Fall is in the air!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Yesterday we did two of our favorite Fall activities. Playing in the leaves, and carving pumpkins! I raked up the small amount of leaves that have fallen so far from our tree, and the kids had a BLAST jumping and playing in them!
















Then came Mike's favorite part of all...carving pumpkins!!! This was the first year that Teylor actually participated. She loved digging in the guts and scooping them out! Kaylee didn't enjoy it so much, but we all had a good time anyway!










Kaylee's pumpkin is the Tin Man, Teylor drew on her's (bottom) , and Mike just cut where her drawings were.

Jarek's "Scary Jack" Pumpkin.

Mike's pumpkin (top) and mine (Frankenstein).

NOTE: I started typing this up on the 30th, but got frustrated with how it was laying out (still trying to figure this all out!!!) so I just added some final touches tonight, Nov. 2nd.

Rocket Derby

Yesterday the kids and I spent the day without Mike. Him and his Dad drove to Colorado for the day and picked up some Elk meat. His Dad's friend Dan works at a hunting lodge, and there was someone that had gotten and Elk, but couldn't take the meat back home with him, so he paid for us to have it processed, and all we had to do was go pick it up! They left around 8 a.m. and got back at 9 p.m. Now our freezer is full of ground elk and various elk steaks!

Jarek also had Pack Meeting yesterday for Scouts. He is in the Bear Den. He was supposed to get his Wolf Badge last month, but one of the leaders was not there that was over that, so he got it last night. He also got his Bobcat Badge, his BB Gun Belt Clip and his Archery Belt Clip, a Silver and Gold Arrow, and 4 Yellow Beads. (Even though he doesn't look like it in the picture, he really was excited about it all!) He also got to pin 2 Mother's Pins on me, the Bobcat and the Wolf!



Last night's Pack Meeting was also the Rocket Derby. We totally spaced that one off, so guess what Mike and Jarek built the night before???!! The Rocket!

I wanted to name it "The Flying Pickle", but they didn't appreciate my creative sense of humor, so Jarek wrote "U.S. Army" on it. (At the moment, that's what he wants to be when he grows up...something with the Military.)

His Army Rocket did really well! The boys raced their rockets 4 times each, so he got 2nd place twice and 1st place twice! Somehow he didn't pull out with one of the top 3 spots, but that's o.k.! He's still a winner in my book!

At the end of the day, it's all worth it!

We sent Jarek to bed at the usual time (9:00), and an hour later, he comes back upstairs with a note for me. He hands it to me, then heads back down to go to bed (again!).
Let me jump back a bit. A couple weeks ago Jarek came home from school with a HUGE packet of papers that he could re-do to get a better "grade" in class. Most of the papers were supposed to be turned back in already...he's just not the best at remembering when stuff like that is supposed to be done. So I have been working with him to get these papers back in. Frustrating is one word to use when it is homework time! I guess you could say as I am teaching him math, I am getting a lesson in patience! So tonight was another big homework night (another patience lesson for Mom).
So back to the note. I tried scanning this little note, but it didn't show up so well. So I will type what it reads:
"From: Jarek
To the best Mom ever. Dear Mom you are very nice. You buy all of us food. I love you Mom. I hope you never forget. Thanks for teaching me or helping when me or the girls need it. You rock Mom. You are my Hero. Super Hero mom is you. Your always caring for everyone. I hope you never forget I think you are the best. You are one of my favorite people. I will try to do better on my work in class and I will try not to be mean to anybody. We are always family."
Then on the back is a picture he drew of me (rather dashing!) with the words "My Mom" above my head, and "Is great" below, and "Mom Rock's" down the side!

Now doesn't that make homework time (and my patience lessons) all worth it?! I thought it did! Dang little kids! They have their moments, don't they?! He also handed me a Christmas Wishlist earlier today. Maybe he's trying to earn some points.....it might have worked!

Another "day maker" for me was I got Ambree to laugh for the first time, TWICE! She got the hiccups both times too! Love this being a mommy thing! (I think it helps that their all sleeping at the moment too!)

Some catching up to do!

I have decided to give this blogging thing a try. There is so much going on in our lives, and since I am no good at keeping a journal, maybe this will help! We have had a lot of exciting things going on in our family just within the past week! To start off, on the 12th of this month, we blessed the newest member of our family, Ambree Grace. We woke up that morning to our first SNOW STORM of the year!! There was about 8 inches of snow on the ground! Despite the weather, the day was beautiful! Mike's brother Jeff was also ordained an Elder that very same day! A day full of blessings for our family!



The next day, October 13th, we celebrated my Dad's 55th birthday! The fam came over and we had a yummy meal of ribs, chicken and a pasta salad! I didn't have two candles with a "5" on them, and didn't want to start a bonfire in my house by lighting 55 candles, so instead I asked my Dad how old he wanted to be for the night and he said 28! So that's why there's a 28 on his cheesecake! I love every opportunity we have to get together with our family!


The fun just kept coming on Thursday the 16th, Joe, LaDawn, my mom, Mike and I went with Jeff and Alise to the Bountiful Temple to have their Endowments taken out! We were all so excited for them! It was so neat to see them in the Temple and taking that step!


That night we had a family dinner in honor of them. Mike and Jeff's dad made beef brisket, chicken, macaroni and cheese, and their mom made some sour cream potatoes. It was YUMMY!! For entertainment, Ryan played the guitar while Brooke sang. Kaylee decided she wanted to sing too, so she enlightened us with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
The funny thing was that before Brooke sang, she was kinda shy, so she started out behind the curtain up on the stage. So when Kaylee got up on stage, she went and hid behind the curtain too! It was so cute! I was surprised she even wanted to sing in front of everyone. Usually that's Teylor's thing.


Well, the moment that everyone had been waiting for for almost 10 YEARS happened on Friday morning, the 17th! Jeff and Alise were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all Eternity! What a beautiful day! Mike and Ryan served as the witnesses, and I got to sit next to my mom in the Sealing room. It was such a nice feeling being in the room surrounded by family, and feeling the Spirit! They are a match made in Heaven! Alise was the most gorgeous bride, and Jeff didn't look so bad himself! That night we partied! Alise chose to have the Reception at the Sunset Room located in the Sunset City building. It was soooo pretty! Susan was in charge of decorating, and it all pulled together really nice! Alise asked if LaDawn, Christy and I would do a "sister's dance" with her, so we did! We were able to get some practice times in for in the weeks leading up to the night of the Reception, and it all went well! It was good times!

Well that's about it! Not too bad for one week, huh?! I don't think this post turned out exactly how I wanted it to, but I'll take it for my first try at blogging! Hopefully I can keep up with it better than I do at journeling!