Journaling from the kids

I'm really pleased with how frequent I've been able to get the kids to journal for me :).  This week I asked the kids to write about Grandpa Russ and a memory or what they love about him.  Seemed like a good way to get them thinking about him and praying for him.

KELLY:
Sunday 10/30/16  My Favorite Memory of Grandpa Russ
Every year or so we go to Bear lake with Dad's side of the family.  And since we have a really big family me and Charity get to stay with Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Russ.  This certain year we were staying with them again.  Well so we all woke up and Grandma had planned on making cinnamon rolls but she forgot some ingredients or something.  Grandpa and I were just in there because Charity left.  He asked me if I wanted to help him with somethin gand I said sure.  He wanted me to help him make some french toast for breakfast.  I had no idea how to but he said he would teach me.  It was a lot of fun doing it with him, he would tell me how to do a step and then he'd have me do it for him :)  He does this really cool thing (at least I thought it was cool) where he adds cinnamon into the egg mixture which makes it taste even better.  It was really fun to stand there and make it with him while he told me stories about when he was a kid.  And we got to talk even longer because I burnt the first batch :)  And if I hadn't chosen to make it with him and definately wouldn't be as close with him as I am now  And today I still use his exact recipe for french toast.  I've always looked up to grandpa for always being patient with me and always loving me :)  I love him so much and hope he gets better soon.  He's always been so strong :)---- I've also always loved how whenever we go to their house for family home evening or holidays whenever we'd walk in the door he'd call us over and give us the biggest, squeezy hug ever! :)

NOAH:
The funest thing I did whith grampa was probably going fishing whith him when he caught a giant fish and gave me it and told me to put it in the water I put it in the water and it swam in between the rocks that we were standing on.

LUKE:
10/30/16
Luke
My favarite memory with grandpa russ is when we went on the bike ride and when we put the bikes in the trailer and got there dads tire was rubbing against the tire on the trailer so dads tire popped (exploded).  So he had to run and erikas bike also had a flat tire so she had to run too.  We rode our bikes to IHOP and there was tons of hills along the way so it was really hard to get there but it was worth it because it was way fun at IHOP and the waiter was so funny.  When we left i swiched Erika and she used my bike and I ran.  And on the way back I had to push grandpa up some of the hills and then we got home and then left.

CHARITY:
10/30/16
Charity Maynes
Favorite memory of Grandpa Russ
I love grandpa so much!  He has the most amazing smile and biggest heart.  I know that he has such a strong relationship with HEavenly Father.  One thing that I absolutely love about him is his great big bear hugs.  He would always tell me tha the loves me.  I love grandpa russ.  It makes me sad to see him in such a difficult state.  I love him and want him to get better soon.  I love his jokes and his laugh.  I just really love grandpa.  I'm glad that he raised my dad so well.  My dad loves his dad so much and I know he is hurting to see his dad like this.  I do know that grandpa loves me and every one of his family members.  I love him too.  Love you grandpa!!
Kelly just reminded me of this great memory I have of him.  The memory was a really long time ago.  Grandma and Grandpa took Kelly and I with us to go and fix their bikes.  While we were waiting, grandpa took us to one of these half-restaurant half-gas station things and bought Kelly and I a large orange cream milkshake.  He is always so generous and we had so much fun talking and laughing with him.

ERIKA:

10/30/16

Erika maynes my

Grandpah is verey

fun.  He likes to tikle 

me.  He redds storys 

to me and jack my brother

and he gives us treats.

I Love my Gradpa he is the

Best.

Jack drew some scribbles on a few sheets of paper (yes, we've been through a small forest with all his letters) and told me that it said:

Grandpa read a story to me and Grandpa played basketball with me.

I had asked Bradley a while ago if he wanted to write about his ordination and passing the Sacrament, so he did that instead of writing about Grandpa.  It was one of those rough Sundays for him and satan was working hard.  It was nice to see the change that occurred when he took some time to think about his ordination.  I think he got a little confused because he wrote them as if they happened on the same day :).  But that's okay- we get the idea.

BRADLEY:

My first Sunday of being 12 was awesome I loved being twelve.  It was a little hard though.  LIke passing the sacrament I was #1 in passing.  That means I served all the people on the stand and did the front right row.  Then when we finish I go up and sit by the bishop.  the next hour I went to Sunday school.  There we went to opening excersises.  I sat with dad.  After the closing prayer we left and went to deacons qurom.  We talked about testimonies.  After that we went to the bishops office so I could get ordaned.  It was so spiritual grandpa and grandma ruthie came.  Simon and grandma came.  Simon, grandpa russ and dad ordained me.  After I ran off to do fast offerings.  We only had one person answer and It was a lady who gave out candy.  We promised we wouldn't eat any until we ended our fast.  She took forever to write a check.  Then I went home and talked w/ everyone.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween ended up being a pretty good day :).  There was no school so everybody got their rooms cleaned and then played for most of the morning!  We headed up to visit Grandma Ruthie at the hospital and Nate and I got to see Russ as well.  The kids showed off their costumes to Aunt Becky and Grandma, got candy, toys, and loves, and then we hurried home for some mummy dogs and to get ready for trick-or-treating!  So it was a full afternoon.  Then my mom came just as we got here and took pictures and gave everyone treats- so that was fun too.

