Once Upon A Time...

Does anyone else feel like the month of January was meant for READING? Everything about this time of year encourages a person to stay under a blanket with a book in front of their face ALL DAY, I believe. Let me tell you about some of the things I've been reading. (Any resemblance to people living is purely coincidental.)

Once upon a time...



There was a girl who loved to ride horses made out of old barrels.



And a boy who loved to teach his little sister how to lasso.



Only, she lassoed all the wrong things.



So they gave that up and went in search of...



still searching...



Searching for the dangerous, brown, lump-like animal known as the Lollobuff and which has only ever been seen from great distances. They were going to attempt to get close to one, pet it on the nose, and then bring it home via the van to study and catalog its elusive but intriguing mannerisms. However, these brown lumps were merely buffalo.



So they continued to search.



And were surprised to find that they were not the first to pass this way...

Continued...

Though unsuccessful in their efforts to study the rare Lollobuff, the children did manage to meet an Indian chief, who awarded the boy with the Arrow of Light for his hard work, and then shook the hands of the boy's ever-assisting sisters.

Continued...

The children went on to even greater success. The boy met the famous, beloved, celebrated, kind, joyful, hungry, thoughtful, hardworking, #1, the best in the country, the undefeated UTAH FOOTBALL team who ALL signed his hat! Yes, even Brian Johnson, Sean Smith, Darrell Mack and Paul Kruger. Awesome!

Continued...

One girl danced very successfully, astounding the audience with her accomplished leaps and twirls.





Her sister joined her temporarily.





Amazing!

Continued...

The youngest girl found her greatest success and happiness in finally, finally baking gingerbread cookies just like Corduroy's. Yum!

Continued...

Then, the children discovered that the rarely-seen but oft-heard-of Lollobuff were said to be residing in an old, pioneer-like village to the south-east. They traveled there with their grandparents with hope in their hearts...



and a sparkle in their eyes...





only to find that the rumors were not true. However, they had a bittersweet moment in realizing that though the Lollobuff had evaded them once again, they had, in fact, found Santa's reindeer!



They vowed to never stop searching.



Wait! Here is the magical lamp post from a famous and true story. They knew if they walked past this snowy and lonely lamp post, good things would surely follow.

And good things did follow!

They celebrated by making cookies...



"Here, child, you do not have a thick enough layer of sprinkles on that cookie yet. Let me help you make a bigger mess," said the uncle.



No! Don't eat ALL the peppermint bark! I know you are happy, but really!





It's all fun and games until someone eats so much they look like this at the night's end.

And they lived...

happily ever after,



making gingerbread houses, and



"Suuurrrree, I'd be happy to..."



"be the donkey in the play."





Yes, that's right, the girl had one final, great success: directing and acting in her own play!

The End.

This Drama May Bring a Tear To Your Eye...

though I think it's pretty darn funny!

Hitler reacts to the BYU loss...

Lil' Turkey

We went to story time at the library. Emily, appropriately, wanted her picture taken as a turkey. The librarian wanted her to stick her nose in the beak, but Emily would not. She was certain the beak was just the mouth.

Halloween in a Nutshell (Pumpkinshell?)

Here is a quick glimpse of the last couple of weeks of October. However, I did not get any pictures of the crowded Wee Witchy Day at Gardner Village--which would have been worth viewing since Dad was in attendance. I guess we'll have to go again next year. Right, Mom and Dad?
I also did not get any pictures of the scarier-than-we-thought-it-would-be Haunted Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Just imagine body parts (or bodies) hanging out of all the dinosaur's mouths.
But...I did get these:

Boo at the Zoo!



Here they are, carving pumpkins:







The ward Halloween party:



Maddie with her cousin Hanna.







Maddie with our neighbors Kambri and Devyn. I have no idea where Nicholas was during this event. Somewhere in or out of the building.



And finally, Halloween night. Nicholas went trick-or-treating with a friend, Maddie went trick-or-treating with a friend, Mom and Dad handed out candy, and Darren and I watched cute little Emily bravely go door to door. Right after this picture, Emily's friend joined us. Everyone had so much fun. And I'm still eating Halloween candy--right now, in fact!

Dinner Tonight

Do you already know about the Dinner Tonight website? I found it a few weeks ago, and I love it! Each day they feature a quick and easy recipe. You can find it at the top of the column on the left side of the page.
I print out the recipe each day, put it in a folder, and then when I have to make my grocery shopping list, the menus are already done! Super easy, and we've loved practically everything. Try it.

Silly Emily

Emily says that she likes Chickawawas the best. (Chihuahuas)

Silly Maddie

Maddie said that if she could be a dog, she would like to be a Jack Russell Territory.

Pumpkinland

Here we are for our annual trip to Pumpkinland. If I get my way, you'll be seeing a post just like this for many, many years to come. My kids may be 25, 22, and 18, but we'll all be here. A prediction, if you like.



Enjoying the path to the maze. Discussing how long it will take us to master it this year.



Making sure we understand the challenge. If there's candy involved, you can bet we'll figure it out. (We did; the secret word was "pumpkin".)



A good place to point out that I have awfully cute kids.



Last year we were lost in here for an hour, I swear. (The great thing about the maze at Pumpkinland is that it's actually small enough to find your own way out without maps, or, as ALL people do in the big mazes, cutting your own path through the cornstalks.)
I know I just said it was small, but last year Maddie and Mom wanted to give up and go out the entrance because they were afraid we were going to have to spend the night. But Nicholas and I demanded that we stay the course and eventually we found our way out, weary, bedraggled and hungry.
Not so this year though. Without any trouble, we found the witch's room and then the exit. It may have just been easy this year might be one explanation, but I prefer to believe that we, in our yearly expeditions to Pumpkinland, have become experts on maze navigating, and that if we polled others who had been in the maze, they all were lost for hours and gave up. I'm just sayin'.









Just clowning around. (I've been waiting my whole life for a good reason to say that.)



Emily had to bounce on the toys meant for bigger kids. It was a lot of work for Maddie and Nicholas to get her to the top of this one. And they did it over and over because Emily loved the attention.



Grandma bought everyone pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn and even foam stickers for decorating. We love her!