the last of the halloween pics

Trick or treating in the neighborhood train. This was so much fun for the kids! This is Ben and Hank.. our favorite little neighbor.

The LOOT. Let's just hope this lasts until Christmas..

NO HANDS!
After all the candy and junk, we have to finish the night off with a donut eating contest.. it's tradition.

Happy Halloween!

here are a few pictures the trunk or treat.

Ben and Luke insisted we return early from our trip to Utah so we wouldn't miss our ward party.

Was it worth the sacrifice? Maybe.

We just couldn't miss bowling with squash,

An authentic PLINKO game,

or the chili cookoff.

oh, and there was a little train that took the kids (and a few adults) around the church parking lot.

It would have been a better night, had we not gotten a flat tire on the way home.

Yes, we were still in costume... just imagine how many people stopped to help a nun and priest.

we have reason to party

I really love this time of year... mainly because my kids are old enough to appreciate a chance to party when there is one. Today we had friends from the neighborhood come over in costumes to decorate cookies, play games and eat good food! Now that's what I call a good time.

these are different costumes than what they wore to our ward party, but it's always fun to change it up. Kristy sent us home with this blow up shark costume for Luke. He probably won't wear it trick or treating, but it was fun for an hour or so...
Luke was pretty tired after they all went home.. we all were, frankly. Can you find him in there?

we're famous..

okay. not really. but today a friend from Spokane called and said that this picture is hanging in a portrait studio in the mall.
My husband and I have a "discussion" every Halloween about maturity. How old is too old to dress up? I think adults who don't are boring... that's right, I said it. You only have one day a year to dress up and do something fun and crazy and you should take advantage of the opportunity. Live a little, people. Where's the excitement in your life? Anyway, back to the picture...
Last year, Ben had the idea of dressing up like the characters of the Wizard of Oz. We had a couple of months to plan.. and this meant I had more time to convince my husband that we needed him.. The night before Halloween, Aaron reluctantly agreed to be the scarecrow. He is such a good sport. All of the costumes are homemade (except for Luke's Lion.. which we already had) Yes, my dress is made from a bedsheet. Anyway, Spokane was way too cold to be outside, so after our ward party, we took our kids to the mall. While trick or treating around the stores, a photo studio asked if they could take a family portrait. Aaron said absolutely not... But after a little coaxing (giving all the pictures to us for free) he agreed. I was thrilled because I can never drag him into a studio to do family pictures, especially dressed up in costume. Why do men hate taking pictures so much? Nevertheless, the portraits turned out fabulous. We went home with a packet of free pictures and found out later that this one is hanging in the studio. It's probably just during the Halloween season but who cares? We're totally famous. I knew that someday, somehow.. we would put our faces on the map.
PS. this picture is not my fav of the session, but it's the one they picked to enlarge to a 20X24 or whatever. I like it except for my hand. It's like I am holding on for dear life or something.. no wonder Zack's not smiling.. I am stabbing my fingers into his side. (Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see better) Doesn't that look so awkward?

children of the corn

Since we were in Bear Lake most of our vacation, we decided to spend our last day at Thanksgiving Point with cousins. It was super windy, but we all had such a great time.. corn maze, scary monsters, hay ride, and lots of fun things for the kids (and for some of us who haven't grown up yet)

And another slide show... cause there's just too many pictures to post. enjoy.

meeting Sara Jean

Our trip up north was great-- very cold, but wonderful. I wasn't prepared (since we're still wearing shorts everyday.) I did pack one pair of pants and one sweatshirt for each of my boys... and that's all they wore the entire week. It was SO great to see Deb's little Sara. I am tearing up right now cause I miss her already! She's so far away and she will grow so fast. Here is the beautiful baby girl.

She has gorgeous blue eyes and long, curled eyelashes. Deb is such a cute mom of three little girls!

We spent most of the time at Bear Lake @ the Jeffery's big cabin.. it was absolutely beautiful! Deb and her girls came, plus Francine and Adam and Val and Annie.. it was a fun crowd. We went four wheeling, played at the lake, ate yummy food and stayed up too late talking and laughing. I know there are more pictures, but I never seemed to have my camera.. here is what I have for now.


We also were able to spend an afternoon with Matt and Val in Logan. The kids played in the leaves and we went to a cool pumpkin patch. Val took our family pictures in the gorgeous Logan scenery.. she is such a talented gal.

congrats A-diddy

so, the big party that I was scheming and planning didn't happen. I was totally bummed, but Aaron was not and I guess that's all that matters. But I think my friends could tell that I was bummed about not doing something. Karlin and Fran surprised us with a pizza party. It was great to see the Kessler crew. and Francine is such a sweetheart-- she made a banner and bought a delish cake. Aaron said that night that out of all the reactions about passing the bar, Fran's was the best. That is a HUGE compliment. Francine called about an hour after we got the results and she was screaming on the phone. It was so sweet!


