They Didn't Have a Clue

Tom's sister, Maegan, wanted to come and visit us on a weekend that the girls had a long weekend. They had Friday off because of a teacher workday so she decided to come for the Halloween weekend. We decided to keep it a surprise. That turned out to be a very hard task, but we managed to do it. I went to Boise on Thursday and picked her up. Taryn had basketball practice after school, but here is what happened when Rylie and Jordyn came home. (They were in their costumes because they had their party at school that day.)

Maegan mentioned that her favorite game was Clue and so then the girls wanted to buy it and learn how to play it with her. So we bought it on Thursday night and the weekend included six games of Clue.

Taryn wanted to show Maegan the runoff waterfall that's down in the canyon that you can walk behind. We went there on Saturday afternoon after Jordyn's basketball game.

Rylie and Jordyn had fun trick or treating with Maegan Saturday. She brought lots of Chicago Bears clothing with her and was a Bears fan for Halloween. I was so busy taking pictures of everyone else, that I didn't get a picture of her with the girls.

She had to fly back to Chicago today, but we were so glad that she came to visit. Thanks for a fun weekend, Maegan!

Halloween 2009

Taryn kept saying she was going to be a hippie for Halloween. I think I have failed in her cultural education. Her idea of a hippie and my idea of a hippie are two different things. However, she had a fun night and it didn't really matter what she was. She had 6 friends over for dinner and then they all went trick or treating around here.

Rylie can never figure out what she wants to be for Halloween. We are always scrambling at the last minute to find her something. Since everything in her life revolves around monkeys, she decided that she wanted to be a monkey. Michael's craft store had had a monkey hat not too long ago but I couldn't find it anymore at the one here in Twin. So, thanks to Grandma Dayle who found one in Chicago and shipped it out ASAP, she got her hat. Now we needed a tail. My friend, Sharla, said she had some material and she made one for her that was so cute. I bought her a brown shirt and then sent Tom out to find brown pants for her another night. It took 4 people to bring one monkey costume together, but she looked cute.

For the past couple of months, Jordyn said she wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween, but her mom is a Halloween grinch and didn't want to buy her boots, etc. Then she saw a devil costume in the newspaper and wanted to be that. (However fitting that may be at times, I still didn't want to buy a costume for her.) When we got the Halloween decorations and costume boxes out, she decided to be a vampire with things that we already had. HOORAY! All I bought were some teeth and fake blood. I can handle that.

The younger two got to go to the trunk or treat at our church and then trick or treating with their Aunt Maegan. It was lots of fun for them. (And, they have more candy than they should so I am doing my best to help them eat all of it!)

Beautiful Weekend Get-Away

We had a great time in Salt Lake. It was so nice to go to the temple and remember when we were married there. We had our picture taken on the stairs where we stood for pictures the day we were married. Still can't believe it was 16 years ago.
The fall colors were gorgeous everywhere we went. Temple square is so beautiful with all the trees changing colors. They have so many different trees and the colors are amazing. Then, we drove a little up the hill to the "This Is The Place"state park and the colors on the hills were awesome. It was a nice break away from parental responsibilities (thanks so much to my mom and dad) but now it's back to reality and I have 3 kids to go get off to bed.

16 Amazing Years

Tom and I are celebrating 16 years of wedded bliss today. It's always amazing to me each year how it is all adding up so quickly. It seems to fly by. We are driving to Salt Lake tomorrow for a little weekend getaway. Hooray! Love the kids, but it's time for a little time away with no basketball, no bedtime, no whining, no fighting...just time together. Ahhh...I can't wait.

Debut

Jordyn made her basketball debut on Saturday. It's finally her turn after having to go to so many of her sister's games. The other two girls didn't play basketball this early because it wasn't offered. Watching a team of 2nd graders is quite comical. Jordyn was so excited to have her dad as her coach and she says it's all due to her Big Pop. When she told him that she wanted her dad to be her coach, he said he would keep his fingers crossed for her. When she found out that Tom was her coach, she wanted to call grandpa and tell him thank you for keeping his fingers crossed for her because it worked. As I said, girls this age are pretty funny to watch. A lot of travelling and double dribbling violations occur and the refs call some but certainly not all of it. It was fun to watch her be so excited to play.
Here she is bringing the ball down the court. (Well, sort of!) She's cute anyway.

Thirty-something...

37 to be exact.


Tom turned 37 on October 9th. We opened presents after the girls got home from school and then we all went to dinner at the Beacon Burger. (yummy burgers and fries) We had cake later in the evening and for some reason, it was the best devil's food cake I've made to date for him. (Yes, I am tooting my own horn, as my girls would say.)

We all love dad so much. He does so much for each of his girls, including me, and we are so grateful to have him in our lives.