A little Halloween Fun

BOO AT THE ZOO

On Saturday we went to Boo at the Zoo. It was fun to see all the other trick-or-treaters dressed up. Brigham and Kaiya loved seeing the animals. I think the zebras, giraffes and penguins were their favorite animals. The train was definitely at the top of their fun list too. A JACK O' LANTERN FAMILY HOME EVENING

For Family Home Evening we carved jack'olanterns. We took Brigham and Kaiya to the store (not nearly as fun as a pumpkin patch) and they chose a pumpkin. Then we let them draw a design on it.

Kaiya decided to tattoo her eye as well. After they designed their pumpkins I helped them carve a face into the pumpkin. Then they helped me clean all the goop out from the inside. After Brigham and Kaiya's pumpkins were finished Caleb and I attempted to carve our own. It was a Siamese pumpkin; I found it a couple of weeks ago at the store. I loved how unique it was, so I bought it.

We are trying to decide the best way to approach removing the top of this double pumpkin. Since it was the first double pumpkin, we did not want to make any false moves. :)

We carved Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde faces into the pumpkin.

Caleb is showing off his traditional cheesy smile. He loves to make fun of people who smile in pictures. Anytime I ask him to smile he throws me the cheesiest expresion he can. It never ceases to crack me up/annoy me. For our lesson Caleb talked about light. He told them the story of Jesus lighting stones for the Jaredite's barges, so they could have light in the darkness. He related it to how temples light up during the darkness of night. Then we turned off all the lights and lit the jack'o lanterns for the kids to see. They loved it. We ended the night by watching Harry Potter. It was a fun family home evening to help us get ready for Halloween.

Double Tagged

This time I was tagged by Gwen. She would like to know six of my quirks. Are you sure only six Gwen? I do have a plethora of them.

1. I cannot stand to have cupboard doors and closet doors open. Anytime I see them open I will shut them. I will even crawl out of a warm bed on a cold winter's night just to shut any open doors. The good news is I am not alone with this quirk. My sister Aimee and I share this trait. Perhaps is it genetic.

2. I cannot stand to have blinds open at night or shut during the day. I am not sure where this one came from, but I know my sister Aimee also shares this same quirk. Our husbands discovered we both shared it one night while they were discussing how wonderful their wives were. LOL

3. I hate unfinished projects. Granted, I have my fair share of them - and they drive me crazy; nevertheless, I can never seem to rest easy until I have completed my list, current chore, or project. I realized how bad I have this quirk when one night my sister Aimee and I drove to Wal-mart at 1:00 AM to purchase supplies to finish an end table we were in the process of refinishing.
4. I have this odd belief I can fix everything. If anything ever breaks my first thought is "I can fix that." My favorite products are hot glue, mod podge, and various colors of paint.
What looks like a piece to junk to most people is usually saying to me "I am, a diamond in the ruff, come fix me." My favorite places to shop are discount centers, and the damaged section in stores. I love getting an item for 75% off and then taking it home, slapping a coat of a paint on it, tightening a few screws, and voila it looks great. The only problem is most of the time I am not as brilliant with remodeling as I like to think I am. A fair share of my projects end up looking worse or going in the trash anyways. But the point is, this quirk of fixing up broken down and old things is one of my favorite past times. I like to think I am giving stuff another chance at life. However, if I want to be completely honest I could say I am in the junk business---LOL

5. I can daydream like it is nobody's business. I remember in third grade my mom was called in to talk to the teacher. I was not in trouble because I talked too much. Heaven forbid, I am as shy as they come. My mom was called in because I daydreamed in class too much. This is a problem I still have today. I have an extremely overactive imagination. I don't have a rational defense for this behavior. It is simply an odd quirk I have. I just love stories and sometimes you have to write your own. In my defense though, it is a fun past time. Except for the times the little melodramas in my head will bring me to tears, but that is a story for another day.



