HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This year we had a pirate, Star Wars Jedi and Sleeping Beauty in our neck of the woods. And aren't they the cutest little trick or treaters? We went out from about 6:00 - 7:30. You gotta love when they ask you to come home rather than you telling them it's time to be all done. It was a very warm Halloween this year, so they all came home very warm and thirsty. They should sleep tonight!

Side note: Devin said the cutest thing tonight at dinner that I want to always remember. As you all know, he's delayed and doesn't speak all that clearly or always in complete sentences, so that's why tonight made us laugh so much. We had gotten McDonald's for dinner and only brought Devin home french fries just like always because he never eats his whole dinner, so we usually feed him prior to getting fast food and he's totally fine with that. So, we all sit down to eat and he starts saying he wants a toy and then got all pouty and sad and in a very sulking voice and slumped over shoulders he says "I never get a toy!" To hear such a complete and clear sentence out of him was hilarious and shocking....and very much appreciated.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

My birthday weekend

Beware - this is a loooooooooooooooog entry.

Well, it happened. I turned the BIG 4-0! It's really a strange thing to write that. I certainly don't feel like it and definitely don't ACT like it! It's been a fun celebration, though. It started out on Friday night. It was our ward Trunk or Treat. The kids dressed up and played the games and ran around and had a great time. We left about 8:15 and got home. While the kids got ready for bed I got my pj's on and headed over to my little shin dig at Natalie's. My friends are so awesome. They wanted to throw me a party, but I have this thing about making people feel obligated to come to something for me, so I chose to just have a very low key party with just a few friends. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of who was there because I let Natalie take the pictures and her camera didn't work all that well. I do, however, have the beautiful presentation of the food and me opening my present. It was Natalie Benedict, Alisha Bayless, Heather Muir, Jolene Chase and Yvette Flores. We all came in our pj's and played games. It was a really fun time! And those girl's are the sweetest. I'm on Weight Watcher's and so everything was low cal treats. I didn't even cheat! Such a help! Okay, the gift was the funniest ever! They all know my love of the Twilight series books. They gave me a basket of low fat treats, a movie ticket (to be used to go see the midnight showing of the movie when it comes out with them - What?! Midnight????!), a candle, a t-shirt that says 'Team Edward'...wait it gets better....AND a premade scrapbook to put all my pictures of this weekends celebration, but there are cut-outs of "Twilight, the movie"! I laughed so hard I almost broke a rib. I think I'm 15! Those girls are too cute. Thank you for making my birthday so special, girls! So, I got home at about 2:30 am and then got up Saturday morning and my friend Heather Hanks had planned a full day of scrapbooking and massages. Ahhhhh. We had such a nice day together. And the massage.....gosh, I haven't had a professional massage in years. Thank you so much Heather for such a fun and relaxing day! So, now today is my actual birthday. Kirk brought home a beautiful bouquet of flowers to surprise me. I was surprised! He already got me my laptop. I didn't expect anything else. We were planning to go to dinner tonight, but then were asked by the stake presidency to go out on our main street as a family and hold YES on Prop 8 signs for about an hour as a family home evening together. They asked the whole stake to line up from the fwy and go as long as we could. It started out a little slow, but then it became a pretty long line and was a fun experience. Earlier today I went out and bought a leash to put on Devin because otherwise I think he just may have been killed. That boy will run out into traffic on a dime. So, that made things a lot easier. We had a lot of honking in support and a couple of unkind hand gestures. I'm surprised at how people do those things even when kids are around. Oh well, we mostly were supported. It was a good experience. Most of these pictures were taken before everyone got there.. Then we went to dinner and came home. What a great 40th birthday. And I still have this Saturday to look forward to having dinner with my friends Allyson and Colleen. I feel very lucky to have such wonderful and supportive friends and family. Love you guys!

Our pictures

Remember a few entries back when I wrote about getting our picture taken by Ally? Just wanted to share more. I'm not including the Christmas card photo, though. Oh, and speaking of which, I should write on here my 'rule' about Christmas card sending. Don't be offended if you don't receive one. I don't send one to everyone. I mostly send them to people out of state or friends and family we don't see that often. If you're around here and I see you on a pretty regular basis, I figure you've seen us and don't need a picture of us. It's my way of cutting back. I hope that doesn't offend anyone because that's not how it's meant. Anyway, check out what a great job Ally did...

New preschool

I have no picture for this entry and don't want to wait until Thursday to take one. Devin started his new preschool today - 1 2 3 Learn! He was on the waiting list, but I honestly didn't think he'd get in until next year, so what a great surprise when they called last week. He's had a hard time the past month at ABC, but today he came out smiling and telling me "I had fun new school! I had fun new school!". It just made me so happy. Yes, he cried when I left and they said he asked for me several times during the day, but he did great. I had told them he is delayed and when I picked him up she told me he was on the same level as all the other boys and they didn't notice a difference! Talk about making my day...no, my month! She said he sat and did the craft with the other kids and did it just like the other boys. I'm so excited! I know we found the perfect place for him to grow and continue to learn. Now, I feel settled and that's a good feeling.

You can officially call me the cat lady!

Can you believe it? We now have THREE cats! Yes, I'm a hoarder of cats, I guess. After Roxy left I found this mother and son at a shelter and they are both so sweet. Jasmine is the gray mommy and Ollie is her orange son. Devin has really taken to Ollie. He just loves him. So far so good on the potty habits. They just might be keepers! Ha!

Part of our photo shoot with Ally

Our friend has just started a photography business and we were able to go out with her last Friday. These are just a couple of what she took. We'll get the rest next week sometime. She doesn't post her favorites as she wants us to be able to use them as Christmas cards. I'm thrilled with the outcome! Ally, you rock! Check out Ally's work at Allysonrandlephotography.blogspot.com

Fishing Fanatics (JUSTIN)

This post is written by Kirk:
Today, the kids and me (Justin, Avery, Kirk), went out to Diamond Valley Lake for an afternoon on the water. Wednesday's are a great value at the lake as they offer 1/2-off the normal rental rate. So I picked up the kids early from school and we headed out. Justin has been looking forward to this so much that he had a hard time sleeping last night thinking about reeling-in the BIG ONE. Avery on the other hand, was more interested in eating Dorito's than fishing. Can you blame her? About the fishing, the weather was much, much, hotter than the fishing. I was the only one to catch a bass, a dinky one at that. Justin had one on, but the hook pulled-out. That was the extent of our action. We fished several areas all with no luck. The wind picked-up making it very difficult to hold and position the boat on areas that we wanted to fish so we decided to call it a day. That's why its called "Fishing" and not "Catching". All in all, we had a great time and look forward to more days and memories on the water.

Happy early b-day to me!

Look what I got! My 40th is coming up at the end of the month and I got a new laptop. Yes, I did say my 40th. I AM going to be 40. I've been trying that number out for about the last month, so it doesn't seem so bad anymore. Anyway, we had contemplated going away together overnight, but then I found this instead. I decided to get into digital scrapbooking, so this is the perfect thing for me. I can put all my own programs on and use it whenever I want without competing with anyone else. Yahoo! Thank you, Kirk, for the best present ever!

Our Peace Builder

This morning Avery received a "Peace Builder" award at school for helping a new class member feel welcome. Um, that would be Ella Randle. Yeah, like that was hard. Ha! She was very proud of herself and we are proud of her for helping others. After that, Kirk and I went to breakfast. Fun! Kirk's mom was nice enough to come over to watch Devin so that Kirk and I could enjoy watching Avery receive her award without interruptions, so we took advantage and went out. It's nice when the kids start getting older. Thanks Ann for letting us get away for a bit!