The Door Greeter

This was the coolest costume I thought!! This was an actual person on an actual horse that was right by the door to go into the festival. Wow, that was cool. Very eerie, but cool. The horse would walk around and the person would not say a word. Some kids were really scared, but it was way cool to me. The horse was just massive with long hair just like the horse in the movie. I understood later that it was actually a girl in the costume.

Halloween Festival

With the exception of Dallin, everyone is a Star Wars character this year. Eric is Darth Maul, Ethan is a clone trooper, Jeffrey is a Clone trooper Commander Cody, Halee is a jedi padawan named Ahsoka. Apparently she is from the newest series, Star Wars the Clone Wars. We went to the town Halloween Festival on Saturday and it was a pretty fun time. They had lots of fun activities for the kids to do and almost everyone was dressed up. ( I was just the getaway car driver.) It's fun how the whole town gets together and celebrates every holiday, even Halloween. It's done in a fun, not so scary way that makes it enjoyable for everyone.

"Dallin do"

There was a community Halloween Festival (yes, they actually called it a Halloween Festival!=) in town last Saturday night. All the kids have Star Wars character costumes, and Dallin was going to be Darth Vader. He let me put the cape on him, but he did not want to mask. He kept saying "Dallin do, Dallin do." Well, I just left him alone, and then he comes out of the room wearing this hat and gloves. I had gotten hats and gloves for the kids that cover their faces to protect them from the cold wind here. This was Dallin's hat. He came out with this hat and gloves on and with a smile as huge as ever, said "Dallin do!" So, Dallin put together his own costume. It was definitely a funny night. Eric kept calling him "luchador" which I believe means wrestler in spanish. It's from Nacho Libre, the movie. Quite funny.

A new nephew

This is our newest nephew. He is Eric's oldest sister (Chereon)'s baby. He was born on October 9, and he was 3 weeks early. She was having diabete problems and was getting worse, so they induced her and he was born. He had trouble at first and his lungs collapsed, so he was flown to Primay Children's Hospital in SLC, Utah. He has been there for the last week and a half or so, and all the siblings (there are 6) have been here with us! wow... He had so many wires and gadgets hooked up to him that he was hard to even hold. He is doing lots better now and is working on eating on his own. He has had the feeding tube this whole time and didn't ever learn how to suck yet, so that is the hurdle they are trying to overcome now. He is finally home with his family and goes into the hospital every night to be weighed. I believe his feeding tube is coming out in the next day or two.

Winter has arrived

I "borrowed" this picture from the Star Valley web cam. It snowed pretty well this weekend. I guess I could tell I was the foreigner because I didn't get up in testimony meeting and say how thankful I was for the snow! In fact, I was kind of smirking! I don't think I'm quite ready for winter yet. I have so loved the spring, summer and the fall. It has been such beautiful weather, I frown at the thought of being boxed in under snow for months. But people here are grateful, and that's impressive. The more snow, the less drought, they say. I grudgingly dug out the kids' snow boots, and snow pants, and big coats and gloves so they could go out and play in the first snow of the season. But, it does make the valley look beautiful in it's whiteness. Finger's crossed that we will be in our house before Thanksgiving.

Family photo update

Here we are at the same "photo" shoot. You can see our house behind us. It is now having the tieback wrap put on, and most of the framing is done. Electrical is going in now.

Eric, Dallin-2 1/2, Halee- 8 1/2, Ethan-5 1/2, Jenn (too old!), Jeffrey- 7

Ethan and Dalllin

Here is how these guys usually look. These two are usually so happy and they love playing with each other!! In the new house, Ethan has requested having Dallin be his roommate, they just play so well together, and Ethan is so accommodating to Dallin. Ethan is 5 1/2 and loves kindergarten. He loves learning, and the fact that he is reading and writing and having Spanish! He brings home something cool everyday and is able to tell me what they learned that day. Dallin is finally talking a lot more, and putting phrases together. Hopefully he will catch up before too long. He has definitely changed and has grown since we've been here.

Four fun kids

We had a quick photo session before church last Sunday. This is probably the only picture we have where Dallin is looking at the camera and sitting with the kids. We must have clicked right as Ethan was looking down, because he usually is always smiling. Anyway, everyone is growing and changing. Dallin is getting to be such the little guy. I have missed being with him as I have been teaching a lot lately!! They are sure good kids and really good friends. I sure hope that stays that way!!

Rock band

One of my kids' favorite things to do is dance to the ringer sounds on my cell phone. They went and got the guitars from the guitar hero game, and rocked out. They are so funny, and so fun to be around!!

Ode to Bella

We had a sad weekend last weekend. Our little black, furry friend passed away. Bella, our fun puppy, got a hold of some rat poison that grandpa had in the garage. Boy oh boy, that was not a pleasant day at all!! It was a small mistake of forgetting to make sure all the holes were covered in the garage, and of course, she found the one that was left open. We were very sad, and we had a service and buried our friend on the property behind our new house. This is a rather large rock that we wrote her name and some messages on. That afternoon reminded me of so many afternoons growing up of burying many furry friends, and feeling so sad and empty. It's amazing how much they become a part of your life. I know that animals were put here to comfort us and be friends to us, because our kids sure loved her, especially Halee. Halee reminds me of me when I was young, she seems to have a "connection" to animals. I feel sure that she is up there waiting for us. I am just so sad that she suffered the way that she did. I hope she knows how much she touched us in the short time she was with us!!