Halloween

For the FHE before Halloween we carved pumpkins and ate Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory caramel apples. 

On Friday Luke and Matt got their costumes on for school Halloween parties.   Matt got his Captain America costume for his sixth Birthday.  Then early in October I found a good deal on the Hulk costume and bought it…  Hulk is Matthew’s FAVORITE super hero so I wasn’t sure how it would go down with Luke getting to wear it but tried to convince Matt that they could both wear it for dress up whenever they wanted.  The boys had an even better idea.  Luke would wear it for school and the Ward Trunk or Treat and Matt would wear it for the ‘real’ Halloween.  They were both thrilled with the costume sharing plan.

Luke as Hulk and Matthew as Captain America

I took Cookies to both Matt and Luke’s classroom parties and helped out with games and treats.  Both boys were thrilled to have me there.

At 4:30 these cute friends gathered in the girls bathroom to get into costume and do hair and makeup.  The Decade Girls… from Left to Right: Ally (50’s)  Maggie (60’s)  Kate (70’s)  Katie (80’s) and Emily (90’s)  Love these cute girls.

Off to the Trunk or Treat at the church at 5:30 for pot luck crock pot soups and then Trick or Treating outside.  The kids had a blast and the event was super simple and everyone loved it. Yeah for simple and fun.

Megan – Pink Girls 50’s Lady

Saturday night the kids donned their costumes again for the big night.  Megan had big plans to go trick or treating with Loryn so I took her over to Wolf Ranch for the night.  Megan was excited to be a ‘Pink Girls’ 50’s Lady and wear this pink silky jacket – (Katie wore it several years ago in Germany.)

Emily – 90’s Girl

Emily was the perfect person for the 90’s.  She wore Katie’s jeans so they’d be a little baggy, tied a flannel around her waist, put on an ‘inside out’ sweatshirt and fixed her hair back with a little volume.  When Katie and friends saw her they thought she looked awesome.  When Dad saw her he immediately  said, “Holy cow, I dated you!”  So funny.

Katie – 80’s Girl

Katie was excited about crimped hair and fluorescent t-shirts and legwarmers.  She’s the perfect spaz for the 80’s. Life of the party, that girl.

After the Switcheroo:  Luke as Captain America and Matt as Hulk – this time with masks.

Maggie and Gracie came to hang out with Katie and Emily and they took the boys and little Jane out.  Then home for Transylvania movie and more friends over and then headed over to another Halloween Party.  Fun Night.  Ryan headed up to Denver to hang out with Mark and had a great time.

Voodoo Trail at the Pueblo Reservoir

Priscilla, Emma, Andrea and I headed down to Pueblo to do a 12 mile mountain bike trail.  It was really fun and beautiful… but after mile 9 I had a hard time keeping up.  Turns out I wasn’t fully using my lowest gears – but I don’t know if that would have made a difference at that point.  I was tired.  Fun to hang out with these ladies.  Another perfect October day.

Ready for Red Ribbon Week

Running Club

These boys have really been enjoying Running Club this year.   Every Monday and Friday morning in September and October the kids meet at 7:45 before school and try to run as many laps as they can.  Each lap is 1/4 mile.  Teachers stand at the top and hand each of the kids a popsicle stick as they pass and then at the end they stretch with Mr. Patrizi and then head into the school to record how many laps they accomplished.  When they reach 5 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles etc they receive a charm – which Luke is thrilled about and thinks it’s pretty cool to have him laced up in his shoes.  Luke got the 25 mile charm and the 26.2 Marathon sticker. 

Chris and I joined them for Running Club one morning and ran along side them.

Matt likes the practice but doesn’t love it as much as the real races.  During the two months there are several meets after school usually with one or two other schools.  Megan and Luke ran in one of the races while Chris and I were on our cruise and Megan placed 13th out of all fourth and fifth grade runners, and Luke placed 8th out of all second and third grade runners.  They were pretty excited.   Matt didn’t race.

The next meet Luke placed 4th out of the second and third grade runners (3 schools) and Matt placed 3rd out of the Kindergarten and First Grade runners (3 schools)  Wahoo!  Awesome job, boys!

The last invitational Cross Country Meet was on a 42 degree October morning.  Megan had just gotten her sling off and wanted to race.  All three kids gave it their all and ran so hard that they were sick, dizzy and felt like they were going to throw up. Hard running! Matt and Luke walked away with 13th and 14th place respectively in their different age groups.  And Megan was in the top third as well.

They served breakfast for everyone and the runners all picked out a pumpkin.  We love this club!

