Halloween in a Hurry

I am SUPER behind on my blogging, and Halloween is so full of fun that I was feeling a bit overwhelmed: Activity Day party, YMCA Halloween party, crafts with the neighbors, taekwondo party, Halloween fun run, class parties, cookie decorating, trick or treating....YEESH!! So, I decided to be succinct. Rather than have a mile of pictures for you all to look through, I condensed with collages and here is what you get. You can still take as much time as you need looking at each picture, but your "down"arrow will get a bit of a break. Happy Halloween!

On the Monday before Halloween, for Family Home Evening, we invited Kristine and Rowan and Maric over and we made ghost suckers while watching Charlie Brown's Halloween. It is a tradition in my family to make these to give to trick-or-treaters, and it was fun to do that with my kids and cousins. I don't know why Lucy is strangling her ghost... And the kids had spirit week before the week before Halloween, and they just looked so cute on pajama day that I had to take a picture.

Real quickly, here are some pictures of crafts with Ron and Sonya, our neighbors, and the Daddy Daughter party Lucy and Mike went to. Yes, Lucy painted his face, and yes, that's Mike in a tutu. Anything to get those little girls giggling.

And now, onto the class parties. There is one of Elliott's birthday thrown in there too (oops, make that two...oh well). It's the top middle picture where he is standing, nervously, in front of his class. There is a picture of some of Elliott's friends from the neighborhood: Ethan the Darth Vadar, Carter the Power Ranger, and Jake the Gansta. There is one of Lucy and Lauren: 2 lovely vampires. Elliott and I happened to go to Fred Meyer for groceries at the same time they were decorating cupcakes, so that one's in here too. And, Elliott and I made cookies that the kids decorated at our house!

Here is some fun from the YMCA, and some pumpkin carving.

The kids are trying to make the same faces their pumpkins are making, and Archie, well, he always makes that face...Fun times.

On to the next set...Taekwondo party! This is fun because it was our Halloween dress rehearsal. We got to put on the makeup and the costumes and see how it all went. Behold, the Ninja, Vampire and Sock Monkey!
Then, on Saturday, the kids, me, Kristine and Rowan and Maric, and Harmony and Had Abogi did a little Halloween Fun Run Mile to feed and clothe families in need in Boise. Lucy and Harmony were the only ones to complete the whole mile...way to go! It was so casual and fun, we are going to have to do it again next year for sure.
We made it to Halloween night! We got all dressed up again (yes, even Mike!) and headed to the neighborhood park for a little fast- track-trick-or-treating, then Mike took the kids out while Archie and I handed out candy. You may notice a few differences from the dress rehearsal. Elliott ditched the mask and weapons, and Lucy went for a black lipstick rather than red. It's all in the details. On a side note, I bought Mike that mustach weeks earlier because I thought it was hilarious, and the day after Halloween, while comparing pictures with Kristine, we discovered that Kristine had bought his brother Jason the SAME mustache for Halloween !! Mike says it's because we are both obsessed with Target, but I know it's because we are both so awesome.
That's it!! I'm all caught up....oh wait...I forgot about the time someone kidnapped Archie and replaced him with this guy:

There. Done. Oh, I mean, done except for Lucy got her ear's pierced,

and Elliott had a birthday, but those pictures will just have to wait....then, I'll be caught up, I promise!

October Odds and Ends

Here are some pictures to tie up some loose October ends. This is the problem with getting behind on my blogging; it seems like every post becomes a game of catch-up! Oh well, at least the pictures are fun to look at, right? Off we go:

Some Archie shots by Uncle Jason on Lucy's baptism day...

This is a project Lucy did at school. I walked down the hall in her school and saw this hanging on the wall. I love how sweet she is, and this kinda sums it up:

"it's fun to Love, I hope to be a good person, and I care about Archie".
Archie representin!!! (the Steelers of course!)
One of the last GORGEOUS autumn days at the park by our house.

Up next, yet another sum-up! This time it's the festivities of the last weeks of October. It's a doozy, but it'll be GREAT! Then I'll be all caught up, I promise! Until next month when all sorts of fun things happen and I don't blog them fast enough. It's like laundry, I just can't ever seem to catch up with it!

Elliott's First Testing!!

After years of watching Lucy test for higher belts in taekwondo, it was finally Elliott's turn! He has only been out of the little tigers class for a month, but they teach them everything they need to know to test for yellow, so after a month of white belt, he tested for yellow! Mike and I were a mess! It is so STRESSFUL!!!!! He did great though. We are so proud. Pappa, Gramma, Aunt Juliet, Harmony and Had Abogi all got to be there because it just happened to be scheduled for the day before Lucy's baptism....PERFECT! It was a great weekend all around!