I LOVE my gal pals... as cool as my husband is, it's so necessary to have girlfriends! I wouldn't be who I am without my friends... so this is a shout out to all my homies!

Halloweens Past

We are getting SO excited for the BIG DAY!! I was just flipping through old pictures with the boys and thought I would post a few from years past.. maybe this will give you some ideas.......

Utah, here we come....

We are headed for Salt Lake tomorrow and I am SO excited to see everyone...especially my new little niece! We are leaving after church. I would love to drive early in the morning and avoid the worshiping all together (I know, I'm such a sinner) but tomorrow is our Primary program in Sacrament meeting.. and I cannot wait. Aaron and I volunteered to help with the 'dress rehearsal' this morning, and I couldn't stop the tears from coming.. so tender! My testimony needs help these days, and these little children are so precious--especially my own.


Lately Zack is obsessed with the picture of the temple in my bedroom. He points to it and says, "child o' God?" Ben and Luke think it's completely hilarious of course.. but he has now learned to say "PemPOOL." He's talking up a storm.. most of which we can't understand... and it's SO cute. Do I always say "I love this age?" Because I really love this age..

A couple of days ago, I was downloading pictures of our camping trip and found these on our camera. I often find a series of photos that were not taken by me... these of Zack in an old pair of my glasses, were a pleasant surprise. I asked the boys who was the photographer and Ben said, "Mom, it was just too cute, I couldn't resist." So true. Zack is often a showoff, but I am surprised at the number of pictures he posed for.. I am posting only a few of the session!!

my husband, the rockstar....

Bar results are in and guess who PASSED?

That's right... my sexy husband!

Aaron passed! He passed!! Say it with me now...

Can I just take a minute and brag about my man? He is seriously THE COOLEST. He is such a smart, wonderful, honest, hard-working, brilliant, funny, sweet and humble guy. I am SO proud of him and knew he would pass, but it's great to get the official news. Law school isn't easy for anyone, but Aaron almost made it look that way. With classes, transferring schools, church responsibilities, 3 kids and a crazy wife-- I don't know how he balances it all. He has always put his family first and throughout this whole process there hasn't been a single time where we have felt neglected or second best. He is such an amazing man and I am so happy for him and all his accomplishments! I love you, Aaron. It's downhill from here, baby... (we all know that's not true!) But this is a big milestone for our family.

happy campers

For those of you who don't know, Aaron lost his job. His firm's major client filed for bankruptcy.. and it's a small firm and Aaron was the bottom of the totem pole. It came as a shock, but it's definitely not the end of the world. He will find more work, I mean, seriously, what firm wouldn't want Aaron around?.. and until then, we are having a great time together. The kids don't go to "school" and daddy is around to hang out.. Bar results come soon so we are trying to relax while we can. On Monday night, we headed to Lake Mead for a good time. We camped by the water and went to Hoover Dam. It was an excellent getaway.. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE being out with my family.
I am still in shock over the WEATHER! I have never been camping (especially in October) when our kids weren't freezing. We packed their sweatshirts, but they didn't need them-- they were in shorts and tees the whole time. It was incredibly warm and wonderful. Check out our home video page for good times inside our tent!

rise and shout

It was a beautiful night for BYU football. Kevin and a bunch of his friends drove down to Vegas for the game (we had 15 people sleeping at our place on Friday night!) We were lucky enough to get awesome seats on row 10. and yes, if you were watching closely, we were caught on camera a couple of times! Go cougs!
Talking trash with the drunk UNLV fans was especially entertaining. They were really obnoxious and couldn't resist making fun of our religion... probably because they couldn't say anything about the game. We heard it all-- polygamy (all references coming from Big Love), Mountain Meadows massacre, and how it should be called the Mormon West Conference because all the refs are on our side... right. I had such a hard time not rubbing the win in their faces. Honestly, Kevin and Aaron were just laughing it off but I was such a poor sport and was making fun of every bad play they had... it was all I could do from keeping myself from punching them. Why do I take everything so personally? I am SO competitive and wouldn't have had such a fun night had the score not been in our favor. I might need to take a few anger management classes.

We were very lucky to get a couple of pictures, considering that my batteries were dead before we arrived at the stadium. Kev-- thanks for coming down and hanging with us, even though we're old and married with children. The girl who snatches you up at the Y is a lucky one!

partying the WRIGHT way

me, my friends and our babies

I felt like I had to wait forever until my girl friends joined the motherhood club... and it's simply wonderful watching them raise their little ones. I'm also very glad I am not the only one lugging around strollers and diaper bags!!

a few more from the pool.. I know I keep talking about this weather, but it is absolutely beautiful!