My Sweet Angel and Little Devil

I finally got the kids all dressed up and to the park so I could take their pictures.  I love how their costumes turned out!  Liv is my little angel (most of the time ;)).  I learned how to make a tutu by copying the one that Chel made for Liv.  I used tulle that has like glass drops on it so when the light hits them the tutu shimmers!  Then I bought a simple long sleeved (cause I'm used to having a really cold Halloween night, but probably not this year) shirt from Target.  I bought a feather boa that I then cut up so I could line the waist of the tutu, the wrists, and the color of the tshirt.  I loved the extra flavor!  Then I caved and bought the wings and halo cause I found them for a great deal!  Gary is my little devil, and it's true, he his a troublemaker!  His costume was really simple, I put together his church clothes so it was simple back and white.  I made him a cape, which I know he'll where a lot in future dress-up sessions with his sister!  And then bought him little devil horns, a tail (which is safety pinned to his pants) and a pitch fork (which I left at home on accident when we took these pictures).  He loves his costume, when he has his pitch fork he loves to do his "evil laugh"... totally pulls his whole costume together!  They both are precious and super excited to go trick-or-treating!  Yay!

Sunday Spotlight

October - I love October, it is my favorite month!  Firstly it's because of my mom... The month starts with Mom's birthday on the 2nd which takes me back to many happy memories.  Her last birthday she was in such good spirits even though she was so sick, and it makes me laugh every time I think about it!  Later in the month, the 26th, today, is the anniversary of her passing.  This a sad thought, but with it comes a whole lot of reminiscing!  And the memories are priceless.  But it's not just those two days, the thoughts of Mom last all through the month since so many things happened during October 2004.  I love remembering my mom!

Plus, October is like the kick off for all the holidays to come for those three months.  It starts with the weather change... I love fall weather, so cool after a hot summer!  And then the activities and crafts all leading up to Halloween night with

 costumes and trick or treating!  We have had a lot of fun creating festive little works of art this year!  The kids absolutely love painting, and it turns out I like to 

let them do so as long as I have some sort of control of the mess!  Tonight we will be carving pumpkins, another favorite tradition.  Usually I take a carved on to my mom's, but I left that to the guys up north this year!  And the most fun part of it all... dressing up!  I love it!  Liv and Gary boy

 will be an angel and a little devil (can you

 guess which is which??)!  I will be posting those pictures later this week!  I hope all of you enjoy your October, Halloween and all the holidays to come!! 

Our Pumpkin Patch Adventure

I have always enjoyed the tradition of taking the kids to a local pumpkin patch to pick their own pictures.  Not only does it provide fun memories and a good time, but it also turns out a lot of cute pictures!  So I asked around to find out where one might be here in hot southern Utah, and learned of the Staheli Family Farm.  Our first attempt to go to this pumpkin patch was last weekend when my family was in town... that was a bust.  Then we decided to try again last Tuesday when Todd was home from work.  We weren't quite sure when they opened.  On their corn maze site it said 5-10p, but we didn't know if that included the patch.  So about 3p we headed out anyways.  The place was like a ghost town... no one was around, but we decided to wander around anyways and get a look at the patch.  We were sorely disappointed.  First, it was a long hot walk to the the pumpkins (now I understand why they advertised "free hayride to and from pumpkin patch") and when we got there the place was so sparse.  Plus, the pumpkins didn't even grow there, they had them brought in.  Of course, I still took advantage of their displays so I could get some pictures taken... hey, I still had to document our adventure!  Then we decided to concede with the pumpkin patch idea, and instead headed to Walmart, bought the pumpkins there (and take more pictures), and then finish off the outing with ice cream!  The actual pumpkin patch was a sad sight, but the overall trip was a whole lot of fun!

White Petals

I finally get to post this blanket!  I made it awhile ago for the soon to be newlyweds, Brittany and Shawn, but I didn't want to post it in case they saw it here first.  But Monday we had a shower for the bride-to-be, so I gave it to her then!  She liked it, but not as much as I liked making it!  I love flowers, but I rarely make them because usually the pattern saws to make each motif (flower and border) individually... not this pattern.  Whoever designed this, bless their heart, made it possible to make these beautiful flowers in strip forms!  Some of you might totally be lost by now, but just trust me, it's awesome!!

