Sunday Shoes

Our youngest outgrew these Sunday shoes a couple months ago. They were pretty tight on his feet and finally became too uncomfortable for him. I was a little reluctant to let them go because all of my boys have worn them. We bought them for my oldest when he was 3 and each of our boys in turn has worn them.

I heard somewhere that rather than hold onto these little keepsakes, just take a picture. So I did, and then I passed them on since they still have a lot of wear left. I tried to think about why these little shoes mean so much to me and I guess it is because of what they represent: four brothers walking in each others' footsteps. I am grateful to have an oldest son who is such a great example! I hope that he continues to walk a good path for his brothers to follow...and I hope that they each follow the path of the one ahead of them and realize that they are blazing the way for the one behind. A Mother's hopes and dreams...from a little pair of shoes.

He's Fourteen!

I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden my baby boy has turned fourteen!

We woke him up with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and a pile of gifts.

With the deer hunt only a couple weeks away, he had one request: camouflage!

Camo boots are a must: last year he was wearing size 11, this year he is in size 14!

To complete the look, we got him some cold weather camo: pants and a coat.

We made him a chocolate birthday cake, but in order to prevent a fire, we decided that once you reach your teens, you go back to single digit candles.

When he got home from school that afternoon, he got dressed up in his new camo and had his brother cover him with leaves in the front yard.

You could only see his boot. He waited there quietly until his younger siblings arrived home from school and then he jumped up and scared them! We sure love our fourteen-year-old! He is a wonderful son and a loving brother.

Family Halloween Party

This year Halloween was a breeze for me. Our oldest decided he was way too old to dress up and took on the roll of make-up artist.

He helped our two youngest boys get dressed up and creatively made sure they looked the part. I like this picture above because I made this Anakin costume for our oldest about six years ago.

I think we have had an Anakin or an Obi-wan every year since.

He did a great job on our boxer, who had blood, muscles, and bruises galore.


We had a fun time at our ward party this year like we always do, but, truth be known, we are really truly waiting for Aunt Kelli's Halloween party! It has become a tradition: everyone bring a soup to share;

and a scary hors d'oeuvre!

goblin mouths,

mummy apples,

witch fingers,

creepy crawly bugs,

and brains, to name a few.

Grandpa tries to scare the little kids, or the big kids...but he always scares someone!

All the kids come in costumes: check out this cute Oompa Loompa!

Nellie long-torso was a hit this year!

We always play a few games. This year the favorite was probably donut-on-a-string....who can eat it first.

No hands!!

It was easy to tell what donut they chose to eat: sprinkles,

chocolate,

and sugar.

Our youngest loved the part when Aunt Kelli let him have dessert first!

Was I the only Mom who went crazy due to sugar-high children???

We also played a game of musical plates (to Halloween music).

And a fun game of pin the spider on the web.

Bingo with candy corn was a hit!

There also was a table of goodies where we guessed the number of treats in each jar.

Our daughter guessed closest for the jar of tootsie rolls.

For dessert we had ghost pie. Ghost pie is a family tradition that started many, many years ago when Grandpa Black was still here and my husband was just a little boy. Grandpa Black couldn't resist and snuck a piece of pie before coming to a family dinner. Grandma Black thought it was tacky to bring a pie with a piece missing and was a little upset at the situation. Grandpa Black entered the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with a ghost shaped blob of whipping cream on the pie. When they arrived at the dinner, he convincingly told the grandchildren about the missing piece and the ghost shaped blob of whipping cream and how a ghost must have snuck the piece of pie. The tradition of ghost pie was born...and still lives on many years later.

A Broken Toe Can Be a Blessing

Remember the agony of this?

Turns out it was a blessing in disguise, a big one! With a broken toe comes several weeks away from running which wasn't so fun. Especially considering that I missed the marathon after I put in so much time...not fun. BUT...here comes the blessing part, when one returns to running, one must take it slowly or risk re-injury or another injury altogether. During that part: the slowly getting back into it, one day my husband expressed a desire to come with me.

That's all it took!! That day I searched the classifieds, found a smoking deal on a decent bike in a nearby town and the next morning we set off together at 5:15 a.m. on our run/bike. In the following weeks I have rediscovered several truths: 1) it is more fun to run with someone than alone 2) regular meaningful conversation is so good for a marriage 3) those two big rottweilers that chase me aren't so scary anymore 4) why didn't we discover this years ago??? It has been so fun! I know that as he gets into better shape he will be riding circles around me. But even if we're together just during his warm-up and cool-down I still love his company!

So Long Fall, Hello Winter

Fall has come and gone.

We have enjoyed our last rain storms,

we've searched for our last pot of gold,

and we've jumped in and crunched our last fall leaves.

Winter is here! We can't wait to go play in the snow!!

Pizza Bowl

Our second oldest played his last football game of the season on a cold October evening. We're talking really cold...hats, gloves, frozen toes, daydreaming of hot chocolate, the works. His team qualified for the pizza bowl, a consolation bracket for those teams that didn't make it into the playoffs.

One thing I think our #44 has learned this season is that teamwork isn't always about winning. It is about supporting each other, doing your job, owning your mistakes, and working together to correct mistakes.

Sure, it would have been really fun for them to have won more games, but I'm kind of glad they didn't so that he could learn how to lose. It is easy to talk about losing gracefully, but another thing to really do it.

We have a talented, determined little football player. That night he caused several "hurries" by the other quarter back. He was a real team leader and I was proud of how he kept being aggressive and doing his part even when winning was out of sight.

He stuck in there and had many key tackles. I don't know if he'll choose to play next year, and until I thaw out a little I don't know if I want him to, but I'm grateful for the valuable experience he has gained...and I hope he remembers it!

Family Night: Japanese Cuisine

Last week our impromptu Family Home Evening Lesson turned out great! The kids loved it and we had some great discussion. It was simple: My hubby told our kids about his mission to Japan and his time at the MTC.

As a follow up, we decided it would be fun to take the kids to an authentic Japanese restaurant so they could also have a taste of what Dad experienced for two years. So last night we headed to Provo's De Mae. First he gave them a quick lesson on using chopsticks....harder than they look.

Some gave up and used their fork, but others were persistent.

Our youngest didn't really like anything (he hated it) except for an appetizer...I forget the name, but they are basically a potato cake that is deep fried (a hashbrown).

Let's just say that most of our kids would be pretty skinny if we lived there. They tried miso soup, salad, gyozas, yakisoba, katsudon, and ramen (the real kind which doesn't really taste like ours at all).

They did like the yakisoba and some liked the katsudon, but it was definitely an eye-opening experience for them. And I didn't have to cook dinner...Yay!!