Happy Halloween

(Thanks for the picture Sonja)

The actual costumes

Sadie's costume lasted about 30 minutes. No one even got to see her in it.

Erica was so excited to be a chicken this year. She talked about it all the time. I was really surprised she didn't want to be a princess. She got the chicken costume from her aunt a few years ago, but she can still squeeze into it. Her costume lasted about an hour and then she got too hot. Yes-too hot. This is Arizona. So we returned home for costume number two.

This lasted another hour. Not a bad idea. Do a costume switcheroo and you can hit up houses twice. Many of the houses were dark this year and it seemed like only 3 year olds or high school kids were trick-or-treating. Erica had a blast, even though she was a little scared of some of the decorations.

What do you call 9 people in a 3 bedroom house?

Answer: Our life in October.

Troy's brother is in his 4th year of medical school and he had a one month rotation in Tucson. We convinced him to bring his wife and 3 kids along. That made for 9 people in a 17oo square foot home. Some people called us crazy, but we had a blast. We would totally do it again.

They were great house guests. They left my house cleaner than when they came. The kids entertained Erica all day long. We had constant activities and entertainment. We miss them and we are so glad they came.

If you are interested, here is some serious picture overload of the last month.

Matching dresses


I was trying to get the girls to hold up their fingers for the year, "2010". It didn't work out so well.


Trying to crawl like Sadie.

What happens when you finger paint a rock and then let your baby eat it?

Flossing was a favorite activity.

I think they were acting as caterpillars.

Skyping with Aunt Sonja.

They loved it when Troy made forts (or "forks" if you are Erica...she also calls the game chess, "chest").

Snuggling up after swimming.

Noah wanted to take a picture of Sadie's messy face.

We went to open gym.

We went to the zoo.

Watched movies.

Went boating a few times. This was after a serious microburst of a storm. Everyone was drenched. (I missed this trip because I was in Utah.)

We decorated for Halloween.

They had fun together.

They played dress-up and danced and danced and danced.

They bathed together.

We will miss them. (Ha Ha Julie. I beat you to a post.)

Girl's Weekend

The second weekend in October I had my first real girl's weekend getaway in Vegas. My college freshman roommates got together for the first time in 15 years. It was a total blast. We are all married, have kids and are so grown up. I can't believe how much has happened.

We stayed up until past 3am the first night. I don't think I've done that since my college days. We talked about doing a lot of stuff, but we really just ended up talking, talking, eating and some more talking. I thought I would get to sleep with no kids, but I probably slept less than normal.

These are inspirational women. They taught me a lot 15 years ago and again this weekend. I look forward to our next reunion.

Papa's Funeral

The first weekend of October, I had the privilege of attending my grandfather's funeral in Salt Lake City. He was my last surviving grandparent. I will miss him, but I am glad he no longer has to deal with physical suffering.

The funeral service was filled with beautiful music and speakers. It was wonderful to see so many of my family members all at once.

My oldest brother with 2 of his kids


Two more brothers and some nieces.


More brothers and a sister-in-law (okay, 1 is the same as the picture above, but I really do have 6 brothers)


Another brother and sister-in-law


My one and only sister


Some more sister-in-laws and nieces


My 2 best cousins growning up


The graveside service was beautiful as well. My Papa was a WWII Veteran so he had a flag over his coffin that was folded and presented to the oldest grandson bearing his last name. There were also some gun shots and a bagpipe player playing Taps.



My immediate family members that were able to attend.


Following the services, we were grateful to be able to return to the church for a luncheon provided by Papa's ward. I know it took a lot of time out of their Saturday to prepare the food and serve us. It was greatly appreciated.

Here is my mom and dad at the luncheon.

It was a very quick trip, but I am so glad I did it. We were able to spend some more time as a family together on Sunday (while attempting to watch General Conference). We are grateful to the Claytons, who let us stay at their house.

Oceanside September 2010

In September we decided to do a long weekend getaway at the beach. We spent hours searching for something and finally came up with this great place in Oceanside. It was a little one bedroom condo right on the beach. Since we went in late September, we got off season rates. We were also lucky enough to have Troy's sister come along too.

This was such an awesome trip. I would love to make it an annual tradition.

Right outside our door was a beautiful view of the ocean and a sand pit that Erica played in for hours. Guess we better get a sandbox now.



A short ways down the boardwalk were 2 different parks. We spent hours swinging and playing on the playground. Even Sadie liked to swing. I didn't mind pushing this time either because I had a beautiful view in the background.


The water was a little cool for me, but I did get in once. Apparently, a huge swell came in the day we got there. The waves were about 10 feet high. Even Troy wouldn't go all the way out, so I know they were big.


Sadie loved the sand too and came away with minimal ingestion of sand.

Family Pic

We are making more of an effort to get pictures of the two of us together.

Troy pondering how he can quit his job and move to the beach.

Molly was a huge help. We are so glad she came along. Can't wait to meet her new baby in December.

Another family pic

Make-shift high chair. Didn't work out so well.

Sadie slept in the closet of the one-bedroom condo (about 350 square feet) and Erica slept in the kitchen on some couch cushions. Comfy!!