All Hallows Eve

Happy Haunting!

A Halloween List

I found this list in Kensie's room this morning and just had to share! She makes lists of everything! I am constantly finding random ones all over the house. She must be related to me!

A List Of Halloween Stuf We Need:

1. scary pumkins
2. bats
3. wichs
4. godlins
5. skelotons
6. frankinstins
7. carving stuf
8. candy
9. sprisis
10. and funny faces

*if you need translation on any of these let me know :)

Children Of The Corn

We took a family outing this weekend to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point & had one heck of a time! The kids were running around like maniacs from one attraction to another. They wanted to do it all, then do it all again! And we DID! I had a hard time keeping up {due to the 15 pound weight I was lugging around, i.e. Jackson. I need a good back massage after carrying him around all day in the snugli....any takers?}. It was the perfect day- perfect weather, perfect activities, perfect quality family time, which we don't get a lot of lately it seems. I asked the kids what their favorite part was. Lincoln had a tie between the jumping pillows and the "water and the ducks" {duck races}. Kensie informed me that her favorite was the CREATURE {a haunted house that looks like a big, bloated iguana & is not so haunted during the day}. I found it interesting that she would choose this as her favorite, seeing as she was screaming bloody murder while inside it. She also liked the maze, and skillfully led us through to the end where she exclaimed "See, I told you, I knew the way out the whole time. I'm good!". Jackson's pick was the cow train ride. He grinned the whole way!

Howdy!

Lincoln on the jumping pillow- where can I get me one of these?!

ridin' the cow train

in the corn maze- Kensie was shocked to find so much corn in there. She thought it was a"maze"ing {he he}! What did she think she'd find in a corn maze??

will we ever get out?

Flashback Friday

MORP {"prom" backwards} was always the most fun dance of the year for me in high school! We always came up with the greatest ideas!! Our Senior year was one of the best, I think. Almost all of us asked a friend to the dance & we had a blast! No couples = everyone played together all night = no make-out party. Fun in the annual motor home, baby powdering the guys faces, dinner in Ono's basement, Melvin speaking only in Japanese, Aaron the Chinese Bum, fun at Discovery Zone......good times!!

And yes, that is my dear husband doing the splits! He's actually in both photos- it's fun to have these memories with him! Who would have thought we'd end up married??!

go, diego, go

As I was watching Go, Diego, Go with Lincoln today, a post I read recently came to mind. The Jolly Porter, a.k.a. Christopher Clark, cracks me up. Read it, especially if Diego is a part of your family, as he is ours ;-)

Soapbox

Okay, I'm having some issues with Halloween this year. Well, just one issue, I guess. This is it: Why can't we celebrate Halloween on HALLOWEEN?! This past Saturday... the 20th...11 days before Halloween, we had our SunCrest neighborhood Trunk-Or-Treat party. Why so early, I ask? It didn't help that it was freakin' cold and snowing outside. AND, Kensie's school is celebrating Halloween this friday, the 26th. Why, I ask {again}? The one benefit of this madness is that my kids get to wear their costumes more than one day {which is fun for them}, but this is outweighed by the obvious downsides which are.... A. my kids are getting a plethora of candy THREE days instead of one, which means a good 3 weeks of crazed behavior B. I have to avoid {or surrender to} the temptation to eat all that candy! And C. I have to watch my kids like a hawk at all previously mentioned events to make sure they don't destroy their costumes before the actual day of Halloween, which is when we should all be celebrating in the first place!! Okay, I'm done. I guess it's fun for the kids..... and that's what matters, right?

Flashback Friday

Today marks the first installment of Flashback Friday- what I expect will be a weekly occurrence. {thanks, Jill ;-)}

I hope it brings joy to your Friday's, as well as many laughs at my expense. Please appreciate the fact that I am willing to completely embarrass myself {and innocent others} purely for your viewing pleasure. With that said, I give you the first gem:

The Immediates

circa 1994-95

Sorry, girls....I just couldn't resist! Most of us got together for "gourmet night" last night, so I thought this was a fitting flashback to the good ol' high school days. Despite what you might think {from my position front & center} it was NOT my birthday :) Also, take note of the attractive jean tank top & hand-on-hip pose. I won't even get started on the hairstyle.

You gotta watch this!

This is for all the moms out there....

Park City

The past few weeks in a nutshell...

