Happy Halloween!

I am going to keep this post short and sweet. Halloween marked a significant milestone for us, we had to officially be out of our apartment & storage unit. Between the school parade at 9 am, the lunch with the Horrock's around 12:30-ish (don't forget the quick stop to get some groceries for said lunch,) the Trick or Treating down at the police station around 2, finishing the cleaning of the apartment (luckily a little was left to do in the kitchen only), the Ward Halloween party and the last trip to get the remaining boxes out of storage before 9 PM....we had a very fun, busy & EXHAUSTING day. - Kaye Lani - we loved having you all over for lunch!

These first pictures were taken during the school parade.

These two were taken at the police station trick or treating event. They had tons of fun things there for the kids to see and do! Christianna even traded her broom for a "ride" on a motor. (Seriously, who wouldn't do that??)

The guys showed the kids all the fun buttons & switches to turn on for an array of siren sounds & flashing lights.

Halloween Family Night

As is our tradition every year, we had our family night devoted to the festivities of Halloween. We spent a good hour and 15 minutes de-gooing the innards and carving.

Starting from the left:

Christianna took a stab at making a haunted house - literally! After the house was all done, with a little help - she took her kids knife and stabbed the heck out of that sucker! It turned out pretty neat & once there are candles lit inside, it's fantastic.
Victoria went pirate on us. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR! She carved out a fantastic rendition of Captain Jack Sparrow, note the goatee. She did it all on her own!

I did just a fun face with these pieces sticking out. Who knew that the Pampered Chef Corer could produce so much pumpkin fun?

Lastly, is Chris's pumpkin. HE always realizes, after the fact- of course, that the top hole needs to be cut a bit larger in order to de-gut it. For some reason I think of the Fonz saying "aye" as I look at it. Or maybe the Fonz being a little loopy after a little too much.....well, I am sure you get the idea.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this years festivities in your own homes. We have been excited all month for it. (Our new neighbors even know how important it is since most of them commented on the fact that we had the outside decorated about the 2nd week of October...BEFORE we had everything moved in. And you know what? It was killing me to not be able to decorate earlier!)

Meet Minnie!!

Today we welcomed a new member to our family. Meet our "little" Minnie. She is 2 years old. Come on everyone, you knew that it would happen...as soon as we got into a house, Chris HAD to have a dog. I was kinda hoping that he could hold off for at least a few months, and that he would choose maybe a smaller one....but as soon as he met her, he just wanted to have her.

She is trained pretty well and can sit, shake (both paws), lay down & climb, luckily that is only by command. We are hoping that she fits in great and does well here. We are surrounded by dogs and they seem to bark ALOT, today Minnie met their "chatting" with a stare. I love it! We have not heard her bark yet.

So far, the only bad habit she has is the insistence to sit on our furniture. Sorry, but that will not fly with me. Other than that, the girls love her & we are all very excited to have her.

It's 5 PM & I just got out of the shower...

I have not been the greatest at posting things lately & I have the new house to blame! I know I haven't been sitting around enjoying our new place, frankly - I barely sit down to eat meals!

The reason for the late shower was......it has just been a very busy and long day. This morning we were up by 8 & I immediately started on the laundry. We had breakfast and then the girls & I took a bike ride to the school. They played around on the playground & ran some laps around the field. After we got back and worked on more laundry, Chris & I headed over to the apartment to try to finish packing the leftovers. We brought over 2 more truckloads. That alone took over 2 hours.

There was a tiny break when Chris went to pick up a cord of firewood. But once he returned, we spent another hour stacking it. I am soooooo exhausted - bedtime can't come fast enough. I then took that fabulous shower while I started dinner, nothing major tonight people, not in the mood to cook.....so we had a fabulous dinner of spaghetti & salads.

To top off our day, we drove up to Frances, UT - you just need to know that it takes over an hour to get there - to return the escalade & trailer we borrowed from the most excellent friend there is! He loaned it to us to help with the moving & boy, did it EVER!!

Now I am ready to pass out, but I know I will sit on the bed & try to finish that excellent book I am reading. I am only about 1/4 inch away from the end you know...I can't help myself!

Walks home from school

I have always enjoyed walking to get the girls from school. This year it has been a little different, since we are now living closer to the school, we are about a block or so away. FYI: it takes about 8 minutes to walk there at a comfortable speed & about 4-5 minutes running.