In Zion with the Fam

My family (aka Dad, Linda, Nate, and Aaron) came down from Salt Lake for  weekend visit before Linda headed to Colorado for violin obligations (by the way, she rocks on that thing!!), I was super excited!  I love my family, I think I was truly blessed because of those in my family... they're all very special!  Anyways, so Friday the guys stopped in Cedar City first so that they could be flown around southern Utah by Linda's son-in-law, Ty.  That must've been cool, a different experience then the large jets most of us ride in for travel.  Then they headed my way... that night was adventurous: we drove around trying to find the local pumpkin patch/corn maze, after a half hour extra driving time we called my aunt and uncle that have lived in these parts for a long time.  We finally found it only to find out that the pumpkin patch wasn't open that night :(  So then we drove home, hung out chatting, then played games.  I won the game of Marcus with an AMAZING hand, only to find out later that my dear father-in-law staged it, not as exciting after all.  The next day we headed to Zion National Park which is about a half hour drive from my place.  We rode the shuttle to Weeping Rock, which is a super short hike... nice when the two kiddos are around, but still pays off with amazing beauty!  Weeping Rock has water dripping out of it that has been dated as centuries old... crazy!  It's cool and pretty, always blows me away!  And then we went to where the Narrows hike ends so the kids could play near the river.  Turns out by "kids" I mean also my teenage brothers and cousins Brenda, Roger, & Robbie.  They're all so silly.  I never knew that digging out rocks and building dams could be just as entertaining for teens as it is for my two year old :)  It was a blast!  Carrying a mud-covered Gary Boy we headed home to a roast dinner cooked by my sweet mother-in-law!  That night we played more games, laughed super hard, and ate yummy ice cream and treats!  Today they went to church with us and then had to head home :(  It was a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Rain Rain, Come Again

This weekend we were so excited for the rain that we got!  The kids thought it was a hoot!  Because our door leads out right under a bay window they were able to stand out a ways before getting poured on!  They played there for the whole half our it rained and hailed!  When it did start hailing the kids put a cup on the steps to see how many little "snowballs" they could catch.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out so well... for one they bounce way to hard for the small glass, and as much as it looks like they are falling hard they were still faced far apart.  It was interesting to watch... the kids thought it was hilarious!  It was an exciting half hour!!

My First Crocheted Animal

I am so proud of this little guy, I just love him!  It's amazing how hard and easy he was to make.  Hard because he's so small (only about 5inches tall), but easy because he's so small so he was quick to make!  Overall, though, it made me want to make more crocheted animals and such!!

Recent Books Read

First I read Peeled by Joan Bauer.  This was a fun little story that I had a hard time relating to so I don't think I could enjoy it to its fullest potential.  As Hildy Biddle, the main character, said herself, "If you've never been in print..."  yep, I couldn't understand.  Yet, I was impressed at the work Hildy did to get the story of the what was really happening to her small town!  It was fun enough that I could see someone young person with the same ambitions totally loving this book!

I also read The 13th Reality, the Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner was a very unique story.  It was definitely written for youth as some of the clues were very easy to figure out, although, others I have to admit I couldn't quite figure out on my own.  Either way Tick, the main character, was able to figure them out, thus on "the special day" he learned there's more to the universe than he imagined!  I was impressed with the story line even though it left me wanting more.  It definitely was an introduction to even more to come!  I think this would be a real fun book to read along with a pre-teen child... an adventure to go on together just like Tick and his Dad!

Proud of My Aggies

Last Friday I took the kiddos to the BYU/Utah State football game.  For as long as I can remember my dad has bought our family season tickets, we've sat through all sorts of weather to cheer on our underdogs!  Since I married a Young who believe he must be a BYU fan since it's in our name (whatever ;)) I realize I need to give my kids the opportunity to enjoy some Montgomery tradition by watching the Aggies play!  It turned out to be a great game.  Of course, the Y dominated the first half, but the Aggies rallied during the second half scoring 14 points!  We were so excited!  The final score was 34 to 14 for the Y, but the Aggies fans, at least our bunch, left with their heads high feeling proud!  I remember one BYU fan saying "I can't believe how loud they got!"  It's true, as fans of the underdog we are so elated just to see our team  do well and score against a ranked 7 team!  Very exciting!  It was what I hoped for... I knew that there was a minuscule chance of winning, but I was hoping for a good game & I got one!!   

p.s. the kids enjoyed the game well enough!  They sat through the whole game without complaint or impatience!  By the fourth quarter Gary boy was tired and didn't like all the noise, so he sat on my lap covered by my coat.  I still stood and cheered, but the sweet kid just kept himself happy fighting bad guys under his "noise shield"!  Good kids!