Halloween Prep

Pumpkin Carving.

Individual assignments as follows:

All kids: Facial Feature Designing

Older kids: Inner Pumpkin cleansingYounger kids: Pumpkin-guts squishingAdults: Design transferring and sharp tool maneuveringAssignment Complete.

ALS Walk

Today was a very special day.
It was also a very significant day.
A new tradition was born.
Today Team Bryan was formed.Nearly 50 members of my mom's family met at the ALS Walk at the Historic Wheeler Farm to remember and celebrate my uncle Bryan's life. His courageous and optimistic battle with ALS ended just 7 weeks ago. He was a great man and example to everyone who knew him.
I am blessed to have him for my uncle.
I feel even more blessed to know that I will see him again one day.
I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this special event.
Two days ago, a few of my aunts, my Grandma, and I spent 5+ hours making our "Team Bryan" shirts.
Forty-seven of them to be exact
And three baby shirts.
On the front we placed this sweet picture of my uncle Bryan at one of his most favorite places on earth -- Disney World.I thought the mini shirts were so cute.The weather was perfectly Fall.
The most beautiful day.
The walk was so inspiring.
Lou Gehrig trivia bits were along the way.
These are my cousins, two of Bryan's children, who happen to be in town this weekend.And my most wonderful grandparents. They are such amazing examples.
I love them so much.
I think this is one of my most favorite pictures of them.
And a picture of Grandma and my cousin finishing the walk together.My youngest brother, Ben, and his roommate also came up from BYU this morning to be here. I love having my brothers around.
At the end all KJ wanted to do was get ahold of the enormous balloon archway. I wouldn't let him near it, but Ben took him over to it.
And they were instant friends.
KJ trying to convince Ben about the balloons...Ben is intrigued...
And...Ben loves them. And so does KJ!The kids loved being outside.I think this will be a good memory for my kids.
A good tradition.
A perfect way to remember...
Team Bryan.

Birthday Fun ~ 4 year old style ~

Today is Emma's birthday.
It's hard to believe she was only 4.5 months old when we moved from the desert to the mountains.
For the past week she has been asking if it was her birthday.
Perhaps, she was afraid that we would forget it.
But I think she really thought she would have hundreds of gifts that had accumulated from my "Maybe for your birthday" response to her pleas for every toy that crossed her path.
So, for her comfort, and for my sanity, I made her a paper chain, a link for each day until her birthday.
That saved me.

First thing this morning she wanted were presents.
And how could I say no to this little face:
This year her favorites are Tinkerbelle and Toy Story {still loves it like she did last year}
This year she added Buzz Lightyear, Bullseye, and Slinky dog to her collection.
Riley was excited too.We have a neat tradition carried over from Kempe's family.
We have a 2 X 4 piece of wood we use as our measuring stick which we measure each child on their birthday. The kids love to see how much they've grown and how they compare to each other.After we rushed the kids to school we came back and I made us breakfast.
Emma had:
a peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich
a pickle
and apple juice.

Emma picked out her favorite outfit today.
I'm not sure why this striped tank is her favorite, but it is.
I asked her for some birthday girl pictures.
She gave me these.While KJ was napping after lunch, I told Emma we could do whatever she wanted.
She wanted to play games.
We spent 2 hours playing the games that I loved as a kid.

We didn't actually play Jenga, we just used the blocks to build.
Emma built a road and I built a castle -- over & over -- so she could knock it down -- over & over.Then it was Memory, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Chutes & Ladders {which she informed me that it was more fun to do the slides than the ladders, so she won}, and CandyLand.While we played Emma said, "Mom, I like my birthday."
Me too cutie Emma.

Tonight Emma picked Chuck-A-Rama for dinner.
Our kids love it there.
She asked if the waitresses would sing to her.I enjoyed being 4 again today.

Happy Birthday my sweet Emma!
I love you!

In the Spirit of Halloween:

Yes, that is her real tooth.
She made it that loose during school today.
{I'm sure her teacher was thrilled}
No, I will not be pulling it out.
She informed me that she wanted to pull it out at school tomorrow because they will give her a cool tooth case to bring her tooth home.
{Again, I'm sure her teacher will be thrilled :}

Gardner Village Witches

This afternoon we met a few of my cousins and their kids at Gardner Village in South Jordan. It's a fun little place full of expensive shops that are fun to sigh over, but at this time of the year the witches come out and the whole place is completely festive.
We had a fun time being outside and thoroughly enjoying the nice fall-ish weather.
Emma loved the candy shop which I talked her into the 10 cent candies, while I indulged in a fresh caramel apple ~ so yummy!
It was a fun afternoon with the little ones.

Girls Day Out

Riley was determined to go to Build-A-Bear.
I told her it was kind of expensive, but if she wanted to earn it she could.
We figured out that she would need to fill her marble jar twice in order to go.
She worked really hard.
Volunteered for every extra job,
Begged me for ways to earn marbles...
She was determined.

Finally her jar was full {twice}.
After Parker's football game today, she and I headed to The Gateway.

We went in to Build-A-Bear, and oohhh....the choices! She was in heaven!
We spent nearly 45 minutes going back and forth between the animals, the outfits, and accessories to create the crème de la crème of Build-A-Bears.
I felt as though Riley was the prestigious fashion designer and I was her assistant, following her around with arms full of outfits and accessories, holding them up for her to envision her masterpiece.

It was exhausting.

{Here's an outfit that I found somewhat amusing. Only in Utah:}Riley helped load the fluff machineThen filled her bunny with fluff and a cute little heart which she kissed before placing it inside. Once her bunny was filled, she was able to give her a 'bath'
We had to make sure we made it official with a birth certificate.
And behold, the pièce de résistance:Otherwise known as "Cool Kid" {yes, that's the official name she chose}

Wow, a very elaborate world I never knew.
After we headed out I asked Riley if she wanted to get something to eat.
She said yes, but asked if we could first ride the escalators.
My kids love the escalators!
We could honestly spend hours upon hours riding them up and down.
I, on the other hand, look at the dirty, germ-crawling handrails and incessant moving stairs as perilous finger and toe disconnecters.
I don't have a fear of escalators, more of an ... awareness.

So we rode the escalators a couple of times.Then we had to stop in at the chocolate store.
She picked out this little beauty, which earned me a free chocolaty caramel-dipped nut of some kind that was so good!
Riley, I so enjoyed the time we spent together this afternoon.
I hope you did too.
I love you.

Fun with KJ

It doesn't take much to entertain this one...
Just my complete attention.