Happy Halloween!

The kids have been so excited for this day. We have played trick or treat down our hallway, practiced saying Trick or Treat and counted down the hours till it was time to go out. Aidan kept saying all day "It is actually Halloween DAY. It is today!" Lacey was in better spirits tonight and was ready to get some candy. Aidan was dressed as an "army guy". He had decided to be this months ago and thank goodness didn't change his mind. He kept telling me that he was in the Army of Helaman. Not sure they wore camo but hey who really knows. I thought it was cute anyway. Lacey was a Barbie Ballerina. It wasn't good enough to be just a ballerina. She had to be a Barbie ballerina. Which was fine by me because we already had the outfit for her.

We went with some of our friends to a great neighborhood where some other friends live. When we pulled into their subdivision the streets were lined with cars and there were billions of people everywhere. It was a good sign of a good neighborhood but man I had never seen anything like it. The weather was amazing. I think it was in the high 60's so it wasn't cold at all. I was so grateful. The houses were decorated so fun and it seemed most houses were open for business.

Aidan and his little buddy led the way and kept us going. They never tired and were just all about getting the candy. Lacey had a little friend too with her but they were a little more dainty and girly about it. They rode in the stroller and took their time going up to each door. The first couple of doors the kids would come back to me and say "THEY GAVE US CANDY!!!" Like it was a shock to them that people were really giving them candy. Then they started to tell me when they said Trick or Treat really good or when they remembered to say thank you. It was pretty cute. Half way through Lacey took off her shoes and was just walking in her tights. She also fell once and tore holes in both knees of her tights. It didn't stop her though. I think Aidan was sad it was over and has already asked when the next Halloween is. Lacey was burned out toward the end and fell asleep soon after we got home. We had a super fun time.

The kids went through their candy once we got home. Aidan picked out all the ones he doesn't like and then he picked out all the Reese Pieces and gave them to me. Now, that is a good kid. It was a great night but really would have been perfect if Ryan was there with us. We sure missed him.

A year ago today and Halloween festivities

Well, a year ago today Ryan started working for Chautauqua. It is weird to think a year has gone by. I was crying like crazy this time last year because Ryan began his training for 2 months and it was so hard to say goodbye. I still feel sentimental about this day. I am so proud of how hard Ryan has worked to get him (us) to this point of his career. I have the greatest faith in him and know he will always work hard for our little family. He is a great daddy and husband. He is gone again today and I really miss him.

We were busy today though with the beginning of Halloween fun. Aidan had his preschool Halloween party. He had so much fun. He came back with a whole bag of treats and little Halloween toys. He told me what everyone dressed as and all the songs and games and treats they had. He had the best time.

We also had our trunk or treat with the branch tonight. Lacey was NOT wanting to go. She screamed and screamed as I tried to get her dressed. I ended up putting her in the car with half her leotard on and her hair crazy. She calmed down in the car and once we got there she seemed to get the idea of what I was dragging her to. I just couldn't comprehend why she wouldn't want to go to a party where they gave out CANDY!! So once we got through that drama we had a really good time. Aidan played around with all the boys and Lacey and I snacked on cookies and hot chocolate.

They had a pumpkin carving contest so we brought the three pumpkins that we carved last night. Our Frankenstein actually won. I don't know why but every year we get so excited to carve pumpkins with the kids but when it comes right down to it, they really end up doing nothing. Aidan wouldn't even really stick his hand inside to pull out the seeds and stuff. So Ryan and I did everything. Ryan made the pirate skull one and the Frankenstein one. I carved the Dora one. They turned out great. I wish a picture would do them justice all lit up.

Just Stuff

Ryan has been home every night this week. He had 3 days of training here in Louisville and then had some regular days off. I have LOVED it. The other day he called me to say he was headed home from training and that he would be home in 30 minutes. Well, he drove up 10 minutes later to my surprise. He told me that he said 30 minutes because I complained once that I will never be surprised by him coming home early from work. So he gave me my one and only "Surprise, I'm home early from work" experience by lying and coming home 20 minutes early. In all honesty, those 20 minutes seemed like 5 hours. I was so happy to have him home because I was just done with that day.

Ryan has been busy doing a million things around the house. I told him that means I'm a good wife. He has dug out posts in the backyard, along with an unwanted bush, steam cleaned our furniture and also the carpets, washed the cars, moved some huge shelves and he even was able to sell his cousin's car. Busy boy huh?

We have been throwing girls names back and forth all week. Not one do we agree on. NOT ONE!!! Why? Seriously, why does this have to be so hard. Lacey has a million names picked out for this girl. Strangely they all end in N-A. Here are some on her list Freklana, Rena, Frina, Crockana, and Nina. Oh and one that doesn't fit her pattern is Ika. You would think she is just making these up and that they would vary each time we asked her but no. These are the answers you will get every time you ask her. So they are really cemented in her brain. Aidan has adjusted to having a new sister. In one prayer he said he was so excited to have another sister. Another prayer he prayed that his two sisters would play together. So I think he is doing a lot better already.

