November 1st

I've always wanted to do those "thankful" posts for the month of November but somehow I never remember until half way through November and then it's like...crap! I missed it again. Well, check me out! 

#1

I am thankful that it isn't Halloween.

Because this is my first time I will even actually throw in a bonus "I am thankful" ...I am thankful that Halloween candy holds no allure to me. Seriously. I am "thankful" for Bryn (Wow! We are onto 3 now. Maybe I should pace myself?) for causing me such horrendous morning sickness that it truly has no appeal.

I am almost giddy with anticipation to remove all of the Halloween decorations and pack up all of the Halloween stuff but alas I have just returned from the world's most painful flu shot so that might be on hold as my arm has been rendered useless. (Luckily my fingers still work to type. :) Why don't they provide the nasal spray for adults?

Here we go...oh yeah...I still haven't ordered that camera battery so enjoy my iphoney pictures.

Halloween 2012

(We had a Blue Butterfly, a Woodland Fairy, a Kitty Cat, and a creepy Death Rider.)

I am anti-creepy costume but Kameron wore me down and believe me this creepy costume was tame in comparison to his other choices. I begged and begged him to be Charlie Bucket. If ever there was a child born to play the role of Charlie Bucket it is Kam. (Think of the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie...the Johnny Depp one means nothing to me.) He refused. I even suggested that our whole family could join in. Imagine Reilly as Violet Beauregarde, Ailey could be the perfect Veruca Salt, Bryn as an Oompa Loompa, Tyler as Willie Wonka, and me as the poor down trodden Mrs. Bucket. Again...he refused. Soon he will be too old for this role and my dreams will be dashed. I don't ask for much...just one glorious golden ticket Halloween. Try to live with your guilt Kam. Try. 

Okay back to Halloween which has really stretched on for far too long...too many parties...too many days of kids donning a costume. In case you missed it on Facebook... Bryn had an absolutely marvelous time at her Preschool party. This is the first year she has really gotten super excited. Because her preschool is in the high school they got to trick or treat to some of the classrooms. Her teacher said that the teachers fight over whose classroom they get to go to. She had a ball.

 
She also got to wear this get up again to ballet yesterday where they could come in costume. Most of the newbie ballet parents didn't know about this so only Bryn and one other girl who has an older sister in ballet came all glammed up and in costume. They loved it and the other little girls cried. Oops. Luckily Tyler came after they were all settled down to watch Bryn at ballet because I had to head on over to the elementary school to help with Ailey's classroom party.

Here's my philosophy about volunteering now that I am on child  #3. I volunteer to help with parties (NEVER as room mother...only as party mom) and field trips.  If you only knew how many years I would volunteer during the day and would end up stuck in the workroom cutting, stapling, copying, dye cutting like a chump and would barely see my kid at all. (I know those are noble tasks that do need to get done. I like to save those for the 1st time parents...I've done my time.) Anyway with parties and field trips you are the hero!! FYI-- toilet paper mummy station in the worst. Too messy and much too hyper of an activity. My personal favorite? Pumpkin Bowling. So now you know.

Ailey's cute class

 I also ended up with 4 little girls coming up to me to tell me that they are currently "Ailey's best friend" ha ha. Here's two of them:

 I asked Ailey which one actually was her best friend and in typical Ailey fashion she just giggled and said "They all are!!"

Now here's a little situation that I was not anticipating. I purposefully did not volunteer to be a party mom in Kameron's class this year. I was informed by Reilly when she was in 6th grade that that was "humiliating". Okay. So I thought I would still be semi-there for Kameron's last Halloween in elementary school by being in Ailey's room and watching his class come through for the Halloween Parade (my favorite thing) and that wouldn't be too humiliating. So Kam's class comes through...he high fives me...and I think "Good job Kristin." 

But then after school this little conversation occurred:

Me: Hey Kamers!! How was your party?

Kam: Fine. (said very blah-ly)

Me: Did you have fun?
Kam: I guess. (no enthusiasm whatsoever)
Me: What were your treats?
Kam: Krispy Kreme Donuts. (said like it was dirt he had to eat)
Me: Why so glum?
Kam: yelling...I'M NOT GLUM.
Me: What's your deal? Didn't you have fun?
Kam: I guess.
Me: Did people like your costume?
Kam: Yeah.
Me: So what's wrong?
Kam: NOTHING'S WRONG!!

As I am trying to figure out what the heck is his problem a very random thought occurs to me.

