Trick-or-treat...

(Raider's theme song) Da, da, da-daaaaaaaa, da, da-daaaaaaaa, da, da, da-daaaaaaaaa, da, da, da, da, da...(repeat) Dr. Jones appeared for work on Thursday. Steve's favorite part of the costume was not having to shave. Thanks, Paul #1, for leaving your jacket at our house!

Kendyl insisted she had to be blonde to be Cinderella, so we have the re-appearance of the Hannah Montana wig done up fancy for the evening. At the end of the night she said, "I liked being blonde, Mom!" She looked very pretty and even managed to 'lose a slipper' as we were crossing the street.


Our cute Snow White enjoyed dressing up this Halloween. Brityn did great at the trunk-or-treat last night, but was more scared tonight having to walk up to doors with decorations. Her cousins were very nice and got plenty of candy for her.

Ryder slept through most of the trick-or-treating, but was snuggly and sweating in his dalmation costume. We have had unusually warm weather here and enjoyed trick-or-treating in the 80 degree temperature.

Here we all are completely costumed!

Steve's sister, Kaylene, and her family came down for the weekend to spend Halloween with us (and to get a little dental work done). The girls loved having cousins to trick-or-treat with. Kennedy made her own life guard costume and Gabrielle was a golden princess.

Ethan was a cute little bee, complete with stinger. Everyone thought Todd was a gas, I mean toot, I mean hoot!

Steve and Kaylene, just like when they were kids.

Todd 'volunteered' to stay home and hand out candy while the rest of us took the kids trick-or-treating. There was enough kid traffic, he opted to sit outside (in the 80 degree weather).

All the Halloween loot!


Waaaaaaay too much candy!


Dr. Jones and Mutt


I've got Daddy whipped!

Pumpkin carving...

Our family loves to carve pumpkins, the girls especially love putting on the 'blue jackets' whenever we do a messy project.


Kendyl dove right in this year and cleaned out her own pumpkin all by herself!


Brityn got a little pumpkin goo on her hand and started crying to wash her hands. After that she was determined to get Daddy to clean out her pumpkin!


Here we are with all of our jack-o-lanterns.


Steve's had a scary/mad face, and Ryder got BYU.


Brityn wanted a happy jack.


And Kendyl poked all the holes for the bat pattern herself!

The writing is on the wall...

Or I should say the writing is on the closet door. Yes, our sweet, innocent (no longer!) Brityn was caught red-handed (with a black crayon) gleefully making art on the closet door and door frame. Aaargh!! I can honestly say, this is the first time we have dealt with blatant vandalism in our home. Let's just say she has spent the morning trying to scrub her very bad choice clean. I do have a magic eraser, which I'll use, hopefully after the lesson is learned. Hmmmm, I wonder what tonight's FHE will be about?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies...

I love these cookies, I make them every fall and it seems like I've made half a dozen batches already this month. We made them to share so I didn't eat them all, though they are addicting!

1/3 c. shortening or margarine

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 1/2 c. sifted flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 pkg. chocolate chips

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients together and add to pumpkin mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.

I use milk chocolate chips in these cookies. I also usually double the batch and use 1 can of pumpkin so I don't waste it. Enjoy!

Brityn's new favorite snack...

The other day, Brityn was searching for something to eat as a snack and decided to try a granola bar. After just the first bite she was hooked and proceeded to eat 3! So when we went grocery shopping, I let her pick out whatever kind she wanted. She went for the peanut butter (sorry Grandpa Jerry) chocolate chip and chocolate chip variety pack. Now, she's been asking me every day (the whole day long) if she can have a "nola bar" for snack.

Cinnamon Swirl Ornaments...

My sister-in-law, Wendi, makes these wonderful Christmas tree ornaments from Hawaii. She is so creatively talented! They are handmade with cinnamon, red dirt, and beach sand and smell delicious--just don't eat them! They keep well from year to year and still smell yummy when I open the box each December. Check out her blog for pictures of all the ornaments she makes here. I also posted a link to her etsy store on the left side bar. Happy Shopping!

All by himself...

