All Hallow's Eve

 It is no secret that I am not a huge fan of Halloween.  I just can't figure out what it is that we are celebrating.  I get the whole historical significance of this day that comes before All Saint's Day, but it is blown waaaay out of proportion in my opinion.

Luckily for my kids, their Grandma's are much more festive than me. 

 The kids look forward to Grandma JoAnn's Annual Halloween Party every year.  Even though my little goblins are really the only ones young enough that live close enough to really get in on the fun, Grandma still goes all out.

All the kids and Grandma get in costume before we go to Grandma's Haunted House for spooky games and witchy food.  

 This year we carved pumpkins with our friends the Noll's.  Levi's choice to get the biggest pumpkin he could find at the Big Red Barn ended up being a beast to gut.

 No power tools or fancy patterns for us...just old school Jack-O-Lanterns carved by kids.  That's the way we like it.

 The kids got to wear their costumes to school.

 Titus and I went up to watch the School Halloween Parade.

 Isaac walked through the parade with his best friends Macy and Raelee.

 And Daisy was cracking us up.

 Soon after the kids got home from school it was time for Trick-or-Treating.

 When we went to visit my parents at the beginning of the month, my mom took all the kids shopping and bought them whatever Halloween gear they wanted. They were in heaven...and I was so thankful.

 This guy LOVED his Superman costume...and still asks to wear it.

 I don't know what these two would do without each other...or what I would do without them.

 Isaac morphed from Captain America at school in to a Monkey for Trick-or-Treating.

 I love that we can go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood just like I did when I was a kid. 

 Titus is oh-so-super.

 Happy Halloween from the Circus.

Saying Goodbye

Specific sounds and smells have the kind of sensory power to transcend time and space.  When I hear the sound of the Bosch mixer and the smell of the warm oven, it is as though I am a young girl living at home with my parents all over again.  Every Saturday morning, and many days in between, my mom was in the kitchen mixing and making something.  Most often it was cinnamon rolls, which she took neighbors, friends, and ward members anytime a baby was born, or a loved one was lost, or any occasion which deserved celebration or compassion.  I've eaten way more homemade bread in my lifetime that I've eaten bread bought at a store.  One day after we had been married for a few years, Jeff asked me why I didn't bake.  I answered simply, "Because I don't have a Bosch."  How did he expect me to make anything without one?  I wasn't trying to sound spoiled, I simply didn't know how.  We always had one growing up.  We used it for everything. 

When we make the trip home to spend time with my parents, it is not a rare occasion for the Bosch to make it's appearance.  My kids love cooking with Grandma.  On this trip, they were making Mackendocker's Cake for my great-grandma's funeral.
This picture was taken in May of 2010 at Grandma Adams' birthday party.  It is of me, holding my son Isaac when he was 1, my mom, her mom (Grandma Holyoak) and Grandma Holyoak's mother-in-law, Lova Adams, my great-grandma.  My mom's dad died when he was only 36 years old, on my mom's 14th birthday.  I never knew him, but I knew his mom, Grandma Adams.  She lived in Washington my whole life.  We would stop and visit on shopping trips to St. George.  There were pecan trees in the yard to the side of her house.  Grandpa would shake the pecans from the tree with a big pole.  We would gather them up and then Grandma would shell them.  She had a big birthday calendar on her wall with all of the birthdays of all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Many of the names I knew, but some were cousins that were too distant for me to recognize.  Grandma Adams died last week at the age of 96. 

 The kids and I went down for the funeral.  We stopped at Chick-Fil-A in St. George for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Jones, and Chelsea and Jamie before the viewing began.

 And we all got special Chick-Fil-A hats.

 This is my family!  I am so lucky!

 Saying goodbye to my grandma was not a sad thing for me.  I have all happy memories of her, and she lived a very long, very good life.  Like anyone that has been on earth for 96 years, she went through some very hard things in her life.  I feel proud of the legacy she has left for me, one of strength, hard work, determination, frugality, and humility.

 As soon as the funeral was over we were off to the mountain.  The kids couldn't wait to get there.

Grandma always has fun projects to do while we are at the mountain, things the kids don't get to do when we are at home.

The mountain really is a kid's dream come true.  You get to be dirty and play with stick, dirt, and rocks.  You get to go on adventures and be outside all the time.  You get to have a fire!  You get to be noisy (unless Grandpa tells you to use your 'primary voice' because it is the opening day of the deer hunt...right.)  You get to eat junk food.  And you get to be with Grandpa and Grandpa.  What more could a kid want?

 My parents love this place.  They spend every weekend all summer long here.  This was the last trip of the season. The leaves have already fallen and the snow will not be far behind.  We won't go back to the mountain until next May.  Saying goodbye to the mountain feels lonely and sad for them.

 We spent our time loading up camp and packing up for the winter.  We had a great time.  We look forward to making lots more memories at the mountain.

Fall Fest: Big Red Barn

 I love us.  Does that sound arrogant?  I don't mean it to be.  I just love this amazing family I have.  I love our imperfections and our craziness and our everything.  I just love us.

 Most years we have made it to The Big Red Barn for the hayride to the pumpkin patch.  Last year we were smack in the middle of house building and didn't do anything for fall festivities, so this year we promised the kids we would make the trek to The Big Red Barn.  We were so glad we did.

 The big slides were a hit.  Once Titus got a taste of the fun, he was going all by himself.

 Really, though, what's not to love?

 This girl.  What would my life be without her?

 There were lots of fun things to do, but Titus would have been content in this sandbox all night long.

 The big kids would have loved a few more rounds on these pedal tractors.

 We found out that none of us were very good at taking aim with the apple cannons.  And we wished they would let us take the blasted apples home to our pigs.

Levi was determined to get the biggest pumpkin he could carry.

Hanging out with this guy is my favorite thing to do, hands down. 

First Flight

 If you ask Levi what he wants to be when he grows up for five different days in a row, you will get a different answer each day.  One of those answers is likely to be an Air Force Pilot.  He wants to fly jets and jump out of planes.  And honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if that's what he ends up doing.  For his eighth birthday, Jeff and I gave him his First Flight: a plane ticket to California so he could attend his cousin, Davis', baptism.  He was thrilled, and I was thrilled for him.  The morning of the departure finally arrived.  Levi and Jeff, Grandpa and Grandma were off.

 Once they got to the airport, waiting for the time to board the plane felt like an eternity.

 So they took funny selfies to send to mom to pass the time.

 Finally it was time to board.  Out onto the tarmac they walked.

 His very first time inside an airplane!

 The Oakland airport that they landed in was a lot different than the Provo airport they had flown out of.

 Onto the shuttle to go get a car.

 And finally at Davis' house.  Hooray!

 Uncle Brian and Jeff had been planning dinner at "The Boiling Crab" for months.  You could say mom was a little jealous of that part.

 After dinner it was a cousin sleepover on the tramp.

 The next day Levi crashed on the lawn, all that traveling, eating, and partying wore him right out.

 These two were born barely over a week apart, and they are best buddies.  I'm s glad Levi got to be there for Davis' big day.

And that these two got to share this First Flight with each other.