Cornbelly's 2009 slideshow

We took the kids to Cornbelly's last night. This is our 3rd year going. The kids just love all the fun activities. And this year we were prepared for the windy, freezing cold weather.

The best part is that ALL pumpkins were $1 - big or small. So of course we got 3 of the biggest pumpkins we could find, and one small one for Berlin. We are going to carve them tonight so I'll post pictures on those tomorrow!

Room with a View

Our backyard as seen from the living room. Lucky us.

(today at 12:23 pm)

Upcoming Boutique Preview

Here's just a glimpse of the items I will be showcasing at the 3 boutiques coming up in a few weeks ...

We're Off to Find the Witches' House slideshow

We met up with some friends from the ward at Gardiner's Village. This is our favorite time of the year to go down there. The witches were out in full force once again. Next time we'll take Ryan and let the kids ride the Ponies and find their way thru the Hay Maze.

Catching Up

I'm looking at pictures from a few weeks ago thinking where the heck have my days gone? So, here's a small attempt at reliving the past month.

2. Apple Picking. We have 2 golden delicious apple trees in our back field (not to mention the apricot & cherry tree). These apple trees are large (too large) and produce not only a gazillion apples, but a gazillion little apples. And of course they've started to fall. Luckily, I have the best apple-pickers in town. Gotta love the boots :)

2. Teacher's Pet. Finley started preschool again. He is going to the same one as last year and he seems to like it. He helped pick out his outfit for the first day - inspired by Han Solo of course. How could this freakin' cute kid NOT be the teacher's pet?

3. Tis' the season ... to get sick. We closed the cabin this past weekend and it was freezing cold. So cold in fact that we only survived one night before deciding to come home a day early. Thank heavens we did as Berlin got sick that morning and is presently without voice. It's so sad, yet so cute when she tries to talk. Hopefully she'll start feeling better soon.

4. Halloween. I hated Halloween growing up. But something kicked in a few years ago - right around Finley's first Halloween and I have to say it's quickly climbed the charts to claim the 2nd favorite holiday spot - only after Christmas of course. I still hate dressing up, but I love seeing the kids in costumes, making Halloween crafts & decorations, whipping up spooky treats, and decorating the house. During General Conference we all made jack-o-lanterns. They turned out so cute.

Elite Dance Studio Fundraiser

Berlin & Finley take classes at a nearby dance studio. Berlin takes a tumbling class along with a ballet/tap combo class just for 2 1/2 year olds. It's really the funniest thing ever. Finley is in the tumbling for 3-5 year olds (he's been doing this for a while now, while Berlin just started). Any hoo - the studio has been asked to perform & be filmed in the Disneyland Holiday Spectacular this November. My kids will not be going as you have to be 6 years of age to participate, but the studio is doing some fundraising for the event to help with travel expenses, costumes, etc. Below are the 3 fundraiser options they are pushing. If interested in any of them, contact me and I will email you the brochures/order forms.

1. Scentsy wickless candle warmers (click here to view product line)

2. Lehi Roller Mills select dry goods (mixes: pancake, waffle, cookie, brownies, etc) (click here)

3. Salt City Candles gourmet candles (click here)

The fundraising runs from today thru October 22nd.

Now for the good part, how cute is this little ballerina?

What Do Monsters Look Like?

After my intriguing little post the other day I've received many funny emails & phone calls.

No, we are not expecting a baby. Phew!

The big news, and I do mean MONSTER big news is that Ryan is now a published illustrator. Ryan has been illustrating a children's book (written by a good friend from high school) for the past few years - like back when we were dating. This year it was finally picked up by a small publisher in California, and it was released this past month (mid-September). It can be purchased at Barnes & Nobles and on Amazon.

What Do Monsters Look Like?

To view more pages & full summary of the book, click here.

Needless to say, we've been celebrating these past few days ...

(click to play)