Fall Festival

This year, our ward did a Fall Festival and Trunk or Treat a week before Halloween. Each auxiliary was in charge of a booth. There was a fishing booth, a cupcake walk, a donut from a string eating contest. . . The Primary did a photo booth. We set up a background and took pictures with a digital camera and then e-mailed the pictures to everyone. This allowed whole families to have their picture taken together if they wanted. We also did individual shots and groups-- like half the deacons quorum. Here's the picture of our family. Talmage is a pirate, Anya is Princess Liana from the Barbie Diamond Castle movie (the movie scared my kids but Anya loved the dress), Aaron is a beach guys (he was just hot and wanted to wear his swim suit),and I'm not exactly sure what I am. I could have been a witch if I would have put my hat on, but I was too busy taking pictures. Aaron claimed I was a vivablix but only people that have read the Fablehaven series would have gotten that.

The weather forecast for Halloween is sunny and 80 degrees. A little warm but better than wearing a snow suit over your costume. If anyone wants to come down and Trick or Treat in the nice weather you are welcome to stay with us.

Anya's Birthday

Anya is so happy to be four! I let her wear her Halloween princess costume for her birthday. She thought that was so exciting.



For her birthday we gave her a nice doll with extra clothes and shoes. She was so excited because she showed me this doll was her favorite over a month ago. She says she likes her because they look the same. She named her Mary and she has pretty well taken over Elmo's place as favorite toy and companion.

Anya lost no time in pulling off Mary's shoes and trying a new pair on her.


Anya's Sunbeam teacher brought her a huge balloon and skittles for her birthday. They were both a big hit. She is also wearing a bead necklace she made, with Aaron's help, out of a kit she got from HoneyGram and Papa.

Is it Winter?

Last night the kids and I took the garbage and recycling out to the curb around sunset. It was around 87 degrees out and humid, the kind of weather that makes you instantly feel sweaty and sticky. The kids thought it felt great and wanted to ride bikes and play. I was checking how our plant were doing after finally getting some rain when Talmage came up to me and asked "Is it Winter?". The poor child is going to grow up so confused about seasons. He saw that some of our plants that do better in the winter were making a come back after temperatures finally dipped below 100 everyday. So he assumed it must be winter. I try to explain season's down here to the kids but they all blend together. Spring is hot, summer is deathly hot, fall is humid and hot, and winter is warm. Now I'm exaggerating a bit but in truth we have flowers of one kind or another year round so it is hard to distinguish one season from the next.

Tokyo Temple

You may need to click on the picture to see it better.

The kids were excited about this picture of the Tokyo Temple built out of blocks on the front of this months edition of The Friend. It turns out Aaron was just as excited because he "helped" the kids build it out of blocks. I love that he enjoys playing with the kids and their toys so much.