6. I either talk a mile a minute or not at all. I suppose I keep all my thoughts bottled up until they just come spewing out. Most people have a nice medium range of conversation. I don't. My mom tells me that when I was a toddler I would not stop talking (a trait both my children have). Then as a teenager, she could hardly get me to talk. I like to think I said everything I had to say at the age of two. However, still today in conversations, I will either have a lot to say, and will often rudely interrupt the conversation, or I will just sit, listen, and let everyone else do the talking. Like all my other quirks I am not sure of the origin of this trait, but until I find my medium range, I will simply continue to bounce between overly animated and overly boring in my conversations.



I tag Sarah.

Tag .....I'm It!

10 years ago I...
1. was dating Caleb. We had just wrecked his car while listening to the song Mr. Bojangles. (His Fault)
2. attending Ricks College
3. 20 years old
4. was driving my soon to be wrecked red Mitsubishi Mirage car (my fault)
5. preparing to dress up as Mrs. Claus for a Halloween dance. (Caleb was Santa Claus-super cheesy, what do you expect from Ricks College students)

5 Things on today's "to do" list...boring, I know
1. Clean the house.....check
2. Go grocery Shopping.....check
3. Collect "Pennies by the Inch" donations from my neighbors....check
4. Write up this week's dinner menu....check
5. Remove virus on my computer (AHHHHHH!!!).....still working on it :(

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire... (obviously I could not do them all, but here are some of the possibilities)
1. Never live in one place longer than six months
2. Adopt several children from around the world
3. Hire a chef, housekeeper, and an on-call babysitter-AKA assitant for myself
4. Invest it
5. Seek out worthwhile causes around the world

5 places I have lived...
1.) San Jose. CA
2.) Rexburg, ID
3.) Stillwater, OK
4.) Kaoshiung, Taiwan
5.) St. Clair, MI

5 jobs I have had...
1.) ESL High School Teacher
2.) Life Skills Aide for Upper Valley Industries (A center for disabled adults)
3.) Cashier for Old Navy
4.) Intake worker for Juvenile Detention Center
5.) Front Desk Clerk for Quality Inn

I tag...Gwen, Aimee, my Mom, Coty, and Caleb

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

A New Favorite Place

The Bohemian Restaurant

On Thursday, Caleb's co-workers Nanci and DL, took us to a German restaurant which they like a lot. DL is German, so we trust his tastes when it comes to German food. Caleb was excited to try something new, but for those of you who know how picky I am with food you will not be surprised to know I was a little more cautious about going since bratwurst and sauerkraut were the only German food I knew. However, I was wrong. The food was fantastic. Caleb and I shared an order of Schnitzel and a side of Spaetzle. Oh, and I can't forget the desert of chocolate hazelnut crepes. YUM!
During the course of the conversation our friend's wife told us we had now eaten Schnitzel with noodles like in one of the songs from "The Sound of Music." How cool is that???
Overall, It was fun to try another new culture of food and spend time getting to know new friends.

Disclaimer: I am still a little camera shy in public restaurants (another of my odd little quirks) so, I discreetly snatched a few photos of my half eaten meal and then one of Brigham. So I apologize about the not too snazzy pics. However, I now realize that this quirk is interfering with my blogging life. Perhaps I should contemplate overcoming it??

Moments I Felt Happy This Week

1. Going outside in the early morning to turn on the sprinklers. The song of a bird caught my attention. I stood for several minutes just listening and thinking about the many blessings in this world. The song of a bird is a simple thing, but I believe it is one of the many blessings God has hidden around us. It is always there, but I haven't always recognized it. Discovering one of these hidden blessings always make me happy.

2. Watching a naked Kaiya run excitedly down the hall and into the bathroom in anticipation of her favorite time. BATH TIME.

3. Watching Kaiya pick up her doll, give it a hug and gently lay it down into a makeshift crib. It looked similar to her own bedtime routine. It was fun to watch her imitate it.


4. Seeing the excitement on Brigham's face as he opened a care package from Grandma Homer. Watching him share his new Thomas Stickers with Kaiya. Then getting to watch Brigham and Kaiya carefully select the next sticker to plaster all over their bedroom mirror.

5. The following conversation with Brigham:

"I am going upstairs to get the vacuum. I'll be right back."

"Okay. Mom? Bak-cume wit you, mom?"

