Happy Halloween

We had a super fun Halloween.  It all started after I took Tyler and Josh to school.  Megan and I went and got seats for Tyler's costume parade.  Margie met us there and we waited a long time for the kids to come.  While we waited they had the younger kids come up on the stage and show everyone their costumes.  I didn't have Megan dressed in her costume but she wore a really cute Halloween outfit and looked adorable.  She just stood on the stage and looked around not really sure what to do and then she came back and sat down.  It was so cute.
Then the kids finally came from their classrooms.  Kindergarten is always first and so then we thought Tyler's class would be next, but he was actually after the second grade.  He was right behind his teacher and was happy walking around parading his Knight costume.  He is such a cute kid.  I thought taking the picture with my phone might give me a better picture then my camera, but it didn't.  It was still blurry, but his cuteness still comes through strong.

After school and dinner we got the kids ready in their costumes to go out trick-or-treating.  It wasn't too cold, but it was going to get more cold so it was hard to know how warmly to dress the kids.  I did good because they didn't even get cold.  I got Tony to wear Mickey ears for a picture so him and Megan could be Mickey and Minnie, but he took them off right after.  At least I got the picture.
They started at our neighbors houses and then trick-or-treated down to the church where they were having truck-or-treating.  Tony said they got their earlier then he thought they would so he took the kids to the houses around the church and then went back when more cars were there.
After that they went a different way trick-or-treating to make it back to our house.  When they got here they emptied their loot and went to the bathroom before heading out again.  At first Tyler said his feet hurt and didn't want to go out any more but after I reminded him that he only gets to do this one time a year he changed his mind and wanted to go.
After about an hour they came back and then the kids enjoyed handing out the treats to the trick-or-treaters.  The boys kept fighting over whose turn it was to hand out the candy.  They all had a great time and loved everything Halloween.

Primary Program

Today our ward had our Primary Program.  Both boys had parts that they memorized and did a really good job.  Josh was the very first kid to talk and he talked right into the microphone and said, "My name is Josh and I am a child of God."  He did not enunciate at all and I am sure that most of the people in the congregation had no idea what he said.  But I knew what he said and I was proud of him.  He was pretty silly about the whole program.  He sang out really loud at different times and then spent the other part of his time picking his nose before he then just laid on the floor in front of his seat for half of the program.  At least I wasn't embarrassed about him picking his nose when he was on the floor.  He is such a silly kid.

Tyler did really good.  He said his line very clearly, "I love Jesus Christ because he created the earth."  He sang most of the songs as far as I could see.  Their was a really tall girl (whose mom made her hair really curly and poofy) who stood right in front of Tyler so I couldn't see him for part of the program.  He sang right out on the last song, Gethsemane.  It is a really sweet song and Tyler did great.  He is such a sweet heart.
The boys loved that both sets of grandparents came to support them.  It was nice having them there and seeing our silly kids.  We are very blessed to have such supportive families.

Early Halloween Fun

We started out our Halloween fun with a trip to the Harmon's parking lot.  After the boys did their practice for the Primary program tomorrow we picked them up, changed their clothes and headed to Harmon's.
Tony's cousins girls do Girls Scouts and they were doing a food drive/truck-or-treating event.  So you had to donate at least one can of food and then you got to do the truck-or-treating.  They probably had about 8 cars, so it was little but the kids had a good time

After we got our goods we ate lunch at Texas Roadhouse.  We used some of our free kid meal coupons and all had a great feast.  We sure do love that place.  The waitress totally hooked us up with lots of rolls, even an extra box of them to take home.  It was fun.
Megan had enough fun and was ready for a nap.  While she napped Tony and the boys met up with Margie at the dollar theater to see the movie, "Planes."  They said that they all liked it and they had a good time. 

When they got home we got the kids dressed back up in their costumes to go to Macey's where they were doing Halloween activities.  They had truck-or-treating, cookie decorating, and face painting.  They handed out some nice things too.  The kids got cookies, coloring books, Halloween rings, and of course candy.  It was a nice event that they put on.
We noticed a couple signs at a church that we past that said they were doing a truck-or-treat at 6:00 that night.  So after Macey's we decided to crash their party.  We figured they probably wouldn't care and the kids were already dressed and ready for more truck-or-treating fun.
Turns out that the prep time was at 6:00 and the actual truck-or-treating wasn't suppose to start until 6:30.  The boys quickly found friends to run around with but Tony and I then felt very silly waiting around at this wards party.  We did have one guy come and welcome us...I confessed we saw the sign and came even though we don't live around there.  We joked about saying we just moved in or something, but I didn't.  I just told the truth.
The kids had a great time.  It took going to a couple cars for Megan to pick up what was going on, but after that she was running from car to car.  She loved getting the candy and just wanted to sit down and eat it all.  People would say she was so cute that she got two...she is pretty darn cute.  They also had hot chocolate and donuts there too.  They put on a pretty fun party.
So now we have a huge bowl of candy and it isn't even Halloween yet.  The kids had so much fun and I am glad that we were able to do these fun free things with the kids.  They are going to LOVE going truck-or-treating and trick-or-treating on Halloween.  So much fun!

