Halloween Hoopla

Our Halloween fun started on Thursday night when Genna & I went to a Disney party at the Kunz house.

Little Sharpay


Heather & Genna(who felt much more comfortable without the wig)


Latrice, the evil queen, Cruella(Sue) and Tinkerbell


Ammon, Hannah, & Tyler in the unbirthday room


Ward Trunk or Treat on Friday night- my camera battery was dying and so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted. Plus we got there late, Jameson's costume wouldn't inflate and it was really cold. Some of the primary kids couldn't believe that pirate was the Bishop.



Saturday morning and afternoon were the last Soccer games of the year


We were so happy it warmed up for Saturday evening.


The kids were ready to go.


Trick or Treating in Shane & JJ's neighborhood- isn't Jameson's costume hilarious? He must be getting too old, he went to about 5 houses and was done. Connor lasted about 10.


Pirate Shane & his treasure JJ- this was the first time we saw their cute house


Mr. & Mrs. Scary


We had the best time at the party eating yummy food, celebrating Betty's birthday and hanging out with our family


Not Halloween related but yesterday was sweet little Seth's blessing


Hope you all had a safe & fun Halloween

MidOctober Merriment

Time Out for Women 2009 in Kansas City was SO wonderful!


The kids did a great job on their Sacrament meeting program all about the family


Another puzzle finished up


Bambi has a close encounter with our minivan while Troy & Jameson were home teaching


Mo tries on his costume and is not a big fan of the hat


Carving our pumpkins for FHE


The sun makes the fall colors so vibrant

the new Mr. & Mrs.

Recently, we were so happy to be able to witness the marriage of Troy's brother Shane and his new wife JJ. We instantly fell in love with JJ when we met her and so we are so happy to officially have her as a part of the family.

At the temple


Before the wedding on the grounds






Genna LOVES her new aunt


Shane, JJ & Troy's parents


Shane, JJ & all of Troy's siblings

the whole clan


At the reception

Getting a little help from his big bro


Shane and all the niece, nephews & 1 nephew in law


Working the Gift Table


Gorgeous Cake


Happy Couple



First Dance


Dancing Queen


Twirly Girl


Connor cuts a rug


Sam had some moves


Caleb Boogies with his buddies


Little Jamie Horner (whose mom still hasn't gotten the wax out of his suit yet)


A sparkler sendoff (and yes, I was crazy enough to try and take a picture with a hot sparkler in my hand)


Thanks for looking at all of these pictures. It really was such a wonderful day.We couldn't be happier for Shane & JJ.

Fall at our house

Yep, it's definitely fall around here...

mums & pumpkins welcome you to our house

several large acorns now reside in the bowl on my table

yummy fall food is baking in the oven(mini caramel apple pies & stuffed squash)

hot cups of herbal tea & muffins can be found near the computer

a harvest moon rises as I do the dishes after dinner

Puzzles are being completed at a faster rate than the ones lingering for weeks on end during the summer

my snowbird parents are getting ready to fly south for the winter

Connor has grown a mustache

I drive around oohing and aahing at the gorgeous colors

I did resist the urge to go crunching through these leaves on my parents street since I had to get back and pick up the kids from school

snow is falling on the lawn furniture- ok, thankfully that isn't typical and hopefully mother nature has that out of her system for another month or more

October FIRST

Wow, has this year just flown by or what?

(please excuse my lame attempt at tying all these random things together)

First....

morning's light



time throwing a surprise party for my husband. (he figured something was up- we also celebrated his nephew's 20th birthday too)


time holding sweet baby Seth born Sept. 24th- he was 8'10 just like Connor


colors of fall



time doing a puzzle this big- it was huge, but lots of fun


soccer game of the year for both boys- (Jameson hasn't played since Spring of 2008 and Connor sat out Spring 2009- they were both thrilled to get back to it)



time making grape jelly- sorry you can't even see it, but it's there along with several other firsts~ unsweetened applesauce, pear butter, apple/pearsauce and strawberry raspberry applesauce



meal of the day- (yes, I am back to the no cold cereal rule at our house)


time playing football for Jameson- 3-6th grade football around here plays games on Sunday and so the boys have sat out until now- Connor is one of the team managers


time marching at a Homecoming game



trying the equinox tricks




time growing a pumpkin in several years- isn't it a big one, lol!

Otoe County Fair 2009

August is fair time at our house. For the past 10 years now, Troy and his brother have had a booth in 4 different county fairs.

One county fair is fun, but add on 3 more- not so much. Then several years back we discovered Open Class and that added to the craziness that is fair time for us.

Ok, in all honesty we do enjoy the finished product of entering things in the fair- the ribbons, the money and just walking around and seeing our stuff displayed, but it is a lot of work getting ready for it. This year, we scaled way back on our entries, which helped some.

We still managed to bring home a few ribbons- sorry I was too lazy to remove the entry tickets


Our prize earnings are as follows: Me: $54, Jameson: $51, Connor:$28 & Genna $21

Here are some of our entries this year

Thanks to Grandpa & Grandma Koski and Cheryl for their help with fair stuff this year!


This year I have to take rides off the fun at the fair list. While there are a couple of classics that are still enjoyable, each one of my kids managed to get sick. Note to self for next year- don't buy the wrist bands.



The parade is always a fun part of the parade and it was even better this year because we got watch Jameson march for the first time.




The fair is always the week before school starts and by then we are ready to get back into a regular schedule. That's where we are now. But give us a few weeks and we'll start planning for next year's fair.

1st Day of School 2009

Well ready or not, school started today.

15 Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches for the freezer- check


New Shoes- check


New Backpacks- check


The annual photo on the front porch- check

Can't believe I have kids at 3 different schools this year

Genna's the only one at the elementary in 1st Grade

Connor will ride the bus this year to Unadilla for 6th grade

My big 7th grader who is up at the high school