We all try to be up early enough to walk to school and then, since Christianna is in kindergarten, I get her early. We spend the entire walk home chatting about her day. I actually notice a difference in our conversations vs. when I get her in the car: we actually have one! At the beginning of the school year, she would recap the entire 3 hours play by play. Now she works on highlights within those 3 hours. Today her favorite part was doing math! I hope that stays as an interesting subject.

I have been missing the chats with Victoria. You see, we moved in 2 houses away from her best friend. They have become inseparable for the most part. I was able to get in a minute or so today to chat with her, long enough to get the favorite part of her day too. She painted today and was so excited about it! She is making a picture of the ocean and apparently the water really looks real. I will be sure to post a picture as soon as we get it home. Even though she is growing up fast and friends are quickly becoming more of a priority; I am glad to get some time for just her.

I absolutely love the individual time I have to spend with each daughter catching up on their school day. It really is one of my favorite parts of the day. (Another one is around 8 when they both are in bed - go figure?)

Tag Your It!

So Jennie tagged me with this one over a week ago. But with the moving, I am sure you understand. . . 4x4x4 . . .

4 Jobs I have had:
1- Cashier & manager at Arbys in HS
2- 1-800-CONTACTS as a phone person
3-Corning Revere Store at an outlet mall
4-Pampered Chef Consultant/Director

4 Movies I have seen more than once:
1-The Mask of Zorro
2-The Burbs (thanks Chris)
3-Fiddler on the Roof
4- Sahara
(Man that was hard! I have seen alot, repeatedly - esp. Disney!)

4 Places I have lived:
1- Weatherly, Pennsylvania
2- Hazleton, Pennsylvania
3- Eagle Mountain, Utah
4 - Salt Lake City, Utah

4 TV Shows I watch:
1- HEROES
2- All varieties of CSI
3- Numbers
4- Criminal Minds (See a theme here?)

4 favorite places I have been:
1-Hershey Park, Pennsylvania
2-Upstate New York
3- Wilmington, North Carolina
4- Weatherly, PA - the old homestead

4 people who text me regularly:
1-Chris
2-Debbie
3- that's it - I really don't like the whole texting thing....
4- Seriously, I am like a sloth

4 of my favorite foods:
1-Anything Italian
2-Stromboli
3- Freshly baked bread - in any form with a little butter, maybe some strawberry preserves
4-Baked Sweets - even though I should really lay off of them for awhile!

4 places I would like to visit:
1-Italy
2-Australia
3-Alaska
4-Hawaii

4 things I am looking forward to in the following year:
1- Spending the holidays in our house!
2-Visiting Chicago for various Pampered Chef conferences
3-
4-

4 people I am tagging:
1- Kristin R. (I would love an email invite to view your blog, since you switched to invitees only.)
2- Stacey
3- Janae
4- Melesa & Mel (I know you are seperate personages, but it sounds good when you say them both of them together. Oh, and by the way - I am always tempted to call you both Mel & Mel)

A crazy road

We are in the house...kinda. Moving has been literally INSANE! Last weekend I was enjoying a fabulous Pampered Chef Director's retreat in Ogden Canyon & Chris got motivated. You heard that right: motivated. He decided to move out all the bedroom furniture and the couch & love seat. He asked his friend, Mike, to help him (poor guy - I wonder if he was promised treats or something because it took them forever Saturday night.) Chris also moved HIS shower stuff, HIS clothing. I got back Saturday around 5 to a rush of trips back and forth to get the stuff we would need to actually live there; basic things - like dishes, utensils, some food, our shower stuff, etc. I tend to think things through so I definitely would NOT have done it in that order. Then to top it all off - I realized, "Hey - It's Conference Weekend & everything we have to sit on is at the house, while the TV & stereo are back at the apartment." We ended up listening to the alarm clock radio in our bedroom for the first hour of the first session Sunday & rushed over to the apartment to watch the last hour on the TV while we camped out on the floor.

As I have shared this story with others, it has been pointed out each time that...

• That was so great! He did that while you were gone!
• Isn't that great?

Pretty much, how great he was for doing it while I was gone. SO I guess it is time to buck up & appreciate it. Appreciate the haste it created in my life. A quote comes to mind: "Your lack of planning doesn't make it my emergency."

P.S. I DO love him.