Poor Molly was not in the mood for pictures and wasn't loving the tension that always seems to arise while getting costumes on and ready to go.  I wish I could master this some year, without sweating.  

I wish I'd gotten better pictures!!  Horrible backdrop and lighting.  ugh.

Molly was a Ladybug!  I was offered several different baby costumes for her this year, including a ladybug one, but I wanted to find THE PERFECT costume for her.  I wasn't able to settle on anything.  Then at the last minute- at the DI, we saw this costume and it did look so cute.  I knew it would keep her warm for trick-or-treating, so we bought it :).  She really did look adorable and it kept her nice and warm.  Her second Halloween was a success :).

Bradley was Darth Vader

It's always so funny how we arrive at Bradley's costume every year.  It kind of seems to go this way every year.  First he was going to be Wreck-It Ralph with Jack as Fix-It Felix and Erika as Venelope, etc.  When that didn't pan out he decided to go with Venom since Jack was going to be Spider-Man.  Well, apparently Venom is no longer cool because we couldn't find him ANYWHERE!  Well, not for a reasonable price anyway.  Then, Kim gave me a bag of pants for Bradley and in the bag was this Darth Vader helmet!  It's super cool with sound effects and voice changing... it's awesome.  So he decided to wear that for halloween!  Unfortunately, we couldn't find the old cape we had and Thursday night (the night before the school parade) Nate and I decided to just go get a cape at the store.  Well, no capes, but they did have a Darth Vader costume at Smith's for $12!!!  We were so excited :).  So anyway- there ya have it.  This is how Bradley became Darth Vader.  Wonder what he'll be next year :)

Erika was a Ninja

Erika was SO excited about her costume and wore it all day Friday and then again on Saturday.  She loved the idea of making her own ninja costume (rather than just wearing Noah's) and wanted to use purple duct tape instead :).  So cute!  She loved how hot it was (insert sarcasm).  She didn't last long with the shirt on her face.

Luke was a Stick Person

Seems like a rerun from last year doesn't it!  Well, it's not!  Luke was set on doing what he had wanted to do last year.  Which was white clothes, black tape as a stick man.  Last year, we did black clothes (because I got looking for white sweats too late) with white tape and everyone thought he was a skeleton.  So he was set on redeeming himself :).  I think he looked awesome :).  I love this costume.  He does too.  

And of course Jack was Spider-Man!  This kid was super happy about his costume.  Didn't want to wear the mask, but totally lived it up!

Noah was a Zombie Doctor.

This was all his idea and a really fun one to pull off.  I was so glad we were able to find scrubs at the DI and I didn't have to make them from scratch :).  Much easier.  He looked awesome with Kelly's make-up job especially!

Kelly was Russell from Up.

Every year Kelly and Cassidy come up with a cool idea to do together.  This year it was UP.  Kelly was Russell, Cassidy was Mr. Fredrickson.  She worked SO hard on this costume!  Everything about it was well thought out.  Very meticulously designed to look just like Russell.  It was a lot of fun to watch her get into it.  She quoted Russell at each door- I think the other kids were annoyed, but she didn't seem to mind.  She really went all out- pretty cute.

I'm really disgusted with the placement of this picture now, but it was because of Molly.  she was in the stroller right there and there was no way we were going to move her.  She was on one.  Oh well.  It's fine, I just wish it was better :).

Oh, and let's don't forget Charity!  She was a 50's girl :).  She picked out this costume idea for the Regional dance and did it again for Trick-or-Treating :).  I was so happy I was able to make the poodle skirt for her and that it turned out so cute.  She looked adorable.  I'm still wishing I would have made one for Molly and they could have been twinners!

So we decided to go the Shadowbrook ward route first.  Headed up the North side, getting all the circles.  Then as we got up to Via La Costa and it was getting darker and later, we decided we better just head on over to Ponds Park ward rather than going back down Shadowbrook.  It was totally unorganized and not well-planned as far as T-or-Ting routes go- not good for my OCD, but the kids were having fun.  They had the Maughans, Caldwells, Cassidy and Corbin to keep them company as well :).  It was a lot of fun to watch Jack run around with the big kids this year!  I kept having flash backs of last year and his bad attitude and unwillingness to go up to people's doors and how lazy he was in the stroller, etc.  This was a nice change :).  He had so much fun!  He and Will were like two giddy school boys running from house to house.  After one house, well into the night, Will yells out to Jack, "Jack!  That house has CANDY!!"  Like it was a rare thing... so funny!!  They were adorable!  Molly enjoyed dragging her pumpkin bucket from the front of the stroller for some reason.  She enjoyed the candy too, and then fell fast asleep :).  Konked out until I crashed us into a crack in the sidewalk and she almost went flying- not a good way to wake up- luckily, we were at the Cole's and almost home.  Erika seemed tired or something- not super motivated to run, she held my hand and talked with me a lot of the way which was really fun!  She was hot too I think.  Noah, Luke, Brad, Kelly and Charity were all WAY ahead of me the whole time.  I caught glimpses of them randomly, but for the most part, I couldn't see them.  They had a lot of fun though!  And LOVED having the extra streets to add to the route :).  They stayed out for Burton and Shadowbrook with Nate while Jack, Erika, Molly, Noah and I came home :).  

