Happy Halloween-2009

The Thursday before Halloween Hyrum had a preschool Halloween party. I am sort of the room mother this year for his class. As a result, I was worried about having everything ready for the party and left my camera at home. I didn't get any pictures of Hyrum doing the fun activities the other moms planned (the moms were very creative). Hyrum had a fabulous time at the party. I think he was pleased I came to his school. Right when we were leaving the party I remembered that my phone takes some decent pictures. The picture below is of Hyrum and his beloved Ms. Tami.On Halloween night, we were invited to a fun Halloween party at Ms. Tami's house. Shortly after we got to her house I realized that I was missing the memory card to the camera. At first we were taking pictures with our cell phones, but soon realized that the quality of the pictures were not as high as I would have liked. Being the good husband that he is, Brandon drove the 20 minutes home and the 20 minutes back to get the memory card.

The Halloween party started off with some fun games for the kids to play. I know that my kids enjoyed playing games; they had a great time.After the games, the kids did a costume parade around the cove. It was so cute to see the kids marching in their costumes.
Top LtoR Emma, Hyrum, Kelsie, Hailey, Lexi, Tucker, Chloe, Boo, Maggie
Bottom LtoR Eli, Emmy, Noah, Wes, Ben Savannah and ?

Since the people who provide a hayride for kids weren't ready to start giving rides we went back to Ms. Tami's. We had a wonderful dinner of soup and bread sticks. It was so yummy!Brandon dressed up as the friendly neighborhood milkman and I was pregnant. Brandon went Halloween morning to Goodwill to find the pants, hat, and the milk bottles. I had to add my throw-up bucket to my costume because it made my costume more realistic.

Below is a picture of our friends Emily and Brandon.I was so bummed I didn't get pictures of the other couples. There were some great Halloween costumes. Our friends Nick and Whitney dressed up as a leprechaun and a pot of gold.

After dinner the kids went on a hayride. There is this nice family who every year give hayrides around the neighborhood to the kids. The kids loved it! I told Hyrum to hang on to Ben. As a result, he put his arm around Ben and held onto him during the ride. Emmy got to ride with daddy. Someone else volunteered to hold her, but she thought the costume of that person was too scary.When the fun hayride was finished we went trick-or-treating. The kids loved trick-or-treating. Our big group of friends split into two groups after a little while. The older kids who went trick-or-treating quickly and the younger kids who enjoyed the slower pace. I went trick-or-treating with Hyrum and Brandon stayed with Ben and Emmy. Hyrum loved trick-or-treating with his friends.When people would open the door Hyrum would say trick-or-treat and thank you in one breath. He seemed content to hold my hand for awhile and walk from house to house.Hyrum especially had a fun time trick-or-treating with his friend Hailey. For some of the time we were trick-or-treating they would hold hands and walk together. It was too cute.Ben and Emmy loved going trick-or-treating. They were nervous at the houses with "scary" decorations. One house was too spooky for Ben, he wouldn't even go to the door. Emmy wasn't a big fan of the houses with dogs right next to the door when she went to get her nummies. Ben and Emmy did both enjoy the "nice" houses as the called them.Emmy cracks me up, yes her costume came with heels and she wore those suckers all night long. She knows beauty is pain!

After trick-or-treating, we went back to Ms. Tami's. The kids watched a movie and enjoyed some candy while the adults played the card game Spoons!

We had such a great time that night. The kids have been so much fun this Halloween season. The loved and insisted we listened to the Halloween music when we were in the car every day (I was mean and didn't let them listen to it on Sundays). The kids enjoyed reading all the Halloween books, looking at Halloween decorations on peoples' houses, the pumpkin patch, carving the pumpkin and other Halloween activities. They loved wearing their costumes and looked so cute in them. The kids were bummed when I told them that Halloween was all over. The magic of the holidays comes back in full force when you have little children.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Our ward trunk-or-treat was on the 28th of October. It was on a Wednesday which meant that Brandon would be late to the party since he has clinic on Wednesdays. Also, the party started ten minutes after Hyrum's swimming lessons were over for the day. We did a quick change in the car before we left swimming lessons and got everyone in their costumes. Hyrum was a football player(He would tell you he was on the Cougars), Ben was Spiderman and Emmy was a sweet princess.

All the kids were excited about their costume. Emmy was especially excited to be a princess. She loved wearing her shoes, her pretty dress, the crown and wearing make-up. She was in heaven. You can't really tell from the pictures, but I put curlers in her hair and curled her hair with a curling iron to make her hair really curly. She looked so cute!

