Preschool Halloween Party

Parents were invited to attend Reagan's Halloween Party at preschool. What fun! Cole, of course, had to dress up as well. We watched the preschool children sing songs and then parade in and out of the other classrooms (waving and calling out to the children from other classes). Then, the children sang some more songs and the "parent" part of the party was over. Reagan's teachers said if any parents were staying, they could use their help and would be putting them to work. Steve and I were the only parents who stayed. The class carved a pumpkin, sang some more songs, had snacks and went to a little skit presentation in the elementary school (the directors and secretaries were all witches). After that, Steve left and I stayed to help. I read books to one group of children while one of the teachers did a craft with another group and the other teacher played Halloween Bingo with the final group. Then we rotated the groups through each station. We had a great time.

I had to laugh at Cole who just joined the class and followed the teacher's instructions. He sat with his pockets on the edge of the rug, he lined up to wash hands for snack time and to go to the skit, he rotated through the stations and sang and danced with the rest of the class. At one point, Reagan's teachers counted the children before we left the room and she asked the other teacher "how do we have 22?" I told her that she had an extra Buzz Lightyear in line and they both laughed saying "he thinks he's part of the class - how could we pull him out of line now?" Gotta love our little Cole Cole jumping right in on the action. Cole and I stayed for the entire day of preschool and had a wonderful time. Here's some pics:

A Halloween Dance Class

The week of Halloween, Reagan's dance class is invited to wear their costumes to class (sans costume shoes - they must wear their dance shoes - which was a bummer for Reagan). Everyone in the class was darling! It was so cute to see them running around in their costumes to scary, Halloween music. The teacher had them be monsters during part of the class which was pretty funny. Reagan (like some of the other girls) has enough trouble holding on to the barre, maintaining first position and then moving her arms as instructed by her teacher. To have her be a "monster in first position" proved all too difficult and made for some laughs in the gallery area. As for Cole, he was not about to let Reagan wear her costume and leave him in regular clothes. So, Buzz accompanied us to dance class (wings and all) and played on the ipad while the "monsters" danced.

Reagan & Cole Costume Pictures

Again this year, I thought I had planned ahead and bought our costumes well in advance of Halloween. Cole wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and Reagan wanted to be Cinderella. (Actually, back up... for most of the summer, Reagan wanted to be Jesse from Toy Story. We looked through costume flyers and online and all I could find was plastic-y looking, cheap costumes. So, when she changed her mind and wanted to be Cinderella, I was thrilled. ) We bought a Buzz costume at Target and totally scored on Reagan's costume since Anistyn was Cinderella last year. A quick e-mail to Rachel and we were set! We just needed to get Cole some Buzz wings and we would be finished. Well, all good plans..... you know the rest.

Things changed when we went to Disney World. We downloaded Princess and the Frog for Reagan and Cole to watch on the ipad during our trip. We had seen the movie a few times before, but suddenly, Reagan was a huge Tiana fan. She was extra excited when she saw Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen at the Magic Kingdom. We saw Tiana costumes and accessories, but she didn't once mention changing her costume........ until we got home. Then, suddenly, Cinderella was not her princess of choice and Tiana was! She HAD to be Tiana. By that point, I couldn't find a dress in the stores and at most places online, they were out of her size. So, we ended up having to order one from the Disney Store (now I had to pay shipping and hope it would fit when I could have just picked it up while we were there - uggh. I kept thinking that this could have been so much simpler.) Oh well - a girl's entitled to change her mind, right? Add to it that you have to have get the matching tiara, wand, shoes, etc. I swear that the whole thing added up to WAY more than I would have spent on any other costume. I justified it by saying that she actually plays dress up every day and will wear the princess dress more than she would wear just a Halloween costume. Boy has that been true - she has had that dress on every day since it arrived - she wears it after preschool, she wore it to Cole's birthday party, she tries to wear it to the Nest. She loves it and it is darling!

