Halloween Party

Each year we have a little Halloween party in our ward.  It is super fun.  Here was this years:

Donut eating contest.  :)  Blake won, with a time of 5 seconds.  It was the record for most of the night. 

Kyle's costume, the Joker.  Creepy.  I have to say I liked it when they dressed as cute marvel/star wars characters better. 

Sharing cupcakes with little sis. 

Julia had fun coloring, but mostly colored on herself. 

 And the highlight of the evening was definitely Dallin.  The little beehive girls were doing face paint.  Most primary kids asked for a star, or a heart.  But not Dallin.  He wanted an air conditioner.  Yes, an air conditioner painted on his face.  So this cute beehive said, "ok" and gave it a go. 

"Why an air conditioner?"  you might ask.  I wondered too.  Until I put together that the reason he wanted to be bumblebee transformer is the fact that bumblebee is actually a chevy Camaro.  And a chevy Camaro has an air conditioner of course.  Ha ha!  Dallin does make me laugh. 

I tried to get a picture of all the kids together, but this is all I got. 

Julia was melting down, so that was that.  Anyway, it was a fun sugary night. 

Mess

Julia likes to make a mess in the kitchen.  I wish she didn't know how to get to the water in the fridge, but she does.  She isn't tall enough on her own, but if she gets a cup and stands on her tippy toes, she can just get the cup to trigger the lever.  We have tried unhooking the water, but then the freezer iced up.  Anyway, we are just stuck having her make a mess for a while. 

The good thing is that she cleans it up.  In fact, I think the clean up part is most of her motivation.  It is pretty cute.  She gets water in the cup, drinks some of it, dumps the rest out, says "oo ooo!" with a very concerned look on her face, then opens the drawer with the towels and cleans it up. 

Band

Kyle did amazing at his band concert!  I love going to these.  He is getting older!



Sneak Preview

Here is Julia's Halloween costume.  Part of it at least. 

In case you can't tell, it is the abominable snowman.  I just love it!  Although she is petite, personality wise, she is not a demure little flower, or princess.  She is more of a monster.  So I thought this was fitting.  :)

When she sees this soft fuzzy costume, she says "Kitty!"  She giggles when she has it on.  Halloween is usually cold here, so she should be nice and warm. 

First Pig Tails

Julia finally has enough hair that I could do something cute with it.  Two little pig tails right on the top of her head.

 

She was so interested in what I was doing.  She loves combs, and shoes and my make up.  While doing her hair, she grabbed a handful of rubber bands and gently placed them on her head, and her shoulder, and her lap.  She tried to pull them out once they were in, but once we left the mirror she left them alone. 

 

To mark this monumental event, I wanted to get some cute pictures of her, but she wouldn't look at the camera.  And then she cried for like 2 hours. 

Later when she played at the park, she wasn't crying anymore, but still wouldn't look at the camera. 

I am going to have to give up this idea in my head of perfect cute pictures.  What I got was cute anyway.  :)

 

Homecoming Parade

 Every year, my friend Heather and I go to the USU Homecoming Parade with our kids.  It is always fun.

 Candy! 

Julia got the candy thing really fast.  She really loved the tootsie rolls and her pretty little necklace that she got. 

 

 

Dallin got a necklace too!  Lucky boy.

 

The best part is when Lee's marketplace comes by.  They push grocery carts FULL of candy and drop it by the armful.  The kids were ready! 

It is such a fun tradition.  Thanks Heather for always saving us a spot!  You are awesome.  :)

Soccer

Another soccer season has come and gone for Blake.  He loves it so much, he even brings a ball to school and plays with his friends during recess and any other chance he gets. 

 

He is not afraid to get right in the middle of things, and go for it!  It is fun to watch.  He is in the white shirt below:

 I just love this steal he makes:

 He loves offense the most, but loves being goalie too. 

 

As crazy as soccer makes our schedule, it is probably going to get even crazier, since he loves it so much.  We are going to keep going, and give him more opportunities to play.  Here's to being a soccer mom!

Mama's Shoes

More Harry Potter World

I love this dragon. 

 

Olivanders!  

 We did leave Harry Potter World sometimes.  We found our way to Jurassic Park world.  It was more fun there than I thought.  I loved the raft ride.  I kept thinking of the boys, they would have loved this one the most. 

 

I got really, really wet. In the past, when I have gone on water rides, I dried off within an hour.  But that was California, not Florida.  I didn't account for the humidity.  The smart girls wore their ponchos :)

 Hard Rock Café. 

Gringotts Bank!  It was neat to look at.  All the details were so well done. 
This ride, escape from Gringotts was a 3D ride.  It was really cool, but it made me a little motion sick. 

 I love food.  I LOVE FOOD.  So eating at the leaky cauldron was a highlight for me.  Fish n' Chips.  Mmmm.  And this pear drink?  Amazing.  They don't sell pepsi/coke products in this side of the park.  There is good reason.  This was definitely better than the soda I would have ordered. 

Tired, but happy! 

 Leaving Hogsmeade.  I loved how everything was snowy.  What an amazing trip. 

On Saturday morning, three of us went to the Orlando Temple.  What a beautiful place!  It was soul filling.  Then on to the last few hours of Harry Potter World. 

I almost didn't go on this trip, just because of my fears.  But what fun it was!  So glad I didn't give in.  I didn't realize how much I needed this.  It was very relaxing to only have myself to worry about for a couple of days.  I felt blessed, really the whole trip felt that way.  Coming home was wonderful.  I missed my little family.  Brian had the house all clean, and it was late so all the kids were sleeping.  I fell right to sleep and woke up feeling great Sunday morning. 

It was a magical trip. 

Harry Potter World

I went to Universal Studios Florida!  It was awesome.  I got to go with the lovely ladies in my book club.  We are all Harry Potter nerds, and Harry Potter World was unbelievable. 

Number 12 Grimmauld Place.  Kreacher poked his head out above, it was cute! 

 

This telephone is right outside, and it gives a ministry of magic message when you listen. 

 



Here is the view when you first walk into Diagon Alley.  Look at that dragon!  He would roar and shoot fire every few minutes.  It was spewing fire right as we walked in, it was pretty impressive. 

My favorite shop.  The Weasleys joke shop.  It was visually stunning; so much to look at.  Looks just like the movie.  Got some cute stuff for the boys here. 

 

I got to have real live butterbeer.  It was SSOOOO Good!  The cream on top was amazing.  It tasted a little like cream soda, with a little something extra.  Mmm.  

 

We got so lucky with the weather.  We were all ready to be rained on the whole time, but really, it just barely sprinkled the first day.  It was beautiful.  I loved the air in Florida.  It reminded me of my home state California.  The air was full, and heavy;  smelled like agriculture.  Made me a little nostalgic. 

 



My favorite person in the movies in Bellatrix.  She is amazing, so I loved seeing this animated poster of her. 

 

I had to get a wand!  It is Luna Lovegoods wand.  It really works, there are places in the park that you can really do spells.  I am not a muggle after all! 

 The castle!

Stealing money from Gringotts.  Had to pay for this trip somehow!  Ha ha!  All the details were so amazing.