Ben's costume came with a mask and gloves, but he did not want to wear them. I was okay with that and thought he looked so cute in his Spiderman costume.

Hyrum loved being a football player. He loves to wear his costume. By the way, this is the same costume my brother, Sean, wore for multiple Halloweens.

Can you tell in the picture below that Hyrum was ready to go in the gym, and Emmy and Ben look a little nervous about everything?There were tons of people at the ward party. As soon as we walked in the room Hyrum was off finding his friends and fun things to do. The first booth Hyrum went to was the dart booth. You were supposed to throw the dart at a balloon and make it pop. After a few tries, the people running the booth had Hyrum take the dart up to the balloon and pop it.

After the dart booth, Hyrum went to the fishing booth and spent a good amount of time there (He has been wanting my dad to take him fishing on the brown boat for awhile now).Also at the party, Hyrum got his face painted and thought it was pretty cool.
The first booth Ben and Emmy went to was also the dart one. Ben was willing to let the boys help him. Emmy on the other hand wanted me to help her.While Hyrum was at the fisihing booth, I took the Ben and Emmy to do the cake walk. Ben did it for a little bit, but soon lost interest. I think he was to busy taking in the all the sights and sounds (which some of them made him nervous) to play. Emmy was quite happy to have a yummy cupcake when her number was called. Even though Ben watched while Emmy did the cake walk, the people running the booth still let him pick out a cupcake. Ben wanted one with chocolate on it.By this time, we met up with Brandon and I had him help the twins with their cupcake while I did the cake walk with Hyrum. Hyrum was excited to pick a cupcake which had a spooky ghost on top when his number was called.

After the kids finished their cupcakes it was time for the costume parade around the gym.When the parade was over it was time for the trunk-or-treat. Brandon took Hyrum outside and got the car set up to pass out candy to the kids.

After everyone left the gym, Ben wanted to go and do the the fishing booth before we went outside. I think that once things calmed down a little bit with everyone gone and tall the spooky costumes he was ready to play the games. Emmy was also happy to go fishing with him.

It took much convincing for to get Ben to go outside and do the trunk-or-treat. Once he realized that he was going to get candy he was okay with leaving the gym.

Hyrum ran with all the other kids from car to car. Ben and Emmy loved going to each car saying trick-or-treat. They said it so cute. After they received their candy they would say thank you. Ben, Emmy and I finally caught up with Hyrum towards the end of the trunk-or-treat. The kids loved getting all the candy and playing with their friends. Below is a picture of Ben with two of his friends. All three were Spiderman for Halloween.
The picture below is of the kids with some of their friends in the ward.At the end of the trunk-or-treat, Ben wanted to go inside the church and participate in some more activities in the gym. I tried to tell him that everything was all over and it was time to go home. He wasn't convinced until I took him inside and showed him that people were cleaning up and putting things away.

We had a great time that night!

Carving a Pumpkin

DISCLAIMER-The light in our kitchen is awful for taking pictures!

This past Monday, for Family Home Evening, we carved our big pumpkin(each child has two pumpkins a medium size pumpkin and a little baby one that they received from grandma and papa from the pumpkin patch).

While the kids were finishing their dinner, Brandon went to work on carving the top of the pumpkin and making the inside of the pumpkin loose so the kids would be able to clean it out.
The kids each loved having a turn to pull out the pumpkin goop and seeds. All Clean!
After the insides were scooped out, Brandon found some pumpkin faces on the internet. Brandon picked some favorite faces and drew them on paper so the kids could pick their favorite one to be our pumpkin face. Hyrum told us this year that he wanted a pumpkin with a scary face with teeth.When the face was chosen, Brandon went to work on drawing the face on the pumpkin and cutting the face out.

The kids watched Brandon work on the pumpkin for awhile, but soon lost interest. While Brandon was carving the pumpkin, I read to the kids some of our Halloween books.

I think Brandon did a great job carving the pumpkin. I don't think the pumpkin has a scary face, but the kids were still pleased with it. Emmy was stroking and hugging the pumpkin for most of the night. She loved the pumpkin.

The kids were fascinated when we put a candle in the pumpkin and turned off the lights. The kids were also excited when it was time to take the pumpkin outside and look at our spooky jack-o-lantern in the dark. The kids had a great time helping Brandon carve the jack-o-lantern. By the way, they do refer to the pumpkin once it has been carved, as a jack-o-lantern, even Ben and Emmy. They say the name so cute.

