Halloween 2010

I just love Halloween. It might be because the color orange is at the center of everything but I love carving pumpkins, I love getting the kids dressed up, and I love going door to door collecting tons of candy and seeing all the adorable kids dressed up as well as hearing parents comments. This year we acquired a ridiculous amount of candy that the kids came home and traded right away with each-other. I pretty much let them gorge themselves with it til they get sick and then there is usually a lot left over that never even gets eaten. I must also add how I love living in Texas where we can trick-or-treat with t-shirts and flip-flops.

Mariposa (Barbie Butterfly Fairy)

Sir Knight Luke

Garden Witch

Zombie

Look! My sugar high is already setting in!

Luke and Paisley checking out their loot

Ethen and Phoebe with most of their candy. As you can see....ridiculous amounts!

Ethen with the Sack

Pumpkin Patch 2010

The kids had a 1/2 day of school this past Wednesday so Scott took the kids to the pumpkin patch with a group of friends. There was a hayride, animals to feed, and pumpkins to pick right off the patch.

Texas State Fair 2010

We decided to hit up the State Fair again this year after taking last year off. One of my co-workers gave us a few tickets and that was so AWESOME! There is never enough time to do everything and we must have done at least 10 laps back and forth through the place. I had a half day of work and so we picked up the kids early from school and headed downtown. Apparently, middle school doesn't think your a cool or nice mom when you tell them you are taking your kid out early to go to the fair. We ate more than enough fried food to last the year, rode a few crazy rides, watched some fun shows, and enjoyed the animals. The Texas State Fair is famous for it's original fried food that is conjured up every year. The corn-dog was invented here many, many years ago. So part of the experience is to try some new kinds of fried yumminess. We had a fun time and ended the night with a pretty cool water, light, and fire show.

I think this ride even made Scott sick, but Paisley and Luke loved it!

Phoebe (AKA daredevil) riding a CRAZY spinner ride

Feeding Goats

Look, it's Donkey!

Bird right over our heads at the Bird Show

Everyone's favorite FUNNEL CAKE!!!! We loved these so much that Ethen came home and found a recipe online for us to make some at home. We did wait a few days before frying up our own.

Oh, soooo yummy Fried Snickers. Yes that is a whole Snicker's bar deep fried. We also tried fried cheesecake, but I didn't get a picture of that one.

Ethen taking a bite

Paisley enjoying a nibble
Luke getting hand-fed

Touchdown

Another touchdown for Ethen this week! This is starting to become a nice habit of his! I didn't do the best job with the camera, but you get the basic idea.

Cheer and Football

It's that time of year again. Phoebe and Ethen are full swing into the football and cheer season. Ethen is having an amazing year of play with tons of great plays like interceptions, recovering fumbles and, so far, a touchdown everytime he is given the ball. He plays both offense and defense, and loves both of them. He loves to get in there and hit hard. Phoebe LOVES to cheer. She is adorable to watch and is always so happy to be out there. Her smile is just infectious!

Ethen is on the end there #25

Can she be any cuter?

Cheering loud for all to hear

Phoebe's smile just makes me smile

This is what Paisley likes to do at the games

Interception Ethen

Goodbye to our best friend

We had to make the hardest decision this week. We didn't really see it coming and have probably been in denial about it for some time now, but it was time to put Kia to rest. She has been the best dog ever. She was with us for almost 14 years and we consider her our 1st born. Scott and I got her, as a puppy, just a few months after we were married. She has traveled all over the United States, climbed to the top of mountains, watched 4 children join our family and grow up, and basically been there everyday of our lives. Just her presence and breathing in the house was a comfort. The kids have never known a life without Kia in it and we have always been a dog family. I didn' t know I could love a dog so much until we had her and we all miss her terribly. We find ourselves doing things out of habit even though she isn't here anymore. She got to the point where she was unable to stand up on her own anymore and was not eating hardly anything at all. It was the most dificult decision to make, but we know it was the right one. Everyone took some time with her to say goodbye and John helped us dig a grave in our backyard under the Hale tree. Scott and I took her in together and were with her as she quickly slipped away into a peaceful sleep on Tuesday Sept. 14th. She is now buried in our backyard and I wouldn't want her anywhere else.

Once there was a snowman

The kids are already trying to plan out Halloween costumes. This is the beginnings of a snowman. Haha.

Back to School

School is back in session. Summer went by quickly this year. Ethen is now in the 6th grade. I can't believe we have a kid in middle school. He had a good 1st day and found all his classes. Phoebe is in 4th grade and has several friends in her class this year. She is very happy with both her teachers and gets up every morning without any help. Luke started kindergarten this year and is so happy to be able to go to the big school now. He LOVES his teacher and had a GREAT first day. He is already talking about some new friends and I really can't believe he is already in kindergarten. Now it is just Paisley at home. She will start preschool next week.

Nana & Papa Are HOME

Nana & Papa are back from the mission and came to visit last week. We packed a lot of fun in a few short days. It all went by so quickly. We miss them A LOT already. There is nothing like having your Mom and Dad around, even when your grown up. Here are some pictures of our day at the lake. Papa never gave up and had success on the surfboard. It was so fun to watch him get up on the board.