Me: Are you sad that I didn't come help out in your class today?
Kam: Maybe.
Me: I thought you wouldn't want me in there.
Kam: Well I do.
Me: Ok. Would it make you feel better if I volunteer in there for Valentines Day?
Kam: Maybe...I guess so.

I give up!!  What is humiliating to one kid is not  humiliating to another one. After talking to Tyler...who was also baffled...he said he that he was totally humiliated by his mom coming to his class in  6th grade. I, for the record, never was. (I love you, Mom!!)
    
Then it seemed like we were just barely home and it was time to get ready for Trunk-or-Treat at the Church. Reilly did the little girls make-up and they looked beautiful. 

 

Bryn's wings "may" have been supposed to go another direction but she was determined that they were to go this way.

You might be surprised to know that Tyler "handcrafted" those antennae himself!!

Reilly called herself "Sexy Kitty" but I just call her "Kitty.

 At Trunk-or-Treat this year there was a good turn out and the weather was warm...for Halloween. I loved seeing all my little primary kids. So cute!!

Tyler ran the kids around while I doled out the candy. Reilly helped me briefly.

 

Then she ditched us to hang out with these guys...we didn't see her again until 10pm.

 

Once Trunk-or-Treat was over we took the three kids trick-or-treating. By the end of the night their pumpkin buckets were FULL. "My bucket's too heavy!! I have too much candy!!" said no child ever...unless you are Bryn.

We headed home, pranked Reilly, put pizzas in the oven, ransacked everyone's candy for the dog chow...Banana Laffy Taffy, Bit-o-Honey, Dum Dums...I'm talking to you...to put in our big bowl to hand out to our neighborhood kids. Rude? No...they just got full-sized candy bars next door and diabetic boy paid good money for the Costco sized bags of candy HE likes...so dog chow it was for the locals. (Church kids and particular friends got the good stuff!!)

The night was fun but exhausting and now I couldn't be more THANKFUL that it is November.

Happy Halloween!!  

"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Ferris Bueller had it right. That's why this weekend we scrapped all our other plans...parties, activities and obligations...to go hang out at the lake. Fall is a rather under utilized time out there (due to busy schedules) but it is just beautiful. Even though it pretty much rained the entire time we were there it didn't stop us from going outside and having fun. The water was pure glass and the Tamaracks have turned yellow. The fall colors, the smell of woodsmoke, the foggy rainy weather and the beautiful lake were the perfect combination for an October family get together. Our family, Stacey and her two kids, Kelley and Elle, Justin and Hannah and their kids, and my mom and my Grandma were all able to come out. It was a lot of fun!!

Dane was the man!! Fishing in a complete downpour.

 The kids fished, went on nature walks with Aunt Kelley, played outside, decorated Halloween cookies, played games, watched movies, played the piano for Granny, did crafts, ate good food, and just had a great time.

Reilly and I ran up to Sandpoint super early to meet my Mom to do a little Sisters Creed business. Some of our vendor friends who have an antiques store up there were having a warehouse sale. We scored tons of gorgeous vintage Christmas ribbon. Awesome. We also stopped for breakfast at the Pine Street Bakery. They have the best filled croissants. Then it was back to the lake for more fall fun.

Elle, River and Ailey

 The little girls had the best time decorating and eating Halloween cookies. Those are some cooking and crafty girls...just like their mamas.

Reilly, River, Kameron and Bryn

The big kids enjoyed those cookies too. My mom also whipped up multiple batches of her fantastic homemade hot chocolate mix that we all beg for...yum.

Ailey, Gavin and River

 When it was all divided up these guys licked that bowl clean!! We also updated the kids pictures on Granny's picture wall. Good grief the last pictures I had up there were so old!! Kameron was missing his two front teeth...Ailey was two...and Bryn wasn't even up on the Great-Grandkids wall yet! I am horrible at remembering to bring updated pictures.

The cousins just played and played together. Tyler and I banned our older kids from bring cellphones, DS players etc and it was wonderful. 

Look...cousins playing"old-fashioned" board games. How quaint.

Kameron, Ailey, Dane and River. I love that somehow they ended up color coordinated.

Look at that family fun and togetherness without all the incessant texting!! I love it...and everyone survived.

 We did a bunch of crafting both for Christmas and for Sisters Creed. I love being creative, talking and joking with my family, and getting some serious stuff done.

Even with the constant rain it didn't stop Bryn from putting on a little song and dance show on the dock to help attract the fish for Dane to catch. Ha ha. I love that Dane is completely oblivious.