It was a great night.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

When Hyrum heard we were planning to visit a pumpkin patch while my parents were here, he knew the exact one he wanted to go to. Being the creature of habit that he is, he wanted to go to the same pumpkin patch we went to last year.

I can see why he wanted to go to the same pumpkin patch again. The kids had a great time at the patch last year.

Almost every day during my parents' visit to Memphis it rained. The day we went to the pumpkin patch(October 16, 2009) was no different. When we first got to the pumpkin patch, the weather was just cold and had not started to rain yet.
It didn't take Hyrum long to notice that there were not any animals out this year to look at, which was too bad because the kids really enjoyed looking at them last year.

The kids had a great time chucking and grinding corn. Papa and Grandma were there to help get the grinder going in the right direction to work.Emmy loved playing in the pool of kernels. Emmy found a pink shovel which she enjoyed playing with. Hyrum enjoyed scooping the kernels out of the tub and putting them in a wagon to pull around the yard. Ben was just happy to be doing whatever.The boys had a great time riding the teeter totter.Hyrum loved playing on the tire horse.
Hyrum thought he was pretty hot stuff to climb on the big yellow tire.The kids each loved picking out their own pumpkin to take home. There were many pumpkins to pick from. I was hoping to get a fun shot of my parents with all the kids(like last year), but Emmy had things to do and didn't want to stop for a picture.
The kids were able to play on the swingset for a little bit before it started to rain. Emmy loved it when Papa pushed her in the swing. These pictures are blurry since it was raining, they were moving. However, I love how the pictures show the excitement on their faces. You can tell that both Emmy and Papa are having a great time together besides the fact that it is raining and cold.
Even though it was raining, Ben still wanted a turn to have Papa push him in the swing. The good Papa that he is, my dad, gave Ben a few pushes in the swing before we left. Once again smiling and enjoying the kids even though it was so cold.
The kids had such a great time at the pumpkin patch. We only could get them to leave when it started to rain even though they were freezing.

After nap time that day(Friday), we went to the Children's Museum. The kids love going there. I was only able to get a couple of pictures before my batteries were dead in my camera. One of the places we went was the dentist area of the museum. Of course, Ben and Emmy had to do the teeth puzzle.We had such a great time with my parents. The kids loved doing so many fun things with them and were so happy that they came to visit. Of course, even though I didn't get any pictures of the event, but my parents read to them, A LOT. My dad also made them pancakes almost every day. The kids loved having snuggle buddies during nap time. The kids were in heaven! My kids are so lucky to have such great grandparents (on both sides).

Grandma the Birthday Girl!

For the past three years, my mom has requested for her birthday a plane ticket to Memphis. Since her birthday was earlier this month, we had the wonderful opportunity for her to come and visit us with papa.

The kids were extremely excited when it was grandma's birthday. They loved singing Happy Birthday to her!

For her birthday, she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Before we went, the kids gave grandma the birthday present which they help make. We gave her a bag with the kids' hand prints on it that read, "We Love Grandma!" Inside the bag we put a magazine for the ride home, some candy corn and a propel drink.Like usual, the kids had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese!

The picture below is of the boys in the monster truck. They, especially Ben, got nervous when the truck started to move.
Emmy loved riding in the princess carriage again!Ben found a little kid bowling game that he just loved! He was so enthralled with the game and played it a couple times. My favorite was when he would hit a pin(that is right, even just one), he would raise his little hands in the air and yell "Woohoo!" So cute!Hyrum was itching to play air hockey with Papa.Of course Hyrum would pick a game to play that he is a race car driver. My mom said that she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the kids, but I really think it was because she really wanted to go. She loves/d to the play the game Deal or No Deal. She would get really into the game and was very focused.She would squeal with delight when she did really well and show disappointment when not doing as well as she would have liked.After Chuck E. Cheese, we came back home and had cake and ice cream. It was such a fun night; the kids were in heaven!

I am so grateful for my sweet mom. I love how she gets so excited for her birthday. I don't think I have met anyone else who gets this excited (okay, maybe Emily R.). I am so grateful for the love that she shows my kids as well as myself. She really takes the time to be an awesome grandma and considers her relationship with them a high priority. The kids love the way she will snuggle in the bed and read books or sing songs to them. I am grateful for her testimony of the gospel and her dedication to the Church. I love the way she takes delight in the little things in life. She is amazing at serving and caring for others.

I love you mom!