Cole's costume, even though we were only lacking wings, proved to be just as difficult. I saw inflatable wings, which Rachel said had bad reviews. So, we wanted the non-inflatable ones. I kept checking online and couldn't find the price I wanted to pay. We went to Halloween stores and they were out, but said to check back this day and then that day - they were sure they would get some in..... they were wrong. Finally, I figured we'd order them online even though they were more than I wanted to pay.... well, I was so late that the shipping was going to make these way, way more than I wanted to pay. So, we hit WalMart and bought the toy wings (not the costume wings). These were way, WAY more than I wanted to pay, but again, this is something that Cole will play with and not just have as a costume. So, we went with the toy wings. They ARE really cute. They make flying sounds and the wings come out and light up when he pushes a button and then they fold back into the jet pack when he pushes a button. Oh well - we needed a fully equipped space ranger and we got one!!!

Last year, we had costume pics taken at Target since they had a little Harley and Cole's costume was a motorcycle dude. This year, I thought about it, but figured that we didn't have anything special to match their costumes, etc and that I would just shoot some pics of them on Halloween. Well, Saturday morning, I woke up and decided that I would try to have them taken. Luckily, the studio had an opening and we rushed over. Later that day, when I received the e-mail of the proofs, I was so glad that we went ahead and had the pictures taken. I love them!!! Here's a slideshow of the proofs:

Alpine Loop

With the weather changing soon, we wanted to drive the Alpine Loop to see the beautiful colors there. For those of you out of state, it is a 20 mile drive that begins in American Fork Canyon, passes Alpine Grove and Sundance to end up in Provo Canyon. The mountains are GORGEOUS and with the fall colors, it was a wonderful drive. Mount Timpanogos is so magestic. We stopped only once to take some pics - the yellow in the leaves were so bright and crisp. I wish we would have snapped some pics at the lower elevations to get the red and orange colors, but the view of the peaks at the top of the mountains was so pretty, that we HAD to stop and enjoy it for a while. If you haven't taken this drive, do it - you won't regret it :)

Dracula And His Son

Steve will tell you that being in the Bishopric is, among other things, humbling, hard work, hilarious (at times), heartwarming and now we can add .... humiliating. The Bishop volunteered the Bishopric (and the clerks) to perform the Monster Mash at the Young Men/Young Women Halloween Party. To add to the humiliation, he assigned me to choreograph the act - ugggh!!! We had one practice and another run through right before the party and then..... it was Go Time.

Regardless of whether the steps were followed or the act did justice to the original "Mash", it was fun to watch. Because the lyrics of the song talk about guests including "Dracula and his son", Cole was assigned a part as well. LOVE IT!!! Thanks to Drew lending us his vampire costume from last year, Cole was decked out and ready to go, without me having to purchase a second halloween costume for Cole this year. I have video of the entire act, but have been prohibited from posting it for all the world to see. So, the best I can do is share some pics. Of course, if people were dressing up in costumes, Reagan was all about that, even if she didn't have a part. She loved being with the big kids at the party and was even a little scared of Steve when he had his vampire teeth in.

One of the clerks asked during our rehearsal "Why are we doing this again?" and our Bishop's wife replied "So that the Young Men and Young Women will know that you love them enough to make fools of yourselves."

Mission Accomplished :)

Fall in the Back Yard

We LOVE LOVE LOVE fall. The weather is cool and the changing leaves make the mountains look beautiful. Most of all, we love to play in the yard in the fall. I am puzzled that 7 years ago, the leaves were ablaze at the time of our wedding - early September, yet this year, we are almost a month and a half later until the full color is showing in the trees.

Some say it is the light level - others say it is the moisture level... whatever it is, it is getting later and later in the year. I don't care when it comes, as long as we are home to enjoy it - we try not to travel during this time.

