October begins

Abbie and Spencer got a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa in Missouri.  They opened it before we started watching General Conference.  There was a model rocket for Spencer and leather kits for Abbie.  They were both in heaven.  While we listened to the first Saturday session, Abbie started on a leather pouch to hold her pocket knife from Mark.  (That’s the present she choose to open on her birthday.  And boy was she surprised and happy.  Mark and I had a fun time picking it out for her.)

Feeding Isaac is sure fun. Megan had a sleepover during conference weekend.  And the girls all helped make crescent rolls for our birthday dinner for Abbie. Mark was the most excited of all because we got to try out our wood burning stove for the first time.Abbie didn’t want cake this year.  Instead she picked cinnamon rolls.  So I doodled some little flowers on the top to make them a little more festive.  I am loving these fun birthday candles the Albertson’s got me for my birthday.This is how Neil eats his cinnamon roll, or cupcake, or cookies or anything with frosting on it really.So fun to have all the family over!Abbie got a baseball mitt from Ken’s parents, a whisk microphone from the Albertson’s for jamming out in the kitchen, a BYU hat (which Neil promptly snatched) and a nerf gun (so she can join in the fun too).  It was a fabulous night.  Happy Birthday sweet Abbie.After Neil and Isaac’s bath I set them on my bed to dry them off the get them dressed and the perfect light was coming in through my bedroom window -- I just had to get the camera.  I think this is one of the best pictures I’ve taken all year.  It was my computer desktop background picture for months after.For Halloween this year Megan and Jessie decided to be old ladies.  Grandma May and Grandma Ruthie to be exact.  Ramona let them have some of Grandma Jennie’s old wigs and they were in heaven.  When Jessie brought her wig home she thought it would be funny to sit in the car with it on her head and her shirt pulled up around it.  It was pretty funny and when we stopped at the grocery store on the way home she opted to stay in the car while I went so she could share her creativity with more people.  The really funny part is that some of the kids stayed in the car with her and then tried to open the doors to get out, but I had locked the doors with my remote and that set off the car alarm.  So here they are in the parking lot with a manikin head in the front window and the car alarm going off.  Quite the sight I would guess.Renee and Grandma Woodward came and spent the night with us on their way down to visit Chuck and his family.  Neil was up before me and they looked though our family scrapbooks together until I came down stairs.  Unfortunately there weren’t any pictures of Neil in the scrapbooks.  :-(  The kids LOVED having them here and showed off in only the way kids can.  We had pancakes for breakfast with them before they left.  And yes that is Neil in a dress and Grandma Ruthie showed up too!Kyle’s been helping us restain our deck and boy does it look nice.  He got the last coat on just in time to test it out with the rain.Neil was up early on Saturday morning with Ken and I while I got ready for Activity Days.  We were having a lesson on leading music and I was making number sugar cookies so we could use them to make time signatures.  Neil was constantly asking for snitches even though he hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet.We borrowed Ken’s parent’s juicer and picked grapes this weekend.  WOW do we have a lot of grapes and some we even missed some of them that had already started drying out.  We ended up making about 5 gallons of grapes juice and boy was it delicious.  I couldn’t decide if I liked it better plain, or 1/2 an 1/2 with Sprite.

We juiced for hours on Saturday and didn’t finish so after church we juiced a little more.  On Saturday the kids were fabulous helpers and so after dinner (which Rachel made for us – pumpkin pancakes, I think) we went to the mall in Provo to Sub Zero to use the kids reading coupons.  It was so fun!  Mark was totally enthralled and told us that his first job was going to be at Sub Zero – making ice cream with liquid nitrogen.

Sunday evening we had a family dinner with all our family and the Albertson’s who are family too.  Everyone brought soup and I made breadsticks.  And we got to share the fruits of our labors….well the juice of our labors. :-)!

Neil still thinks the pack-n-play is technically his bed, but he is sharing it with Isaac.  Sometimes the sharing is quite literal and I just pray he doesn’t squash Isaac on his way in.

We are having a Pinewood Derby for our daddy daughter date in Activity Days.  Abbie and Ken cut out her car and then she painted it to look like a lady bug.  It turned out so cute.

Neil was so excited when he squirted out the lotion and it landed on his palm in the shape of a letter P.  He wouldn’t rub it in until I took a picture.Brother Albertson invited Mark to go elk hunting with him.  Mark was more than excited and laid out all his clothes the night before so he could get ready quick in the wee hours of the morning.  They didn’t end up seeing anything, but he still had a good time hiking around.  Although it was colder up in the mountains and that caught him by surprise….but he’s a quick learner and the next Saturday that they went he was more prepared.