 

We had several crockpots of different types of soup going all day, a delicious mediterranean dip, good snacks (Hannah I need that recipe!!), and warm things to drink.

Elle, Bryn, River, Gavin, Ailey and Haylee

The other end of the table...minus several people

It was so much fun and I am glad that we didn't do all the things that we had on our to-do list and spent time relaxing and enjoying our family.

We also managed to sneak in a quick trip up to Greenbluff to go to the pumpkin patch.It was freezing so we made it quick. 

Who doesn't love Greenbluff?

 ...and hot pumpkin donuts?

Pumpkin Carving is a job for Dads in my book...Just like coloring Easter Eggs. I am not a fan of either one.

Reilly picked out a warty looking pumpkin and...word to the wise...they don't carve.

Other happenings this week... we had the fun of hearing Reilly sing twice. She had a choir concert on Tuesday night. She did a fantastic job!! (You will have to take my word for that because my little attempts at recording it were an abject failure) This year she is in Symphonic choir and they really sounded great. Then yesterday she sang in church with the young women. They sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and it was beautiful.

One last thing...We just found out that we...as in Sisters Creed...will be vendors at Farm Chicks this year. We haven't done that sale for a few years and are looking forward to doing it again. It is probably the largest and best known vintage sale in the United States. We are so excited and busy making plans for the show in June. It should be fun.

Halloween is just around the corner and I am in charge of the toilet paper mummy station in Ailey's class so I had better get to the store. 

Happy Fall!!

 

Kansas City Trip: Days 11 and 12 The End

 


Finally!! Yes, we are finally to the end of the big road trip. No one could be more thrilled than me to finish up the journaling of this event. Woohoo. Only took me until Mid-October...but what ev. It's done now.

The day we left Kansas City was bittersweet. On one hand, after eleven days we were pretty sick of traveling and looking forward to getting home and on the other hand, it was hard to say goodbye to Ramon, Jordin and kiddos.

We met up with my Mom and Ken, who were also leaving that day, at Jordin's house. Stacey, Kelley and the little girls were going to be leaving the day after. After shedding lots of tears we said goodbye. We had a couple of stops on our way out of town. I needed to do a bit of shopping for Sisters Creed and ended up finding some great things. We also stopped to get something to eat at the Kolache Factory. Kolaches are a big thing in Texas. We used to always stop for Kolaches on our way to and from Galveston. They are delicious. Kolaches are a thick kind of pastry filled with sausages, or fruit, or eggs and cheese etc. Unfortunately these Kolaches were pretty ho-hum. I guess I need to go to Texas to get my fix. We also stopped to purchase a little more Kansas City flair. We got more Royals, Chiefs, and KU t-shirts, hats, posters etc. You've gotta get the gear...right?

Outside of town there is a great new shopping and entertainment area called The Legends. This stop was definitely on my to-do list. It had to be at the end of the trip so I knew just how much money I could blow. :) At the Legends there is a White House Black Market OUTLET!! Woohoo. That is my favorite store and I have never even heard of there being an outlet. It did not disappoint!!

This was MY multi-level Forever 21!! I found some absolutely fantastic deals and left with some great purchases!! (We also stopped for our last Culver's Frozen Custard gluttony. Sad.)

After that it was pretty much endless driving through Nebraska. While not quite as horrible as South Dakota (really what could be?) it  was still very flat and very boring. We did stop in Lincoln and looked around. Here's a really random tip but if you should find yourself on an endless road trip and in Lincoln, NE...and if you feel that if you were to eat any more fast food you would hurl...the HyVee (a midwest grocery store) has DELICIOUS Chinese food. We chowed. Crazy... yet seriously good.

I also found in Lincoln my new favorite beverage that I cannot find anywhere here and will need to order online. It is delish!!

McClellans are sparkling water/ mineral water drinkers from way back. When I was a kid we always had Perrier and La Croix in the fridge. I just love it. I also absolutely love coconut...the taste, the smell everything. But... I had been burned by coconut water that tasted, as my kids described it, like "squash water". Gruesome. This drink tastes like the tropics!! All coconutty, light, and delicious.

We continued on our journey and drove through the night. We arrived in Wyoming early in the morning into a vastly different landscape. The desert. We had breakfast in Cody, WY and entered Yellowstone from the East Entrance. It had been over 12 years since we had last been there. Only Reilly had ever been there before and that was as a baby. The kids were super excited and the scenery was grand and majestic. Even Ailey who was so worried about supervolcanos and calderas was grinning and excitedly looking around.

