Family Halloween Party

The highlight of our Halloween holiday was getting together with the rest of the family at Nana and Papa's house. Nana got very creative with a menu of creepy, crawling dishes this year. We had a delicious meal of severed toes, lizard guts and other delectable items first, then spent the rest of the evening designing and carving our pumpkins.

Tayler eyeing the skeleton cupcakes...

Here, Carlee and Collin are focused on their pumpkin masterpieces...

Sydney carving her very detailed and pretty pumpkin design.

Collin's finished product...

Sydney's...

Severed Toes and Snakes.

These pictures don't do the meal justice but you can get the idea.
Monkey's Brains and Vampire Blood
Bat Droppings and (I can't remember)

Testing for Senior Green Belt

Collin was finally was able to test for his senior green belt in Taekwondo last month. We had been gone all summer during the previous testing dates and finally, we were able to be here! He did awesome, of course.

The testing was a bit more complicated this time. He had a nun-chuck routine he had to learn, which he loved doing. Three of the four questions he had to memorize were Korean phrases. I worked hard with him the last couple of weeks to help him say them correctly (I think?). He might have pronounced the sentences with a Spanish accent but, oh well. We also had the primary program last weekend and Collin was supposed to memorize a few lines for that, too. We had to put them on the back burner until he was successfully through testing and then he had to cram for a day.

Answering his questions...

Sparring...

The group he tested with and his teachers, Master Darrin and Master Kim.

We went to Sam's Club afterwards to pick up a couple of things. It is funny how Collin could spot this car pretty quickly, though cars have never been that interesting to him. He really liked it. We told him it was motivation to study and work hard.

Funny thing was, the owner of the vehicle was coming out of the store while we were snapping this photo and guess what? Yep, he was a chubby, old guy!

Fox

This fox was snapped with my cell phone as it was running away. He was right near the road when I pulled off and by the time my phone was ready, he was nearly gone. It is a shame you can't see how beautiful he is! He has been hanging out in this field for several days and doesn't seem to be too afraid of people.

I love the wildlife near our house (as long as it isn't a deer running into our car). I am looking for the pics of the fox that had been eating out of Bay's food bowl all spring and will post later.

Our Hill

Last Saturday was such a beautiful autumn day! We've lived on our hill for over three years now and the kids have been begging to climb it. So I put the kids in jeans and old shoes, packed a couple of water bottles and headed out for our little hike.

It is a difficult climb since we were climbing vertically not horizontally on the trail. It's hard to believe there are families in the neighborhood that hike this mountain weekly in the summer.

Half way up the hill we sat for a while and checked out our neighborhood below.

The parks restrooms are so tiny below.

Once we were safely at the top, I really didn't want to chance going back down the steep slope so I started down the back side with the kids, hoping there would be a way out.

There ended up being an old, steep dirt road that winded down the back side and around the point of the mountain. It took us three times as long to get down but we finally did. Along the way we ended up passing behind the gravel pit. It was kind of a cool view.

Our "little" hike ended up taking us a couple of hours but it was a fun way to spend the day.

Annual "Fun Run"

At our school's annual "Fun Run" fundraiser for PTA. It promotes healthy living and exercise but really just brainwashes the kids into thinking they will win all sorts of prizes if their parents and parents' businesses donate lots of money. We barely scrape the "suggested" minimum together for Collin and Sydney every year and every year the kids are disappointed because their names weren't drawn for one of the fabulous prizes. Collin even went door-to-door to try to raise money this year. The kids love this yearly event. Jay and I feel differently about it, but I guess it is for a good cause.

The kids posing with their classmates.

Mrs. Elmes, Sydney's teacher this year. Collin had her two years ago and she is amazing!

To Denver for Jeremy and Katie's Big Day...

Jeremy and Katie's wedding weekend finally arrived. We were so excited to go and spend this special time with them. Sydney and Collin loved meeting what they called their "new cousins" (try explaining to them that they really aren't related). Sydney, a month later, is still asking when we can go to Kentucky and Ohio for a visit.

Jeremy with Collin and Sydney

Sydney with the other flower girls, Alyssa and Alex.

These girls felt like princesses in their beautiful dresses.

I loved the way Alex was looking at her cousin, Alyssa in this photo. Sydney was looking bored though I assure you, she wasn't.

Practicing for their big role:

A little blurry but I couldn't throw out: She did a great job!

The groomsmen and ushers. I love this picture because it shows Collin's smile so well. He really was trying to smile nicely under threats of being grounded for life if he refused to smile or decided to pull a face, which is what he does lately in pictures. Maybe we shouldn't have threatened so much?

Collin with E.J. and Brenden, Katie's nephews.

Sydney with Alyssa and Grandma Jo. Joan looked amazing in her beautiful plum-colored dress! The kids were so happy to spend a couple afternoons with her too.

I am kicking myself for not remembering my camera at the reception. It was so beautiful! They held it at Denver's Museum of Natural History, an amazing location. The view from the balcony of downtown Denver is awesome.

While in Denver, we stopped by the house Jay grew up in. Joan and Jay couldn't believe how the trees in the neighborhood had grown! The house reminds me a lot of our old house too.

Collin's 9th Birthday

I am finally getting around to blogging about Collin's 9th birthday. I still can't believe he is nine. Crazy how he has gone from a toddler to a really big kid in just a year or two.

We weren't sure until the last minute what we were going to do for a party. What Collin really wanted was have some friends over and play games outside. We considered renting a pavillion at a nearby park since our yard was still a wreck. Then Jay and I decided that we just weren't up to planning a huge party. We have had enough to do this summer, if you know what I mean.

After checking the forecast, we decided Boondocks was just as good a place as any. The kids mostly played laser tag and in the arcade for a good three hours.

The pizza and cake part of it:

Clockwise: Sydney, Gabe, Ben, Collin, Dresden, Cameron, Logan

Zayden, who wasn't pictured above:
Jay, relaxing. He actually looks like he is enjoying himself.
Larry and Mom, however, look like this was the worst day of their lives. I think they had a little fun, though?

We started out trying to design a Lego cake. After much research online, we gave up on that idea. Collin seemed to sense that that project was way beyond my expertise. Ever looked online for a Lego cake, by the way? Just the mold on Amazon was $99!

Then Collin wanted a Harry Potter cake. It was funny how, of all the Harry Potter cakes we saw, Collin found something wrong with each one of them too.

So this is the (not so) fabulous cake. I can't say why, after looking at nearly 200 cake designs in several stores, Collin decided on The Last Airbender. He hadn't seen the movie yet (still hasn't) but really had to have it. I think that this was the ugliest cake I have ever paid for - but Collin loved it.

Opening presents. Guess what he got?
One of his favorite presents came from Dresden and Logan: money with a funny card with a whoopy cushion.
Getting wrapped in tickets.

Singing Happy Birthday (Collin couldn't help but join in).


Everyone wanted to go on the XD "ride" so they all filed in to the theater, including Sydney.

Lining up to buy their prizes.At home we had a little celebration of our own.
More LEGO'S...

And more LEGO'S...