I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!

As the title states, I love Halloween!!! This year was a lot of fun. As you can tell from the picture, Alexis was Dorothy, Camryn was a Southern Belle (she even used an accent), and Marina was a witch. We went trick-or-treating on Main Street (small town version of mall trick-or-treating) and of course the kids loved it. Then Josh took the kids around our neighborhood. I thought I would get some rest staying home and handing out treats, but alas, I didn't get to sit down for more then two minutes for almost two hours. It was crazy!! We eventually ran out of candy and just had to turn out the porch light. Then later that night we got toilet-papered. Josh is over the teachers in young men and we believe (know) it was his boys that did it. We only have one tiny tree so it really wasn't bad.

Last week I was in a play with a bunch of other moms at the local library. I was originally asked to fill in one day, one part for one of the other moms who could not do the play for two days. So I practiced that part for three weeks and then the day before the play the lady in charge called me and told me that our friend who played one of the other pumpkins had gone into early labor and could not do her part, so could I take her place and do two days instead of one? So I agreed and ended having to memorize a whole new part in one day. It worked out fine, though, and I had a lot of fun. So much fun that I agreed to be in the Christmas play in December. I didn't think a lot of kids would come and see it, but we ended up putting the play on for over 1,000 people in two days. In the picture I am the pumpkin with the Wendy's wig.

We also had a Halloween Party at our house. It was crazy, but fun. I actually dressed up for the first time since I was a kid, I was an Egyptian mummy. Surprise Josh was a mechanic! One more thing, since I have been pregnant I have been having heart palpitations and I really don't like it. My heart will beat really hard once and then normal again, at first it was only once a week or so but lately it has been happening almost everyday. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it common? Should I be worried? Comments would be appreciated.

Quick Update

Marina on a climbing wall at an indoor kids playplace in Boise. Okay she had a little help from Josh.

You know I always say I will post more often and yet it does not happen. What can I say, life gets busy. Last week we went on a short vacation to visit Josh's brother and his family in Boise. It was a lot of fun. They have four kids so my kids had a blast running around and playing with their kids nonstop for three days. Thanks for letting your kids stay home from school!! We went to the zoo and then a kids Discovery Center, which Alexis loved. I also had a great time, I enjoyed getting to know Josh's brother and his wife better. I think our families are a lot more alike then I ever thought before. So the trip went great and then we started to look at the weather for our drive home on Sat and realized that a massive snowstorm was going to hit Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, all the places we had to drive through. So in an effort to miss the storm we left late Friday night, instead of Saturday morning, and drove to my parents in Utah. We woke up Saturday morning to the news that South Pass (the road we take home) was closed. So we ended up in Utah until Monday. We did have a nice surprise visit with my family, but what the heck, snow the first week of October?!?!?!?! At least it is all melted now. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the occasional snowfall, I do, at Christmas! While we were in Utah I went to see the doctor and so far the baby is growing and doing good, and I am also starting to feel better.

We went to the pumpkin patch with some friends a couple of weeks ago. The girls had a lot of fun, and we found a lot of great pumpkins. The best part was wandering through the corn maze, which was next to the pumpkin patch. The girls screamed almost the whole time, even though the only ones scaring them were the people with us.Marina at the pumpkin patch. She is too cute for her own good.

Update

Like I said in a previous post, we went camping a couple of weeks ago with some friends. Personally, I love camping so I had a great time, I was just sad we only stayed one night. I would have liked to stay at least two. Anyways, we had five families and 13 kids. My kids had a blast and slept so well!!! Marina went right to sleep and did not wake up at all the whole night. One thing I did not like was the wind. It started in the middle of the night and a couple of times I thought our tent would fall down or we would be carried off like in the Wizard of Oz. But we survived the night and on Sat. the kids all ran around having a great time and I knew it was only a matter of time before one of them was hurt. The one who got hurt was not the one who I thought would. Brandon James, a 13 year old boy, fell down and broke his arm. It was so sad. Kids had been falling down left and right and he falls once and breaks his arm. Well, his dad took him to the hospital, while everyone else went on a short hike and then took down camp. We ended the trip a couple of hours earlier then planned due to the accident, but sometimes that is what you have to do. Poor Brandon James had to have surgery on his arm the next Tuesday. Hope he is doing okay now. Next year we will go camping again, except we will go in July when it is warmer and we will go for an entire weekend instead of one night.

Marina is 2!!! I can't believe it. The past two years have just flown by. She has such a sweet spirit. She is always so concerned if anybody is sad or hurt, even people on tv. She is such a goofball. She is talking nonstop, especially since the older two girls have gone to school. She calls her cousin Peyton, "Pey, Pey" and the cat "Sammie" she says Grandma and Grandpa, but she will not say Alexis or Camryn. She calls Alexis "SeeSee," and Camryn "SeeSaw" I think she got it from sister, but who really knows. So she had a great birthday, we celebrated last weekend with my family in Utah (it was my sister's birthday on the 8th), and we celebrated with just our family on her actual birthday the 11th, and on Sunday we will have yet another celebration with Josh's family. Marina will think it is her birthday everyday.

Well, I guess I should post that I am pregnant. I am eleven weeks and boy howdy have I been nauseous and tired. I went to the doctor while we were in Utah and everything seems to be okay. Yes I went to the doctor in Utah and I live in Wyoming. I decided to go to the doctor (Dr. Marriott) that delivered Alexis and Camryn for a couple of reasons. First, I have to have a C-section and he is one of the best C-section doctors in Utah and when you are having someone cut you open and stitch you back up you don't want someone with questionable skills. Second, he does an ultrasound at every visit. Obviously, if there is something wrong then he can tell early on. I have often thought that if my doctor in Kentucky did an ultrasound everytime he would have seen that Marina was breech earlier and we could have tried to turn her, and perhaps I would not have had to have a C-section. I remember going to the dr in KY and he would feel my stomach and then just say, so how do you feel? How can he tell if everything is okay if that is all he does???? But alas, that is how it was. Another reason I am going to Utah is because the hospital here is teeny, tiny. One of my friends had a baby here and her room was so small. The rooms at Ogden Regional Hospital are beautiful and very large and there are fold out beds for spouses. I have a friend here that told me, "if you can schedule your baby and have it somewhere else do it." So I am taking her advice. Yes it is a long drive for a doctors appointment, but I know it will be worth it.