They Are Three

Earlier this week my sweet Ben and Emmy turned three. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast! It seems like just the other day they were infants and now they are preschoolers.
Emily has quite the spunky personality and is always on the go. She loves to read books and do puzzles. She loves going to the little playschool that I do with some friends in the ward. She knows a couple of her letters and can count to 10 correctly (for awhile now) and is working on counting to 20. She knows her colors (has for awhile).Her favorite color is pink!She also is in heaven anytime I put make-up on her; particularly lip stick or paint her toes. Emmy loves lotion too. Emmy loves to walk around in my shoes or her high heel shoes. I think she is just discovering the possibilities with dress-ups after exploring her Halloween costume for this year.If her hair is a little crazy, she tells me that it is a mess. She likes to have me do her hair and put a bow in it. Most of the time she sits pretty still, unless there are things on the bathroom counter that she thinks she needs to use. She has always been really good about keeping bows in her hair.She loves helping me pick her clothes and shoes out for the next day as well as a bow and a bracelet to match her outfit. A pair of shoes she is particularly fond of are red sparkly Sunday shoes that have a little heel (think Dorothy). She also loves her flip flops. She is a big Dora fan although I am not sure how that really happened since we don't have cable for her to watch the show.
Emmy loves babies and is quite the helper with them. She loves to hold the babies(with my help) and give them kisses. She adores her friend Lexi and always gives her a big hug when she sees her.Emmy loves her extended family. She has her Papa Van wrapped around her little finger. I think Emmy and her Aunt Millie are kindred spirits in someways. One of them being they both enjoy a good pair of shoes.

Emmy loves to sing. She loves when we sing together before bed. Her favorite song is Wheels on the Bus.

Anytime it is prayer time she raises her little arm up to request to be the person to give the prayer. She loves to pray!

Emmy loves her boys and most of the time wants to do whatever they are doing. Like any sister, she knows exactly what buttons to push to stir the bubbles and bug them. However, she does love them very much.

When you first meet her she is shy and it takes her a little while to warm up. She knows how to play hard to get and coy even though she is only three!

Brandon and I love our sweet Emmy so much and are so pleased to have her in our little family.

Mr. Ben is such a character and has a wonderful zest for life. He definetly has no fear and tries his hardest to do everything his brother does. This includes jumping from our high counter in the kitchen to the floor pretending they were swimming. Oh, how he loves his brother and tries to be exactly like him (even repeating Hyrum's words like a little parrot).Ben loves sports! He has been amazing this soccer season and has been in heaven any time he plays. Ben and Hyrum love to practice kicking any kind of ball in the house and outside. Ben also enjoys tossing a football around with Hyrum, Brandon, Papa or anyone who cares to play. Ben received a basketball and hoops (the ones you put on the wall) from a friend for his birthday and has been itching for Brandon to set it up so he and Hyrum can play.Ben is so funny. He loves to be silly, play jokes and has quite the sense of humor. A game that he and I play right now is that I pretend to eat him and he just thinks it is so silly.
Ben loves cars and trains. He enjoys watching the movie CARS and pretending that he is Chick Hicks or McQueen and race. When it is time for bed, he loves it when I do the cars song which is when we pretend we are driving cars and are racing.Ben hates to have his clothes changed and always has. However, if he is changing into a shirt with a car, train, Spiderman the changing of clothes goes a lot smoother.He loves Spiderman for whatever reason. He hasn't seen a movie with Spiderman in it. We don't really have any Spiderman toys. Probably because Hyrum thinks Spiderman is cool.Ben is so smart and is a great problem solver. He loves to play with toys and games that are a little mind stretching for someone his age. He knows half of his abc's. Can count to 10 correctly(for awhile now) and is trying his hardest to get counting to 20 down. He knows his colors (for awhile now). His favorite color is probably yellow. Ben also loves doing puzzles and reading books.I heard a woman here in Memphis refer to kisses as sugar. I ask Ben all the time if I can have some sugar and he comes running with his cute lips puckered to give me a kiss. He loves to give hugs and kisses to his family.

He loves his extended family to;espescially his Papa Van, his namesake.

He also loves to pray and is sad if it isn't his turn to pray.

Brandon and I love our Ben Boo Van and are so pleased to have him in our family. Our family wouldn't be complete without him.

In the pictures below Emmy wanted so badly to put her arm around Ben for the pictures, but he wanted nothing to do with it. She got quite upset with the fact that he didn't want the loves she was willing to give, but you can see he quickly warmed up.
I love these two! I am so happy that they came together. They have such a unique relationship. They were so happy that it was their birthday. They are my sweethearts!