched as the total got higher and higher. Then I handed her my coupons and suddenly the total got lower and lower. Wow, I have already passed my previous $6.00 accomplishment. Finally she rang everything in.

Total $53.64. Savings $146.89.

Is she sure? Can that be right. Wow! I am good. I am sold.

Thank-you Grocerysmarts!

Wow, this really makes you think....

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a Little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day............

My sweet little Chasey....

Chase is always saying or doing things that make me smile. My mom actually told me a couple of months ago that I should start blogging just so I could keep track of all the funny things he does. And although I keep journals for all of my kids to track there milestones, I am sure that I am forgetting some of the funny day to day stuff that they say and do. So now that I have a blog I will try to keep track of them.

-After our four-wheeling trip Chase was following my Dad around tormenting him. Chase is a total tease. He kept pushing my Dad in the back/bum. Thanks heavens Grandpa is patient. Finally Chase lunged at my Dad, but my Dad was ready for him. He sidestepped and Chase fell down into the mud. Since Chase is always dirty a little mud didn't hurt him.

-One day I laid Chase down for his afternoon nap. After about fifteen minutes I could still hear him up there chatting with himself. I walked to the bottom of the stairs and asked him what was wrong. He said that his shirt wouldn't let him take a nap. A few minutes later I heard him again. Again I asked him what was wrong and he said that his shirt wouldn't let him take a nap. I asked him if he thought he could ignore his shirt. He told me that he would ignore his shirt and a few minutes later he was sleeping soundly. A couple of days later I laid him down for his nap and he told me that he was going to go right to sleep, because he was going to ignore his shirt.

-The other day the boys were playing outside. All of the sudden Chase came running into the house. I thought that someone had died by the way he was screaming. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he had eaten some "Green Berries." He said that his mouth was burning. I got him some milk out of the fridge and poured him a glass. All the while he was spitting and rubbing his tongue trying to get the "HOT" out of his mouth. When I handed him the glass I noticed that he had something on his lip. It looked like a jalepeno seed, which by the way is the hottest part of the pepper. I asked him if he ate a jalepeno out of the garden. He said yes he ate the "green berries" out of the garden. I went outside to check on the other boys and they told me that one of the other boys had put one in his mouth, but realized rather quickly that is was hot and spit it out. But of course Chase had to eat the whole thing. After 3 glasses of milk and 2 spoonfuls of sugar he was finally able to go back outside.

We love Chase and the ability he has to make everyone around him happy.

Happy Birthday Lukar.....

Happy second birthday (yesterday) Lukar. Just in case you are wondering who Lukar is, I will explain. Lukar is Suzanne and Dan's little boy and just in case you are wondering why in the heck they named him Lukar- They didn't, Chase did. Chase has a hard time saying the letter S so he was always calling Lucas-Lukar and before we knew it the name stuck. We love little Lucas and finally after lots of bribing (candy works wonders) we think he loves us to. We helped watch Averi and Lucas last weekend and during church Lucas started calling Cody dad. What a sweet little boy. Hope you had a great birthday!

-Wish I had a picture of him-

An abundant life!

One day I was talking to a friend of mine and she told me that she felt like she had an abundant life. I have always remembered that and I think of it often. I truly feel like I have an abundant life and not in the ways you may think. My life is abundant when I am driving in the car and my boys are tickling Hayden and telling her how pretty she is. No screaming-just giggling. My life is abundant when Carson says the family prayer and prays that mom can accomplish all that she needs to get done and when Chase prays that mom can go to bed all day (Yeah right! Like that would ever happen, but it's the thought that counts.) My life is abundant when I can hear Hayden laying in her bed in the morning chatting with herself. My life is abundant when my husband brings me home a pepsi because he knows that it's been a long day. My life is abundant when I watch Cody wrestle with my boys on the trampoline or when he lays in bed with Hayden and the look in his eyes tells me how much he loves our children. My life is abundant when I see little evidences of God's hand in my life and I know that he is totally aware of me. I truly feel like I have an abundant life. More blessings than I really deserve. Sorry if this is to sappy, but it's been on my mind a lot lately and I figured I better write about it while I am thinking about it.

