Eat, Drink, and Be Scary, we had a Spooktacular Halloween! (Cliche? I know, don't you love it?)

Our family is pretty incredible. Brett has been working out a lot, does it show? I know, hot huh? He is pretty sexy. We sure had fun dressing up as a family and such a great one. We even won a prize at a costume contest. I know, right? Awesome! Or should I say...Incredible? We are. Thanks for agreeing.
This Halloween was a great one. I really enjoyed having it be all weekend long. We started with a fun block party on Friday. We had some great games, and fire pits to help us stay warm. We also had FOOD. Yum. In the madness we had our football player Hannah (the little sis) and her cheerleader Hannah (the neighbor).


There were at least 30 kids running around in their costumes, starting their sugar high early, and getting excited to trick or treat. They cake walked, they popped balloons of candy, and bobbed for apples, oh and let's not forget the donuts on a string, cupcake decorating, burning hot cocoa and cider, and soups! I love foods, and Halloween Foods are INCREDIBLE. lol

We loved having so much fun family time this Halloween. It was great having Christa and Logan come and spend the night so they could make it down to Logan's motorcross race in time. They were dressed so cute, although Logan (as a clown) kind of freaked a few of the kids out.

All the family dressed up and joined us for the block party. Sara was a peach and took pics for me since I wanted to see everyone and play with the munchkins. Love all the hats!

Okay, one more of my fam. We went and got professional pictures done, but had the neighbor take a few in the driveway so we could post them on here, and let everyone see how incredible we are. The kids had fun and even called one another by their character names. "Violet" struggled some with her wig, so it came off pretty early.


This was our first school costume parade, and it was a blast to go watch them parade around the school so proud of their costumes. I went in costume as well, and took Derrick dressed up so that we could attend lex's class party after. It was a great time.

I think she ate some donuts off a string, and the powder got all over her costume, but since we had already taken pictures I didn't really care.
Okay, seriously, Have you ever seen a cuter Jack-Jack? He was just the sweetest kid ever. I have to tell you, he had such a fun time trick or treating. His bucket was getting so heavy it was dragging, but he wouldn't let anyone help him because he was so worried they would take his candy! lol
Oh Mom and Little Autumn Poo were so cute. It was fun having everyone come enjoy Halloween party #1 with us. The kids had so much fun, especially John, who happened to win the costume contest. I might note that it helps having such a big family!
On the night we trick or treated, we spent time with the other side of the fam, and it was just as much fun, but since it was raining and cold, I did not really take any pictures. So, for now you can just imagine the fun, and think about the buckets full of candy that my kids got. Don't worry, I got enjoy my favorite part of Halloween, the sorting of the candy, and then slimmed down how much they got so that their sugar highs were minimal. I was thinking I might freeze some of it so that they can enjoy it all year long. That is, if I don't eat it all first. Who said Halloween has to be for kids?

The halloween hype

Can I just say right now how much I love Halloween? Thanks, just wanted to get that out of the way. There is just something so enjoyable about getting all dressed up and begging for candy. I must say, hot chocolate, hot soup, parties, my kid's enjoyment, and the loads of candy after don't hurt either. This year I have lots of fun things going on because it is on a Sunday, we are making it a whole weekend affair.

We are starting with school parties, which should be fun, especially since I am the room mom and planned them! haha. Then we will be taking some fun family pics in our "incredible" costumes. Just wait, you will see how totally awesome we are. Then, party time in the hood (the neighborhood), with family and friends in abundance. Follow that up with late night hang outs with my sis, and of course plenty of cocoa and toast. Then wake up and start again. I am thinking more family time, and TRICK or TREAT! Or should I say, TRUNK or Treat! Maybe both. Bahhh I am so excited.

Then, the actual day, I plan to read plenty of ghost stories, watch scary movies, snuggle with my kids, and of course, pig out on all the good candy. Yup, what is not to love? So, get ready for a whole post of just pictures from my holiday weekend, and if you talk to me this week, prepare yourself for a lot of moping about how I have so much to do to get ready for my weekend of fun. That is right, MY weekend of fun. The kids will have fun too, but really, I am the one who gets the kicks out of the whole thing.

Spoiler alert! Derrick looks freaking adorable in his costume. You are going to just want to pinch those round cheeks and kiss his sticky face, which is almost always sticky, and is sure to be over the weekend, as I anticipate sugar comas!

Back to work for me, just needed to get out my excitement before I burst open! Brett's costume should be here Thursday.

My life the comedy

My life is all kinds of comedy. Brett, the star comedian is starting to be taken over by Alexis the comedian, and Derrick the comedian. I guess Dillan and I are bound to be the un-funnies in the family. I explained to Brett that I am just as funny as he is, my funny is just smarter, so he doesn't understand it. I don't think he bought it.

