Trunk or Treat

Our church had their annual Trunk or Treat this week and we had a wonderful time. All three kids went around and got candy with Ryan while I stayed at the van and passed out candy to other kids. I enjoyed it very much. Seeing my primary (Sunday school) kids all dressed up was fun. They also got a kick out of seeing me in pigtails.

McKenna dressed up as a flapper, but really wanted to have paint on her face, so we did some pretty designs and added glitter. Some rude kid told her she looked funny and it made her cry and climb into the van. She didn't want to come out (Lucky for that kid she had no idea who he was so I couldn't go after him). We reassured her that she looked beautiful and that she shouldn't let some stupid boy ruin her Halloween night. She listened and had lots of fun.

Evan was an Army guy. I suppose that is obvious. He looked really great and got lots of compliments on the makeup. Ryan had fun putting the paint on. Evan also had fun and ate way too much candy.

Alana was so cute!! She, of course, wanted to eat every piece of candy that was put into her bag, as soon as it was put in. She got loads of oooh's and awww's. She was the only giraffe there and that was special. She wore the same costume that I bought for McKenna at that age. McKenna got really sick her first Halloween and didn't get to go out (I was super bummed, as that was my first Halloween as a Mom with an old enough kid). Evan wore it when he was that size and looked adorable. So it has been fun for me to have it for all the kids. I suppose now I will pass it on to a nephew or something.

I dress up every year. I am always the same thing. A little girl. It's easy and comfortable and free. Plus I get to wear some of the cute hair bows that I make for my girls. That's the real motivation.

In the nine years that Ryan and I have been married this is the first time he has ever dressed up. I loved that he chose to dress up. I never even asked, he did it all on his own. So, that made it even better. I love a man in mountain gear.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year we will not Trick or Treat. The kids got plenty of candy at the church activity and we have a few family things that we are going to do instead. My kids are so wonderful and I didn't have any argument from them when I explained what we were going to do. They understand the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy and that we are teaching them to do right in the eyes of God. I feel so lucky to have them. They are great kids.

Just for fun. This is Evan in the giraffe costume. He was 14 months old.

My New Commitment

I am going to interrupt the memory-lane-photo-posts and discuss my newest mission.

I go to the gym at least 2 days a week. I go on Monday and Friday for my favorite class called Ultimate Workout. The instructor's name is Sandi and she kicks butt! The class is strength training with a bit of cardio mixed in. I have been attending her class for four months and have seen great progress.  There where times in the beginning when I couldn't walk for days after the class, so I knew that good things were happening. These days I am sore but easily able to work out again the next day. I managed to lose 7lbs since joining the gym in May. But in the last 4 weeks I have gotten lazy. I am eating bad and not pushing myself as hard in the classes (when I actually make it). I have gained a solid 5lbs back (not the muscle kind) and I am not happy with myself for it.

Sandi offered the class free fitness assessments (she is also a personal trainer) and I took her up on it. I needed some new motivation and information to get myself out of this hole I am digging. I got it. Because, apparently, I am fatter than I appear. That or we has a society have excepted a size 8 as skinny for so long that we don't realize that a size 8 still means 40lbs of fat. For me is does anyway. At 5'5'' I should not weight 147lbs. I don't feel fat. In fact I have thought many times that if I stay this weight forever I would be ok with that. I wouldn't love it, but I would be ok.

I don't think that anymore.

I got the motivation I needed.

I want to lose 15-20lbs.

My husband is buying me (he doesn't know it yet) a fancy heart monitor watch that will also tell me now many calories I am burning. I am going to start writing down what I eat. I am still going to allow myself some yummy stuff but in way more moderation.  I am going to workout harder, two hours three days a week. I want to work up to five days.

I will be a different woman when family sees me next summer.

I AM going to do this!

Alien Photos

 One day this last summer Rose and I were talking about Roswell and the fun alien things there. I mentioned that it was 2.5 hours from my house and she responded "We should go there sometime. It sounds like so much fun". That is usually something that is said but never realized.

I made it happen.

We drove up to Roswell, NM on a Saturday and spent the whole evening walking around down town and looking at all the novelty gift shops. It was SO much fun. The kids had a blast looking at all the alien toys and T-shirts. We went to a store called Area 51. They had several "scenes" created so people could pose with the aliens.  We took lots of pictures.

For dinner we HAD to eat at the flying saucer McDonald's it even had a space themed park. It was a great time.

McKenna made a face in every photo

Just hanging out

Well...I had to jump in for some fun also.

BBQ at alien Joe's house

Evan in the control center

The coolest McDonalds ever

Spaceship park at McD's

Rose and I went to the gym.

One of the fun things they have there for the kids is the Spider Climb. It's seven layers of woven straps over a trampoline. This kids love it and it's a must every time we go. McKenna has never made it to the top (she gets scared) but Evan shoots up there every time. Of course hanging upside down is always a good time.
The botton two shots are my niece Akyra. Evan is in the top left and McKenna is in the top right. I took that picture of McKenna while lying on the trampoline and facing up to her. It was fun.

The Drive-in with Six Kids

For the next few posts I will relay some of the many things that Rose and I did with our kids during her visit. We had so much fun.

