Muggle Party

We went to the coolest party on Friday. It was a Harry Potter theme and just as clever as could be. My parents friend hosted it in an old church he bought.

They had the sorting hat to help you find where to sit in the dining hall.

I went as Hermione Granger and Ryan went as Hot Rod from the movie. The Petes came too and my parents.

This guy put blocks in his shoes to really fulfill the role of Hagrid.

They had a fishing pole at the Black Lake

A train ride on the Hogwarts Express

A potions class where the kids used chemicals to make a picture that disappeared

This is Diagon Alley

The Leaky Cauldron served soups and doughnuts

Below is the picture of the real Hot Rod from the movie, don't they look alike? I need to pose Bundy the same way and do a comparison.

Isn't it about TIME?

Most, if not all, of my friends who are moms are in the "survival" stage of motherhood. Battling multiple kids, or being a working mom. I really took to heart President Monson's talk on Sunday and re-evaluated my life and the amount of surplus TIME that I have. I am so excited about my new determination to take advantage of this TIME in my life and Emma's where everything just matches up for us. From now on my mornings are devoted to her. I don't need to run errands or get out of the house or get together with friends every morning, if that has to be done I can do it after nap time. From now on Emma is my new best friend and I am her best friend. If we go to the park, it will just be she and I. If we go to lunch, it will just be she and I. I want to give her my undivided attention, when I can, and play with her like she's the last child I'll ever have. So Emma, here's to us, let the REAL adventure begin!



Every time we drew a character she had to lay down on top of them and give them loves (hugs)

She wanted to lay next to "Emma" and hold her hand. She's desperate for a little sibling. We're doing what we can, but for now a chalk drawing will have to do.

Goals

Just to keep myself accountable for the goals I have set I thought I would do a little update of how they're coming along. True, some of them are still a bit of a struggle, but for the most part this has really helped me find value in the concept of time and how I spend it.

HIKE BEN LOMOND- I made this happen a couple weekends ago when Kylee and Brody came to stay. I pretty much forced everyone to do it but there were no complaints and we had a rgeat time. I had no interest to summit, been there done that. The colors were beautiful without setting this as a written goal I really don't think I would have made it happen.

GO TO THE CHURCH CANNERY- Our friends the Millets made this happen for us. Reservations have to be made months in advance and so I'm so glad Janae got on the ball for us. The Rasmussens also joined us and we had a really great time. Ryan and I came home with much more than we anticipated, but I can't even express the peace of midn it gives me.

HAVE JOY SCHOOL WITH EMMA 3 DAYS A WEEK- I really really have to concentrate on making this happen. I've found it much easier to branch out of staying inside our little class room and taking her oppertunities to learn everywhere we go. Here we are having a play date (more about that later) and I took some time to help her with her counting, colors and shapes. I feel more patient and have better self esteem when I know I focus all my energy on her.

TAKE A GREAT FMAILY PICTURE AT CANNON BEACH- I don't know what happened to this goal. I pretty much forgot once we got there. We don't even have a picture of all 3 of us together. However, Ryan did take this picture, so he is involved with it and plus I think it is pretty sweet. So no complaints on this goal. There's always next year.

Cousins Rule!

This last weekend I got together with my two little sister cousins. Both are newly married and so much fun to be around. We first met in Ogden for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Then the boys went to the Priesthood session while we went up to my parents house and my mom showed us some craftiness with pumpkins.


This picture is out of order. It was taken Sunday morning. It's too much work to reload all the pictures, but it's too cute to leave out. This is Kylee and Brody, they're a familiar face on my blog.

This is Sydney, Kylee and I with our pumpkins. Notice how cute the Ky and Syd's striped pumpkins are. I also love Kylee's polka dots.

After the boys got back Emma helped me make Stacey's Pumpkin Paradise cake.

The boys played rock band while we worked on our pumpkins a little bit more. Then we played some couple games and sat in the hot tub. I think the earliest anyone went to bed was around 2am.




My made this "vase" from her garden. It is even more beautiful up close.

This is a little lantern that my mom got us started with as well. I should have lit the candle to show the charm of it.

These pumpkins were a fun way to get creative.

On Sunday we watched the morning session of conference and had a yummy breakfast. My favorite talk was President Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session. It just really hit home with me.

Afterwards the six of us loaded into my parent's truck and we drove around the valley. Although it was rainy it was a really beautiful morning. We stopped at a couple homes that were under construction and helped ourselves to a tour. Wow! We found one house that kept us entertained for nearly an hour.

Thanks so much for coming girls. It really was so much fun. Thanks mom and dad for the yummy Sunday dinner and for being such generous hosts. Can't wait for next time :)

Let the Fall traditions begin!

My mom treated me and my two Utah sisters to a day of fun for the little kiddies. We started by going to Gardner Village in Salt Lake. If you haven't been here with the kids in the fall then you are really missing out. They have pony rides, a petting zoo, and the whole village is decorated with witches, it's a cheap activity to make a kid's week.




The bakery is a must stop when visiting the village.


Emma LOVES cousins! I think that is her most favorite part of Earth life.








After Gardener Village we went to Corn Belly's at Thanksgiving Point. This is a tradition every family should get in on. There was so much to do and the kids were having so much fun. The weather was perfect and weekdays is the way to go to avoid the crowds.




The kids were pretty nervous about going inside this lizard. We made them of coarse. It was pitch dark inside with a loud noise of it's beating heart. The below picture is of inside the belly. My camera is just awesome and so it looks light inside, but really you couldn't see a thing.


At Corn Belly's there was JUMPING...




and SLIDING...






And TRAIN RIDES....











and of coarse FALLING.


There were accessories to dress up like a princess, and also to sit with a real princess.


We did a corn maze and had so much fun hiding in the corn. By the end of the day we were all exhausted. This was the PERFECT fall activity to do with the kids. Thanks mom and dad for