Every night, we play in the yard - we jump on the trampoline, we explore, we play tag and red light/green light and ball, we take walks and we lay on blankets and talk. We stay out until dark (or later) and bundle up if we need to, but we SO enjoy being outside together and seeing the beauties of nature. Here's some pics from last week:

Wheeler Farm

Always in the mood for fall festivities, we joined Steve's brother Brett and his family (and his wife Annie's sister and her family) for a day at Wheeler Farm. We had wagon rides, saw the animals, went through the corn maze and hit the pumpkin patch. Then, we all headed back to our place to play in the yard and have pizza. The leaves were changing and it was a gorgeous day! Thanks Brett and Annie - you guys are always so much fun! Here's a look at our day at Wheeler Farm:

Happy Birthday Cole!!! (Part 2)

For Cole's "kid" birthday party, again, it HAD to be a Cars theme. I swear, he wants to watch that movie every, single day. He has several Lightning McQueen cars (that was also the toy he chose to get at Disney World) and he carries them with him everywhere. So, with a few paper products, balloons, a cake and some gift bags, we were ready for a Cars birthday. We hosted our friends the Abbotts, Steve's parents, Steve's brother Brett and his family and, of course, Rachel and her family as well as Shannon and Matt. We ate, played, opened presents (even before I was ready with the camera), had cake and enjoyed celebrating with Cole. Thanks to everyone who helped make Cole's third birthday a great day. He had a blast and so did we. Here's some pics from the party:

So, since this is our own, personal scrapbook, I have to take a minute to reflect on the joy that our little Cole has brought to our family. He is such a sweet spirit and such a good boy. He is kind and helpful and nice. Although, he becomes more of a rough and tough boy every day :) He adores Reagan and copies everything she does. He loves when she "allows" him to play with her and to join her in whatever activity she has conjured up for the day. He loves to swim and to play outside. Even when he was a baby, he would cry when he realized we were heading back in the house. He just loves the outdoors (chip off the 'ole block) and loves to throw rocks and play in the dirt. He likes animals and cars. He is smiling most of the time and has always been a good eater - he will try most things and likes many things. He is kind and tries to be friends with those around him. He is definitely a "mama's boy" and stays close by my side most of the day, but adores his Daddy. He plays well with others and tries to share, but can also be hurt if someone is mean to him. I can't wait to see how he continues to grow and progress. We are so blessed to have him be our little boy and I love him so very much.

Happy Birthday Cole!!!! (Part 1)

Conference weekend brought time to visit with my parents and since my BIL's birthday is two days before Cole's, we figured we would have a joint party. Luckily, Jared was willing to have a Cars theme for his birthday as well :) We played at my parents' house, had lunch, watched conference and had a birthday party. Cole's actual birthday isn't until next week so stay tuned for his "kid" party, but this was a great way to kick off the celebrations.

A Parable in the Back Yard

We had the coolest experience for FHE! My friend Jenn (friend doesn't even cut it for what this sweet lady is to us - she was my paralegal for 10 years, she has babysat for us, cooked for us, made costumes for us, cleaned our house, planned our engagement and wedding... seriously - she even stayed with us for the first few days Reagan was home from the hospital after she was born) invited us to a special FHE. She was the asst stake camp director and one of the ladies in her stake wrote a script to act out the parable of the ten virgins. They did it for each of the wards at camp this summer and the YW talked about it so much that some of the families in her neighborhood wanted to do it again so that their families could experience it. We were invited and ended up offering our yard for the evening. It was so neat!!!

We waited until it was dark and then the lady in charge issued a "code of silence". It had to be quiet. We gathered around as a man dressed as Christ read the parable from the Bible - by candlelight. Then, he asked "What were these women thinking? What did they want? Who were they? Let's find out." Then, we followed him and his lamp, winding through our yard to 10 different stations, each one having one of virgins. Each of them held a candle and they told us about themselves. One held a treasure chest of jewels - she talked about how she chose the riches of this world over Christ. Another was dressed in green and talked about how she was green with envy and was competitive with others. The first five talked about themselves, then looked up and said "I was foolish" and they extinguished their candle. The next five talked about how they served others, how they obtained an education, how they developed a relationship with the Savior and then each said "I was wise" and extinguished her candle. We sort of didn't realize it at first, but after we left a station, that virgin followed behind our group, in the dark, quietly. Cole actually looked back at them and asked "Mom, are they mean?"