It was time to sort and trade candy!  Luke informed me that the funnest part about all the candy was sorting it!  HA!  AND that there is a difference between candy bars and chocolate bars.  Very educational.  He and Molly were HILARIOUS during candy trading time.  She was driving him nuts touching all of his stuff, opening things, moving them... he was pretty patient, but really funny with it all.  She sure owns him.

I needed a picture of my family room filled with candy!

Bradley was so nice to share so much of his candy with me!  Such a sweetheart- Reese's mmmmmmm.

Columbia Halloween Parade

Mr. Denhalter brought the parade to Columbia :).  YAY!  It was a lot of fun for us and a lot of fun for the kids!  I loved that it was really low maintenance and low-key.  I only wish I'd been able to get better pictures of everyone :).  

Carving Pumpkins!!

This is definitely one of my most favorite traditions!  I LOVE this part of Halloween.  I'm pretty sure I've said this every year, but I'm saying it again- it goes SO WELL!!  Yeah, it's messy, it's probably dangerous giving little kids knives, but it's been such a great bonding time for our family!  Nate even got into it this year :).  And he loved it too!!  It's so fun to hear everyone talking to each other, getting along freakishly well, complimenting each other, offering help.  There's no fighting, no whining.  Everyone is just busy working on their masterpiece!  It's heaven!!  Sounds crazy, I know, but it's heaven!!  

And again, it was amazing how much they all did on their own!  Even Jack!  So cool!

Molly spent most of the time with us, in her high chair and wasn't too happy.  She did get a little time with the pumpkins, but for the most part she was not interested.  I ended up rocking her to sleep at intermission.  

This was a big deal to Luke!  He was planning his pumpkin design in church the day before!  He was very focused and totally into it.  It was cool to watch him.  He was so thrilled about the size and shape of his pumpkin and kept talking about hwo cool it was and how he had n ever had such a big one.  Because we have the rule- if you can carry it to the cart, you can get it.  I was really surprised he was able to get it into the cart :).

Noah was pretty focused and quiet for the most part.  Carving two pumpkins (he got one when his wolf den went to a pumpkin patch) takes a lot of concentration.  He was so proud of his masterpiece!

Bradley had a great time!  He was in such a good mood!  It was fun to see him so happy.  He went all out and did his pumpkin face sideways!  It was so awesome!  

Kelly was also very focused!  She had a plan and she was working!  She came up with a really cute idea and made a fun pumpkin.  It's always fun to see what she comes up with.

It was so fun to see Charity NOT struggling with hers this year :).  She knows this activity is for fun now!  She wasn't stressed at all and made an adorable pumpkin.  I was so happy for her :).  It was a bummer that she had to hurry and get back into her book- she needed more reading pages for the end of the term.

His Maynes tongue :).  Jack Jack had a BLAST!  He was SO into this!  He carved his pumpkin all by himself!  He totally loved every minute of it too :).  I LOVED how his turned out :).  It's so cool that he did it himself!

I love this picture :)

I kind of just sat there and enjoyed every minute of this experience :).  I did carve my own and totally branched out and did a "skull" looking one- inspired by the shape of my pumpkin.  I really just wasn't sure what to do with myself most of the time though :).  It was a nice little break.

Cute Erika had a lot of fun!  She picked the short plump one that I had told her about :).  It was a pretty cool shape, just missing the huge stem.  She had a lot of really cool ideas she just wasn't able to pull off.  But she did turn her almost cat into a very cute face!  I LOVED how hers turned out.

See!  Maynes tongue!

Nate had a blast too!  Carved his very own pumpkin which looked incredible of course, and even noticed the heaven that was going on :).

I really love this picture right now.  Not because of how we look obviously, but because we are sitting on the porch :).  This is our new spot ever since we started running together in the mornings.  When we get done, we've carried on the tradition of sitting down on the porch to cool down (and talk of course :) ) before we go inside and begin our day.  I am so grateful for Nate and his willingness and encouragement in helping me with this crazy new thing.  It's been such a blessing to have him.  Nothing against the girls- they were awesome and made it such a neat thing and special time together in the mornings, and I do miss them so much!!  I just couldn't do this without Nate at this point.  He helps me get up, he helps me keep going.  He talks to me and keeps my mind off the minutes and miles.  He's my friend, my companion, my push!!  I'm so SO glad he is here for me on this.  I just love being able to start our day out this way together and have this time together.  I think this picture will always mean something special to me.  Thanks babe!!  Oh and there's our pumpkins :).

Molly was sleeping so I didn't get her picture that night and unfortunately I didn't get one of everyone on the porch together!  DARN IT!!  Hopefully the picture of Nate and I is cool enough to make up for that :).

Here's Molly the next day:

She liked her pumpkin :).  I carved it to look like her, but the new tooth, the one that was supposed to look like it was coming in, busted off!!  Such a bummer.  But anyway- look at this cute girl!

Such a tease!