-It's Autumn Time-

I love fall. I love everything about it. Every year we try to take a drive up Cedar Canyon and look at the leaves. Our kids love it because in St. George you don't get to see all the many colors. The other day Cody and I realized that we hadn't taken our annual trip. We also realized that it was probably to late to see them. I was disappointed because I love taking pictures of the kids in the leaves. A couple of days went by and Cody told me that he was going to go to the Cedar Walgreens to talk to the manager. I decided that I would take the kids and we would ride with him. We love taking drives in the car. So we pulled Carson out of school about an hour early and headed for Cedar. While Cody worked I took the kids to the park. I was so excited to see a big pile of leaves on the ground. Perfect for pictures. So after they were done playing on the playground we took some pictures in the leaves. Carson and Chase could hardly stand waiting for me to be done taking pictures so they could kick the pile of leaves and Hayden just sat there and ate as many leaves as she could. What a fun day playing in the leaves.

Four Wheelin'

This is down in the river bed. It was so beautiful

down there with all of the leaves changing colors.

Right before we got to the mail drop we stopped to take a break.

Mom and Dad. What a cute couple!

What a shot!

This is a picture off of the mail drop. Isn't it a long ways down?

Do I look nervous? It's because I am.

I don't like standing that close to the edge.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1ST,

we got to go on a four-wheeler ride. We have had this on the calendar for a couple of months and it was so fun. We have done this ride to Carmel Junction before, but my mom and dad joined us this time for their first time on this ride. We left our kids home with a babysitter and left home at about 8:30 a.m. The ride starts out by Coral Pink which is just past Colorado City so it takes about an hour to get there. We had a fairly big group this time with a few people that we knew from our old ward and a few people that we didn't. We actually picked up a couple in a Rhino along the way and they joined us for the whole trip. We started out going to the Mail Drop. This is a place where postal carriers in the old days used to take the mail to save time. The postal carriers would meet at this cliff and use a pulley system to send the mail up and down the cliff. This cliff has a sheer drop off. We threw a rock off and counted and it took at least ten seconds before it hit the ground. I couldn't even get that close to the edge. We had a dog with us that was whimpering and whining everytime anyone got too close. Way to high for me!

After we were done there we hopped back on our four-wheelers and started toward Carmel Junction. This takes a little over an hour, but it is a beautiful ride. Towards the end you climb this steep-steep hill and then it drops down into a river bed. I think they said you actually cross the river 25 times. This to me was the funnest part of the trip. Riding through the water and then climbing out of the river. It was so fun. After getting to Carmel Junction and eating lunch at the restaurant we filled up our tanks and got ready to head back. This time going through the river was a little bit more challenging. I tried to make it up out of the river bed in a spot that had huge ruts and felt like it was straight up. I came through the river bed and then pressed on the gas apparently I went the wrong way and couldn't quite make it up. I reversed and tried again and this time I was successful. My mom and dad did the same thing that I did, except that in their Rhino it looked a little more dangerous. The lady that came behind my dad had her kids in the back and when she tried I thought she was going to tip over. Her two front wheels were off the ground. Although it added a little excitement to the trip I was definitely glad when everyone else made it up okay. The only other adventure we had was trying to climb back up the steep-steep hill. You pretty much have to put your four-wheeler/Rhino in 4 wheel drive and gun it. If you don't you'll most likely get stuck. One of the guys we were with actually tried to do it without 4 wheel drive and ended up burying his tires. After a little bit of digging and another Rhino using a rope to pull him out we all ended up making it to the top. The rest of the ride was pretty easy going. What a great way to spend the day. We ended up getting home at about 6:00 that night and found everything okay at home. After cleaning the four-wheelers and putting stuff away we ate chinese and watched the Jazz. What a great day. Life has been so hectic lately that it was nice to take a break from everything. Thanks for joining us mom and dad it was a blast!

Trick or Treating

All dressed up and ready to go!


I've had enough of this!


Isn't he SCARY?


Yummy!

Great swing Carson!

Use your muscles Hulk!

