October 31, 2010

Hope the little ones had fun last night.  The weather was perfect for their trick-or-treating.

The Vest Boys got here early.  They made it before dark!!  They wanted to be home in time to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood.

Jade was the next to come.  He was mostly interested in our animals.  He also loved seeing the trick-or-treaters come.  I don’t know who was having more fun, Jade or Jenn and Mike watching Jade.

The Hall girls came after their neighborhood trunk-or-treat.  They were a bit tired but seemed to be having a great time!!

Harlee loved the little sticker book that I bought for each of the kids.

Jaycie just loved exploring everything and eating candy.

Happy Halloween, kids!!

October 30, 2010

I’m grateful for such a wonderful kids, Heather and Beau, who organized the 2nd Annual French Family Halloween Party. I am not a costume person, but must admit that the costumes are a LOT of fun.

I have photos of most everyone, except Dr. Mike who was still seeing patients at the office when the photos were taken. I’m so sad I didn’t get a photo of him in his costume when he arrived at the party.

The nice witch had shed her hat and Nemo was too hot as a fish by the time I got this photo. But, Pirate Greg and still going strong.

Please….no comments about the witch below….

Good thing there was a cute little, nice witch to balance out the Old Witch

The two bugs were both adorable…

The cutest little Nemo ever….

The bowling ball and bowling pin were hilarious.

Batman made an appearance. Problem was, he really was scary to Nemo…. Nemo would scream whenever Batman came too close!!

I’m not sure where the twins were hiding out all night because I sure didn’t get many photos of them. But, they were darling cowboys.

The dinner was great and the kids had fun playing pin the hat on the witch.

We sure had fun!!

When you are 3, life is good…..

Hope no one minds if I make two posts in one day…. I’m so grateful to be a Grandma.

Today I told Amber I would watch the twins while she went to Jaden’s school to help with his Halloween party. Brighton and I have had a little deal for a while, that if he accomplished a goal (which is our secret), he would get a special day with me. Last night he called to tell me that he was ready for our Special Day. It was fine with him if Brigham got to come, too!!

So we picked up Melissa and went to McDonald’s for lunch. Then after Melissa was back at school we went to the U-Pick Pumpkin patch. There was only one problem. It was closed and they didn't appear to have many pumpkins left.

Well, these boys didn’t pout or cry. We just got out to look around as long as we were there. There were others checking out the place, too!! No one was there to sell anything or drive the train. But, it didn’t matter. When you are 3, it doesn’t take much to make you happy.

First of all they gave me about 10 seconds for a photo at the entry display.

Then it was off to check out the straw bale maze.

The we had to check out the inside of the barn….the owners are trusting leaving it all open. It was very cute inside.

There was a wagon inside and, of course, they couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play with it.

Then it was off to explore the train.

Oh my, there’s a cat, we better check it out!!

Now, back to the train.

This is fun, but we still don’t have our pumpkins. Guess it’s off to WalMart…..

Whew!! They have some good ones….

We better load them carefully, so they don’t roll around in the car.

Back to Grandma’s house…..mission accomplished.

October 28, 2010

Our Son-In-Law Beau loves little children. Usually when we get together with the family you will find Beau off playing with the kids. I understand that he did the same thing when he was younger, with his siblings' kids at his parents' house. I'm so grateful to have 3 sons-in-law who are wonderful fathers. Today I will spotlight my gratitude for Beau. You can tell that his little girls love him.

October 27, 2010

I hate to exercise……but it feels so good afterwards.  I am grateful that World Gym is so close and affordable.  We took the summer off, but it feels good to go back.  We went last night; then today I met with the trainer for an arms’ workout.  My arms are killing me, so I guess he did his job.

October 25, 2010

Yesterday I saw Greg sitting with his chair turned toward the window, looking out at the back yard.  He was just taking in all the fall colors and enjoying them.  Our yard is a lot of work….more than we want to do at our age.  But, I am grateful for the beauty that is there and the enjoyment that we do get from it.

This morning as I was headed to work it was fun to see the beautiful red leaves on our burning bushes in the front yard.  I had to unroll my window and take a quick snapshot with my little camera.

This time of year is so beautiful.  I almost feel sad thinking that it won’t last.  I keep taking lots of photos.  I guess it’s my way of trying to hold onto it.  I bet that a week from now, most of the beauty will be gone.  This stormy weather is really taking its toll.

October 24, 2010

We got out the old dress up clothes for the kids to play with tonight. The boys were wondering why we only have girl stuff....

Harlee loved it. I'm grateful for little girls.

October 23, 2010

I am so grateful for a husband who loves to work.  Little Brigham and Brighton come to our house and get out their wagons and work in the yard.  They do it every time that they come.  In the spring they pick up sticks that have fallen.  In the summer they pick up apples.  In the fall, they pick up leaves.  They just love to work.  The other day they spent a couple of hours helping me clean out my flower beds.  I think they take after Greg as well as their hard working daddy.

This weekend, Greg took off a day of vacation to add to his already long weekend.  He has accomplished a lot.

Today he is fixing a fence post, that I didn’t even realize was broken.

It has taken him hours to dig out the old post and I didn’t hear one word of complaint from him.

Thanks to him, we have a beautiful yard.

He took me to Costco so I could use my coupons and add to my toilet paper collection.

He took me to Jaden’s first basketball game.

Plus he helped him mom, went to the temple, and went Christmas shopping with me….. the list goes on and on.  What a guy!!

October 22, 2010

The past couple of years have been very interesting to me. It seems that the world is going crazy. The media is constantly bombarding us with bad news, tragedy, disasters, arguing, debates, and evil. Sometimes I just feel like I would like to hide away and ignore it all. But, for some strange reason I can't just walk away from it all. It intrigues me.

Last May, during Stake Conference, Sister Thomas from the General Relief Society Presidency talked about the Book of Mormon. At that time I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants. But, I knew it was time to read the Book of Mormon again when I heard her talk. Tomorrow morning I will read the last two chapters. Reading it this time has really hit home to me that all the things that are happening in the world are the things that the writers of the Book of Mormon saw. They did write the book for us. Each time I read it, I love it more. How could I ever express how grateful I am for this wonderful book? It is a powerful thing.

I remember a few years ago attending a conference where Carol Waite told us a story about a woman who had an addiction to shoplifting. During her recovery she learned that if she kept a Book of Mormon in her pocket when she went to a store, she could touch it when she was tempted to steal something and it would give her the strength to resist stealing. Sister Waite challenged us to think that if this book could have such power by just touching it, how much power could it have in our lives if we would read it!!

I hate to finish tomorrow, because reading it this time has been such a sweet experience. But the beautiful thing is.....I can start all over again the next day!!

October 21, 2010

The gorgeous weather just continues to amaze me.  I never remember a fall this pretty before.  How grateful I am for it!!  I am also grateful that the twins came to visit me today.  They loved to help me work in the yard.  Sorry, Brighton, your eyes were closed in your picture.  But I got one of Brigham working away!!