Halloween Fun

This is Halloween

at our house...

Picking Pumpkins

Carving them.

Eating ghost soup with spider rolls, candy corn slushies and spider cupcakes.

Dressing up in awesome costumes!

Braving the neighborhood spook alley. (some of us).

Crazy Parties.

Twenty (or so) 16 & 17 year olds trick-or-treating...all dressed up in costumes!

Addy had a birthday!

And she is 10!
 Yup... double digits!

Her birthday was September 6th, so on Labor Day we had a cookout with family and friends.

Aunt Heidi made her these super cute and yummy horse cakes.

We had the very best birthday surprise for her!!! I was so excited I almost told her before her birthday!

We got tickets for her and I to the Taylor Swift concert!!!!! Oh.my.gosh Addy LOVES Taylor Swift! I bought this poster and put a note (from Taylor Swift herself ;) ) inviting Addy Buck and her mom to the concert.

She was SO EXCITED that she got a poster, she didn't even notice the note...for a long time. We finally had to ask her what that was at the bottom of the poster. She read it, looked at me, read it again, looked at me again, screamed NO WAY! screamed (a little louder) MOM.ARE.YOU.SO.SERIOUS!!

She is still beside herself with excitement at 11 p.m. that night.

We went to Angie's for her birthday dinner and her FAVORITE coconut cream pie.

Our SUPER AWESOME friends Karen and Emma came to the concert with us.

We met up with Cole, ShanDee and Barbra.

And Addy said this was THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! She was on her feet singing along to every song. She screamed until she lost her voice and hugged me and thanked me and said she would never forget this night...ever!!

That night was definitely one of those "Priceless" moments and a perfect memory for a Mom to share with her beautiful Daughter!

 

First Day of School

Yes,  I know they started school in August and it is October. That is why there are TWO posts in one night. I'm desperately trying to catch up before I get so far behind I bag the blog!

Ok...so Gracie in now in second grade! Oh....so cute! She loves her teacher and LOVES school!

Addy is in fourth grade. Oh.... she's so cute too!

She got the teacher she wanted, loves school and her t-shirts and basketball shorts.

Kenzie is in (cough, choke, tear up, sniff) 11th grade. Oh...yes she is also so cute!

And this is the first year she jumped in her car and drove herself to her first day of school!

What can I say...I LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!!

Oh yeah, I got a job as a reading aide at Nibley Elementary. I love, love, love my job and love that Addy and Gracie love that I am at their school every day and will come up and hug and kiss me whenever they see me!

Washington D.C......the rest!

Yes I know.....I am a blog slacker!

To both of my readers...sorry!

BUT if you do ready my blog...comment! I love, love comments. It makes me smile!

Ok...so I'm giving you the Readers Digest version of the rest of our D.C. trip.

We visited the Iwo Jima Memorial.

 Wow! That was huge and amazing. As you drove by it, it looked like the soldiers were raising the flag!

 Walked along the Vietnam and Korean War Memorial. Very sad and sobering.

 Hung out at the Kennedy Center.

 Toured the Smithsonian Institute's American History and Natural History Museums.

The American History Museum was my favorite. It was pretty cool to see the displays of the complete outfits worn by the First Ladies at the Inaugural Ball.  And FYI...Michelle Obama has HUGE feet. :)

 We saw the White House. Which was smaller than I expected. (I know. It looks so tiny, huh.)

 I'm pretty sure people thought we were sisters.

 Mr. P. surprised us with a visit to the LDS Temple on Sunday. It was surrounded by green lush trees, tons of flowers and was so beautiful!

 This was my AWESOME roomate Lisa and her daughter Shaylee.

Can I just say I LOVE her and she is now one of my BFF's.

 And of course the Parade!!!

Holy Cow, Iv'e never seen so many people. They were lining the streets, at least 10 rows deep, on top of buildings, in buildings looking out the windows....they were everywhere!

And I got to be in the parade! My job was to walk in back and take care of anyone if they dropped. No one did...good job MC.

It was SOOOOO hot and those kids were in FULL uniform. As soon as the parade route was finished, police officers and The Red Cross were handing out water bottles and Gatorade. There were ambulances, medical tents and a misting tent that the kids LOVED!

 This is the Capitol Building and also where we watched the fireworks show. Steve Martin, Jordan Sparks, Josh Groban and lots of other famous people performed. It was a super fun night.

But I must say D.C. ain't got nothin' on Logan's fireworks.

 We also visited the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Embassy Row, Washington National Cathedral, Air and Space Museum, National Archives and Jefferson and Franklin Delano Rossevelt Memorials.

We had a jam-packed schedule, but for some of us it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It was awesome to be able to see these sights with Kenzie. It was definately a trip we will remember forever. 

 

Washington D.C. Part One

Kenzie and I had the amazing opportunity to travel (with about 140 band members and parents) to Washington D.C. with the MC Marching Band over the fourth of July.

(The touring company gave us all these red shirts, which we wore the first day. It made it nice to be at the airport and know who was with us because we were all dressed in red shirts!)

The Band was invited to march in the National Independence Day Parade!!! We had the most amazing time! I think Washington has got to be one of the most perfect places to be for the Fourth of July!

We went through a tour company and split into three groups. Our group DEFINATELY had the best tour guide! Her name was Janice and she was hilarious. Everyone in our group loved Janice!

(Kyle, Janice, Kenzie and me)

We were shuttled around in comfy, airconditioned, bathroom equiped coaches, which made travel super nice. :)

Our first stop was dinner and then we attended a fun concert at the Air Force Memorial.

 

The Three Stainless Steel Spires represent the three core values of the Air Force-Integrity, Service before Self, and Excellence and the bronze Honor Guard Statue.

 

 

The Glass Contemplation Wall that honors fallen airmen and the Runway to Glory.

And Kenzie...just cause she's so cute!

The following day we visited the Arlington National Cemetary. I think this was one of my favorites.

It was quite sobering to stand amid 200 acres of ground with more than 300,000 people buried there.

Veterans from all of the Nation's wars are buried here and there is also a section dedicated to 3,800 former slaves. 

The grave of JFK and Jacqueline Kennedy

 The graves of their two children who died in infancy.

 The most exciting part of the visit was when we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers for the wreath laying ceremony and were suprised when the MC Drum Majors were able to participate in the actual ceremony.

Quite an exciting day for the band!

We all wore orange polo's that day!

These posts will probably be quite lengthy, but hey...this was a once in a lifetime trip for us. And if I don't document it here, I will forget all the fun details!!

Blessings

Sunday I was called to serve as the Second Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. As we gathered to be set apart, the Bishop gave Lee the opportunity to set me apart. Lee is the First Counselor and so normally he would set apart the First Counselor.

As my wonderful husband layed his hands upon my head, I was overcome with love and gratitude. He knows my fears and weaknesses, he knows my strengths and my heart....and so does my Father in Heaven.

I'm thankful for that knowledge and for an amazing husband and daughters!

 I am blessed beyond measure!

Prom

Junior Prom 2011

Kenzie and Kyle went to Junior Prom...could they be any cuter?!?!

For their day date they went roller blading and had pizza and ice cream.

Then I took Kenzie in and Patty did her hair and make-up. She was a little nervous about the make-up because she doesn't wear it. But Patty did an amazing job and Kenzie felt like a princess getting ready for the ball! Of course I am a totally biased, proud Mamma, but I thought my daughter was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Kyle is a NICE, FUNNY and SWEET young man...we really like him!

Her first prom was everything she wanted it to be...MAGICAL!