Despite what you may think {from reading my previous post} we've been having tons of fun while Matt's been away! Kensie had fall break this past week so we've had lots of time on our hands :) Luckily my parents had their time share in Park City, so we watched Conference up there and spent a few days playing. Here are some of the things we've been up to lately:

Eating ice cream sammies

Strolling up and down Main Street

in Park City

Picking out our annual Christmas

ornament while in Park City

Retiring Danny's old shoes to the

"Shoe Tree"

{watch the ceremony}

Eating rice cereal & loving it!

{watch the first attempt}

Swinging

Climbing

Hugging

Having fun with corn syrup & food coloring

Rolling around on the floor

We've been keeping busy around here, mostly to preserve my sanity {what's left of it}! It keeps me from feeling lonely, although at night when the kiddo's are in bed there's no getting around that. That's when blogging comes in :)

4 days and counting

Hubby's been gone 13 days....

Bed pillows arranged on hubby's side to resemble a large body- giving little comfort....

Parking in the middle of the garage- could get used to that....

Eating cheese quesadilla's every night for dinner- need some real food....

Checking basement & other possible hiding places for pedophiles, murderers and the like....

Baby up all night last night- teething, I think....

Kids- kicking my trash....

Too tired for complete sentences....

4 more days....

Tagged...

If you're reading this, then you've been tagged, too!!
Thanks, Jos! Lot's of our answers are the same....we must be related :)

1. Three biggest fears? (besides anything bad happening to a family member/child)
- Debt, thus I live in fear daily
- Bees
- Teaching Sunday School
2. When was the last time you danced? Today
3. Do you creep on stranger's blogs? Almost daily.
4. If you could go back to be any age for a day, what age would you be and why? 17, senior in high school, having tons of fun, staying out till the wee hours, no real responsibilities yet.
5. Are you a good liar? Depends on who I'm lying to.
6. Do you judge someone when you can tell they've had elective cosmetic surgery? No
7. If you have children, what's one thing that you always told yourself you'd never do when you had kids? If you don't have children, what's one thing you tell yourself you'll never do. (Psst! You. Yah, you. The one without kids. Guess what? You'll probably do it.) Snap my fingers and point at my kids to get them to be quiet while I'm on the phone.
8. What's something that totally grosses you out? Partially chewed food being spit into my hand.
9. Do you ever delete forwards without reading them? Some of the time.
10. Do you ever lie to get out of obligations? Yes.
11. Consider your body weight and your yearly income at their present states. Would you rather be 200 pounds heavier and $200,000 richer or stay at your present states? Present state. I think I should have added another greatest fear - that being weighing 200 lbs more than I do now.
12. When was the last time you bought a pair of shoes and what were they? Can't remember. Probably $5 flip flops at Old Navy this summer.
13. The Olympics. Take them or leave them? Winter- Take them, Summer-Leave them
14. What's your favorite accent? British
15. What's your favorite scent? A clean baby
16. Gum or breath mints? breath mints
17. If you could look like any celebrity, who would it be? Kate Winslet
18. If you had the chance of looking like said celebrity in exchange for your thumbs would you do it? No. Well maybe just my left thumb.
19. Do you religiously wear sun screen? Yes.
20. Do you generally trust people/their motives or doubt people/their motives? Trust
21. Would you describe yourself as a complicated person or is what you see what you get? What you see is what you get.
22. Do you watch what you eat? Yes, I watch it as it goes in my mouth.
23. Do you watch what other people eat? No.
24. Do you judge how other people raise their kids? Yes.
25. Do you judge people who dress poorly? No.
26. Do you judge people who are homely? No.
27. Do you judge people who are overweight? Yes, me being one of the one judged.
28. Your interest in politics: High, Medium-High, Medium, Medium-Low, Low, Obsolete? Medium Low
29. Favorite song of all time? As if I could ever decide!
30. Acoustic or electric? Acoustic
31. If you were a hermit, would you shave? No.
32. If you could shave your head without your significant other throwing a complete hissy, would you? Maybe, if I knew I had a normal-shaped head, which I don't think I do.
33. What was your least favorite age? 13
34. How many times a day do you check your email? Quite a few.
35. Are you in a tiff with anyone right now? Don't think so.

My Season

Some things I love about Autumn:

• seeing the leaves turn a thousand different shades


• noticing the first morning frost covering the lawn and windows


• brainstorming creative ideas for Halloween costumes


• relaxing by a warm fireplace


• donning cozy knit scarves and hats to keep away the chill


• cooking soup while the wind whistles outside


• going for a walk in the cool, crisp weather


• hearing crunchy leaves rustle as I make my way down the sidewalk


• seeing clusters of trick-or-treaters traipse down the street


• filling the house with smells of cider and warm pumpkin pie


• enjoying carved pumpkins that flicker with candlelight on the front porch


• relishing almost-forgotten warm days during Indian Summer


• pausing to wonder at the beauty surrounding me


• sipping a mug of steaming hot cocoa while watching "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

What A View!