Last on our list of news.................Aidan has now hit the baseball over the house. It was a proud day!

Lacey wins!

It's a GIRL!!!! We all went in for the ultrasound today and were blindsided with the news that we are having another girl. And yes, she made it quite evident to us that she was in fact a girl, no question. We took a poll last night and we all voted that it would be a boy except for Lacey. When we asked what her prize would be if it was a girl she just said so matter-of-factly "A baby girl". Like duh that is the prize. So when the doctor told us it was a girl, Lacey was so excited. She kept saying over and over "It's a girl baby, it's a girl baby, it's a girl baby". Like for 5 minutes just to make sure we all heard right. Then at the end she said "I"m so excited it is a sister." Poor little Aidan though was heartbroken. He held his head down and got a little misty-eyed. I'm sad for him a little but I just reminded him that this made him all the more special because he was my only boy. I bought him some popcorn, a soda and we found the Ferrari car from CARS so that eased the pain a little.

The little girl looked really good. Everything measured well and looked perfect. That is always the biggest relief. We saw toes and fingers, a little nose and cute little face. Lacey at times said she looked like a turtle. Interesting. We heard her heart beat and it was strong and loud. The kids thought that was pretty cool. They took some great 3D pics for us. The umbilical cord was going across her face so that is why they look a little fuzzy. We had to go out after to buy her something immediately. We decided on a pink hoodie. Now we need to think of GIRL names and what color to paint her room. Wow, my whole frame of thinking just got flipped over. So we will now look forward to our little Valentine girl baby (I'm due Feb. 14).

Monster Trucks! Monster Trucks!

We have had a super great weekend. Ryan got home Friday night and just a few hours after his dad flew into town. He will be here until Monday evening. We have loved having Arden here. The boys worked most of the day Saturday putting up shelves for me in the laundry room. We haven't had any storage in there at all and I have been aching to have that project done. I told Ryan that he had to do it this week because he has 10 days straight of being home. He is so lucky that Arden happened to come this weekend to help him out. They really worked great together and got them all done. I seriously am so happy! Shelves change lives. They are that important.

While the boys were working I took the kids to a couple of garage sales. Lacey totally scored. We bought her 4 pairs of pants that she desperately needed, a new pair of Sketcher shoes that were never worn, and the best deal of all A BARBIE BIKE for FIVE DOLLARS! She loves it and I love that it was such a deal. We are still working on her peddling but she will get it down after some practice.

Saturday night we went the Monster Truck Show. Aidan and Ryan have been looking forward to this for over a month. We were happy Grandpa could join us for such a manly event. Lacey and I went too though. It was so cool to see those big trucks jumping around. There was even a girl driver, so that made Lacey happy. They had fireworks, motor cross guys and some smaller trucks too. But the best thing of all was the look on Aidan's face when he saw what those monster trucks could do. Just to see that was awesome. He was just in awe. We had a really good time.

Little Pumpkin

These pictures are of Lacey last year.

Pigtail page

Baseball boy

It is still in the 80s and 90s here. There is no "feeling" of fall. It looks like fall here because the leaves have changed colors but there is no change in temperature. Not really what I was expecting out of an October in Kentucky.

The highlight of my week was on Friday. The kids and I went to Yankee Candle Co. and Bath and body works because they were having a sale on their scented oils. I have wanted to get some for a long time but didn't have a burner yet. Well, at the Yankee store they had burners for $5.00 along with some fall scents. Then Bath and body works had all their oils scents for only $3.00. Yes, I took advantage and got me some good smells. My fav so far is Spiced Cider. It is so delicious and I spent the whole evening in total joy because I loved the smell in my house. So that was fun to get a bargain deal. Then I took the kids to a consignment shop in hopes to find something for Halloween. There was nothing too exciting. However, I did buy our new little baby a winter hat and gloves. I'm not announcing that it is a boy, but I am just banking on my gut feeling that it is a boy because the hat is yellow and blue. When I was driving away I was thinking, "hmmm, I am really gambling that this new baby is a boy." Then I thought, "Okay, if it is a boy he will kick right now!" And guess what HE DID!!!! Seriously right on que. So either it is a boy and he was being obedient or it is a girl who is ticked off that I just called her a boy so she kicked me. We will see next week.

So after that we were hungry so I went and got bread sticks and root beers from Little Caesar's. I don't get to go there often because our Little Caesar's is way out of the way so I was thrilled to be able to eat there. We took it to a park, ate lunch, and then played for awhile. It was such a fun day for me. Good bargains, good food, great fun!