The day was hot and dry. When we rounded the bend and saw that beautiful Yellowstone Lake we just couldn't resist. We pulled over as soon as possible and got right in!!
 

Tempting right?

 

Ailey still a bit fearful (calderas!!) but she dipped her toes in anyway.

Lake rats through and through

We started quite the trend. When we pulled over and jumped out there wasn't anyone else in the water...but after a few minutes a whole bunch of people pulled over and were wading into the lake. Yellowstone has such a "mass mentality" if other people are doing something/looking at something/stopping at something well then everybody feels a need to do/look/and stop at things. People are terrified that they are going to "miss out" on something. That aspect of Yellowstone drives me NUTS!! When we left a bus load of Japanese tourists were running to the water. :)

Our next stop was the mudpots. So fascinating to see as children. This year due to the lack of rain they weren't quite as impressive as in the past.

Still pretty cool though.

Brynnie was pretty impressed!!

The kids just couldn't believe their eyes. I grew up going to Yellowstone fairly regularly but it was all new to these guys. They said that Yellowstone was the highlight of the trip. It was fun that the three older kids were old enough to understand geology and to be fascinated by it.

Then we went to check out the West Thumb area to see the geysers, fumaroles, paint pots, and hot springs. It was on this particular little jaunt that Tyler decided to drive off the road and nearly killed us all. For reals. I guess every long road trip must have a near death experience to keep things interesting. It resulted in me being extremely pissed off for this part of the park, not talking to Tyler and refusing to be in any of the pictures.

Bright sun strikes again. I guess I should have provided sunglasses for these guys.

So pretty!!

The paint pots were my particular favorite sights this trip. I especially loved where there were yellow ones, aqua blue ones, purple ones, orange ones and emerald green ones right near each other. Nature is pretty amazing!!

We were seriously the scroungiest bunch. Showers? What day was that? Oh well. I guess I am keeping with tradition. I should unearth some of my childhood Yellowstone photos. We were one grubby bunch of kids!! Clearly nothing has changed. Also, by this point of the trip thank goodness we had amazing geological sites to see because we were DONE with this trip and with each other!! Those smiles...all fakes.
 

Then it was off to Old Faithful to wait and wait for her to do her thing, eat the world's most expensive ice cream, and hear the craziest group conversation ever.

Waiting...and looking mangy!!

This was where we had the most interesting and yet bizarre experience. While we all sat there waiting a big spontaneous conversation broke out. It started out with people asking "Where are you from?" etc. Soon a whole big section of people were joined in on one huge conversation. What about you ask? The beauty of Yellowstone? Nay Nay. It was the incompetence of Barrack Obama. Can you believe it? Very interesting. Especially as it was quite the little slice of American pie. People from all over the US were ticked off at the lack luster job of Barrack Obama and vocalizing it. Not one person in that group defended him. Not one. Even the Canadians were ticked off. They didn't care for him putting the kibosh on the ol' pipeline that would've made them some money. See that big group? They were all laughing and mocking Obama or "that A@#$$$% in the White House" as some people called him. Pretty good random sample of people: westerners, northwesterners, northerners, easterners, Retirees, RVers, Environmentalists, Southerners, Midwesterners all united in complete disgust with Obama. Well... that was enough to jolt me out of my pissy mood at our near death experience. Tyler and I just stared at each other incredulous...yet gleeful.  I hope this represents itself in the voting booth. It was interesting to say the least.

Old Faithful

The next stop was a waterfall that I don't remember the name of but it was pretty. We stopped, walked around, and enjoyed the beauty all around us.

Here we are looking exhausted because we were.

We then continued on looking at interesting things like Mammoth Hot Springs and stopping at several locations and just enjoying the park. We saw lots of buffalo, a few elk and that was about it. I have never in all my times of going to Yellowstone ever seen a bear. Interesting.

When we finally left the park we had one thought on our minds...a bed. We thought that we could push on to Bozeman, MT because when you get closer to home you just want to get home!! We planned to stop and stay the night there but we hadn't made reservations at a hotel. That was a huge mistake. Our night of a badly needed hotel happened to coincide with freshman orientation at Montana State University. Every single hotel was sold out!! Crap. By then we were starving and exhausted. We grabbed some food and thought about trying to keep pushing on to Butte, MT. But that was just not possible especially after driving all night the night before and being up all day. So we did the classy thing...NOT...we pulled into a Walmart parking lot and fell sound asleep. There was a huge thunderstorm that night and the lull of the thunder and the rain gave us a seriously refreshing night's sleep. The kids slept soundly and Tyler and I both slept like babies. We got up early and hit the road. We stopped for breakfast in Butte and headed for home as fast as possible. We got home at around 10:45am. We were just about to pull in when we noticed that our neighbor was trying to surprise us by mowing our lawn before we got home. Darn do-gooders. We had to drive around aimlessly until he was done so we didn't ruin his "surprise". Sweet idea though.