This is the view from our front porch. Am I lucky or what?!

4 Months

This post is a bit late....
Jackson turned 4 months old on Sept. 30th! He weighs in at 14 lbs. 6 oz. He is growing up way too fast for me. I miss my newborn baby :( But, I'm loving all the fun things he's learning as he grows, too. He is the happiest kid- constantly smiling, as you can see! He's discovered that he can grab things with his hands, and will grab anything he can {my hair and any food on my plate being some of his fav's at the moment}. He keeps us smiling with his cute dimple and baby laugh. I can't imagine our family without him.

What were they smoking?!

I recently discovered {purely by accident, I assure you} the show Yo Gabba Gabba. My first thought upon seeing this show was "what were these people on when they thought up this insane show?". I couldn't tear my eyes away. I was mesmerized by a song where they repeated over and over "We don't bite our friends, we don't bite our friends". I sat up in my seat as I watched Elijah Wood act like a crazed puppet in the "puppet master" dance. When I saw the aquabats, my cali friends from college, perform a song I told myself I'd never miss another episode. After finally tearing myself away from the t.v. I am almost sure that there is some sort of subliminal messaging going on in this show. Soon the world will be taken over by disturbing creatures and a skinny, unitard-wearing man with strange glasses and a furry hat. I don't know.....maybe I'll have to watch it again {and again} just to be sure.

David Bowie, creepy puppets, a baby, and the Bog of Eternal Stench....good times!

While we were together with family this past week for the funeral, Matt's brother & I started reminiscing about the movie Labyrinth. I love this show!! I remember watching it over and over at sleep-overs with my friends in elementary school. I was obsessed with David Bowie...maybe the crimped hair & the fact that he probably weighed in at 80 pounds had something to do with it. Anyway, Curt & I had fun quoting favorite lines, and singing rad songs from the movie. Here's one for your viewing pleasure....

Hi, my name is Natalie, and I'm a tv-aholic....

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

I have a problem, and I think I can say with confidence that I'll never beat this addiction. That is, unless every show turns into America's Got Talent or the equivalent. That show blows {as do many others that I won't mention so as not to offend any readers who might like lame shows}...c'mon, it's not so bad that I have a few shows {or 50} that I like to watch, right? It could be worse....

...crack...

...whiskey...

...chewing tobacco...

It's been a tough week....

Bryan May
Bryan May 1967 ~ 2007 Our beloved husband, father, son, brother and friend passed away Sept 26 surrounded by his loving family, as a result of a brain tumor. Bryan was born 1-7-67 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Marlo & Sharleen May where he spent his childhood and graduated from Highland High School. He accepted a scholarship to BYU where he excelled as a student and an athlete graduating in '91. While at BYU, he met Stacey Walton and they were married in the Arizona Temple on July 12th, 1989. They have five children, Jed (15), Samantha (13), Elizabeth (10), Sarah (3) Joshua (1). He loved being a family man and shared many fun and meaningful experiences with his wife and children. He taught by example by excelling in all he did. He received awards in High School, College, as a teacher and a Football coach at Eastern Arizona College, and as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep for Pfizer. He was a faithful Latter-day Saint. He received both his Eagle Scout and Duty to God Awards. He served as an honorable missionary in the Kobe, Japan mission. He faithfully held positions in both ward and stake callings. Bryan is survived by his wife and children, his parents, his brother Mark (Susan), Sisters, Marla (Richard) Holbrook, Teresa, and extended family. His mother-in-law Glenna Walton, sisters-in-law Stephanie (Shawn) Barton, Roxann (Duke ) Montague. He was preceded in death by his father-in-law Vern Walton Jr. Funeral services will be held Saturday Sept 29th at 11:00 at the LDS Wolfe Creek Stake Center with a viewing at 10:00am -11:00am. Additional burial services will be held in Salt Lake City on Monday Oct 1. A viewing at the Imperial Ward building located at 2732 S. Filmore St. will be held from 1:00-2:30 pm with a graveside service following at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 Highland Dr. Bryan's family has arranged a fund for his children's education at any Wells Fargo Bank under the "Bryan May Scholarship Fund". Published in the Deseret News on 9/30/2007.