Fall and Halloween 2013

Snow is expected in the valleys on Thursday and I don't want the first snowfall to happen before I record our Fall.  Fall is such a lovely time of year.  The colors amaze me each year. 

 

 

The kids even liked to rake this year.  Judging from the picture I guess it is more correct to say Gage enjoyed raking leaves on top of his brother.  Luke doesn't look like he likes it all that much.  

 

In early October Gage took us to a cave up Big Cottonwood Canyon that he had explored with the cub scouts.  It was really cool and I had never been there before.  Tim realized he has a touch of claustrophobia when he had a really difficult time making himself go through this opening.  Once you are inside it opens up into two very large and one very long chamber.  There was already water in the bottom and it was cold in the canyon so I did not venture all the way but Tim and Gage made it. 

 

 

My boys really like to climb on rocks.  Normally I am unbothered by their climbing but this rock face seemed especially high and when some Japanese tourists stopped to point and take pictures of my family and spoke in very worried hushed Japanese I started to worry.  I finally had to turn my back hoping one of them wouldn't lose their footing.    

 

 

 

Claire decided in early September that she wanted to be a witch again for Halloween.  I thought she was so stinkin' cute.  Pam and I took her to Witches Night Out at Gardener's Village and we had a great time.  I think it will become a new tradition for us.  The boys were so excited to stay home with Tim and have pizza and play games. 

Next year I think I will have to don a Witches Costume myself. 

Pam loves Halloween!

 Finally the big day came and the boys were skeletons and Claire was a witch for this picture and then right before we left for trick-or-treating she changed to a princess dress-up.  She has a mind all her own.  This was the first year that Gage went trick or treating with a friend and I trailed behind like an unwanted appendage. 

A Few Thoughts On Sarcasm

I've had the subject of sarcasm on my mind for the last few months.  My sister had shown me an article in the Ensign about how hurtful sarcasm can be and it really stuck with me.   Growing up sarcasm was typical in our house and it has been prevalent in many of my friendships as well.  I think I am pretty good at dishing out a good jibe.  Through the years I have prided myself on being able to "take" sarcasm and ridiculed those who couldn't.  It's just a joke after all.  Lighten up people. 

Then life happened.  Over the last 4 - 5 years I've had more and more experiences that have left my emotions tender and self esteem bruised and it has left me less resilient to sarcasm that seems to be flung from every quarter.  Last night while trick or treating with my kids a friend said something sarcastic to me that for the first time in my life really struck at my heart.  I stood there stunned for a couple of reasons.  The first was that in the past, something like what she said would have slid right off my back and I would've fired back with something equally sarcastic and it would've ended in a laugh.  But in that moment I had nothing to say only hurt feelings.  I wondered why I had ever thought this type of communication was fun or desirable.  And last I had remorse for every sarcastic thing I had ever said. 

So today I send out into the blogosphere and open apology for the damage that my years of sarcasm have undoubtedly inflicted on people I love and admire.  I am branding last night on my mind and heart forever so that when I reach for something hurtful to say dressed up as sarcasm I will remember the person I am talking to may feel hurt by what I say and that is my problem not theirs.       

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Gage and Luke are always "up" to something and they seem to get each other like no one else.  Over a year ago they began to work on Wanted Posters.  These posters hang on the wall in their bedroom and for a long time I thought they were eyesore to be honest.  To hear these boys talk about the characters on these posters is like listening to them talk about an old friend.  I marveled at their creativity of their names and how each character looked different. 

Well, fast forward about 8 months and as we were leaving church one day I heard Gage whisper to Luke, "Look!  There goes Lightening Woman."  The name Lightening Woman tickled at the back of my brain....where had I heard it before?  OH!  I know on one of their wanted posters.   Sure enough when we got home I was informed that many of the wanted people were actual people.  Here are the highlights...

First I present Victor.  It turns out this is Tim.  Check out the whiskers and uni-Brow.  For 3 Million I might turn him myself. 

Next we have Icwanda (pronounced Ick Wanda)  This is Claire's evil alter ego.  Apparently when Claire jumps on the tramp she gets bossy with the boys and her hair gets static-y and sticks up.  It is then that she becomes Icwanda.  Last week I took the kids to a Fall Festival and Claire was jumping in a bouncy house and her hair did it's thing.  Gage yelled through the mesh, "Hey Claire you look like Icwanda!"  I laugh just thinking about it.      

Meet Shriek spelled Shreik.  The story on her is that she is a Down Syndrome woman that goes to our ward.  She loves to scare the kids and she turns out the lights in the hall right in front of the Primary Room every Sunday.  She used to really frighten Luke but once they put her on the wall he is no longer afraid. 

And last but certainly not least is the biggest mystery of them all....Lightening Woman (again spelled wrong on the poster)  All I know is we attend church with her but the boys will not tell me who she is.  It is a burning question for me every time we go to church. 

Back to School

Back To School

 

The house is quiet today,

the kids have all gone back to school.

And when at last the first day came...

The oldest had no need of me

So confident and sure was he 

Such comfort in familiarity. 

The middle hung between two places

Not willing to stay behind

And yet afraid at the prospect of all day.

The Last reached up and took my hand

All the way to the door we must go

Childhood joy greets me at the end of her day. 

      

It seems to them that time goes slow

How cruel that for me time is fast

Only yesterday they were babes all three.

When they leave they take a piece of me

and all is rather lonely and empty

The house is quiet today...