One one of the nights we all (everyone but Ryan) went to the drive-in. This is one thing I really wanted to do with them. As I have stated in the past, I love the drive-in. This was a must share. I was pretty worried that when she got here there would not be any kid movies playing. We got lucky and she came just in time for the last week of Legend of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. This movie was AWFUL. I don't recommend it to anyone. Even the kids got bored with it. Either way it was fun to have the experience.

We went early enough for the kids to play at the park before we settled in for the movie. They had lots of fun and were not very happy when I told them it was time to go over to the cars.

We had turned both cars around and opened the backs. The kids piled up blankets and pillows. Once the movie started I passed out the popcorn and tried to settle in. Unfortunately, the babies had other plans. Jayden and Alana were not in the mood to sit still or go to sleep. They were up and down and switching cars.  Rose and I didn't get to watch the movie at all (not that we wanted to). Once that nightmare was over we strapped the babies into their car seats and made them to go sleep. We closed up Rose's car and put a cartoon on the DVD player. All the kids were distracted and leaving us alone so we could watch the next movie. It was Easy A. A silly, funny movie and not appropriate for kids. It was really nice to just sit and watch a movie with my sis.

Time for Company

My life has gotten very busy in the last two weeks. I am currently entertaining my sister Rose and her three kids. So in-addition to my normal busy life I spent last week cleaning my house one room at a time (except the office, its too scary in there). I cleaned closets, organized toys, cleared off counters, washed, dusted, laundered, scrubbed and vacuumed until I was satisfied with my house.

I didn't need to do all this. Rose is my BFF and she could careless if my house is clean. In fact she told me not to spend the time cleaning on her account. I did anyway. I knew that the only way to keep my sanity in this small apartment, with four more people, for ten days, was to start out as clean and organized a possible. Plus the place needed a bit of attention anyway so no harm done.

Upon arriving at my house, Rose walked all around and stopped on front of the office door, observed the outrageously embarrassing mess, hugged me and dramatically announced "Sarah it warms my heart to see this room. You really are human. This makes me so happy. I like you much better now." I have never claimed to be a great housekeeper apparently she got the impression that I was. Guess my "have it all together" status is changed to "just like the rest of us". I would much rather be in the "just like the rest of us" category. Less chance of disappointing people.

We have managed the house pretty well so far. We make the kids clean up the toys every night and Rose and I clean the living room and kitchen every night. I hate waking up to stress inducing chaos.

Ryan asked me if having three more kids and Rose here was more, less or about he same stress level (yes, my husband shrikes me. But, I'm good with it) a everyday life. I thought about it and decided it's a little more only because there is more noise. I can't handle loud kids for very long. But at the same time having Rose here makes things a bit easier as well because I know that she is looking out for my kids as much as I am looking out for hers. We can discipline each others kids and there isn't that awkward "You can't talk to my kid that way".

We're tight like that.

Walking For Boobs

Our first (of many to come) family charity walks went pretty well. Alana was a pill, but that is par for the course these days. Evan didn't complain of being too tired of walking (a welcome change).  In fact, he wanted to run. I was very happy about the running part. Unfortunately the crowd was so thick that running was not an option. In the future I would like to run the 1 mile with the kids, but strollers are not allowed to run.  So it will have to wait until Alana is older. I was totally jealous watching all the runners come in while I walked, very slowly. I don't regret walking with the kids though. It was a good experience for them and it gave us a chance to talk about cancer and taking care of ourselves.  While Ryan ran the 5k this year, it's his turn to take the kids next year.  5k here I come!


Evan wasn't getting the whole pink thing. When we got dressed that morning I tried to get him to wear a pink hat or socks. He laughed in my face and said "No thanks Mom. I'm good." He called Ryan a "girl" because he was wearing a pink shirt and some of my pink polka-dot socks (he got lots of complements on them). Ryan convinced him that wearing a bandanna like a pirate would be cool. Evan gave in, but informed Ryan that a pirate would NEVER wear a pink bandanna. 


McKenna, of course, loved getting all pinked out. From a pink hair bow to pink shoes, she had it all going on. Her favorite part was the opening ceremony when they had all the survivors release a balloon. It was great to see hundreds of pink balloons floating up into the air. I'm sure the environmentalists were cringing at the sight, but the kids loved it. 


As I was enjoying the experience I spent some time thinking about the people I have known who have had to battle cancer. My Aunt Joan Couch is the only person I have personally known who had breast cancer. It was probably 20 years ago. I was old enough to know that she had a mastectomy on one side but too young to know any details. Her daughter Donna later found a lump but it didn't turn out to be cancer (thank goodness). It has alway stuck with me and I developed a fear of breast cancer early.


I thought about my paternal grandmother, Mildred Jones. She did not die of cancer but she battled and beat pancreatic cancer. This also happened when I was kid. In fact my parents never talked to me about it at all. I found out years later after she had passed away.


I thought about our friend Levi Wilmott who died of a rare bone cancer in 2007. He was 27 years old and left a wife and 3 babies. His death still leaves a big hole for Ryan.


Then, of course, I thought of my own Mother-in-law Priscilla Graham. She passed away from colon cancer in 2006.


It would be hard to find anyone who has not been affected by cancer in one way or another. The fear of one's body betraying them is ever present. Because when it comes down to it, there is really no way to prevent cancer and it can strike anyone at any point in life. I learned this hard truth from my dear friend Levi.