Halloween 2012!

We had another great Halloween!  AMAZING weather....seriously, we've been totally spoiled the last couple of years!  The kids enjoyed another year of trunk-or-treat at our church and then the older ones (minus Regan) went with our neighbors to a few more houses while Regan & DJ stayed home to pass out candy.  I took the twins around to hit a few more houses.  They were pretty funny this year...they kept asking me, "just one more house, ok mom?"  They could see their bags getting fuller and fuller and weren't about to stop.  I had a raging headache by 7:30 so we hurried home to gather the other kids up and headed to Bonaventure where my sweet Grandma Johnson lives. She continued the tradition of opening up her door with her funny Halloween glasses on and my kids cracked up as usual!  They showed off their costumes and she treated them with candy bars!  I say it all the time, but how many children are lucky enough to see their great grandma on a regular basis! 

 

Jordyn the Gypsy,Kaleb the bear hunter, and Morgan, the Happy Camper!  Kaleb is in the stage of hating pictures of himself.  He hates his teeth (or lack there of) so he is less than thrilled in this picture.  He just lost his 2nd top front tooth yesterday--actually, I pulled it out at church right outside of the YW room with an audience:)  Not planned but the thing just had to come out right then!

Porter the Zoo Keeper and Kami as Dora the Explorer--the wig is pretty hideous but she can make anything look adorable!

The trick-or-treating crew minus Morgan-  She ended up having an indoor soccer game (on Halloween--what's up with that?)  Anyway, she cracked me up with her costume creativity!  She's never been much for traditional costumes and loves to come up with something funny on her own. This year she decided to be a happy camper!  She made herself a big smiley face necklace out of paper and yarn and dressed herself up in lots of camping gear and a bandana on her head!  I love how she thinks! Her friend couldn't think of anything to be so we came up with the idea of a Jolly Rancher (smiley face around the neck and cowboy gear!)  They had it all planned out and then her friend got injured in the soccer

OH my heavens! Is she not the cutest?!!!!!!!!!

Grandma's trying to figure out what Morgan is!

                                                     The kiddos with Grandma! 

I think I look pretty good in a mustache!:):)

Every year my mom puts together a Halloween package for the kids that generally consists of all the paper/plastic goods for a big Halloween dinner--this year she did tons of adorable paper plates, plastic cups, fun straws, utensils, decorations for the window, & oreo cookies.  Sooo much fun!!  If it weren't for her motivation, the fun dinner probably wouldn't happen! I pretty much stick with the same Halloween menu- mummy dogs, bone and finger breadsticks dipped in blood, red drink with grape eyeballs floating, vegi tray and ghosty cookies! 

Morgan insisted on taking pictures of the food so there you have it!

Kaleb's First win (wrestling 2012) at OneTrueMedia.com

We decided to put Kaleb in another season of wrestling and I'm so glad we did!  He's really starting to love it and is really catching on to what is being taught. He was so emotional last season that we finally decided to just have him go to practices and not torture him with the meets and I think it really paid off!  He still gets pretty stressed before a match but he's handling his nerves in a whole different way, jumping up and down, pacing back and forth, coming over for a few last minute squeezes from mom (aaahhh).  It's pretty awesome to watch the transformation in just one year!  I went to put away laundry in his room on Tuesday  morning after he'd left for school and there on the floor was all of his wrestling stuff laid out nicely on his floor. This also happened to be the day that he had his 3rd wrestling match of the season and he won 1 of his  matches!!  It was so darn fun to watch so the video I took of him is pretty bad because of my loud voice and all the moving around!  He went 3 rounds and ended up winning by points after 3 tough rounds. It's my goal to understand wrestling a bit better so I know what the heck I'm supposed to be yelling and cheering for. For now, just watching him succeed at something that has been a challenge for him is pretty awesome!  Here's a video for the Grandparents to enjoy!  I've tried everything to rotate this video and can't figure it out so I guess you'll have to watch it standing on your head!:):)  Kaleb is the one in the blue singlet!

Way to go, Kaleb!!

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The weekend from......heaven:)

It's a shame that I haven't written about this sooner but well, life happens, and the months just fly by. Regan had her wisdom teeth pulled just a couple of weeks before the start of the school year. We planned a trip home to Cokeville to visit DJ's parents that same week so the poor girl got surgery on Thursday and just a few hours later we were on our way to Grandma's.  I was totally amazed at how well she did through the whole thing especially since she's always hated Dr. and Dentist visits and of course, the fact that she's already had several teeth pulled in recent years didn't help calm her anxieties.:)  Anyway, it just so happened that our nephew, Bronson, had his wisdom teeth pulled the day before Regan so he came over to compare chipmunk cheeks.  I think Regan won the contest...