This year we started out at a Trunk or Treat for our ward. The kids went around to all of the trunks and then they got to take turns swinging at a pinata. They loaded up on as much candy as they could grab. There was also a costume contest in which Chase won scariest costume for the little boys group. He was pretty excited to get a whole candy bar all for himself. Chase doesn't really get the concept of trick or treating. Since he is a junk food junkie he loves the idea of going from house to house and getting candy, but he would really rather sit right down and eat whatever he gets. Carson on the other hand collects as much as he can and then saves it for months. Most of his candy will end up going in the garbage or Chase will sneak it whenever Carson isn't looking. Carson just likes the idea of getting as much as he can. After the trunk or treat Carson was pretty worried that he wasn't going to get enough candy. I assured him that we would do more trick or treating and that he would get plenty of candy. We decided to run home and eat before we continued. Every Halloween we have potato soup and bread bowls. It is one of my very favorite things about fall and although it ends up making more work on Halloween, it is definitely worth it. After we finished eating we decided to start knocking doors. The boys each took turns knocking and Chase greeted everybody with a loud Happy Halloween. After a couple of blocks Carson started complaining that his bag was to heavy so we decided to head for home. As soon as we were inside the boys dumped out their loot on the floor and started sorting. Then after sitting for a few minutes, we decided to take just the boys up to the city's trunk or treat and leave Hayden at home with my mom and dad. With all of that trick or treating, the boys both ended up with tons of candy and they both had a great night. Their cousins joined them after that and they spent the rest of the evening playing and telling ghost stories on the trampoline. Cody decided to play "Tricks" on all of the kids and would sneak out and scare them while they were telling their ghost stories. It was pretty funny to hear all of the little high pitched screams. We had such a great night and everybody went to bed exhausted.

Recipe for Potato Soup:

5 potatoes diced

1 carrot cup up fine

1 onion diced

Barely cover with water and simmer vegetables until tender.

Thickening-

1 cube margarine

3/4 cup flour

1 quart Half and Half

1 cup evaporated skim milk

(you can substitue these milks for any combination you have on hand)

Melt margarine. Stir flour in gradually. Add milks and stir and cook until thick. Add one pkg. frozen broccoli (I use fresh) to thickening. Drain most of the water off of the vegetables, but don't throw away. Add the thickening to the vegetables and simmer for 1/2 hour. If needed add some of the vegetable water back into the soup. Add 1 1/2 cups grated cheese at the end. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in bread bowls.

ENJOY!

GWA Costume Parade

Indiana Jones all ready for school

THE PARADE

Chase, Carson, & Hayden at school

To celebrate Halloween, Carson's school had a costume parade. (It reminded me of when I was little and we had costume parades at Washington Elementary.) So instead of wearing his normal school uniform he got dressed in his costume. When we pulled up to school Carson told me that he was so embarrassed to be wearing a costume and he wished he could be wearing his regular uniform, which was really funny because he was totally playing the part of Indiana Jones at home. After I dropped him off I ran home to get Chase and Hayden ready so that we could make it back to the school by 9:30. It was a busy morning, but it was worth the rush to see Carson in the parade. He looked great in his costume and it even looked like he might be having fun. For those of you who don't know Carson very well, he is a little bit shy. After the parade we walked into the school to tell him what a great job he did. What a great way to start Halloween. You looked great Carson!

Hayden....

I just realized that some of you have never met Hayden. Hayden joined our family on

March 15th of this year. What an amazing blessing. We have loved having a girl. It is definitely a change, but a good change. Carson and Chase totally fell for her. For the first couple of months is all she wore were dresses, because the boys thought she needed to look "girly". They finally gave that up which is good since I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Now we just dress her up with all of the fun bows they have. What a great addition to our family. She is so lucky to have so many people that love her. Mom made her this tutu for Halloween, she is going to be a fairy. Isn't she a cutie?

Pumpkin Carvin' Time

Monday night for FHE we carved pumpkins. We had such a great time. The boys had each picked out a pumpkin last week so they were excited to finally carve them. Nobody was brave enough to clean out the pumpkins so mom did it again. Chase thought he would like to try, but as soon as he took a look inside he wasn’t interested. Carson actually got to help Cody carve this year, it made me realize how big he is getting. Wow time flies! Chase was so confused, he thought we were doing "Car" pumpkins. So every time we said "Carve" pumpkins he would get so excited and tell us that he wanted his to look like "Lightning McQueen". I think he was disappointed until he saw his happy face pumpkin. Cody’s mom and stepdad joined us for the evening so all in all it was a great night.