Normally for Halloween Michael and I don't dress up or even decorate to be honest. The reason being that neither of us are very much into Halloween. But if you remember last year we did dress Hope up at least because it was her very first Halloween (she was a dragon then). I had made her costume because I figure it was kind of a special holiday, being her first and all. I made sure that the dragon costume could be something for her to wear every year (that way I didn't have to make her another costume or find one). I also thought it would be cute to make her a dragon because I have two costume patterns for Michael and I that I am planning to make one day that will go along with the dragon one. A knight for him and a princess for me. Well anyways, one day I was asking Michael if he wanted Hope to wear the dragon costume or should we think of something else to dress her up as, stupid question I know. Michael told me that he really didn't care and if I was smart I should have left it at that but I had to push it and say that we were in a new area and that it might be fun to do something different for her. So of course he said yes we probably should do something different then. We finally decided to make Hope be the wolf in granny's nightdress from the story Little Red Ridding Hood. This was a challenging costume for me to make because yet again I had no pattern to go off of.
Hope modeling her granny costume. To make this costume I recycled some fabric that I had lying around. I must say that I am very grateful to some of my teachers on fun ways you can recycle fabric, BIG help.
Here is what the back of the costume looks like. I know the end of it is kind of short but I didn't want it to get in her way. Now at this point I was done making her costume but I was completely unsatisfied with how it turned out. It just doesn't look that very granny like to me. I then let some friends see these pictures and ask what they would do to make the costume look more granny like. All of the suggestions they gave me were great but I only had time to do a few.
This is the end results of the granny costume for Hope. I added some flowers on the hat and a wig to make her look more lady like. On the nightgown I added a ruffle around the front legs and a few fabric flowers on the back of the outfit to make it look like a printed nightgown (I know you can only see one flower but there was more). Now I am still not totally happy how it turned out but I was facing a major time crunch so I am pleased with what I was able to pull off. However there was one thing that was bothering me still that I talked to Michael about (another probably shouldn't have done). I told Michael that Hope probably only looks like she is an old lady for Halloween and not the wolf from the Little Red Ridding Hood story since she isn't with any of the other characters from the story. I mean isn't that what you would think too if this was all that you saw? Well anyways, we decided that we would be the other characters from the story so that Hopes costume wouldn't look so funny. Yes; it means that we did dress up for Halloween this year.
Michael was the very HOT woodcutter. YEAH FOR ME!!! His costume was also the easiest to do too which was nice and frustrating to me. All we did for him was get a plaid shirt that was red since I figured it was more woodsman like. Michael made his own ax and did a pretty good job on it too. It sure was fun watching him make the thing.
I got to be little red ridding hood (which I was pretty happy about to tell the truth). My costume was a bit of a challenge to make since, like Hope's costume, I was using recycle fabric from home and the Goodwill store. I made the skirt, hair ties and the cape and funny enough the cape was the hardest part to make. I did also have a little brown basket that had a bit of cloth laying it in that matched the bottom of my skirt too, sorry I didn't take a picture of it. You know how in the story of Little Red Ridding Hood she has a basket full of goodies for her grandmother? Well we put the Trick-or-Treat candy in my basket and I would pass it out to the kids from the basket full of goodies. I thought it was a pretty cute idea and would help add to my costume.
Me with the hoody on for you all to see. Even though I really struggled with my costume, I was actually pretty lucky that I got it done in time. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. At least I don't have to worry about a costume for another year; that is IF I ever do that again.
The Little Red Ridding Hood story group characters. When we were passing out candy, at the Trunk-or-Treat our ward does, it was fun to see the big smiles on the kids faces when they saw Hope in her costume and us in ours. A lot of the kids would tell us who we were and we even had some parents take a picture of us all every now and again. Other parents gave us compliments on what a cute idea. We sure did have fun dressing up together and I think that this might even become a tradition somehow, lets really hope that it doesn't. I so don't want to make more costumes in a rush ever again.