 

 

Gage and Claire's school experience was the same as last year and so I felt like it was much more comfortable.  Luke on the other hand started first grade and has to stay the whole day which is so long for him and truth be told for me too!  Claire lost her best playmate.  I felt anxious all day, for him, about bathrooms and lunch. 

When I picked him up he said, "Today was a really hard day."  He started to cry and he was trying so hard to be a little man and when I asked him why it was hard he said it was so long and that when he asked his teacher how much longer he had until he could go home she said, "Two hours!"  You know that is an eternity to a kid and so Luke and me cried together...right there in front of the school. 

School has been in for a month and Luke is getting better each day but each Thursday he says he can't take one more day of school.  Thank heaven for short Fridays. 

All the Good Guys are Named Fred

Sometimes it feels like this whole world has gone crazy upside down.  I sometimes fall prey to thinking there is nothing good left or good people out there.  I saw this youtube video and it touched me to think that good people still exist.  Fred's love for his wife was inspirational and made me reflect on the beauty and nobility of a committed husband and wife.  Best line, "She gave me 75 years of her life."   

If you have a second check it out!  Keep some tissues nearby







Growing up I loved Mister Rogers.  It was one of my favorite shows.  Last night I saw something about him on PBS and then I saw the above video about this Fred and I couldn't help but think there must be something with that name that makes people pretty special. 


"Love isn't a state of perfect caring.  It is an active noun like struggle.  To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now."

                                                                                                                                 ~Fred Rogers

Tim's Project At Last

The project that Tim traded more than a year of his life was finally released last Sunday.  In stores it is called Disney Infinity.  At our house it is simply called "Dad's Game." 

It is by far the coolest and biggest, in terms of scope, game that Tim has ever worked on.  There have been commercials on the radio and TV and that has been fun to see.  These are the advertisements in Times Square....

 

 

The kids have been playing/thinking/talking about it since Tim brought the game home on Monday afternoon.   Pretty snazzy.   

Oregon

 

 

In late July we spent a week in Portland Oregon with my sister and her family.  We thought it was so beautiful there and we could see why Rach likes it so much there.  I thought the people were friendly and Tim loved the 55 mph speed limit on the freeways!  They also don't let you pump your own gas there so that was a little weird and might I say ineffective.  I felt totally rejuvenated when we came home.  It was a great trip! 

 

 

 

 

Gage's favorite animal is a mandrill.  He was heartbroken, last year, when after a long and hot day at our zoo we found out that the mandrill had recently died!  Portland, zoo had several mandrills and Gage was in seventh heaven. 

 

 

 

 

We must have spent at least a half hour at this one exhibit! 

 

 

Pieper and Luke driving a truck in the Africa exhibit

 

 

Gage feeding Parakeets by hand

 

 

Both Pieper and Claire have the "pose" down

 

 

 

 

The Oregon coast is so beautiful.  It was such fun to see the kids discover the ocean for the first time

 

Claire's run sort of says it all.  Fascination mixed with a little healthy fear

 

 

 

I love the green of the pine trees with the blue ocean

 

 

 

Luke surprised the heck out of me because he is so afraid of swimming at pools but he had not fear of wading out waist deep in the frigid water!  I didn't get a picture of that...dang it!

 

 

Don't let the fact that Claire is in a swimming suit fool you into thinking it was warm.  Kids apparently cannot feel the cold.  They played in the water and sand for hours.  I had a fleece on and hid under my towel. 

 

 

 

Luke liked the water more than the sand

 

 

 

A sand castle?

 

 

Gage liked it all

 

 

On our way to the beach we stopped at Camp 18 to eat.  It is huge logger's cabin with the cutest decorations and incredible pan cakes called flat cars.

 

 

 

 

Luke loved the hot chocolate.  Pieper asked for the stuffed cougar on the wall for Christmas.  Have fun with that one Santa!

 

 

The woods are dark and dense.  Maybe sasquatch is in there somewhere!

 

 

 At one beach we had to hike through some forest to get to the ocean.  The kids loved trees big enough to fit in the roots. 

 

 

 

Gage looks like a hobbit to me

 

 

 

Neat

 

 This is an enormous piece of petrified wood.  We visited an awesome rock and mineral museum.  I never knew rocks and crystals could be so interesting.  I came home with my own little piece of petrified wood as well. 

Portland is called the rose city for a reason.  We missed the rose festival but the rose gardens were still in bloom and we loved going from rose to rose smelling the difference and checking out all the unusual names.  

 

The smell in these gardens reminded me of my Grandma Humphries who loved roses and boasted a beautiful garden of her own. 

 

 

 

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower and they grow everywhere and so big.  It is hard to tell how vibrant these ones were from the picture. 

 

 

 

Very clever Tim

 

 

 Close to the rose gardens are the Japanese Gardens.  The peace and beauty is hard to describe but I have it filed away in my memory so I can visit again in my mind in times of stress! 

 

All the moss is cool but kinda creepy at the same time

 

 

Do you feel serene? 

 Just outside of Portland is forest and awesome hiking.

 

 

 Just over that River is Washington

I love hiking in the shade especially when it leads to....

 

 



the most beautiful water falls

Picture all these people quietly contemplating nature and then our crew gets on the scene and does this!  We were quite the spectacle....but so much fun!



Notice Bianca and Gage in the background.  I am more convinced than ever that these two were meant to be twins and the Lord knew one family could not handle them both.  

 Multnomah Falls is probably the most famous.  The tie dye lady is so Portland 

 

Cousins are the best!