Halloween 2013!

It was very fun to be with the grandkids this Halloween!  Amanda did a great job with their costumes, as always!  David got to wear his to kindergarten.  They were going to parade through some classes but they let us "parade" around them and see them all when we dropped them off for school.  Can you see the cute Batman in the back?  There was pizza for dinner (Batman, Robin and Cat Woman HAVE to have their strength!) and then they went trick or treating for a little bit (mostly just on our street).  We thought living in Utah on a street where we know everyone (for several streets that comprise our ward) that it would be a very busy night handing out candy.  Not so.  They started about 6 and the last ones came about 7 - and there were not very many groups.  I was so surprised.  I looked out the door about 7:15 and the street was absolutely quiet!  So weird!  Needless to say, we had some candy left!  It was a little chilly but not as bad as we had expected so it was a fun night.  Jacob was so busy sorting his candy, he wouldn't even look up for the camera!  I love the pictures of them in the leaves and riding their trike and scooter before dinner...cute, cute!  Happy Halloween!

Missionary Mail day!

I love my Mondays now!  Received Joel's email for the week...they had two baptisms on Saturday!  He wasn't able to send pictures for some reason, so we will look forward to those another time.  They picked up about 4 more investigators so they are keeping busy!  He is excited to go the Jordan River Temple on Thursday and he's bracing up for the storms coming.  He also asked for his line of authority ~ which I should have had done ahead of time and sent with him!  Oh well, I will get that to him.  As always it is wonderful to hear from him and to hear how excited he is about teaching people the gospel.  It will soon be transfer time so we are curious if he will stay in Kearns or be transferred somewhere else.  Yes, I do love Mondays now...but the week in between sure seems long.

Missionary Mom and proud of it!

Little David...

He's not so little anymore!  But when you have two Davids in the house, sometimes you have to differentiate!  David's school had Grandparents day...I got to go!  It was so fun.  We watched them do their opening (calendar, weather etc) and they sang a few songs for us, then the grandparents got to tell something they remembered about kindergarten.  Then the teacher read a story and the kids got their own little book to color.  So I sat by David while he colored.  I was too close and that picture is blurry.  Oh well...it was a fun day!  He can swing so high in the swings and he is becoming a very good reader!  He has so much energy, I wish I could bottle it!  We love having Little David here with us...he is a big helper and makes us laugh a lot.  Love you David!

Riding the neighbor's go cart...he loved it and would hardly give the neighbor boy a turn!

Whisking the pudding...David likes to help make yummy foods!

Jacob's week...

What an amazing week for a three year old!  Jacob did a few "firsts" this week, surprising us all.  First, he wrote his name!  No one told him to do it, no one showed him how to write it, he just did it!  He did pretty good!  You could tell he was writing "Jacob."  Then another day he got on his tricycle and just started riding it around!  We could hardly get him to push a pedal before...and he just got on and rode up and down the sidewalk!  Another first was he got in his carseat and he buckled it all up himself!  He was so proud of himself and it was so cute!  Not really a first, but getting better at going poopy on the potty!  That might not seem like a big thing to anyone else, but for this grandma who is going through potty training after a LONG hiatus, was super happy that he is doing so much better!!  Yes, Jacob is growing up.

 Jacob likes to get under his blanket and play "Rocket Ship" and sometimes it's a plane and then it's a car.  He just talks and plays under there...so fun to watch and listen to!  And here is his "hat hair" after we take off his warm wool beanie hat.  He likes to help whisk the pudding when we make pudding treats...he is a big helper for grandma.  And one of his favorite things is to sit on my lap at the computer and look at "baby Grandma pictures."  (He says Grandma like "Bwamaw" so cute!) He asks me over and over if we can look at them.  He's the only one who wants to see my baby pictures!  Love you Jacob!

Catching up...

Okay, I found all these pictures on my phone and I just HAVE to post some of them here...even though they happened awhile ago...they are worth noting!

 This was Dave and Joel sitting on the back porch talking...the moment touched my heart and I had to take a picture!  Joel would soon be leaving on his mission...

 Every once in awhile, Grandma gets creative in the morning and makes Mickey Mouse pancakes...

 Jacob wore his green mask all day one day...too funny and cute!

 In August, Joel, Amanda and I attended Education Week at BYU.  It was amazing!  I loved it so much!  Joel went for all day, Amanda and I each did half a day so we could take turns watching the boys.  Totally worth it!

 This is my new addiction.  Tastes like popcorn, but no shells or seeds!  I can eat the whole bag in a sitting.  I am not kidding.

 At the movies...we saw Planes!  

 These boys love their cow watches from Chik-Fil-A

 David helping me fold the towels.  He does the small towels and wash rags.  I love how he doesn't stack them.  Great job!

 This is just a couple of shots inside the Alpine Tabernacle.  A beautiful old historic building! I wish I could have captured the beauty, but not with a phone camera.  We got a new stake presidency that day...

 I canned a few peaches.  Not as fun by myself as it was doing it with the Winieckes...but I enjoyed putting some up for the winter.  I did it a little late in the season so wasn't able to do as many as I would have liked to!  

I miss that face!!!

 Family night at IHOP.  Celebrating going back to school and surviving it...and also taking Joel to a few of his favorite eating places before he left for his mission...

 Fun time with Ontie while she was here!  Green smoothies, picnics, and Brick Oven Pizza!!

 Rachel Winiecke "testing" David for her speech therapy masters she is working on (not sure of the exact title of her masters).  She needed a kid to test so we obliged!  She was going to test Jacob too, but he would NOT cooperate!  Hope she got what she needed!

 We had a craft night while Ashley was here...Randa came over and we worked on our witch signs...Ashley did some sewing.  It was such a fun night!!

 

 And David cutting Jacob's hair!!  Thankfully when we combed it, you couldn't tell too badly!

 Just a little grandma project...swapping out worn out feet in the the pjs.  I did several pairs that day!

 Waffles and hot chocolate...great combo right?

 I FINALLY made my spell books (old reader's digest books from DI)...I thought they turned out pretty cute.  I love mine by my 3 witches...

 And the finished witches hat!!  It's glittery and has a spider too!

Halloween crafts with the boys...we made spider webs and swirly ghosts, and frankenstein pudding cups!  We picked a different craft each day...it was very fun!  Thank you pinterest for the ideas!!