"Sure, lets go get it."

"Okay, wets git et mom." "Mom, ba-cume -gether." (this last line was said with a hug)

6. Last night we went to a Halloween Party. As we were leaving unprompted Brigham yelled out "Bye-Thanks for the wham-booger. (Hamburger)

7. Three days this week Kaiya has woken up before Brigham. I have been able to bring her back to bed with me and the two of us just snuggle. She has never been much of a cuddly baby, so I really love those moments when she is. (I kind of think she is liking this snugly game too.) It is fun to have some alone time with her.

8. Hearing Brigham repeatly saying "n-ma-wee (Emilee), I need help"

9. Hiking with Caleb at night. Standing and overlooking the city lights and being able to just sit and talk for an hour while Brigham and Kaiya played near by.

10. Having Brigham walk into the room with one of his trains and say "I wuv him, mom."

One of Caleb's co-worker repeatedly tells him that he at the best time of his life. Having a young family is the happiest time of life. I am not positive about that because I have only just arrived at this point in my life I have not experienced the other phases, and I believe each phase will have its own highlights. However, I do agree that there is something special about this time in my life. I can sense it as I live each day. My biggest fear is that I will take this precious time, or even life itself for granted. President Monson gave a fantastic talk on it at conference this last week called "Finding Joy in the Journey." His is a message I truly want to take to heart. If you didn't get a chance to hear it I highly recommend it.

A Small Taste of Heaven

One of the things Caleb and I miss most about living in Taiwan is the food. Last night Caleb's Chinese tutor stopped by with some YUMMY! dinner for us. She is from Taiwan and a marvelous cook. She brought by some fried noodles, chicken and broccoli, shrimp, and egg flower soup. It was a little taste of what we were missing. Hooray! for nice people that suprise us with dinner. WHAT A TREAT!!!

My favorite news is that I am in the process of setting up cooking lessons with her. I am very excited to learn. Hopefully she knows what she is getting into attempting to teach ME how to cook.

On second thought maybe this isn't such a good idea. We currently eat out a lot. So, If I learn how to cook a few fast food chains might have to start joining the banks in the current economic crisis.

Then the government might then have to create a second government bailout bill with another new oversight agency. HMMMM?

The last thing we need is an even bigger govenment. Perhaps my learning to cook might cause more trouble than I realized. This could be a problem.

Big Mac anyone???

Kung Fu-"ed" (tagged) by Gwen

Rules- Go to "my pictures" post the 6th picture in the 6th folder then pass on the tag.

This is a picture of two fantastic people, Clark and Aldeen. They are Caleb's parents and seriously the best in-laws I could wish for.
While Caleb and I lived in Taiwan we were able to have many visitors including my parents, two of my siblings, four of Caleb's siblings and his parents. During the visit with Caleb's parents and sister Chalan we ventured over to various parts of China including Hong Kong. This picture was taken at an overlook of Hong Kong. As you can tell from the background it was a misty day. Cloudy or not, it was still a beautiful site. Perhaps it was more spectacular because of the mists.

However, I do have to admit this picture does not bring back entirely pleasant memories. Moments before this was taken, Caleb and I had gotten in an arguement over the purchase of a traditional styled Chinese suit for our son Brigham. I was insistent we could find a better price. Caleb was insistent after weeks of looking this was the first time we had found exactly what we were looking for. He argued buy now; I argued buy later. Everyone else waited with awkward silence for the little scuffle to end. In the end, we purchased the suit and I sulked for thirty minutes or so.

Looking back, I was pretty mad. Lets just say we are lucky I am not a KUNG FU expert. Otherwise I am sure I would have attacked Caleb with a quick yet precise jab followed by a round house kick leaving him in a TKO. I would have dragged his unconscious body far away from the store and the transaction would not have taken place. Yes, we are lucky I have been too lazy to learn KUNG FU because as it turns out we never did see another suit just like that one! Caleb was right. I was wrong. A truly rare moment indeed. :)

Like I said before, this is a picture from one of the best trips of my life, but I will always cringe with embarrassment at the memory of my behavior that day.

I tag: Chalan, Mena, and Cody