The Dreaded Subject: Politics

I usually make it a policy to not discuss politics with friends, family, or just about anyone but lately the subject seems to come up again and again. We were with some friends last weekend camping (lots of fun, more on that later), when the the presidential election came up. There was a lot of discussing and people trying to figure out how to find out the truth about the candidates and what they say. After we got home, I couldn't help but wonder how do we find the truth? Well, I am reading the biography of President Hinckley, Go Forward With Faith, and I actually recalled a quote by President Hinckley which answered my question. He was on an airplane talking with someone about the church and the man admitted to President Hinckley that he had received all his information about our church from his own church. President Hinckley asked what company the man worked for and he said IBM. So President Hinckley replied, "How would you feel if your customers learned about your products from a Xerox representative?" So I applied that thought to the election. If I want to find out what Obama and McCain really stand for why not hear it from them? I listened to both of their acceptance speeches and have been reading their views and plans for the country on their own websites. Of course, it is hard to trust politicians so I found a non-partisan website called factcheck.org. It is a great website and states the truth about what each politician says. Check it out for yourself. Anyways, I feel it is important to vote, but we should not vote based on the rumors, lies, and slander plastered across the television and email. Our country needs a good, strong president and we need to vote for the person not the R or the D behind the name. That is just my opinion.

I just had to take a second to let those of you who are following my little sister Staci's love life know the latest news. She went to visit her boyfriend, Blake, a couple weeks ago up in Washington and came back engaged! (Needless to say I was not surprised) They are planning on getting married in Jan in the Bountiful Temple. So congrats to you Staci!!!!!!

School is Here Once Again

Okay I decided I should probably update my blog. My computer was acting funny last week so I wasn't able to get on, stupid windows vista. Anyway, yesterday was the first day of school. Alexis started second grade and Camryn started full day Kindergarten. Sometimes it is hard to believe I have kids that old. It was kind of weird to only have Marina and me and home, it was also oddly quiet. But at 3:00 we went and picked up the girls and life was crazy and noisy once again. After driving my girls to two separate schools everyday for two straight years, I have to admit it is pretty nice to only have to go to one school. Another benefit this year is that they changed the school starting time from 8:15 to 8:00 so some days Josh can drop the girls off on his way to work. How sweet is that?

Here are some pictures of the first day of school.

I went to my ten year high school reunion a couple of weeks ago. They had a lunch at the park for the families and then a dinner at night. At the lunch I was able to see a couple of good friends so I am glad I went. Then at the dinner I saw my best friend from high school Kelley Walker and her husband Scott. It was great to see her. It was just the same as 10 years ago. She was just as sarcastic and cynical as I remember, unlike me of course. Okay maybe I was a little bit sarcastic and cynical as well. We really need to stay in touch better. I also saw my good friend Jay and his wife Ginger. Jay is still Jay and I was really glad I got to see them.

I have to make a couple of comments on the Olympics. I have always been a fan of watching the Olympics, but this year I struggled with a few sports. The gymnastics were difficult to watch because the judging was so obviously off. More then once did a Chinese girl get way more points then she deserved. Also what is up with the lip-syncing seven year old? The girl who really sang at the opening ceremonies wasn't cute enough so they had a different girl stand in and lip-sync. That really irritated me. And some of the fireworks on the tv were computerized in. So I did enjoy the Olympics, especially Michael Phelps, but come on Chinese government lets not destroy the Olympics, okay?

While we were down in Utah we went to the dinosaur park with my sister, her son, and my parents. It was a lot of fun. For being girlie girls Alexis and Camryn sure love dinosaurs.

I thought this was pretty picture. It is at Rock Creek.

Josh got to go on the pioneer trek with the youth a couple of weeks ago. I don't think I have written about this yet, but I don't know. It ended up being about 30 miles in two days. Josh had to quit a couple of hours early because he got huge blisters on his feet. The trek ended at Rock Creek where the Willie Company spent the first night after they were "rescued." A lot of people died that night and were buried there. Now there are monuments for the pioneers and the graves are marked.
Josh and Ron together again. They had a blast playing guitar hero. It was so great to see the Ronco's.

The stake put on a short program at Rock Creek when the trekkers came back. The girls are singing some pioneer songs with the Primary. The kids had the option of wearing pioneer clothes, but alas we did not have any, I don't sew, and I did not want to buy clothes for five minutes of singing.

I finally have a picture up of the girls in their dance costumes. They danced at the county fair last Saturday. I have to say they are pretty cute.

Marina is such a ham. She loves to have her picture taken anytime, anywhere.

I have to add a few extra comments to add to my previous post. I do enjoy some fiction. I really liked Harry Potter and I hate to admit that I am addicted to the Twilight series, although I also have to admit that I found myself thinking more then once that the books are rather cheesy. But it makes a quick, fun, easy read in between my heavy history books.

I did a few new things this summer which I had to write about. I tried wakeboarding for the first time. I actually did okay and I really liked it! Josh really liked to hear that, he has been trying to get me to wakeboard since we got married. I also learned to drive a boat. It was kinda scary at first, but I at least I can drive well enough for Josh to wakeboard behind me.