Trunk or Treat!

I just love Trunk or Treat. And I love it even more since our ward has it the day before Halloween so we get to take the kids out around the neighborhood too. I got some delicious white bean chili (anyone out there claim it? I'd love the recipe!) and yummy cornbread.

Eden wouldn't stand still for pictures before we left, and Levi was nowhere to be seen. Big surprise!This year we decked out our trunk with gauzy fabric, orange lights, our real jack-o-lantern, and plenty of loud Halloween tunes! I took the kids around while Peter passed out candy. The kids must be getting faster at walking, because it didn't take half as long as last year to make the rounds. I guess our trunk was a hit, because we won a prize for "Best Trunk"! I think it must have been because of Levi; he was sitting in the trunk the whole time, eating suckers and dancing along to the music. We ran out of candy after a while and I felt bad. I know some kids go around ten times, but I think some of the kids we turned away hadn't come by yet. Got to remember to bring more candy next year!

Here are Levi and me hanging out at our trunk! I had to ditch my Tinkerbell wings; they kept poking people! Jonah striking a pose...

And Eden diving into her loot! Don't worry, I took it all away after I took this picture.On Thursday night, we carved our pumpkins. The kids seemed to have a really good time, especially Eden and Levi, who kept playing in the goop. Jonah was more interested in the carving process. Eden would not take her hat off the whole time!

Levi really got a kick out of the finished Jack-o-Lanterns! He just kept cracking up at them!

Happy Halloween!

Birthday Recap

I had a great birthday! Peter took the day off work, and when the kids went to school, we went out to lunch with Levi. Then we did a little shopping at the mall, cleaned out the garage, and hung out at home. Later that night I went to the Cheesecake Factory with my friends for dinner. It was really fun and the Red Velvet Cheesecake was divine!

Me and Rachel

The cute candy bar card Jenny and Anna made
Me and AnnaMy cheesecake!

The whole group

Girls, thanks for a fun night out!

School Pictures

The preschool pictures are in! I think they turned out pretty good, mainly because they got retakes and I came along to help them smile! Jonah insisted on wearing that shirt, but I think it's okay. I wish his hair didn't look so wet :P
Levi also had his pictures taken recently by Kayleen for his 2nd birthday, and I forgot to post them. Here are some of my favorites- there are too many to choose from!

It kills me how much "Willard" is in this kid's looks!

A Tribute to my Twenties

Well, Twenties, it was fun while it lasted. We definitely had some good times and some not-so-good, but I can honestly say that it was fun while it lasted and I'll miss you. I am looking forward to what my Thirties will bring, but don't worry, I'll never forget you and what we once had. I just think it's best if I don't dwell on our time together but instead move on, keeping our memories together dear to my heart. So in farewell, here are some of the good times we've had.

When we started up, I was finishing up at Dixie. I had a cool job that paid the bills, good friends, good roommates (mostly), and an outlet for my cheesy musical side: Inspiration, the Institute show choir. Life was great.
Then I felt the need to move away from that wonderful place and try something new. So I moved to Provo, where I got demoted, barely survived, had no car, and almost no friends. We shared our 21st birthday in Provo. (Aubrey, you really saved my life up there.) It all worked out, because while I was there, two awesome things happened. 1. I decided to go on a mission. 2. I met this guy:
Okay, that picture was taken much later, but let's keep going. So I moved home and basically had the most memorable and fun Thanksgiving/Christmas season ever. My cousin Karena was living with us, and even though I wasn't the most optimistic about the idea at first, as soon as I moved home, I realized how fun it was going to be. Lots of good times and geeky Christmas dancing.
Then I left for the mission. I learned as much Russian as possible in the MTC and realized it wasn't much when I actually got there. But it came in time. We celebrated our 22nd birthday in one of my favorite places, Tyumen. I also got to serve in Perm (also great, obviously) and that was it. Two awesome areas.While I was gone, the Packard network was working hard on Peter, unbeknownst to me. (Ha ha, I love that word- unbeknownst! Anyway...) So when I came down to Carlsbad right after I got home, I met this guy again:
We celebrated our 23rd birthday down there with him. It was a bit awkward, being our first week dating. But we got over it, because later that year we got married and moved to Walnut Creek, California. We met some awesome friends there and generally had a marvelous time in spite of the poorness. Oh, Twenties... these were some great times.

