Oh Halloween, how I love you.

Oh the joys of Halloween. Here are some of my highlights so far:

Positive: Setting up a new door bell that has 4 different screams, and ghost sounds
Negative: Jonny ringing the door-bell 30 times a day

Positive:Being able to order anything Halloweenish from Oriental Trading.
Negative: I didn't realize that when I ordered a dozen slime filled toilets that the slime would actually come out.

Positive: Jonny decided instead of Bobby Flay he would be Mario for Halloween.
Negative: This comes with Jonny trying to sound like an Italian 24 hours a day.

Postive: I finally finished making Ben his Aragon costume complete with leather duster thing and cloak.
Negative: Conversation with Ben concerning the costume:
Me: "Hey, I finished your Aragon costume today"
Ben: "What! I told you I wanted to be Aragorn not Aragon"
Me: "Seriously! I thought you wanted to be the guy from Lord of the Rings
Ben: "Yea, Aragorn!"

I then went to a middle earth web-site and realized that they are indeed the same person.

All in all, it is still my favorite time of year.

Too much Reverence is a Bad Thing

Having to travel 4+ hours to attend a temple is a new thing for us. I realize I didn't have to sell everything I own and travel on a bus sitting by a chicken, but it was still a long drive. So we packed up our Oreo's and Nutter butters and headed north to Spokane.
While Dave and I were in the temple Nate was in charge of the kids at a church house across the street. There were plenty of activities planned and we just asked Nate to help keep the kids fairly reverent. When we came out this is what we found.

I am so glad they had such an uplifting day.

Like Father Like Son

For Homecoming week (bigger than the Superbowl here) the school had the typical days where the students could dress up. I tried to get Nate to dress up each day but he was totally not interested until Thursday. Nate walked into the kitchen looking like this The best part about Nerd Day was that Nate found his entire outfit in his Dads closet.

Haven't heard that one before

It's good to share what's on your mind, Right? I mean, how much better would society be, if we were just honest all the time. I think some in Montana have mastered this concept. Some of my more memorable conversations go like this.

"I think it is your personality that I just don't like"
"Are all people from Colorado like you?"
Yet, I think my favorite was this last week at church. We like many of you have been studying the Apostle Paul.

Unknown offender: "I think if the Apostle Paul had met you, he would have really hated you."

Huh, that's a new one. I think we should follow their examples and strive to be honest in all our daily doings. Or, maybe not.

You told Sarah What?

In a couple weeks I am planning a gigantic "Tangled" party for a cute little girl in my ward. So being the smart parent that I am, I decided to post-pone Sarah's birthday until that week. This way after I've built towers, made wigs, etc. I can have Sarah a little party with a few of her friends and just use the same decorations. Brilliant Right!

So my evil plan was to not tell Sarah it's her birthday today. Don't think bad thoughts about me, she's 3 and has no concept of time. Little did I know that both older brothers would remember that today is the day. This morning while I am still in bed, and I thought the boys were eating cereal, this is what I heard.

Nate and Ben in Unison: Happy Birthday Sarah!! We've made you a special Birthday Breakfast

Sarah: (muffled but I can understand) It's my birthday!!!! YEAAAAAAA!!!!

So, I just called one of her little friends to come over to a princess tea-party at 2:00 today. This will test my great skills at party planning with only a few hours, and no Wal-mart.

Now, all of you who I told not to call Sarah today on her birthday are free to do so.

Happy Birthday my sweet princess (or beast as I sometimes call her )

That's Ravalli over there in the Maroon jersey

I always thought it was a bad thing when you showed up at a party in the exact same outfit as someone else. Yea, no one cares about that rule here. The most disturbing thing about Nate's last game was I was the only one who seemed to notice that both teams were in identical jerseys.

Luckily, Nate is a foot taller than anyone else on the field, and of course the announcer kept me informed by saying " that was #58 Ravalli"