A few pictures from Halloween 2013

October is always a crazy busy but also fun month. So many birthdays and activities. There are actually better pictures from our real camera but using pics from my phone is quicker. 

Matt's parents Sam and Wendy came to visit and we had our traditional meal at Jack Stack BBQ followed by frozen custard for dessert. Asher and Ridge were pretending to be girls in this picture.  They said their names were Ashlita and Naddo.

  I won the "Golden Spoon" award for best chili at our yearly church trunk or treat. It's funny b/c I'm not even a chili maker, I just whipped something up real quick.  Also the young women were in charge of a Haunted Hallway for the kids. They worked really hard and did a good job. Sadly the fog machine used in the swamp portion set off the fire alarm and so the whole building had to be evacuated.  So that ended the Haunted Hallway. The fire department came and everything. So, now we know what not to do.

 Matt's birthday is on Halloween so I try to make him feel special that day in addition to all the other trick or treat festivities we have going on. This year his sweet mom Wendy was able to fly in to be with us on his actual birthday. (Sam flew in the next day). We ordered pizza and I made apple crisp, it was simple but yummy. He is 38 this year.  I was telling his mom that I think Matt gets more and more handsome the older he gets. Looking good lover, hubba hubba!

 Pumpkin carving. Slug pumpkin by Asher. Jay did a snail one and Ridge carved a face. Pictures of those are on our real camera.

THis is on the way to the school Trunk or Treat. The boys kept flip flopping what they wanted to be this year, so I never bought any costumes. We told them to go down to the dress up bin and pick something out and they all came upstairs deciding to be BYU athletes.  Good looking team right there.
Happy Halloween

Raking/Sweeping Leaves and a walking stick (the insect)

Lego Army

Matt is currently driving Jay and Asher up to Wisconsin to watch the BYU vs. UW football game. Ridge and I went downstairs to bring up a tub of Legos and I had to take some pictures of the battle scene that was all laid out. I don't know how to make the pictures bigger on this blog (I'm trying to do better about documenting our "good ol' days.") The details on these things made me chuckle but were also quite impressive.

 Every battle needs a pit of decapitated heads. Perhaps this was inspired by our recent Book of Mormon scripture study of Ammon cutting off the arms of those trying to scatter King Lamoni's sheep?

This is Jay's creation of a headless horseman.

Veteran's Day Pack Meeting

We had a neat experience last night. Jay and Asher attended their Cub Scout pack meeting for Veteran's Day.  They had local VFW's come and perform the flag ceremony and a ceremony for POW's and MIA's. It was very meaningful and a good experience.
 I called up my Grandma Nevada Hand to talk to her a bit about Grandpa Theodore William Hand Jr. and the boys put out some pictures and this little write up. It was special for me as a mother to pass some other stories on to my boys and we talked about how our ancestors are all part of our lives, meaning past and present, whether we get to meet them in this life or not families are important. We all have stories and will leave those to our progeny.
 The Spirit was strong as we visited  (in our car of all places) and I could feel the love of my ancestors as I was talking about them. The yearly theme worldwide for the youth this year is "Stand Ye in Holy Places, and be not moved..." I have learned that a Holy Place is anywhere you are that the Spirit can dwell. At this particular moment it was a 2006 Toyota Highlander. :)
 We have several family members who have served in the armed forces. I am thankful for all of them and for this wonderful country we get to live in.

My 5th Half Marathon

Oct. 19, 2013 was my 5th time running the Kansas City half marathon. I didn't train very well this year and had several issues with my feet and legs falling asleep on many runs--not fun as it feels like I am dragging cement blocks which sometimes leads to me rolling an ankle.
 Race day is always a bundle of nerves and adrenaline. My dear friend Carie Skinner (who is a much faster runner than I am) and I ended up finishing at 2 hours 15 minutes.  Last year I had a P.R. year of 2:14, so I was pretty happy with my time this year considering we both stopped and went to the bathroom during the race, so if you subtract that pit stop I might have actually had another Personal Record, but I'm not one to dwell on the "what ifs" for very long.  The course is always so beautiful and I find it satisfying to set a goal for myself every year. I am thankful for a healthy body that can do hard things.
*Pictures courtesy of Mark Skinner.  Matt was on kid duty. We had four soccer games and 1 flag football game that day as well.

Quick Quote- Por Favor

Matt's parents were just in town for a fun visit.  As we were leaving church I was climbing into the back seat of the car and asked Asher to "scoot over to the middle of the seat por favor." He complied, but frankly told me "my name is NOT por favor!"
*The above pictures are from a weekend canoe/fly fishing trip Matt took the older boys on to the Eleven Point River.