Happy Halloween

Halloween week has been insane! So much to do, so little time. This year my friend Stacy and I decided it would be funny if our kids were Smurfs! We figured the costumes seemed easy enough. White pants, blue shirt! Then a couple more kids from the neighborhood decided they were in. And then a couple more. And a couple more. Before we knew it, we had 20 Smurfs and Gargamel. That meant 20 matching blue shirts. 20 matching white pants. Shoe covers, blue face paint, and hats. Where do you find 20 electric blue shirts and white pants that fit kids from size 6 months to men's XL??? Well it wasn't easy, but end product was hilarious and totally worth the effort. Whitley chose Smurfette

Kennedy chose Sassette SmurfAnd Colton went for Papa Smurf

Here is the whole gang before heading out for our ward Trunk or Treat! They all had name tags to tell which Smurf they were.And of course what's Halloween without Landon and I making fools of ourselves!

Naked Chinese Man

This is "Naked Chinese Man". Is that politically correct?? Probably not, but that's what we call him. This nasty man runs nearly naked every morning past the elementary school. There are hundreds of little kids walking to school that have the opportunity to check him out. Could that be any fouler?? Really buddy, can you not find any other street in the entire city to run on during that 8:30 half hour? And I'm not the only one who's noticed him. Everyone is starting to talk about this creepo.

Here he is waiting at the crosswalk yesterday with several kids. Isn't that nice. Don't you wish you could walk to school with a sweaty "Naked Chinese Man". The girls and I have been trying to get a picture of him forever, and haven't been able to get a good shot. He's noticed us a couple of times with our camera, or the phone, and gives us a weird look. We just hang right out he window and snap away. I figure if he's freaky enough to run nearly naked by the elementary school, we're gonna be freaky enough to hang out the window and take pictures!

Ridin' Along in my Automobile

This is how Kennedy rides in our car. It doesn't matter if we're running to the store for 5 minutes, or we're driving to California for 6 hours. Either side of the car, she sits sideways and stairs out the window. I think she does some pretty deep thinking this way!!

Klondike Camporee

This weekend the scouts finally went on another campout. They haven't been on a campout for several months and they were super excited. It was a district camporee and each troup built klondike sleds to race.

Mason broke his ankle the day before they left and was in a boot. He rode the sled and yelled "MUSH" while the other boys pushed/pulled him around. He thought it was hilarious.

They ended up taking second place out of 56 troops. Most of them slept under the stars to earn another patch. Landon went with them, and said it was freezing. He slept in his own tent. What more can I say...

Casey

This is my cute little neighbor Casey. He is a crack up. The other day his mom borrowed some timfoil from me. She asked Casey to return it. When I wasn't home, this is where he left it! Too funny!

Fall Break

Right after school on Friday we headed to Utah for fall break. We stayed at Matt's house for the first few days. This is all of the Warner cousins (minus Braydon, who wouldn't stay in the picture) together for the first time since Wyatt and Brady were born. That's too long!We did some shopping, eating, and lots and lots of playing together. I love my family and don't spend enough time with them. It's hard when you live in different states. Monday night we met Shane and Nicole (Landon's brother) and their kids at Thanksgiving point for family night. We had never been, so I was excited to check it all out. They really do it up right for the holidays. We went through the corn maze, shot paintball guns, raced tractors, climbed rock walls, and ate. The kids love hanging out with their cousins. I finally found time on a Utah trip to see my old BFF Liz. We haven't seen each other in 4 years. That's so long. I remember once watching an Oprah and she was reuniting BFF's from High School who hadn't seen each other for 10 years, and I remember thinking that would never happen to Liz and I. Crazy what 7 kids and 2 states will do to a friendship. We were literally inseparable in High School. We cheered together, slept at each other's houses too much, vacationed together, made up goofy names for each other and loved each other like sisters. I miss her! We only got 2 short hours together, but it was like we never missed a beat. Her 3 year old son Easton took this picture of us. Hence the squat. She took me on a tour of her new neighborhood, and look what we found! Is this place nuts. I loved it. Thanks for a great 2 hours Gene. Lets not wait 4 years to do it again. I got to see so much of my family. Aunts, cousins, cousins' kids, grandparents. I didn't get pictures of them all, but I loved getting see so much of my Utah family. Thanks to all of you who put your buys lives on hold for me. I saw my cousin Brooke for just a second, who just had a baby. (I stole this picture of him from her blog. Sorry Brooke. Hope you don't mind) They call him Buster. He is about the cutest, squishiest thing ever. My kids have been talking about him since we left her house. I wish she was closer so I could squish him more often.

BUSTER

Heidi, Mom, Grandma Anthony, Me (this is the morning we left to drive home, sans make-up) After a few days in Utah, it was off to Idaho to see my grandma. Heidi and her family went with us. My grandma is so itty bitty. She will be 90 next March, and is still going strong.

Grandma with Whitley, Rowdy, Brady, Colton and Kennedy

Grandma lives in a tiny little town called Ririe. It's just outside Idaho Falls. I think the population is like 500. So I figured what better time to introduce Colton to driving than in Ririe. He was stoked! He drove us to the Maverick gas station about a mile from Grandma's house. It was a little shaky, but not bad for his first trip. He offered to drive the rest of the trip. Isn't he so thoughtful! On the way home, we went over the Hoover Dam. This is the new bridge that is opening up, so that you will no longer have to go over the Dam. I think I'll be finding a new route to Utah!

These pictures just don't do it justice. It's ridiculous!

We had a great time in Utah and Idaho. It was nice to remember the Fall. Leaves changing, a cool breeze, sweatshirts. I miss the Fall, and I miss my family.

School Day

Today we ALL went to school. It was "Take your Dad to School day" at the elementary, so Landon went with the girls. He spent time in both classes. The girls didn't want to have to share him, but life's not fair. The 6th graders were having their Greek Olympics so Landon got to watch. Looks like they had a good time. It was "Shadow a Student day" at the Jr. High, so I got to go to school with Colton for the day. This is a great way to get a small glimps into his days, and put a face to the name of his teachers. It's also always a huge eye opener about Jr. High. I'm go grateful for the friends Colton has. There really are some scary kids over there.

Fall in Arizona

What do we do in the fall, when all the world is cold... we swim in our pool. Even though it's freezing, they did it. And loved it!

You gotta love the fall in Arizona!

Utah Fruit

A friend of mine introduced me to the "fruit lady". Some woman in Mesa that is bringing in huge truckloads of fresh fruit from Utah. The fruit here in AZ, is not the best so I was excited to get some Utah peaches and raspberries.My friend Stacy and I decided to split a box, and make us some freezer jam. We were in over our heads when we realized how much freakin' fruit we had. But we kept at it. We made raspberry, peach, and our own special blend peach/raspberry jam. DELISH. I now have a freezer (okay a couple of freezers) full of jam.