Getting Ready for Christmas

Totally cracking up at this:

Grateful Kids

For family home evening at the beginning of the month, we set the timer for 10 minutes and went around the room thinking of everything we were thankful for. A couple days later, the kids decided to make their own list, with Darren writing everything down. They came up with over 100 things! So grateful for such sweet kids!

Halloween 2011

We had so much fun trick-or-treating this year with the kids. We had hundreds of tricker-treaters this year - even lots of teenagers dressed up, so it was a fun atmosphere. Darren's friend, Shay, went with us. Sammi was old enough to really get into it and learn the rules. It was kind of funny to hear her calling out to the other kids as she perched on Jerry's shoulder, "Light not on! Light not on!!!" Jerry and I felt a little like the people in Oliver Twist, as we urged our kids on to house after house (well, who am I kidding - they were running anyway!) We ended up with tons of candy, and I'm proud to say that we even have a little bit of it left two weeks later. Here are a couple cute and not so cute pictures . . .

Once again, the dress up box that Santa brought four years ago came through for us and I didn't have to buy any new costumes. Miles was a power ranger, Darren was an ultimate Jedi, Claire was a Cheetah, and Sammi was the Little Mermaid. (She wouldn't smile in the picture because we wouldn't let her have the candy bowl.)

Isn't she so cute? (the one above)

Oh, did I say she was the Little Mermaid? Make that a treat monster with a capital M.
And when I brushed her teeth Halloween night, a dot fell out.

Back from the Dead

Wow, has it really been almost six months since we posted anything?!! As mine and Jen's business, RetroChic Restorations, has taken off, I've been left with little spare time for anything but my family and calling as primary president. In an effort to not let the little things pass by too quickly and be forgotten, as they often are, I have set a goal to start posting on this blog once a week.

So, where to start? I guess we'll just start with the present and fill in the gaps as I have time. This past week was Halloween. Jerry and I were invited to an adult costume party the weekend before, and we were really excited, because we've always thought it would be so fun to be Stuart and his Mom from MadTV. (click on this link for some funny skits with Stuart.)

Here's the real Stuart . . .



and here we are . . .

We had all kinds of funny things planned to say throughout the party, and I think everyone was quite entertained! We even tied for first place for best costumes with Ken and Jen Sorenson, who dressed up like old people and were hilarious!

As you can see, Jerry loves his new man-jammies that I made for him!!! wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!