Megan's New Room

Tony and I had been talking about repainting Megan's room ever since the boys moved down stairs.
We weren't sure if we wanted to go really "girly" or something more neutral.  I have always like the color yellow and we even talked about painting the room yellow when we were pregnant with Tyler but decided to keep it blue because it was already blue so that was the easiest.

Tony picked up a bunch of yellow paint samples and we decided on "Vanilla Milkshake."  It is a really creamy light yellow and we both really like it.
We picked up a Minnie Mouse wall stickers set from Costco to help decorate her room after we painted it the "Vanilla Milkshake."
Tony painted the room Saturday after doing all the batch work and all the taping.  I decided that painting isn't the hard part it is all the prep work that sucks.

On Sunday after the paint was all dry we moved back Megan's bed, dresser, and book shelf.  We also put back up the shelves and then started putting up the Minnie stickers.  They are so cute and their were so many of them that came in the set.  Megan was so excited.  She kept saying "Minnie" while we were putting up the stickers.  Her and the boys were disappointed that I didn't let them help put up the stickers.  I put most the stickers up high enough that the kids can't peel them off.

We are still looking for the right comforter to go on Megan's bed.  For now we are using a quilt that my mom made her when she was born and a blanket our neighbor made.
I would still like to repaint the base boards and the doors...and I guess we should probably paint the inside of the blue closet either white or "Vanilla Milkshake."  Those projects are for another day. 

Daybreak Halloween Party

 Today was our wards Daybreak activity.  They did a Halloween party where the kids (and some adults) dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  It was a good test run of the costumes for trick-or-treating.
Tyler's costume is good to go.  I did a little extra sewing on some parts that were coming off from all the playing with the costume, so it is good and secure.
Josh's costume we got from Suzanne and it fits him really well.  The "boot" things kept falling down so I will have to think of something that I can do to try and keep them up.  I think that they are super cute and really add to the costume.
Megan's costume is just her pajamas with a little skirt that I found.  I think that I will go and see if I can get the next size up for trick-or-treating.  That way I can do layers on her so she wont get cold.  I guess we'll see.  I have a Tigger costume that Josh wore that might fit her, I guess I could see how she looks in that...might have to do that for some fun.

Julie and her kids were able to come and eat with us.  Kimball was ready for his nap so they didn't stay long.  After lunch the kids played a little "put the nose on the pumpkin" and got a treat.  Pretty sure Josh and Megan just went and took a treat.  It was fun chatting with friends and letting the kids play.  Halloween is such a fun time of the year.

End Of Soccer For 2013

Tonight was Tyler's last soccer game of the season.  He played pretty good.  He ran really fast and was able to have some good runs with the ball.  He didn't get any goals today, but probably had at least 4 or 5 the whole season.  Which is actually pretty good since he was one of the youngest kids on his team.
Tyler always loves playing and never complains about going to a practice or a game.  He is super fast and has a lot of potential for being a really good player.

Josh had his last game on Saturday.  Most of this season Josh mainly just wanted to play with the kids on his soccer team by tackling them and pushing them around.  The other kids did this to him as well so it was a lot of 3 and 4 year olds wrestling around the soccer field.  They really fed off of each other and goofed off during most of their games.
It was honestly so frustrating to watch.  Josh is a pretty skilled soccer player for a kid who just turned 4, so I knew that he could play a lot better then he was.  His heart wasn't in it most of the time and even said he didn't like soccer anymore. 
I think that Josh scored 4 or 5 of his own goals all together this season.  I was there for one or two, but it seemed like he always scored a goal at the games that I was unable to attend.  By the end Josh played a lot better and even said he liked soccer and wanted to play again.  We will have to see about that.  They both really love their trophies.  And we really love them.

Playing In the Leaves

Megan, Josh, and Tyler sitting in our pile of leave.

Megan, Josh, and Tyler throwing the pile of leaves.

After school today Tyler saw that a bunch of the Kunzler's leaves had fallen off their tree and were in their front yard all ready to be played in.  So we got our rakes and went over to play in the leaves.

Tyler showing Megan how to play in the leaves.

Megan being buried in the leaves.  She loved having the boys put leaves on her, but not over her head and face.

Josh coming out from being buried in the leaves.  He liked having the leaves cover his whole body, even his face.

Tyler coming out from being buried.  He liked being completely covered as well. 

Silly Megan

The other day after getting the kids ready for bed we found Megan walking around with an extra binkey in her mouth.  She had a pony tail on the top of her head earlier that day so once we took out the rubber band her hair was just wild.  Add to that the two binkies we couldn't resist taking a picture of our silly little girl.  We sure do love her, even when she's being a pill.

Crabbing Off The Docks

On Sunday morning after breakfast Boyd and Kevin got the nets from the warehouse and all the things they needed for crabbing and fishing and then headed to the docks.  They got a crabbing license, bought some fish heads for the nets, and found a good spot to catch them some crabs.