I can't really remember our 24th birthday, but it must have been fun. Halloween birthdays are always fun.
When we turned 25, I was big with child. I was running stairs, swinging on swings, and praying that the baby would come early or at least on time. But he came 5 days late, even though I was literally running stairs every night for a week before he came. At least I got a good workout!
Our next few years together are kind of a blur. We moved to Arizona. I know that I found out a few weeks before our 26th birthday that we'd be having another baby. Already?!?! Yep. So our 27th birthday was probably spent nursing, changing diapers, and cleaning up spit up. Little did I know that in December we would find out we were going to have another baby. Really?!?! (Insert loud scream here.)
And we did. A month before our 28th birthday. This time we really spent our birthday nursing, changing diapers, and cleaning up spit up. But we had moved to a new house and were making new friends, and it was a good time.
It was then that I think I started to realize that our time together was coming to an end. I started worrying about the degree I had never finished, and the fact that I hadn't been back to Russia yet, and that I still wasn't running a successful business out of my home. So I decided to control what I could, and I dyed my hair yellow. These were pretty low times. It was too drastic for me and my hair was ruined. But you know what? I got it out of my system, whatever it was about moving on to my Thirties. Still, I wish we hadn't wasted that year feeling insecure. At least we came out of it before our time together was up.

On our 29th birthday, we had some family pictures taken. My hair had to be cut short because it was basically fried. But it's okay, I know a great photographer who fixed the problem nicely:

*Dusting off hands* There we go!

So here we are, Twenties. Our last day together. We sure have shared a lot. I will miss you and your carefree ways. I used to think our time would never run out, but it has, and I have to say that I am looking forward to spending the next decade with my new friend, my Thirties. After all, if Fifty is the new Thirty, then Thirty must be a lot like you, Twenties.

Another Crazy Weekend

Eden has been exercising her personality this week. I had to take some pictures of the kids for a Christmas project I'm doing, and I got some real gems from Eden...

This is her "smiling like a princess"
I'm sure she'll regret this one someday...

Anyway, we had a super crazy busy weekend! Jonah had another T-ball game Saturday morning. Here's an action shot for you!Jonah coming through the tunnel the parents make for the kids at the end of the game. Go Crocodiles!

Jonah's coach's business held a free carnival for their customers and invited the team, so we stayed and let the kids play. They had a great time fishing for toys, eating sugar cookies, jumping in the castle, and doing the cake walk. Jonah won and picked a teddy bear cake. It was really fun, but really hot, and the kids played hard. The kids had a birthday party for their friend afterward, and Peter and I went to a costume party after that! I was so busy getting the kids to the party and getting our costumes ready that I didn't take pictures of either party. Guess you'll just have to wait for the Trunk-or-Treat to see our costumes :)

I caught Jonah singing in the shower the other day. He's singing "This is Halloween" from Nightmare Before Christmas. Halfway through he caught me taping, but at least that didn't stop him singing!

Some nights (against my will), Peter will let Eden and Levi stay up and play quietly if they stay in Eden's room. However, they never seem to stay in for long. I don't know why they want to come out, but we always hear Eden whispering, "Shh! Levi, come on!" while they creep out into the hall. We always laugh when we hear that.

And I used to always wonder what it would be like to have an older brother. You know, someone who could protect me, take me off-campus for lunch as a freshman, and introduce me to plenty of upperclassmen I could date :) Well, poor Eden. I think I'm glad it worked out the way it did for me.

Our Weekend

Jonah had his first T-ball game on Saturday. It was pretty cute. Our team did really well, and in my opinion won, even though we don't keep score ☺

These kids are all three and four years old. It is amazing that they can learn the game this young! They play three innings per game. They don't keep score, and there are no doubles and no outs; the kids run to the next base every hit. It's a great way for these little guys to understand baseball.

Here are the kids with their coach, deciding on a team name. The kids had a few ideas: Ninja Turtles, Lions, and Gators, but we went with the Crocodiles!

The kids in their batting line-up:

The spectators:

Here is Jonah batting...

...and I just noticed that that pitcher just ran the ball to first base! Cheap!

That's one good thing about our team and coach. Our kids learn to stop the ball, then throw it to first base. Sometimes they get out of position and dog pile on the ball, but they are learning to throw.

Batting again...

Grandma, Lexie, and Sharrid showed up halfway through the game. Jonah was pretty excited to have so many supporters, especially his last time batting. We all cheered for him as he ran to first base and he looked over at us and had the cutest smile on his face! I think he was really excited to see Grandma.

Here they are doing their cheer...

Go Crocodiles!

The kids had fun with their cousins after the game. It was record-breaking hot this weekend, so the kids were ready to get in that pool! I think we need a bigger one, but the kids don't seem to mind their knees buckling as they hit that wall...

Grandma and Kira had to leave before we went to church. Here are the kids all ready to go. Kira did Levi's hair!

Thanks for coming, Kira and Grandma! See you at Thanksgiving!