Brett asked Dillan why the skeleton wasn't going to the dance. Dillan said, "Because he doesn't have a girlfriend." Should I be worried? The boy seems a bit hyper focused on girls lately. Of course, Lexi is no better. She saw "Steven" the boy she "likes" at church today, and informed me that he is handsome. FANNNNN Tastic!

During the primary program today Dillan kept waiving at us. It was so funny. Then, in the middle of singing "Follow the Prophet" during a pause in the music, Alexis yells, "Hi Derrick!"

Lexi told me today that she couldn't be Violet for Halloween because she told her teacher she was going to be a princess, and "Mom. I can't lie." Ha

Okay, so I know there are not really funny stories in this post, but truth be told, sometimes I feel like my life is sort of a combination of George Lopez, Tosh.O, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Parenthood. The things my kids say, the things my HUSBAND says, and the things that happen make me laugh, usually in retrospect.

Wedding weekend!

I had two weddings this weekend, and they were tons of fun. My sisters and I all went down to SD for that wedding. We enjoyed time at the beach, with friends, and just playing together. While it was tons of fun the sad part was that the two weddings were in different states, which made it difficult to get to both of them. I had everything planned out so I could attend both, and then the second one got moved up by 5 hours. I still went to it, but missed the ceremony. I enjoyed being able to see Amy and hear about her wedding. I was able to read their vows and hear about everything. It was a fun weekend with my sisters and friends, and it reminded me how in love with Brett I am.

Wedding #2 Amy and Brady: I did not get many pictures at this wedding. It was beautiful, and they looked so happy. They had their dogs dressed in tuxes. It was so cute.


Amy looked gorgeous. She is such a great person!
I was totally exhausted, I had been at the other wedding, and then with my sisters until 2 in the morning the night before and got back to Utah and went straight to this wedding.
Wedding #1: Lana and Kenny. Kenny and I were friends in high school, and it was fun to go to the wedding and see some of the guys I ran with for so many years.

This is Kenny's mom!
This is the grooms men. Kenny and Lana had David, Ricky, John (kenny's brother), another of kenny's friends, and his two younger half brother and step brother. The guys all looked really nice.

Ricky and David were both in the wedding party!This is at the dinner after!
I got to meet David's girlfriend for the first time! She was great.
This is me with my cross country boys! David, Ricky, and Carlos.


We had such a great time. I enjoyed being able to catch up with the guys and talk about all our old memories. I am so glad I was able to make it to both weddings.

California Girls...

Well, we made it to California! We decided to go swimming, but it was pretty cold, so we actually just sat in the hot tub. For the first little while we were waiting for the hot tub to heat up, so we just took some pictures and watched while Hannah braved the freezing cold pool and swim.

Oh we are so cute! Look at Hannah, the only one who is wet.

We are so serious!

Wishing Becca was with us!

Having such beautiful sisters is not good for my ego! Ugly Duckling here!

Taylor (James's girlfriend) is with us, but some how she avoided the picture taking. I think she must have been the photographer. We will see what other adventures are to come...

Just get excited because there is some Wannabe (spice girls) dancing and music video, and some silly stories.

In sickness and in health

Yesterday I went to a bachelorette party, and we were talking about vows, and it got me thinking about traditional vows. The line "in sickness and in health" stood out to me particularly. Why? Because my kids are sick. Before I left for the party both Alexis and Dillan had thrown up. Today, Brett was victim to a similar fate. I am glad I did not say traditional vows at my wedding because honestly, I don't love when Brett is sick. My first instinct is to call his mom to take care of him, and skip town. Okay, maybe not that extreme, but really, I hate being around sickness. I hate dealing with throw up, and ornery tired people, and most especially, I hate when my partner in crime is out for the count. So, to remind myself that I love my family and will put up with the yuck because of the good, I looked through pictures of healthier times.

This is when we all went to Trafalga with Brett's sisters. Tons of fun. Notice how soaked we all are. The kids had the best time with the water guns, and even more fun that they got to shoot the adults.


This is from a recent visit to Chuckee Cheese. The kids had a blast earning tickets and playing arcade games. Dad got home in time to come with us. Derrick only wanted to ride the cars the whole time.


This is my darling little monkey wanting to rock climb. She was not heavy enough to use the harness and pulley system, so she stayed close to the ground and just did her best. (In a dress of course, as it would not be lex otherwise)

I had to take a go to show the kids how it is done. Lucky for my ego I climbed to the top without problem, and rung the bell. Whew, Dillan would probably never let me live it down if I couldn't make it to the top.

Here is Dillan, another little monkey. He did awesome, making it all the way to the top after a while. He just worked and worked at it until he figured out a way to make to the bell. He was so proud of himself on the way back down. Does it show?