Here's what we looked like while waiting for him to be done so we could come home:

So we survived. We traveled in Tornado Alley during tornado season and didn't see a tornado and Yellowstone, much to Ailey's relief, didn't blow!! All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic time seeing this beautiful country of ours, spending time with family, and creating many memories.

Whew...and now I am done. :)

 Weekend Review

We had a busy weekend of birthday parties, dances, errands, winterizing the yard (blah), the Primary Program and family. One of the best things that has happened this past year is that we have had cousins move to Spokane. Yay!! My cousin, Justin, and his wife Hannah and their adorable family...which was super exciting...but my side of the family loves it up here so it wasn't a tremendous surprise. What was a HUGE surprise was that one of TYLER'S cousin's moved up here. That was completely unexpected. None of Tyler's family lives even remotely in this part of the country. We were super excited to have Angie and Dallin and their cute kids move up here. They were previously living in Minnesota and before that in Utah. It has been so much fun watching our kids get to know some of Tyler's extended family. All the rest are in Utah and our kids just don't get the chance to know them as well as my family...who are either close or who gather up here throughout the year.

This weekend Tyler's Uncle Lew and Aunt Marilyn and his cousin Kim were in town. We had so much fun over at Angie and Dallin's hanging out with them, catching up on family news, and laughing our heads off. This particular family has the best sense of humor and I love spending time with them!!

When I met Tyler I used to marvel that he was so unlike his own family. He looks different from them. His personality is different from theirs. His sense of humor is different. In fact, I would say that in his entire family...Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother and Tyler...not one of them is similar to any of the others. Not one. They are all completely unique and their own person. Looks,personality, and interests. It isn't a bad thing. It makes for great variety and diversity.  When Tyler was little he was absolutely CONVINCED that he was adopted. When he was little he made his mom actually show him pictures of her pregnant with him, in the hospital with him, and coming home with him. Even then he still had his doubts. Ha ha. I was so curious when Tyler and I started our family what our kids were going to look like since the Johnsons are all so diverse and my family has a definite family resemblance.

It was so fun when Tyler and I were dating and I met the Kofford family. THEY look like Tyler's long lost siblings!! Tyler's cousins Jon and Nate looked just like they could be his little brothers and Kim, in particular, looked just like she could be his sister...right down to the exact same shade of strawberry blonde red hair. They also have Tyler's sense of humor and many other shared characteristics. Isn't genetics the craziest thing? I love it!! I love looking for the things that get passed down through the generations...physical traits, interests, talents, humor, temperament etc. It is so fun.

Tyler and some of his look-alike-cousins...Angie and Kim

My camera's battery died and I need to order a new one asap. I hate iPhone pictures and these have the added benefit of being all instagramy...and weird...and the lighting was bad...but oh well. You get the idea, right?

 

Angie, Uncle Lew, Kim (in the back), Aunt Marilyn, Dallin (in the back), me and Ty

These are great people!! They have always made me feel a part of the family. They have always been so loving and welcoming...and they have never failed...not even once to make me laugh...HARD. If only you could see them all together. Hilarious. I am so grateful to be a part of the Kofford family.

(Even if as Uncle Lew just discovered...Wicked King Herod...happens to be their 68th great-grandpa. Ha ha. That might explain a few things...) 

Seriously cute cousins: Hannah, Bryn, Kam, Ailey and Alyssa

Alyssa had donned the footy jammies to impress her cousins with her KILLER stair sliding skills. The girl has some seriously talent. She flew!! They were VERY impressed...as were we. It seriously warmed my heart to hear them all downstairs laughing, playing, and having fun together. Love it.

Speaking of cute cousins...

Front Row: Bryn, Elle, and Jaylah. Back Row: Ailey and River

I told you guys I would post new wedding pictures as soon as some came my way. So if we aren't friends on Facebook here you go.

Aren't they the most darling flower girls you have ever seen? I just dearly love each and every one of them. They are quite the beauties.