Ryder is finally sitting up all by himself! No more leaning, he's keeping himself in the sitting position. He's happy until his toys get beyond his reach and then he falls over or cries. He still loves to roll all over the floor to reach stuff...that is until he rolls up to the furniture or wall and gets blocked! It is so funny to watch him maneuver himself around! :)

Unspectacular quirks...

Only because my sister tagged me and I love her...

Suzie:

1. Every book and movie must have a happy ending. I refuse to watch or read anything that is sad or depressing, can't stand it, won't do it (unless compelled to for a book club--then I just whine about it). If the ending is in question, I will read the last few pages of a book just to make sure. I try to be good and hold out, but the story is so much more enjoyable if I know everything is going to all work out!

2. I put lotion on my feet every night. I can't go to sleep without doing this, I've tried and it bugs me so bad to have dry feet that I have to get up and put lotion on. I love Bath and Body Works Mango Mandarin or Brown Sugar and Fig body butter. Also at night, I must go to the bathroom one last time, even if I just went 20 minutes before.

3. I love Tivo! I can watch my shows any time I want, fast forward through commercials and pause to take care of business. Even though I'm watching tv, I feel like I waste less time cause I can fast forward the commercials! ;-)

4. I eat cereal pretty much every morning, and when the cereal is gone I dump out the remaining milk. The thought of drinking the dregs in the bottom makes me want to gag.

5. I never check the mail. Even when I know there is something for me (something other than junk mail) I still don't go check it.

6. I clean up as I cook. I usually get everything out that I'll need for a dish and as soon as I've used it, I put it away. It makes for less clean up after I'm done cooking.

Steve (with his permission):

1. He still flexes his muscles every time he looks in a mirror.

2. He cuts his own hair because he can and because he's too cheap to pay anyone else to do it!

3. He is a piler, as in, one who makes piles. He claims it is all organized, but it looks like a mess to me.

4. Steve gets tired when he drives so he eats sunflower seeds to keep himself awake, especially on long drives.

5. He still reads the newspaper (online) from where we used to live to check out the obituaries and see if any former patients are listed.

6. Steve has a funny sense of humour, but he generally displays this humour behind your back or when you're not looking. When you know him well, you can catch him doing it. All I can say is, I didn't discover this until after we were married! His roommate kept trying to tell me, but I thought it was him instead of Steve...what a surprise (at least it was a pleasant one)!

All things with tags...

We started to notice that Ryder likes to eat tags, anything with tags...clothes, blankets, burp cloths, toys, bibs, etc. If there's a tag, he'll find it, and it goes straight into his mouth. The other night Steve handed him his blanket and in under a minute, he had rotated it around until he found the tag...and it went straight into his mouth. For only being 6 months, he already has an unspectacular quirk!

Fun with Ken and RaNae...

We love when Uncle Kenny and Auntie RaNae come to visit, we always have lots of fun! For our first adventure we headed off to our local pumpkin patch on Friday morning, but by the time we got there they were not letting anyone else in because it was a 2 hour wait just to check out! With our heads hanging in disappointment we left to go find another pumpkin patch--otherwise known as Walmart!







We did console ourselves with these cute and yummy pumpkin shaped donuts we found at the second pumpkin patch!












Then we spent the rest of the weekend teaching Kenny and Nae how to play Wii!








By Saturday night, they were experts! RaNae was the big winner of this bowling game!










Ken and the girls bustin' some moves on Dance Dance Revolution!










Brityn singing High School Musical.











And Kendyl singing (caught ya peeking Steve!)










Steve showing off his "guns".











Ryder was a great baby and played with his toys while we all played Wii.







We also watched General Conference this weekend and Steve enjoyed the company for the priesthood session. We loved the talks and rejuventation of our testimonies. We love hearing from our prophet and teaching our girls about the gospel. Thanks for coming to visit Ken and RaNae--we love you!!!

Brithday pictures...

Steve with the kids for his birthday.










Hmmmm, what's in here?











More presents...










We had an Indiana Jones party since that is who Steve is dressing up as for Halloween. He collected some items for his costume!








This is later, blowing out the birthday candles.

Happy Birthday Steve!

Happy Birthday to our handsome husband and daddy! We love you!