Ryan’s Three Word Answers

• What I’m proud of today: Scored Goal Yesterday
  • We had our first indoor game yesterday, and I scored the first goal. It was pretty awesome, even though I’m out of shape and haven’t played soccer in a while, due to me not being on the high school team. We lost 6-3, but it was a really fun game.
• What I’m thinking about: Oh, the usual
• Who is home: Everyone But Dad
  • Dad is in St. George, playing Golf with his buddies. This is also why I am jealous of him.
• Plans tonight: This Blog Post
• Feelings about love: Excited, after mission
• Feelings about life: All My Songs
• What I need: An Extra Sunday
  • Like every week, I think to myself, ‘If only every week had two Sundays, then I would have more time for my favorite Sunday things: Gospel Study, Reading, Duty to God, Calling Jordan, Playing Board Games with my Family, Talking to Mom, Writing in my Journal, Doing stuff like this, Studying Preach My Gospel, and Prepping for Christmas
• What I want: WiiU Pro Controller
  • This is just a better Wii U Controller, just like the Gamepad, but without a screen (and no glitchy distance issues) Its also like $50.
• What I have: Amazing Life, Family
• My pet peeve: No Reason Screaming
• My Guilty Pleasure: Playing the Wii
• What you don’t know about me: A+’s, one B+
  • The B+ is in AP Chemistry, but everything else is an A+, even AP Calculus BC!
• What I hear: “Megan, to bed!”
• What I smell: Scent of Victory!!!
• My Style: Nerdy, I know
• My Hairdo: Up and Side
• My outfit: Blue Good-looking Sweater
• My mood: Life in Color!!!
  • by One Republic “This is Life in Color! Today feels like No Other!”
• The weather today: The moon’s out!
• Thoughts on Family: Jealous of Dad
• Thoughts on Marriage: This is awkward…
• Thoughts on Beauty: Still Got It
• Thoughts on Sleep: Short and Glorious
  • Sleeping is the best, but I hate oversleeping. I enjoy my sleep, but when its time to get up, I get up. I love it!
• Thoughts on Writing: Wish I Would
  • I always am coming up with great book ideas, but I never get around to writing the books. It stinks.
• My Favorite Thing: Calls with Jordan
  • Jordan moved to Florida, but we are still keeping in touch, with two to three hour calls at least once a week. Yesterday, I called her at 7 in the morning (which was 9 for her). She is always super fun to talk to. Neither of us can ever hang up on the other. Also, she had a date with this Juan guy, so I had to call her again at 7 at night to get the details on that.
• My Favorite Food: Watermelon, Always Watermelon
• My Favorite Splurge: Video Game Completionist
  • I am a Video Game Completionist. I would like to beat every Zelda game, for example. Right now, I’m playing Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask! I want to beat all the challenges in SSB4. I always have a purpose in playing games, whether its to beat the game, unlock something, get an achievement, or simply become the very best like no one ever was.
• My Favorite Treat: York Peppermint Patties
• Ten Years Ago: Ready for Baptism
• Five Years Ago: New, Short Deacon
• One Year Ago: Jedi for Halloween
  • Speaking of Halloween, I had an awesome time hanging out with Mark on Halloween last week up in Denver. We went to his ward chili cook-off, watched Signs, which was sweet, and played Skyrim! Overall, a fun time. Awesome to finally hang out with Mark again! We need to do it again sometime!
• One Year From Now: On a Mission!!!
• Five Years From Now: BYU, Getting Married!
• Ten years from now: Super Successful Guy
• I’m Famous For: My Great Attitude
• I’ll never be famous for: Smash Bros Skills (though I should be)
  • On Friday, I met up with my Soccer/AP Calculus friends, Weston and Garron, to practice soccer for the game on Saturday. (It must have paid off, because I scored one goal, and Garron scored the other two for our team.) Then, we came over to my house to play Smash Bros. (I won, btw) That game never gets old. And, then, Garron and I did our AP Chemistry Homework. Fun Stuff! (We have a Chem test tomorrow!)
• Who I am: Son of God
• Who I hope to be: Just Like Him
• What I’m thankful for: The Gospel Truth
  • I am SO THANKFUL for the gospel. One disappointing thing is that I’m trying to share it with Weston, but he isn’t interested. He just doesn’t understand. Its really sad. But, I’m so thankful to have the truth in my life, and I’m grateful that I know it’s the truth. I love my family, and my life, and my personality, and the time in which I get to live. I know the scriptures are of God, that Christ atoned for our sins, that the Holy Ghost will always be there to comfort us, and that they love each of us. And, finally, I am thankful for the understanding of the gospel that we have in these day, and the willingness of members and families to do the Lord’s will. (I didn’t bear my testimony in testimony meeting today, so hopefully this makes up for it.) I love my life!

Crags Trail

Tuesday I did a 4.8 mile hike on Crags Trail with Emma, Priscilla and friends from Pine Creek.  It was a perfect October day with clear skies.  So fun!