Hope sure did love Halloween but she loves it more when she doesn't have to wear a hat on her head. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
About a week ago my little sister-in-law got really sick and had to have surgery. I was fortunate enough to be able to go see her at the college she is attending with my mother-in-law. I am so thankful that I got the chance to go since it had been a really long time since I last saw my sister-in-law and of course I was really worried about her too. I don't think that I was that much of a help. All I really did is whatever was needed to be done and stay with her when her mother had to go do a few errands every now and again. We stayed with her for about a week and by the end of that week she was doing a lot better. On the last day of the trip I got to go to the college campus and look at some of the changes that has happened. Reason that I wanted to do that is because it was the same college that I went to and where I meet my sweet heart. A LOT of things have changed! I just couldn't believe it all so I had to take pictures to show you too.
Here is what the back of the MC building looks like. I'm sorry but I don't have a picture of what the front looks like now or what it did look like before they started to change things. But let me tell you the building is really nice now.
In the MC building you have the cafeteria, the book store (where you get stuff for your classes or just fun things like cloths, games, etc.), and where you also get your student ID card too. Most of the dances where held in this building too. Michael and I had our very first date at one of those dances. I did have a couple of classes in this building when I was going to school and even my ward meet in this building too so this place means a lot to me.
Okay, this is just a horrible picture so I apologize. I am trying to show you the building that is way low to the ground but in reality this thing is HUGE (and above ground)!!! When Michael and I were leaving college they had just gotten the ground all prepared for the building of it. This building is going to be the new auditorium for devotionals and things. I hope I get to see the inside of it one day.
This is my beautiful sister-in-law. She really likes cows so her mother and I had to get her this shirt that we saw in the book store before we had to leave to come back home. The shirts says, "BYU-Idaho, Cow Tipping Team", "Put your shoulder into it!" and, "Farm fun for all ages." I think this is one of the greatest shirts out there!!! I probably should have gotten myself one but its okay.
So that is the trip in a nut shell I guess. Oh, during the ride home we did come across this amazing field with the brightest green you could see for the fall season. It was so beautiful with the storm clouds above and everything. I thought that you all might like to see it too. It sure was nice to be able to see my sister-in-law but it is also nice to be home again.
As a family we decided to be a little bit more adventurous and explore more of our new hometown. We first went to the dog park in hopes of tiring Hope out a little bit but there were to many uncontrollable dogs that day so we just took some fun fall pictures instead. Glad my camera is working again. Once I was done taking pictures there we found a new park to explore. The park was called Amon Park. I LOVED IT! It was one of the nicest parks that I have seen and I wish that I was a kid again so I could go and play on all of the fun things that they have there (although we did still play on some of it despite our age). The park also had a great walking path that goes along the river. It was just so beautiful, especially with all of the fall leaves in the area. We are totally going to be going to the park in the summer. I can not wait but until then here are some fun pictures that we took from our weekend adventure.
I know that Halloween has not come yet but the stores here already have Christmas items up. I use to be one of those people that it would drive crazy to have other Holiday items up so early. Now however, I really like to walk around and look at all of the Christmas things that they have up. I think I just like how sparkly it all is. Now, looking is totally different then getting. I was weak for a great deal and bought some Christmas presents. One of the stores here had a sale on the sales items. I thought it was kind of funny but hey it made the stuff dirt cheap which made a happy me. I got something for Michael, Hope and even me. At least I am getting somewhat of a head start this year. I already know what I want to get everyone that is on my list. I just hope that I can find it all.