Bronson was cracking us up with all of his crazy looks!  

Well, it was all fun and games until we went to bed that evening and the kids started waking up and puking one by one starting at 1:00 a.m.  Kamryn was the first lucky one, then Morgan, then Kaleb, and then Jordyn.    Porter escaped the bug somehow and I was praying so hard that Regan wouldn't get it because can you even imagine her throwing up with her cheeks as swollen as could be and not to mention, the pain involved?  She was stressed too but kept pulling the funniest faces that resembled a puking chipmunk:)!  Thankfully the nasty bug passed over her and it was pretty short lived with the other kids.  They all spent the next day moping around grandma's house (spreading germs as they went) Thank goodness, Grandma Teichert is such a sweet host and lent DJ and I a helping hand by comforting the sick and the afflicted. 

The sick bunch..  

Morgan parked herself on the couch with her favorite blanket of Grandma's! Actually, it belonged to Patty and it's every granddaughter's favorite! 

Kamryn moped around and finally found a comfy spot right in the middle of the hallway.

Kaleb was pretty sure he was dying and spent most of his time parked by the porcelain throne! 

Jordyn fell asleep on Grandma's most beautiful living room couch.  Only Grandma wouldn't mind sharing her nicest couch with a sick child!  I'm proud to say that with all of the throw up that happened that weekend, not a single drop of barf ended up anywhere except the toilet...yes, everyone deserves a pat on their backs! My kids make me proud..:):)

Poor Regan, she was supposed to be the one that got all of the attention, but instead, she ended up fending for herself.  It's a blessing that she had minimal pain and was back to eating and drinking surprisingly fast!    

Bonneville Bees XC 2012!

It's been another great season of Cross Country for Regan!  She had her best meet this season at the District meet at Freeman Park last week.  She placed 7th over all (4th on her team) which meant she qualified for state!  She left for Lewiston, ID, yesterday and will run in the State meet on Saturday at 12:30.  If it weren't 11 hours away and gas prices so stinking high, we'd be there in a heart beat!  I'm so proud of her accomplishments this season and really have to hand it to her for continuing to run even though she still battles with a lot of foot pain!

WE MADE IT TO STATE!!!!  This is Regan with one of her XC buddies (Kristy) who's a senior this year. They've challenged each other all season and both have made great improvement!  Regan's had a ball with all of the senior girls this year and will definetly miss them next season!  It's hard to believe that she only has 3 years left until she'll be in the same boat!  CRAZY!!

Kristy and Regan before the race, I think Reg was just a little bit nervous!:):)

This is another one of her Senior buddies! (Katy) Unfortunately, Katy got a concussion at the H.S. Powder Puff game so she was forced to end the season early. :(  Regan was sooo disappointed because these two were the best of friends this season!)  

Team prayer!  Every meet, just a few minutes before the race starts, the girls huddle together for a pep talk and a team prayer. It's a really neat thing to watch as a parent.  I'm so thankful for this great bunch of friends/teammates!

Getting mentally ready for the race and listening for last minute course instructions! 

Runner's take your mark, get set, GO! 

She's doing awesome....1/2 mile in to the race 

Working the hills...man, she did this beautifully! 

The big finish!  Seventh place in the District, and 4th place on her team!!  

Congratulations, Regan, on another awesome Cross Country season.  I can hardly wait to hear about all of her adventures at State this weekend!  The big race is tomorrow at 12:30!!

Kami and her boyfriend (Uncle Timmy)

I found this picture on my phone from months ago and just had to share it!  DJ's brother, Tim, is so darn cute with our kids!  Kamryn loves him to pieces and can't wait to see her "boyfriend" when we go home to Cokeville!  When she was a baby, she was extremely fussy and Tim would take her from me and immediately calm her down.  I guess we could nickname him "the baby whisperer," because he's that good!

Can't you just feel the love between these two! 

I had to throw this one in too!  This is Janae and Morgan. Janae is Tim's oldest daughter and she and Morgan are just one year apart.  These two have become pretty good buddies over the years!

A visit to the I.F. Temple!

We are so blessed to live just a short distance from the Idaho Falls Temple. I hope I never take this for granted.  Once in a while on a  Sunday afternoon, while waiting for dad to arrive home from his afternoon meetings, I'll load the kids up and take them to walk around the temple grounds and spend some time inside the visitors center.  I can't remember which General Authority talked about the the importance of letting your kids "touch the temple" but it's stuck with me for quite sometime.  Even though they can't go inside yet, I really feel the importance of letting them be close to it often.  Even though they get a little crazy while we wander around the grounds, hopefully they'll feel of the spirit that is there and they'll want to live their lives so they can enter someday.  I'm so thankful for six great kids and a wonderful husband that are mine forever!