Halloween, Veterans Program, Misc.

Now that it's almost Thanksgiving...I'll update Halloween pictures (I'm so on top of it!). This year was a little different. The kids were able to have their 4 friends stay with us Halloween weekend while their parents were on a business trip to Washington D.C.. We started out carving pumpkins on Sun. then went trick-or-treating Mon. night. It was a wild crazy fun weekend. 

 Hallie said she wanted to be a dirtbike rider (so she could get new riding clothes... she's not dumb). Andrew ordered her some but they weren't scheduled to be delivered until that day. She wore a witch dress from last year to school but got to wear her new clothes that night.

 Janessa wanted to be a hippie and this outfit was perfect. She looked so cute.

 Ty....well to the neighbor party he was a karate kid, but decided to be a UPS man again on Halloween.

 Grant wore the never-ending giraffe costume that I think all the kids wore when they were 1, mostly because it's warm :). He only wore it a total of about 5 min. because he hated it so much.

 An attempt at a group shot...

 My friend is Ness's room mom and she sent me this picture from her class party. -She's the one all wrapped up like a mummy! I got to help with Hallie and Tyson's party but not her's so I was glad to have this pic.

 Hallie & Tyson were in the school's Veteran's Day assembly on the 11th. I can't even describe how awesome it was. My grandpa Lords served in the army in Hawaii and was able to come watch, along with about a dozen other vets. The kids did such a good job and most everyone needed a tissue by the time it was over :) -He's the short one up front, he even had a little speaking part during one of the songs.

 I especially love this picture-

 Hallie had a piano recital on the 11th also. She played 'The Entertainer' and did a great job. She's been playing for about a year and a half now.

 Janessa's basketball season has been going for a month or so and she is doing great. Her games are on Saturdays so we enjoy going to her games as a family and watching her.

 Tyson was chasing Grant and he turned to run-- right into the corner of the table! Poor baby.

 Last week was Red Ribbon week and this was Hallie's crazy hair day style. I some how didn't get a picture of Janessa's, sorry Ness.

 Tyson's class made drums, feather hats, and bead necklaces for Thanksgiving that he was able to bring home on Friday. The kids are out of school this whole week and we are headed to Boise for 4-5 days. So excited!! 

Misc. Fall/October

I tried really hard to get some cute fall pics of the kids before the weather got too bad. I'm not a great photographer but at least we have all smiles :)

 For Activity Days we were able to ride horses that were one of the other leaders. This is the first for Ty and Grant. We had to beg Ty the whole time to try it and finally at the end he rode with me and loved it. I have to admit I was a little nervous myself :)

My grandma takes us on a girl's shopping trip every year to Park City and this year was just as fun as ever. We meet at Leatherby's then go to Witches' Night Out at Gardner Village, then to the hotel for swimming and nail painting/tattoos, then shop all day Sat.. I have a lot more pictures on my phone I'll have to get off.

 Janessa is our dress girl- she got 3 dresses and some cute tops, leggings, and boots.

 Hallie had almost $200 saved up from her birthday and she came home with I think 14 shirts, 2 boots, coat, 2 dresses...she should be set for the whole year!

 Did you know Superman is also a firefighter?...

 Janessa entered a contest for her school library to make a pumpkin to look like a storybook character. She chose 'Pirates Don't Wear Pink Sunglasses'. It turned out awesome and she got a cute award for doing it.

 Grant with his favorite outside toy.

 Andrew's last riding for the year. He and Matt took pictures of each other doing this 'wall ride' they discovered this summer, then the next one is a bunch of pics he put together. He's getting to be quite the graphic artist :)

Daddy/Daughter Act. & SNOW!!

On Sept. 22 we had our annual Daddy/Daughter Activity for Activity Days. They were told to bring a car made of cardboard...and that's pretty much it. We had dinner and an obstacle course set up for them, then prizes for their cars. It was such a fun night. I love our ward so much, the dad's made it so much fun for the girls. It was a wild, hysterical night. Andrew with his little 'perfectionist' side worked really hard on their car, but the girls loved every minute of it. 

 On the 'tire change' stop they had to eat 4 little chocolate donuts. Andrew had to run the course twice and never wants to eat another of those again :)

 Their next stop was the 'oil change' where they had to dump a cup of chocolate milk in a funnel for their dad.

 Nessa's turn...! The other 2 stops were a 'windshield wash' where they put sunglasses on their dad and sprayed and wiped both lenses, and a 'sobriety test' where they had to spin around 10 times and walk across a board. Fun time!

 G & T sporting their mohawks in the bath.

 Grant is such a little stinker lately. Every chance he gets he's on the kitchen table or moving a chair to get to the counter. Here I caught him just about to unload my wallet....aaaah gotta' love the fact that he's smart I guess :)

 The kids were out of school last Thurs. & Fri. and it snowed A LOT! They were so excited! It was tempting to put on a little Christmas music :) I loved watching them work together to make this tunnel/slide.

 G loved watching them also.

 Warming up with Ramen and hot chocolate...yum. Too bad it all melted by Sunday :( It was fun while it lasted.

Hallie's Birthday Weekend

 Hallie had a super busy, non-stop, birthday weekend! I can't believe she's 11 :) It started out with Fri. begging and pleading for her best friend & little sister to spend the night because Andrew & Ty were on a scout camp out. We don't do sleepovers normally but I said only because it's your birthday and they'll be here tomorrow for the party anyway...well another friend overheard at school...then another called after school to play...so it ended up being her 3 best (school) friends and the little sister for Janessa. Why I gave in I'll never know. They were up way too late and were super tired the whole weekend....never again :)
Anyway...Sat. morning they all got to go to gymnastics with Hallie & Janessa (thanks to their awesome teacher/aunt Steph), then her birthday party was at noon. We went to Bowl-ero and had pizza and lemonade (not pop because they're all on the D.A.R.E. challenge where they promise not to drink anything carbonated), then came back to our house for brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favorite!

 That morning Andrew had found a car in Utah that he wanted to go look at (which we bought but now have up for sale...long story ) after the party. The kids did not want to go so we told them we'd get a hotel with a pool and stay the night, which was tons of fun. We all crashed hard that night :)

 We left Sun. morning so we could listen to conference on the way home and get back in time for her party at grandma & grandpa's. We are going to Park City soon so she just wanted money for clothes. My friend's bank will take money and put it on a pre-paid card so she thought that was pretty cool.

Happy Birthday sweetie, we love you!