Elliott doing his form...
The passing class! (Elliott's the last one on the right in the front row)
The next monday, he got to go to class and get his new, yellow belt.



His first yellow-belt class. He is sitting facing left with the blue head-gear on. Sparing (in full protective gear) is his favorite part of his new class.

YAY ELLIOTT! WAY TO GO, WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!

BSU games and Babies

Mike, Archie, me, Kristine and Jason headed to the BSU game tonight!! Heather and Kimo were there too, in the student section but they came and sat with us at half-time. Archie was a champ! There was a jet flyover that was a little loud (they were playing airforce academy), but he did great.







He had a super-cool BSU leisure suit to wear to the game:





Gorgeous autumn weather:





He fell asleep in the first few minutes, and slept through the first and third quarters. It was sooooo loud, I think he just retreated to his happy place. Funny, sleep is my happy place too.





We were only 4 rows in on the end zone! They were kicking field goals over our heads, and occasionally AT our heads. It was amazing.





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Lucy Gets Baptized

I have the best family ever, have I said that yet? For Lucy's baptism weekend, we had so much support from my family, and Mike's family, and it made it such a special time for her. Thanks so much! We had Juliet, Ruth and family, and Gramma and Pappa come from out of town, and we had Uncle Jason and family, Harmony and Had Abogi, and the Wilsons from in town. Here are some of the fun goings-ons!

Impromptu concert from Elliott and Karver. Recognize that tiny guitar Anne? Still being put to good use! Thanks again!

Gramma is so good with focused, one-on-one attention with the grandkids. They loved story time.

Karver and Elliott enjoying quality ipad time.
Aunt Juliet bonding with the cutie, Archie.
In classic Pappa style, he offered the kids a $2 bill if they could memorize a poem (he used to post poems on the walls at home and give us rewards for memorizing them when I was a kid). Lucy and Lilly memorized a Shel Siverstein poem about an upside-down pencil. Not to miss his chance for money, Elliott wanted to show Pappa that he memorized the church song "I Lived in Heaven"; all 3 verses! When it came recital time, he was a little nervous. Thanks Uncle Jason for documenting this moment!
nervously wrapping Lucy's $2 bill around my arm...
finishing the recital on my lap...
the audience...
and finally, the payout.
Fun family happenings weren't the only amazing things this weekend....there was the BAPTISM!! Mike baptized Lucy, and she chose to have Pappa Lund give her the confirmation blessing. That is when he lays his hands on her head, and by the power of the preisthood, gives her the gift of the Holy Ghost. From now on, she will have the Holy Ghost to guide her and help her in her life. What a blessing! Thanks for being part of her special day, Pappa!

Here are Lucy and Daddy before the baptism:
And here is Lucy after! We baptize by immersion, so she is nice and wet and clean all over!
Then there was the struggle of a family picture. There is so much I could say, but instead, I'll just show you. If I was a skilled photo editor, I could compile a decent family picture from bits of each shot, but it is much more fun to see the craziness of the moment, I think.



Oh well, we tried.

This next family picture turned out a little better. We were a calmer bunch. These are some of my family members: Aunt Juliet, Aunt Ruth, Mom Karen, Dad Lund, Aunt Emily, and me. Baby Karver snuck in there last minute, but EVERY picture is cuter with Karver in it, so we didn't mind.
Great weekend, thanks everyone! Like I said...best family ever!

September Wrap-up

First of all, I'm not sure if I used the right "rap/wrap" in my title, but just go with it! Up first area some cute pictures of Archie from September. He loves his little cheesecloth blankies, as you can see...

Mike thought he'd be funny with the Archie crock-pot stew...
On Lucy's birthday, some youngwomen and friends of mine ran the Women's Fitness Celebration 5k. Here we are bright and early...
It is the biggest women's race, by the way! How fun to be a part of something so big...15000 women ran this year!

They don't care who runs, they take all kinds, as you can see.

It was so nice to have this race as a last hurrah with they young women. What a great calling it was, I'll miss those girls! Maybe we'll get together and run it again next year!

The last of the good weather

Lucy and Archie and I went to the park yesterday and just enjoyed the nice weather. Lucy found yet another use for her butterfly net Gramma and Grampa Johnson gave her. It was raining rose petals...