Julie stayed back at grandpa's for a while before she met up with Kevin and Boyd at the docks with her kids for some crabbing fun.  Averee and Hayden liked helping "kick" the crabs that are too small back into water and watch all the action.  Their were also sea lions in the water that would come up to us and say "feed me."  At least that is what I think that they are saying.  It is so much fun to see them up close and personal in the ocean right off the docks.  It's like being at Sea World, but much cheaper.

After my dad, grandpa, and I went on our "tour of Coos Bay" trip we went and dropped off my grandpa at his house.  He didn't want to go to the docks but my mom did so we picked her up and headed to the docks to check out the crabbing action.

We found them quickly and they had already caught one really big crab.  They had three nets and were catching a lot of crabs each time.  But you can only take the crabs that are big enough and male.
So we have a ruler type thing to measure the crabs to make sure they are big enough to keep.
If you flip a crab over then you can tell if it's a male or female by the shape and size of the middle of their shell.

I was pretty much a big baby the whole time and didn't want to hold the crabs.  My dad tried to get me to hold the really big one, but I really didn't want to.  I was being chicken.  I know that I have held crabs before so I don't know why I was being such a chicken this time.  I don't regret not holding a crab, but maybe next time I will be more brave and at least try...maybe.
My mom and dad didn't stay for very long.  They left me there with the men and kids and went for a drive around the bay.  They missed out on some good times.

Kevin and Boyd did most the work but one time Boyd had me pull one of the nets.  I tried to pull it up super fast and then dump out the crabs away from me.  One of the crabs came out of the net by my feet and it totally made me jump and scream like a little girl.  Wearing flip flops wasn't a very good idea.  I was paranoid the whole time that I was going to get my little toes pinched. 
My toes were fine.  They only ended up with the one crab from the whole trip.  Normally it wouldn't be worth it to cook just one crab but Kevin really wanted to eat it.  So we took it back to grandpa's and after lunch Kevin cooked his crab and he and my mom enjoyed it.
Crabbing is pretty fun.  I sat and enjoyed the sun shine on the water.  I am glad that I went and look forward to taking my family crabbing in the future.

Bastendorff Beach

We wanted to get to the beach before the sun went down because we knew Saturday night was the only night we would be in Coos Bay.
We went to Bastendorff Beach and it was beautiful.  The water was freezing, not that I was trying to get wet.  The water came up on me faster then I thought it would when I was taking pictures.

When we got to the beach the sun was just starting to set behind the clouds.  It was fun seeing my sisters kids playing in the water and the sand having so much fun.  At that moment I wished that my own little family was there playing on the beach and having fun being a little kid.  That moment passed and I enjoy the beautiful sunset in peace. 

The sand was really soft and very cold.  It was weird to feel the sand cold.  Usually sand is warm or hot so it was a different feeling to have it be so cold.  It was really nice to be there for a little while but we didn't stay for very long.

We stayed until the sun went all the way down behind the ocean.  The skyline was incredible.  You can see the lighthouse out in the distance and the lining of the forest of trees.  The Oregon coast really is a beautiful place.  I just wish it wasn't so hard to get there.  It takes so many hours to drive there and too much money to fly there.  But when you get there and are enjoying its beauty...it makes all those hours worth it...until you have to drive back.

Coos Bay

After all the funeral stuff we changed our clothes and headed south to Coos Bay.  I drove down with my dad and we had a good time chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather.  I don't remember being in Oregon with better weather.  It was sunny and warm with highs in the 70's the whole time we were there.  It was better weather in Oregon then it was in Salt Lake.  It was amazingly beautiful and we were so lucky to be there to enjoy it.

Once we got to my grandpas house we visited with him for a little while and unpacked our car.  After a while my sisters kids wanted to go to the candy store up the street so we all went for sentimental value.  We used to go to this little store when we were little with our empty cans that we exchanged for money and then we bought candy with the money.  Good memories.  We all chose our goods and then my dad paid the nice lady then walked back to grandpa's house.
Then it was beach time (that's the next post).  After the beach we went to dinner at Gino's Pizza.  The food isn't super great but it is my dad's favorite place to eat when he's back in Coos Bay.  He hung out there a lot growing up and spent lots of time there with his buddies.  So it would be like when we go to Leatherby's.  It was fun to go with Grandpa and Dorthy and our whole crew that was there.  All of us kids except Wendy and Teagan.  Not too bad for a trip that was planed last minute.

After dinner we went home and got ready for bed.  I slept in a bottom bunk in the back room.  It wasn't very comfortable, but it was a bed.  Better then sleeping on the floor.  The next morning we woke up and enjoyed just relaxing, eating breakfast, and chatting.  After breakfast my dad, grandpa, and I went on a car ride to see all the rentals.  My dad wanted to show my the different houses he grew up in and all the rental properties that my grandpa and he has.  It was a fun tour of Coos Bay and seeing things of my dad's childhood.  Oregon...gotta love it.