All right. This was going to be a totally different post with a much happier note but it has been ruined. Let me tell you the story. As you all, or at least most of you, know we have been working hard in our yard. Cleaning out the flowerbeds (so that we could have flowerbeds) and growing grass to actually have a lawn. We even cut down some dead branches in the trees to make it look better outside. All of that has taken a lot of pain staking work to do just to make it look decent..Well, we got a new neighbor. She is really nice and something interesting is that she has a cat. Not a big deal right? WRONG! This cat is pure evil!!! Okay, maybe that is a bit much but I am not happy with the little bugger. It thinks that my flowerbeds are the perfect place to use as its restroom. It has killed several of my plants and seriously damaged others. It has also used the restroom right in front of our door! We have been trying to chase this cat out of our yard for several weeks. This cat is not even scared of Hope. Yes, I'm guilty that I tried to use the dog to save my flowerbeds. Finally Michael and I got so frustrated with the thing that last night we went out and got this pet repellent stuff that makes dogs, cats, and birds leave your flowerbeds (or wherever you put the stuff) alone. We used it as soon as we got home and another cat tried to come into our flower beds while the evil cat watched. The first cat (the one going to the flower beds) got close enough to get a whiff and took off like none other and scared the evil cat away. VICTORY! Or at least that was what we had thought..This morning Michael was leaving the house for work and saw that the evil cat had left us another.......present in our flowerbed. Then while Michael had the door open the cat actually got into the house a little. Michael was able to scare it back outside but oh was he mad. I was mad too when he had told me. I am getting really frustrated and I know that I can not even talk to the owner about her cat because she doesn't even take care of it herself. We did put more stuff down in the flowerbeds that is suppose to make the cat stay way and we are now trying to scare it every time that it comes into our yard. If any of you have any great idea on what we can do we are more then happy to hear them.
Last Friday, one of my friends from college, and childhood, was getting married. I just love weddings. They just make you happy. The reception was being held down in Oregon so we were able to spend some extra time with Michael's parents. They were so nice to watch Hope for us while we went to the reception. We were a little late in getting to it but at least we did not get lost once! I think that has got to be a record for us. It was so nice to see the surprise look on my friends face. The reason for that surprise look was because my mother was actually the one that got the invitation. Her parents are friends of my parents and hence my mother told me about my friend getting married. I told Michael that we had to go and he was so good as to make it work out that we could attend. It sure was great to see her again since it really has been way to long.
I think they are a very cute couple and I know that they are going to have a lot of wonderful years ahead of them. But before we left I got a surprise myself. Two girls that I meet my first year of college and was friends with were also at the wedding reception. It was just wonderful to hear what was going on with them and where they were at and much more. It was a pretty perfect night full of fun surprises and I am just so happy that we were able to go. Oh, and the cake was FANTASTIC!!!
I am somewhat amazed that in my family we only have one birthday for this month. But I still would like to say a very happy birthday to my first brother-in-law who is such a character and just a fun person to be around. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
Michael and I bought a lot of candy for Halloween because we were told that at the Trunk-or-Treating the kids go from car to car several times, about five. We wanted to be prepared for that but we also wanted to make sure that we had some candy left over for all of the Trick-or-Treaters that our neighbor said would come (the neighbors got hit really hard last year), hence a lot of candy was bought. But what actually happened was quite different. At the Trunk-or-Treat we only had a few kids that came back to our car, the most was about three times . So when we left we still had 2/3's of our candy left which I think is pretty good. At home, we only got three small groups of Trick-or-Treaters. YEAH! We didn't have any Trick-or-Treaters past 8p.m. and that is a big surprise to me because I remember staying out way late with my friends to get a ton of candy. Now Michael and I are stuck still with 2/3's candy and all we can do about it is give it away to our primary class (but like they even need more candy) or eat it ourselves. Well of course we ate some ourselves and the results were a little scary.
Yeah, we started to guff off with Michael's ax. I love the look on Hope's face of "Daddy what are you going to do with that?"
Now we know where granny got her back pain from. We also know who to send all of the medical bills too.
I had to join in on the fun too and probably get a little bit of my frustration out about Hope knocking her hat off of her head most of the night. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to fix it.
Oh wait! I'm the innocent one in the family. Look what having to much candy can make you do. Just remember that you never saw the above picture or read anything about it. It's forgotten.
Hope sure was a good sport with all of the silly fun that we were having. By the end of the night she really hated that ax of Michael's and wouldn't come anywhere near us if we had it in our hands, poor thing. But then again, she did get really spoiled with a lot of doggy treats that night so I think that it all equals out alright. But we really need to get rid of this candy. Anyone want it?
The night that we did our pumpkins we had also gotten some Halloween decorations too. The table cloth on the floor was part of the decorations that we got. I do have to say one thing about the table cloth and pumpkin carving. Never ever carve pumpkins on a table cloth that is the same color as your pumpkins insides/outsides because it makes it a lot harder to see where you need to clean up at.