After we left the 10th virgin, we walked toward the gazebo, which had been set with the Bridegroom's feast - 3 tables set with gold and china, flowers and candles and a picture of Christ on an easel. The doorway was covered with a sheet. As we walked there, the 5 foolish virgins began begging and pleading of the 5 wise ones to share their oil. They had to refuse to share with them and the 5 wise were allowed to enter the gazebo with Christ while the other 5 remained outside, begging to be let in. Next, the Christ character came out and said "I know ye not" and sent them away. Yep - tears here!!! Then, we were all invited to come into the gazebo and sit at the tables. We heard testimonies of Christ, an explanation of why the 5 wise ones couldn't share their oil and we were asked what was the status of our own lamp - were we ready? Then we heard a song entitled "Foolish or Wise". We then split up into families and found our own spot in the yard where we could talk about what we felt during the night. Finally, we re-gathered and had donuts and hot cocoa.

Seriously - what a cool experience. I'm not sure that Reagan and Cole understood all of it, but hopefully they felt something about what we were doing and what we were talking about. I'm so glad that Jenn included us in this great FHE. I understand that for the ward of the lady that wrote the script, in January of this year, they gave each of the YW a lamp and had them bring it to various activities where they would put a drop in their lamps. Then, at camp, they ran to the girls, said "He's here!!! He's here!!! Get your lamps and follow me!!!" Then, they issued the code of silence and had this experience. Love that!!! I told Jenn I have to get the script for our YW president - what a neat thing for them to be involved in.

It really is drop by drop that we fill our lamps and hopefully we'll be prepared and be able to say "I was wise." Here's just a couple of the pics I took (at the request of the lady who wrote the script):

It's Fall Time!

We've been meaning to take a drive in the canyons to see the leaves (weird that they are so late this year). Well, one day Shannon called and said she wanted to take a motorcycle ride in the canyons to see the leaves. Steve didn't want her riding alone so, we decided to follow her. Reagan and Cole loved watching her on her bike and we loved that we felt she was safer with us behind her. We stopped a few times to look at the leaves and snap a few pics. The canyons were beautiful - there were mostly yellow leaves from the Quaking Aspens with not much red or orange.... yet???? Hopefully they will all change just as brilliantly as ever. Until then, we'll keep waiting and watching. Thanks for a great ride Shans and be careful on that bike... you know we worry 'bout you :)

Who Says Less is More?

I know I already posted this on Facebook, but I had to include it here as well. So, if you know Reagan, you know she hauls around a bunch of jewelry in her Hello Kitty purse. No kidding, it is stuffed with rings, necklaces, bracelets... oh.. and all of her lipsticks and glosses so much that we sometimes can't zip the bag closed. She carts it with her everywhere. Just in case of a jewelry emergency??? It's been known to happen.

Well, in between sessions of conference last weekend, we went outside to get some sun and play in the yard. Of course, the Hello Kitty bag came along. Then, when we were all just laying on the trampoline and talking, she decides she needs to put on most (not all) of her jewelry at once. I counted 4 rings, 6 necklaces and 28 bracelets. All I could do was laugh and snap a pic. She even had marks all up her arms from the smaller bracelets getting pushed up too high on her arms. Fashion first though - sacrifice the body if you have to, right? Gotta love that girl!!!

Western Days

Once again Reagan had Western Days at preschool. (Once again we borrowed Anistyn's cowgirl outfit). She had such a good time!! There was a horse (although Reagan said that no one could touch or ride the horse, only the guy who they watched ride - a trick rider perhaps???), they had pancakes (Reagan's all time favorite), they sang songs and told stories and roasted marshmallows (again- not sure how this one took place, but she swears that they sat by a fire and roasted marshmallows). All around, she had a great day. The school day before Western Days, they even made hats and vests out of paper bags in case they didn't have any "western gear". Reagan had a hard time choosing whether to wear her paper outfit or her cloth outfit as the paper one was pink with sparkles and polka dots on it. Gotta love what a girlie girl she is. She finally opted to wear Anistyn's cowgirl outfit and I had to snap a few pics before school. Round 'em up cowgirl and let's head to preschool!!!