Ryan has been home since Saturday afternoon. It has been so nice to have him around because Wednesday I hurt my back pretty bad. I wasn't doing anything, just bending over to move something. By Saturday I was feeling a lot better but then I moved wrong that night and hurt it again. It has not been fun. So I have been taking it real easy which of course makes me feel so guilty. Ryan has been really good about entertaining the kids or cleaning up after dinner and such. I just hope this heals soon.

I enjoyed conference a lot. I actually watched all four sessions without falling asleep. That is amazing. Aidan couldn't get over not going to church. He kept telling me that God wants us to go to church. He was really perplexed by it all but once he saw a session of conference I think he got the just of it. You know it is so good that we know they are publishing these talks next month because for the most part I couldn't tell you who spoke on what but I can tell you how I felt during certain talks. It will be great to read over them again and realize what I liked about each talk.

Ryan has been playing baseball with Aidan a lot lately. Aidan at the beginning of spring would occasionally hit the ball but it wouldn't go too far. Not he hits the ball a lot and pretty far. He almost cleared our house this afternoon and can hit it from one side of the yard to the other. He is doing so great! So here is a little video for you to see. The last hit is his best and it went as far to the edge of our yard as it could.

Ryan Blogs: Airshow

So my wife is forcing me to blog. I am now presently blogging. I can say I have blogged, and am a better person for it. A sense of liberation has overcome me. Watch out! I will blog until my heart is content from this day forth.


Aidan and I went to Columbus, OH this past weekend to see an airshow. This was a big deal. They had over 100 P-51s gathered. The first and last time they did it was back in 1999, so it was a real treat to have it so close to us. Aidan has a picture of 2 P-51s on his wall that my Uncle Darren gave him. He thought it was fun to see a ton of the airplanes he has a picture of in his bedroom.The thing about P-51s is the sound they make. The engines make a distinct sound that every aviation enthusiast absolutely loves. I have seen 2 do a low pass at high speed before, but the day we went they had 20 do a low pass in formation. The sound they all made was amazing. The last time that was heard was over Germany some 60+ years ago. It was fun to take Aidan. He loves to be around airplanes almost as much as I do.



We saw the Thunderbirds routine right as we showed up to the airport. His head was on a swivel and tried to follow those F-16s as long as he could. There were some Military cargo planes that we got to crawl through. Aidan thought that was so cool to be in an "Army Airplane" (he wants to be a soldier for Halloween). They also had on display some Jeeps, tanks, and amphibious vehicles from WW2. Aidan wanted his picture with all the Army jeeps, but especially the tank. It is sure fun to have a mini-me. We even put in Return of the Jedi for the trip home. The kid has taste, what can I say. I love that kid.




Ryan the blogger, or if you prefer Ryan-the one who blogs,either will suffice

Weekend 'O Fun

We had a busy busy weekend. Ryan was home Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was so nice to have him home. Friday night we went to a Branch Luau. It was held at our R.S. Presidents "farm". It wasn't really a farm but a house in the country with lots of land. It was really pretty. We played games, ate food, and watched a small version of a hula dance. Aidan kept waiting for the fire dancer to come out and was sadly disappointed when there never was one. We had a really great time. My camera's batteries died after 2 pictures. You can see in the background that we are up on a hill looking over the area. It really was a great setting.

Saturday Ryan took Aidan to an airshow in Columbus, Ohio. I will have Ryan post his own dialog of what they saw and experienced because if you heard it in my words it would be "They saw a lot of airplanes. " I was in charge of our Primary activity that day so Lacey and I stayed home. She was a little devastated that she didn't get to go. The whole day she kept saying ,"They better miss us, those boys." I completely agreed with her.

I am so happy to have the activity over and done with. It was learning about service. It is quite a stressful thing putting together an activity. We had a really good turnout which I didn't expect and I think things went fairly well, with only a few problems. I learned a lot. This was my first one and I realized what works and what doesn't work. So hopefully the next will be better and run a little more smoothly.

After the activity Lacey and I went to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse Grill. I wanted to make sure Ryan felt really bad for not being with us and I knew this would get him good. Unfortunately Lacey fell asleep in the car and then slept all through dinner. Which in a sense was a good thing because I had a nice relaxing delicious dinner. We did a little shopping and then headed home for the Relief Society Broadcast. We just watched it at home. It was so relaxing and invigorating to listen to. I loved Pres. Monson's talk. I liked the quote don't hope your abilities are up to the task but hope your tasks are up to your abilities. Something like that.

Ryan got home just after the broadcast. Just in time to watch the end of the UW/USC football game. It was a good game but a sad loss for the Huskies.

I'm so glad this weekend is over. It was fun but exhausting at the same time.