Hope making sure that I was cleaning the pumpkin out properly. It was really hard to get my pumpkin clean because the inside was really weird. Like it was a funny fall apart stringy thing. Michael did have it tuffer though. His pumpkin was actually a little rotten on the top so it didn't have a lid, just a hole in its head (he he he).
I guess I didn't clean out the pumpkin good enough for her. I sure love how my little Hope is not afraid of getting a little messy herself.
My pumpkin is the vampire one on the left and Michael's is the totally cool one with the ears on the right. He always does a better job on his pumpkin then I do on mine. We also got a pumpkin for Hope but we didn't carve that one the same night that we did ours. I actually carved Hopes pumpkin while a friend of mine, from our ward, carved hers at our place. We had a lot of fun that night too. I am sad to say that I didn't take any pictures of Michael and me carving our pumpkins or even my friend and me caving the pumpkins like I normally do because I just got way involved into it to remember. I almost didn't get a picture of Hopes pumpkin at all either. I just barely remembered that I didn't have a picture of hers before we tossed them away.
Hope's pumpkin is the one on the bottom right winking at you. I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. The pumpkins did look great all lit up but again I didn't get a picture of them like that but it is okay at least you got to see what they looked like. I sure hope you all got a chance to carve pumpkins too and I hope you all have a great Halloween this year too.
We did a big group picture of us going on the women's retreat this year. Well at least the ones of us that meet at the meeting house before we left for all of the fun.
We all slept in the big lodge building at camp Zarahemla. This is what the side of the building looks like. It sure was big and a good thing to since there was a lot of us that had to fit in it.
This is a view of the living room area from the bunks above on the second floor. I also have to say that the fireplace was amazing at keeping the entire building warm and then some. It never really got cold that night, well for me it didn't.
After we were all done unpacking and settled a lot of us went outside to explore around the camp. The group that I was with found this great obstacle course to play on and we did have a ton of fun too.
Another thing that we found while exploring was this abandoned camp entrance post so we took it over. Getting in was a fun challenge but we still were able to do it and boy is that a fun story.
This is what some of the cabins looked like around the camp. Kind of a funny shape I know but doesn't it make you think of a ginger bread house, especially with the Christmas lights on?
The camp that we were at also had a lake and since it had been raining and the lake was the only area with enough space to look for a rainbow we had to go and see if we could find one. I'm so glad that we did. This picture does not do any justice to the beauty that we saw that day.
We are all looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and for this rainbow it should be somewhere in the lake. We never did find it but that is okay.
It was nice to just be able to enjoy the peace of the area and being outside in nature again.
How can you not just love this view, really? I don't know how anyone could not. It is just to beautiful and peaceful to not love.
While we were walking around I saw this little tree and just had to take a picture of it. This picture actually means a lot of things to me for what the little tree or even what the big trees could symbolize. Once we were finished exploring we had dinner and did some great activities. I'm not going to tell you them. If you really want to know then you will just have to find a way out here so that you can come next year with me and if you are a guy well all I can say is sorry and tuff luck!
The next day for one of the things that we did was work on a project/craft; we made necklaces. Mine didn't turn out that great but I still had fun trying to make it look nice. After that the day went by very quickly.
QUILTING MOMENT!!! Since we are talking about crafts I had to put this bit in too. Inside the lodge they had this quilt hanging on the wall and it was just incredible to look at. I wish I was talented enough to do something like this but at least it gives me a great goal to work towards.
Our fearless camp director so deserved a quick nap from all that she had done to put this great event together for us.
Well this years women's retreat has come to an end and here are the women that survived the outdoors. What? You say that we have less women in this picture then the first one? I guess you should all know that we did lose some ladies but only before we took the picture. The ones that are not in this picture just left a few minutes before we had taken it but they are all fine. Worried you a little didn't I? I think the one sad thing is that the retreat ended so soon but I am very glad that I went because it gave me a chance to know the sisters in my ward so much better. Now I just have to wait for another year to go again. Hope I can wait that long.